WesWorld

19 January

The Cabinet row was heated, the civil servants outside the room could hear the murmurings within and often a shouted outburst as the temperature reached boiling point.
At one point a voice was making a forceful plea; "we always intended self government one day... we cannot deny them that."
Then a voice that sounded much like that of the Minister of Defence, Wim Schokking, could be heard, "it is a criminal action, what of the East Indies? If we don't stamp this out now then we will lose the East Indies within a year and our nation will be an impoverished laughing stock in Europe."
More murmurs and clamours, "and what of Britain and France and even Spain? This sort of thing could unleash a chain reaction across Africa that could spread like a wildfire and consume the continent!" Was the voice that of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dirk Stikker?
Another hour went by, shouts of "what choice do we have?" and "traitor, we should go in now!" Others who seemed content to arrange a secret deal with the SAE as power brokers or indeed wait until N'Dofa was defeated and then push south.
Where was Limbani? "Who cares about Limbani? He would only do the same thing as Baron Owija!" shouted Schokking.

While the Cabinet argued the King had already made arrangements for the KIS to contact their counterparts in the SAE and indeed at least four agents had already crossed over into southern Kongo.
There were rumours of counter-independence movements, or rather anti-Owija, demonstrations in Kamina. The Katanga Province seemed keen to declare some sort of independence from Kamina, troops had been used to break up crowds with wooden battens, no one had been killed yet but there were casualties in the scuffles that broke out.
Meanwhile in the air, four Nord Normandies were lumbering south across the parched Sahara with the vanguard of the paratroops.

At Bambari, N'Dofa's scouts had penetrated into the town, the small garrison of a company of troops and some police stood firm, fortifying the police station and holding off an attack. N'Dofa didn't have 10,000 men, probably more like 1,000 at most and possibly less. Fighting broke out, the local people panicked and fled or hid in their homes. The 1e Cavalry Regiment was probably still a day away and the battalion from the 260th Infantry Regiment probably two days away given the state of the roads. The troops in the police station held firm. The Air Force was able to send up spotter planes, they were unable to drop bombs for fear of hitting civilians and strafing was likewise prohibited unless they had a clear target. A pilot of a new Koolhoven F.K.65 twin-engined counter-insurgency, observation and ground attack aircraft thought he had a suitable target, he fired three bursts from his two 23mm GAST cannon, cutting a swath through a platoon of rebels, but some stray rounds also killing two pigs and killing a child hiding in a nearby dwelling. To the people of Bambari war had returned.

I fear that the Dutch reinforcements are going to be like water thrown on a hot griddle. I hope my fears are misplaced.

Evening of 19 January

The Prime Minister Eduard Land, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dirk Stikker and the Minister of Defence Wim Schokking had an audience with the King.
"Your Majesty, the Cabinet has deliberated long and hard. We will probably miss the deadline of the ultimatum sent to us but making a decision was not easy." Land explained as Schokking suppressed his discontent.
"We believe that condoning the action would not be beneficial but we are in no position to intervene given that it seems the Army has revolted, although its clear the situation is unclear." He cleared his throat at his inarticulate response.
The King looked at the three Ministers, "So what is your proposal? We must do something."
"Your Majesty, the new government seem to have channels with the South Africans so we propose to buy time by negotiating secretly via that channel backdoor while we assess how we might politically topple the Baron and Kasa-Vubu," Stikker began. Outlining several possible approaches they might take to appear to be discussing a suitable compromise. It was clear half a dozen possible means of using internal dissent could be useful levers to topple the new government.
The King thought about the options, "And what of Ubangi-Shari and Limbani?" he asked.
Schokking cleared his throat, "Operation Reeën is already underway and we hope to crush N'Dofa quickly this time. That will give us a military base for more...belligerent options against the Kongolese rebels. As for Limbani..."
"We believe that he is being held in the Kongo somewhere," Stikker interjected, "his release must be part of our negotiations."

The King paced the room, he wasn't happy about being caught off guard like this, it was the largest crisis the nation had faced since the Great War and his eastern empire hung by a thread depending on what happened next. He had no choice but to agree to a delaying diplomatic action until more covert means could be made to reassert Dutch control. He gave assent to their plan.

20 January

Siege of Bambari
The few soldiers and police held out in the police station. N'Dofa's rebel troops attempted a couple of frontal assaults in the initial attacks but several were cut down by the defenders and from then one the enemy resorted to sniping and feints. During the 19th, N'Dofa became increasingly despairing that his men had not wiped out the defenders and seized the police station. That evening he ordered two attacks, a feint on the front of the building, while three platoons would try and clamber over the wall into the compound at the rear.

