in pressing for details. Too much information inevitably leads to too many written reports and those in turn demand the attention of too many people, including civilians, whom the generals scorned and despised, whether members of the press, politicians, clerks in the ministry, or the prime minister himself.
Fortunately for us the raid had been successful. We left no evidence on the scene, neither French Army equipment nor corpses. The Chinese could only sulk over their losses but they were unable to prove anything. Moreover, some diehard Nationalist battalions were still active in the remote southern provinces of China and it would have been easy for the French to credit the Man-hao debacle to Chiang Kai-shek. This token Nationalist presence in what was now Mao’s empire and the total success of our totally illegal expedition seemed to inspire our commander to venture a similar foray but on a much larger scale.
The indirect effects of our raid were soon felt in western Indochina. There was a sharp decrease in terrorist activity in the province, even in the exposed frontier areas of Lao Kay. For the first time in many months the local peasants could harvest their crops and cart their surplus to Lao Kay without being robbed on the road by terrorists requisitioning food and money, Since our raid no French troops had been ambushed and no roads had been mined. Somewhat over-optimistic, Schulze insisted that a few similar “house cleanings” across the border could throw Giap’s marauders back into the “good old days” of the bow and the spear.
After the Man-hao coup, our relations with Colonel Houssong became even more intimate. He began to regard us more as “fellow conspirators” than mere subordinates, and he bestowed on us certain privileges which were denied to other units of the Foreign Legion. The permanent gate pass was the one we appreciated the most. Whenever we returned from a mission my men were free to leave the Army compound from five P.M. till eight A.M. every day. I had free access to the supply dumps and could requisition any amount of food, weapons, and ammunition by simply signing for them. I was given unrestricted access to the top secret intelligence files which dealt with guerrilla activity in certain districts.
Colonel Houssong was proud of us, and I may add without bragging, rightly so. Apart from the famous Paras, my unit was the only force that went into action and returned with results; and more often than not, without a single loss of life. In Indochina it was called a “good result” when troops on a distant mission returned without having accomplished anything, only returned with minimum losses. Many troops of the Legion have entered the jungle never to be heard of again.
Ten days after our return, Colonel Houssong summoned us to his office. We shook hands and he said without preliminaries, “Sit down, messieurs, for what I am going to tell you now will make you sit down anyway.”
He placed a fresh bottle of Calvados on the table and suggested with a mysterious smile, “Have a drink, you will need it.”
Evidently the colonel was in a good mood. His eyes danced with amusement.
“Is it going to be as bad as that?” I asked him, taking my seat opposite him. Eisner and Schulze sat down and placed their map cases on the table. Pfirstenhammer opened his notebook, Riedl took pencil and paper. We were ready for the briefing.
“It depends on the way you look at it,” the colonel answered my question. Reaching for the bottle he poured drinks for us, filled his own cup, and lifted it slightly, “To your success with the Tien-pao raid.”
“You mean the Man-hao raid, mon colonel,” Eisner corrected what he thought was a reference to our excursion into China.
“I said Tien-pao,” Houssong repeated, stressing the last word. “That is the place you will be going shortly.”
There was a curious silence while we digested the implications of that short sentence. “To Tien-pao?” I repeated cautiously.
“To Tien-pao,” said the colonel. His eyes kindled. “You have convinced certain gentlemen in the upper regions that such raids are feasible and can be executed without complications. So, off you go. But this time it isn’t going to be a pushover, messieurs. You will have to work hard to earn a victory.”
“To earn a victory?” Schulze commented with a chuckle. “I will be happy if we can earn a simple return ticket, mon colonel.”
“And rightly so,” Eisner added with emphasis. “There are some thirty thousand Chinese troops at Tien- pao.”
“Eighty to one against,” Riedl said.
“Sometimes it was worse in Russia,” Karl added and lit his pipe.
“I am glad to note your good spirit; a spirited action is already half a success,” the colonel remarked. He unfolded a large map of northern Indochina and spread it on the long table. The map covered the district north of Cao Bang, including Chinese areas as far as the Siang river, thirty kilometers north of Tien-pao. Tien-pao was the town where we believed that Ho Chi Minh’s “government” had been hiding out for the past two years, although Ho himself was thought to be residing in Nan-ning, further to the east.
Holding his pen lightly over the map, Colonel Houssong swept the upper regions of the map, then circled a smaller area and looked up. “Do you think you can make it here, Wagemueller?”
“We can always make it there, mon colonel. The question is whether we can also make it back?”
“You had better make it back—and without leaving corpses behind. It must be a clean job like the one in Man-hao.”
I rose slightly and bent over the map. It was not just a map but .an operational plan with the essential details already incorporated: the routes were marked out, time elements considered and noted down in brackets: the area between the border and Tien-pao, and eastward to the Sengen highway, featured a number of small red stars, some of them placed within rectangles, others in circles, “As you can see, I spent some time arranging your action in effective patterns,” the colonel said good-humoredly. “The stars are known Viet Minh bases and Chinese garrisons.”
“The size of which, mon colonel?”
“The size of which we can only guess. But it does not really matter for you are to avoid them anyway.”
“But do they know that, mon colonel?” Eisner cut in and everyone began to laugh.
Colonel Houssong paused for a moment, then joined us over the map. “Your principal target will be the establishment marked “A,” which must be destroyed before anything else. It lies thirty kilometers north of the frontier.”
“As the crow flies. Overland it will be fifty,” I remarked.
“Sans doute. Nevertheless you will have to get there. The second objective, “C,” is located only half as far inland but more to the east. As you can see, objective “B1 is unfortunately off limits. It is much too close to Tien- pao and the main garrisons. Two objectives should suffice for the time being. They are large enemy bases and training camps.”
“What are the X-es, mon colonel?”
“Small Chinese guardhouses along road bridges with three to five men in them.”
“What about them?”
“Don’t ask me, Wagemueller, suit yourself. If you find time to demolish also a few bridges it will be an asset.”
The conference lasted for two hours. With all the important problems discussed, the colonel announced, “Needless to say this whole business is strictly between us, messieurs,”
“Of course, mon colonel.”
“Your Man-hao raid was a big shock to the Viet Minh and especially to the Chinese. They have many bases along the border and the General—thinks we should hit them at least once more before Peking decides to decentralize.”
He added with a smile, “// faut piquer dedans— we should hit them where it hurts.”
His eyes focused on the map. “Alas, most of the Viet Minh training bases and supply dumps are still just across the frontier, but soon Giap will move his establishment farther north, to safer locations.”
He lifted his eyes to me. “What do you think of it?”
“It seems to me either glory or court-martial, mon colonel,” I said jokingly.
“You had better forget about the second alternative,” said he. “Since your Man-hao business I am, er, your accomplice in Crime.”
“In crime, mon colonel?”
“What else can you call it? We are not at war with China.”
