Tonkin - first try

Today we leave the cold Russian steppes for the damp Indochinese jungle. Together with my partner Pionpion, we are embarking on the first scenario of Kim Kanger's game Tonkin.

It is 1950 and General Giap decides to launch an offensive on the Sino-Indochinese border to take over the fortified camp of Lang Son. We are in a mountainous and forested region, favourable to guerrilla warfare. The fortified post of Cao Bang is quite alone in the north, isolated from the rest of the country by the mass of Vietminh divisions that have concentrated around the French fortifications.

The initial deployment is more or less mandatory for the regular troops. The VM player has many guerrilla troops which he places all over the map to spread insecurity and block French communications. Here, many of these irregular units are placed in the plain between Hanoi and Haiphong. Two units landed at the beginning of the RC4 leading to the Chinese border, isolating the northern french troops from the main part of the country.

General Giap can sow doubt as to his intentions for the campaign. He has two objective markers. One is a decoy, the other earns him victory points if it is VM occupied at the end of the game.The first marker is placed in Long San, in the north. The second counter is placed in the south, in Phat Din, on the seaside. The VM has a few divisions there but the terrain is bad: plain and coastline where the French fleet hovers. My initial impression is that Uncle Ho's objective is to the north.

The French Expeditionary Force then receives reinforcements which it must pay for in victory points. Be careful not to mobilise too many troops, or you will lose the game. Given the initial situation, I choose to pay the 3 Vps that an artillery regiment and a foreign parachute battalion cost me.

 

Then comes the movement phase. The VM starts and moves some guerrilla battalions ( Thieu Doan ). This phase is very important for the French as it allows him to make overrun at the cost of 2 movement points. With self-propelled guns at 14 movement points, it is possible to clean up in clear terrain. This is what will happen. The Thieu Doan on the plain are chased on foot, in tanks and in gunboats. The Delta is not a place where Communist scum will be tolerated!

After this phase of Vietminh rabbit hunting, trouble begin in the north for the CEF. The operations phase sees the expenditure of action points that allow offensives. You need to consume a supply depot to be effective, which immediately signals where your effort will be focused. As expected, the supply depot consumed by the VM is located near Long San. To Giap's surprise, the French don't choose to counter-attack in the area but decide to activate a depot at Nam Dinh, south of the delta. The general staff decide to defend in the north and to finish the cleaning of the centre which still had some good VM units.

The first VM attack is a complete failure, despite all expectations. To carry out his attacks, Giap may decide to solicit the Bolshevik ardour of his men (pleonasm for human wave without considering the losses suffered). This is costly in terms of casualties but can be devilishly effective. Well, the soldiers are clearly not motivated.
Grumbling against the bad luck, Giap reorganises his men and orderes another manly assault. The Bolshevik ardour is as weak as ever. However, the weakness of the French defenders allows the VM to prevail. Leaded by the men of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Commandos, the Tabors of the entrenched camp of That Ke withdraw in good order to Dong Dang, the next camp on the RC4. Giap is worried: 5 losses for one, the ratio is not good. It is important to know that if the VM bleeds his troops too much, he loses VPs and not just a few.

Upon hearing the news of the fall of ThatKe, the general staff keep its cool in Hanoi. The offensive on Huang Yen, a strategic city located in the heart of the French position, is to be carried out. It begins with a copious bombardment that soften the VM regiment present. Colonel Erulin's men , supported by tanks, planes and all that the USA had lent to France, destroy the 42nd Viet Minh regiment.

In Giap's turn  an attack is launched on DongDang. This time, there is Bolshevik ardour. The shy ones are shot in front of the others, to mark the importance of this battle in the eyes of the command. The DongDang post is stormed but with losses once again. The VM lose 5 victory points, hardly compensated by the point gained for killing a para battalion.

Long San is now surrounded. There are no airfields present, which would have allowed the besieged units to rotate with others, but morale is good. With the survivors of the two lost posts, the garrison is strong. Giap does not risk a late attack, preferring to wait a few weeks to catch his breath. On the French side, the delta is being cleared, pushing the VM back into the jungle. A powerful relief column comprising all the CEF artillery and the 1st Mobile Group victorious at Huang Yen is formed at the beginning of RC4, on the coast. 

At the end of this turn the situation remains tense. The VM could not afford to sustain the butchery for long. On the French side, all the easy work has been done. Now we have to venture into the jungle where modern weapons are less effective.