The feint was a failure, as suspected, ten men being cut down by the troops inside, who although low on ammunition put up a good fight. The rebels hastily withdrew. At the rear rebel soldiers had manged to scramble over the wall when a Police Sergeant spotted the intruders in the light of dusk, support was brought up and the four men were killed crossing the compound and a fifth as he got stuck on top of the wall. Soon after the rebels blasted the wall with dynamite and twenty men streamed across the courtyard. Using the last of their ammunition for the ZB vz. 30 light machine gun, the defenders held them off a short time but before long, grenades lobbed into the lower floor made the defenders scatter and defeat seemed inevitable.

On the outskirts of town Tweede-Luitenant Maupo of the Cavalry heard the gunfire and explosions echoing across the landscape. His small party of scouts were the point of the Regiment and he sent a messenger back to his commander. The light was failing fast as the sun was dipping below the horizon but given the urgency of the the situation, Maupo was ordered to take two platoons 'B' company into the town and four M-44 armoured cars had just arrived. They would not be risked inside the town itself in the dark, but would remain on the perimeter for fire support. On his left, 'A' Company would shift around the eastern flank of the town and secure the main road.

It took another half an hour to organise, firing could still be heard in the town but darkness had now fallen. Maupo was ordered to press on and he led his platoons forward, creeping into the narrow alleys and roads, seemingly the enemy was nowhere to be found. Then a scuffle to the right, three drunken rebels making merry, a few swift bayonet stabs ended their revelry. Maupo pressed on, nearing the larger buildings in the town centre, the armoured cars rumbled on as far as they dared, further forward than ordered, being so keen to give good fire support. The rebels heard the motors and sprayed some machine gun fire in their direction.

Soon the battle broke out, a confused action. One house stormed, grenades through windows, the bark of the M-44's 37mm guns, explosions, the cry of hand-to-hand combat, the gurgles of a slit throat. The rebels held firm, Maupo reported back that he could get no further without more support. Another platoon was sent but 'A' company took the lion's share of the night, sealing the main road and mortaring a farm that was suspected of housing N'Dofa's staff. The night dragged on.

The morning brought the rumble of tank tracks at dawn, six Lt-33 tanks rumbling from the south and with them, men of the 160 Battalion who had fought a tide of refugees to head up the main road. It was too late to save the brave defenders of the police station, all lay dead or wounded, but revenge was swift. A barrage of tank and armoured car guns and mortars and a fresh assault by two companies of infantry and two companies of cavalry troops hit around 10:00 hours. Overhead a dozen aircraft gave support, mostly spotting but some strafing runs were made. The rebels soon gave it up and fled. The town was occupied and the rebels chased, some gave themselves up, other ran into the fields and fled. Some rebels had not even made to Bambari from the east and they quickly reversed course, choosing to head south to the Kongo or back to Bangossou.

Where was N'Dofa? Had he been in the town? Had he been killed? Had he escaped?
Even so, by the evening news had been passed to the Dutch government and at least was good news and perhaps a sign that things would turn out better than expected.

22 January

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dirk Stikker looked at the document in his hands. It was not a document he wished to see or have anything to do with, but the situation had rather made him an unwilling pawn in a high-stakes game.
Already the message back from the Baron was more or less "talk or we start killing some white hostages", buying time wasn't going to be easy.
The document was a list of demands, practical demands - asking the Baron to step down and take a holiday was not likely to be accepted.

