The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

The Battle of Marro Bay lasted over two hours, and it was past 2 p.m. when Wu Yuanjia and his men finished clearing the battlefield. However, they finished well ahead of schedule. In this battle, over 11 French soldiers were killed and over 2200 captured, while the enemy suffered over 2000 casualties. The results were remarkable, especially the capture of a large number of modern weapons, including 1000 tanks and armored vehicles, over 17 vehicles of various types, 70 field guns, 15 mortars, and dozens of light and heavy machine guns. This greatly supplemented the People's Army's firepower shortage.

After conferring with Zhenxiang and Nguyen Yi Minh, Wu Yuanjia distributed weapons on the spot and formed an advance detachment, primarily composed of captured vehicles, to immediately march south. Leaving Nguyen Ching Quoc's 311th Detachment behind to guard the captured prisoners, Wu Yuanjia led two divisions, marching through the night to Chejia, east of Banan.

Charles de Gaulle and Fernando, who had already arrived near Banan, received urgent news in their sleep that the 21st Brigade had been attacked in Maro Bay. Three hours later, there was no further news from the 21st Brigade. Even Fernando knew the 21st Brigade was doomed, a major setback for Charles de Gaulle's military career. At this point, Charles de Gaulle would inevitably make a desperate move. Fernando didn't dare to raise Charles de Gaulle's eyebrows. He was confident that Charles de Gaulle would act immediately, attack Banan, and then quickly march north to encircle and annihilate the People's Army troops besieging Ban Chai.

Fernando, in a rare move, organized the 7th Brigade and the 15th Regiment overnight. As expected, de Gaulle's order was immediately issued, and the attack on Banan suddenly broke out in the middle of the night!

If Fernando could think of it, de Gaulle must have thought of it too. Since the 21st Brigade was ambushed and completely wiped out within three hours, the enemy's strength in the north was at least two divisions, and the defense of Banan was at least one division. Therefore, the attacking force of Bancai was at most two divisions.

De Gaulle cursed inwardly, "Damn Maradoslu and Andrews, damn the Air Force!" Their miscalculation had led him to fall prey to the enemy's vicious plan, and an entire brigade of four to five thousand men had been wiped out. De Gaulle knew that if he couldn't inflict a severe defeat on the People's Army at Ban Chai and Banan, his military career, not to mention his future political career, would be over.

"Boom!" A 152mm heavy artillery shell exploded not far from Li Zhen's command post. Although it was dark, the flames from the explosion still illuminated the surrounding area.

Banan, a small, palm-sized town, had been expanded several times over due to the former presence of the French 217th Air Group, with a large helipad and numerous military fortifications surrounding it. After taking over Banan, the 101st Division expanded its positions, further addressing the needs of defense and interdiction. By then, the entire town was dotted with trenches and various firing points. Over 101 men of the 7000st Division were deployed around the area, forming a crisscrossing network of positions.

The enemy's sudden attack did not yield significant progress. Li Zhen had received advance news from Commander Wu that his troops had annihilated the French 21st Brigade at Maro Bay. With this in mind, his divisions had already taken cover and deployed their defenses ahead of the enemy. Despite intensive enemy artillery fire, the 101st Division's main positions in Banan were not seriously damaged. Due to the darkness of night, the enemy's attack, after suffering hundreds of casualties, only managed to capture some of the forward observation positions.

Li Zhen and the three regimental commanders were gathered together at this moment. The battle was already raging ahead. The enemy's attacks were frantic, each one more swift and fierce. In the forefront, the 1st Regiment, several companies were scattered. However, the People's Army soldiers, with their fearless spirit, held the enemy back, preventing them from breaking into the main positions of the People's Army.

Li Zhen said to the three regimental commanders, "It seems that the enemy is determined to fight us to the death. All regiments and battalions must defend their positions with all their might and never let the enemy pass through."

The regimental commander felt somewhat sorry for his men. Ever since the war with the French colonists began, the 1st Regiment had been fighting on the front lines. Most of the current troops had been replaced by new recruits. Less than half of the original 1st Regiment's pre-war soldiers had been brought down from Xincun. He hesitated, "Division Commander, didn't the commander ask us to hold off the enemy so we could handle the situation on the fly? I'm thinking we should withdraw from the front lines and preserve as many fresh troops as possible for the ensuing battle."

Li Zhen glanced coldly at the commander of the 1st Regiment, then glanced at the other two commanders and said bluntly, "The situation has changed. The French 21st Brigade has been completely wiped out. The enemy will definitely fight desperately to get through us as soon as possible and then encircle Banchai's 107th Division. We must not let their conspiracy succeed."

He continued, "Commander Wu and his men are approaching quickly. We need to change our original strategy of defending step by step. I believe that if our division can hold off the enemy here for more than a day, the situation on the battlefield will change dramatically. As expected, Commander Wu and his men will appear behind the enemy. We have the ability to annihilate the French's main force, the 7th Division, right here!"

"Comrades, this is a decisive battle. Forget the old idea of ​​conserving your strength. Each regiment should bring out all your best weapons. We must hold the enemy back here and entangle them! Comrades, you must have the confidence to win, the conviction to fight a major, decisive battle!"

Under the strict command of Division Commander Li Zhen, all units of the 101st Division immediately exerted their full potential. By dawn, despite the battle having lasted for over three hours, neither side showed any signs of relenting. In some positions, the fighting had reached a fever pitch, even resorting to hand-to-hand combat, the most primitive form of warfare.

Fernando seemed extremely anxious. Despite the full support of the 15th Armored Regiment, the offensive of the entire company and battalion of the 7th Brigade was dragged down by the enemy in trench warfare. The 15th Regiment also lost 30% of its mechanized equipment and consumed nearly 40% of the brigade's spare artillery shells. They only managed to capture a few positions. The town of Banan was completely destroyed, and there was not a single intact building.

After listening to the deputy brigade commander and chief of staff's report on the night's battle, including the casualties, Fernando did not expect that the enemy's resistance would be so strong and so desperate, which was a fundamental change from the combat mode of more than two years.

However, time waited for no one. He knew clearly that if each division of the People's Army fought with the same force as the 101st Division that was blocking him, and he continued to be held up here, once the main force of the People's Army that had destroyed the 21st Brigade arrived, it was very likely that the 15th Brigade and the security forces in Banchai would be unable to hold out. At that time, he would face over 3 People's Army troops equipped with a large amount of French equipment.

Fernando did not realize that Wu Yuanjia and others’ second target was not Banchai, but his own 7th Brigade!