Quoted

Conditions for any Settlement of the Constitutional Future of the Kongo
1. Freedom for any white citizens to emigrate to the Netherlands or any other Dutch territory.
2. Full rights for the aforementioned citizens to dispose of any property or assets fairly themselves before emigrating and to withdraw any cash or monetary assets without interference.
3. Financial compensation for the aforementioned citizens who wish emigrate to be no less than covering travel expenses and no greater than two-thirds of any property or income as existing on 01/01/1950.
4. Freedom for any black citizens to emigrate to the Netherlands or any other Dutch territory.
5. Full rights for the aforementioned citizens to dispose of any property or assets fairly themselves before emigrating and to withdraw any cash or monetary assets without interference.
6. Financial compensation for the aforementioned citizens who wish emigrate to be no less than covering travel expenses and no greater than two-thirds of any property or income as existing on 01/01/1950.
7. Freedom for any white citizens to remain living and working in the Kongo as Dutch citizens without any prejudice or unfair treatment under any laws in perpetuity.
8. Freedom for any Dutch-owned business enterprise to remain legally operating in the Kongo without any prejudice or unfair treatment under any laws in perpetuity.
9. An undertaking that no attempt shall be made to nationalise the physical assets, landholdings, monetary assets or acquire more than 49% of the shareholdings of any Dutch-owned enterprise in perpetuity.
10. The aforementioned businesses shall adhere to fair taxation to the Kongolese government and follow labour and industrial regulations as may be laid down by the Kongolese government.
11. Freedom for any Dutch-owned business enterprise to acquire at least 49% of the shareholdings of any Kongolese-owned enterprise in perpetuity.
12. Provision of tariff-free trade with the Netherlands and all Dutch territories.
13. Freedom for any personnel in the Dutch Armed Forces to emigrate to the Netherlands or any other Dutch territory.
14. Full rights for the aforementioned personnel to withdraw any cash or monetary assets without interference.
16. Full right for the Dutch Armed Forces to withdraw any armaments, equipment and stores as listed on inventory as of 01/01/1950 and remove them from Kongolese territory without interference.
17. The holding of fresh free elections with the presence of Dutch observers and observers from another neutral country to be held within six months before any lasting agreement can be agreed.
18. On receipt of the returns of the aforesaid election and for formation of a freely and democratically elected Government, the Government of the Netherlands would be willing to discuss the transfer of legal powers held by the Crown in relation to the formulation of foreign, economic and defence policy on the understanding that no future policies made by the Kongolese Government shall be detrimental to Dutch interests or citizens, inside or outside Kongolese territory, in perpetuity.
19. Freedom for the Dutch Government to request to maintain freedom of military access to Kongolese territory and territorial waters in perpetuity.
20. That the Kongolese Government shall renounce any legal claims pertaining to the House of Orange in perpetuity.

It was a lengthy list, most of it would make the Baron's teeth gnash but to Stikker, this was not his concern. He signed the document and called in his Secretary to pass this to the radio room for encoding.


Elsewhere, the King was putting his pen to paper. "Ooperatie mangoest kan beginnen," he nodded to the dark suited man standing by his desk.
"Heel goed Majesteit, laten we hopen dat we succesvol zijn," the man replied before taking his leave.

Quoted

Already the message back from the Baron was more or less "talk or we start killing some white hostages", buying time wasn't going to be easy.

If this becomes public knowledge, it will certainly impact world opinion; particularly if the Kongolese start to carry it out. I fear that the Dutch Government's faith in South Africa's moderating influence will prove misplaced.

Should I ask von Gersdorff and Skorzeny to change their plans again? ;)

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

If this becomes public knowledge, it will certainly impact world opinion; particularly if the Kongolese start to carry it out.

Yes; it might even result in twenty thousand Chasseurs Parachutistes showing up to express their opinion of their methods.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

If this becomes public knowledge, it will certainly impact world opinion; particularly if the Kongolese start to carry it out.

Yes; it might even result in twenty thousand Chasseurs Parachutistes showing up to express their opinion of their methods.

It would be interesting... in that oriental sense...

Well I put it a little bluntly, but its the Baron's main leverage to get the Dutch to accept independence and bestow on him some kind of legitimacy.
I would keep this knowledge in the OOC hat for now.

I have to admit I am not sure what the percentage of the population is white, I don't think my notes from Kirk shed much light on the matter either. I am presuming they would be mainly in the middle classes and white collar worker sections of the community (plus the military) with an upper crust alongside the local barons and their families.

To make following the scene better, reposting the map from the old civil war thread.


***

23 January
The Army declared Bambari free of rebels and were moving south against rebel positions along the main road to the south. The rebels were retreating towards Alindao.

24 January
In the early hours of the morning, at Bangassou a company of newly arrived Paratroops were dropped on the northern outskirts of the town from transport aircraft of 58 Afdeling, a mix of Fokker F.24STs and Fokker F.39s. They quickly set up a perimeter and began moving into the outskirts of the town, there were some sporadic firefights with rebel soldiers and the plan was to isolate this hotspot of rebel activity, which seemed to be their main base. Progress was slow, but the main road north was cut by noon and the situation appeared under control. As yet, the Paratroops lacked the full strength to assault the town.
Reports of violence at Mboki and Obo in the southeast filtered through, there was at present little that could be done, the government control of Mbomou and Hoog-Mbomou Province was weak to non-existent, but thankfully the rebellion seemed contained at present.

"Why don't you just kill me? It is what you would like isn't it? Why else imprison me?" The man stretched out the thin wooden plank had a weak voice. The armed guard sat next to him said nothing.
"You think you are right, but you are wrong, your paymasters are fools, they have no will and are afraid. Are you afraid too?" The guard still sat there motionless, his face set like a statute.
"What difference does it make, the innocent will pay, you know that, and why? So one man can call himself a King or a President? So he can turn Africa into a battlefield for his own vanity? Think man before its too late. And you know its not too late even now." The guard remained expressionless. The man sighed and stared at his dirty walls, for Limbani, isolated and alone, he only had a mute guard to count out the days, taunting the man into killing him seemed profitable if only for a way to escape this crazy situation. Would he ever get out alive?

Thanks for the background update.

26 January

Operation Sahara Twee was now getting into its stride, eight Normandies were now regularly flying the route in two groups of four and back at Schipol the ramp was filling with another twelve of the large French transports undergoing a change of roundels and conversion and refresher training was underway.
For the Army these loads still didn't represent anything like the capacity it demanded, but the Air Force assured them that within a fortnight they should have at least 24 Normandies on task at any one time.
KLM also proved willing to use its Lockheed Constellation L749 aircraft, now freed from flying to the Kongo, to fly supplies and men into the Ubangi capital.

Operation Reeën on the ground seemed to be going well, but the paratroops were becoming spread thin in bolstering security as pockets of violence flared. Most of these demonstrations were not serious but a couple of cases required firmer action to break up any protestors or would-be rebels.
For the people of Bambari their town was again scarred by war and although the rumble of tanks and guns could no longer be heard there, the fighting had now closed around Alindao where the rebels were hanging on to block the road.
The local commander wanted to drop a company of paratroops in Mobaye to secure the border but there were simply not enough of them to spare given the operations at Bangassou which were fighting a hotbed of rebels. 55 Afdeling with its Fokker G-2C ground-attack aircraft and 6u Afdeling, with Loire-Nieuport Épouvantail O-2s were up around the clock in daylight hours over Bangassou. Again bombs could not be dropped but strafing was carried out of certain targets (at this the G-2C excelled) plus artillery spotting.

Meanwhile the South African intermediaries were busy shuttling messages to and fro. A Dutch delegation was flying to Pretoria to be on hand for direct talks, but both sides were playing cat and mouse with proposals and counter proposals. Aboard that flight were one or two shadowy figures, they reeked of KIS ethos and wisely nobody asked too many questions or why after leaving the airport they never showed up at the hotel.
Knowledge of Operation Mangoest was strictly limited, the King and few senior KIS figures were the only ones who knew.

Meanwhile over the other side of the world the Dutch authorities in Batavia kept a careful eye out for trouble. A few nationalists had made some speeches but nobody seemed to be advocating a coup, indeed the political links with the Army were not the same and as a professional force it had better things to worry about than running a country. Sukharno was still under house arrest and muzzled, although writings were slipping out. For now things seemed stable.

In Yemen the fighting had died down, the Imam Ahmad having held fair trials. The fact all the rebels and conspirators lost their cases and were wither executed or faced heavy prison sentences with forced labour was deemed fair by him at least.

This could be the calm before the storm. The German Government will be advising its citizens in Kongo and in Oubangui to leave until order is restored and the threat of violence dissipates - presuming that they are permitted to depart by the local authorities. Consular staffs will be reduced to a minimum.

The airports in both nations are still open.
KLM has ceased its route to the Kongo for safety, Koninklijke Kongo Luchtvaart Maatschappik (KKLM) in the Kongo is currently grounded and not flying at the moment but foreign airlines should be able to come and go safely.
The main Ubangi capital airport has reinforced security (no cameras folks for your own safety as air force assets are based there).

Quoted from "Hood"

The airports in both nations are still open.
KLM has ceased its route to the Kongo for safety, Koninklijke Kongo Luchtvaart Maatschappik (KKLM) in the Kongo is currently grounded and not flying at the moment but foreign airlines should be able to come and go safely.
The main Ubangi capital airport has reinforced security (no cameras folks for your own safety as air force assets are based there).

I do not know if Lufthansa ever obtained route access to the Kongo, but not doubt German nationals could obtain space of British or South African flights to relative safety.

28 January

"They don't want us to damage the radio transmitter more than we have to, so keep any fire away from the main building and the generator building. These are brick-built so any stray rounds should be deflected ok. Of course, that means no dumb ideas like strafing the mast.?"

The paratrooper Kapitein Hinds was making his briefing. Time had come to put 'The Priest', Barthélemy Boganda, off the airwaves permanently. That meant taking Bangassou radio station.

"Now the scouting parties report fairly light defences around the south-western perimeter, possibly two machine gun posts here and here," he pointed to the map, "the cover here isn't good so try and take out the position on the left first. There a bunker on this side, so don't try any heroics here, you should be able to slip around the back while 'C' platoon makes a diversion along this northern point. We'll lay a smoke barrage to support from our mortars if the wind is agreeable to us. There are about fifty rebel troops defending the objective, plus another forty or so in this compound to the east. HQ say we can't bomb it or blast it with artillery, so surprise is key, get in close quick and overcome the defenders and then we'll mop up any rebel reinforcements from the camp. Oh, and intel says 'The Priest' may still be here, he is to be taken alive if possible. Any questions?"

Eerste-Luitenant Bakker was in his foxhole, it sounded simple, but no bombs, no artillery, no firing at the buildings, the cent-pinchers in the colonial offices needed their head examining. Still he commanded the best troops in Holland and they would soon mop up this outpost. He glanced at his watch, zero-hour was near. A few minutes later the mortars crumped, the blasts rumbling around the countryside as the machine guns opened up and his men began their charge.

The defenders were ready and soon poured on some hot fire, the paras used their FN-Brownings to pin the defenders while the men crawled and ran forwards. Grenades were lobbed, spurts of dust from bullets smacked around them. Tracers zipped across the air. Some trigger happy gunner hit the main building, puffs of dust and flashes as a burst of fire tore across the upper walls. Nobody would on up to that," Bakker thought as he discharged his SLR40 into three rebels trying to reach the building.

Sergeant Decker won a decoration that day, charging a rebel machine gun on his own, his Sterling sub-machine gun cutting down the crew and his size-ten boot kicking another out of the way as he took the position and enabled his platoon to get inside the defensive perimeter.

It wasn't an easy fight and the paras lost ten men storming the radio buildings, some of the rebels barricaded themselves inside. Orders or no orders they had to be flushed out whatever the damage, grenades tossed in flushed a few rebels out or killed them outright. But in the end it took room-to-room combat to clear the building. Hinds later that shook his head as he looked inside the main broadcasting room, peppered with bullets holes and grenade fragments, the equipment smashed with panels gaping open and bits of control dials littering the floor.
The generator building was unscathed but the diesel tank was leaking like a sieve from bullet holes.

The living compound soon awoke and rebel troops dashed out. Many were mown down, more turned and fled. They were chased down but the hide and seek combat in the bush took until dusk to die down and the day ended with 24 para casualties and 56 rebel casualties and 42 prisoners.
Where was 'The Priest'? Bodies were checked, prisoners interrogated and buildings searched. He nearly died, a para hearing a noise inside a cupboard in one of the barracks nearly riddled with with 9mm parabellum but on opening the door found the preacher curled up inside.

Within an two hours a Koolhoven FK.65 made a short landing on a patch of grass not far away, Boganda being bundled through the small hatch into its tiny passenger compartment with two guards and whisked off in a cloud of orange dust to the capital.

Excellent, a victory for the good guys. :) Need more of those...

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Excellent, a victory for the good guys. :) Need more of those...

More 'victories' with casualty rates like that are going to render the Dutch paras hors de combat relatively quickly. Somebody is going to have to be willing to crack a few eggs to make the omlette.

True; I guess I'm still stuck thinking on the scale of the French and Russians, where I have 15,000 or more men available on any given Tuesday...

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

True; I guess I'm still stuck thinking on the scale of the French and Russians, where I have 15,000 or more men available on any given Tuesday...

You are quite correct - France, Russia, or Germany for that matter, have far greater resources than the Netherlands - even the enlarged UKN. The desire to avoid undue civilian casualties is laudable; the preference to not blow up valuable infrastructure understandable. But balancing those objectives against excessive combat losses will prove a challenge.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

True; I guess I'm still stuck thinking on the scale of the French and Russians, where I have 15,000 or more men available on any given Tuesday...

"To have such power at my disposal only once..."

Yes, the rules of engagement are pretty tough but then its not quite the civil war it was last time so there seems little point killing innocent civilians if they don't have to.