Scenario: SaS TrooP non-series or limited series scenarios WW2 Edition

[SaS TrooP]

OK, here comes the next one. I would appreciate additional testing since my timing in this scenario might be broken, as I will precisely know what will happen.

Yang Dang Khoum and Khum Phreav*
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Date: 16th of January, 1941*
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Location: Yang Dang Khoum and Khum Phreav, Battambang Province, French Cambodia*
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Type: Thai defence and counterattack vs. Vichy French assault*
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Since the crawling beginning of Thai dictatorship in 1932, Thailand (till 1939 called Siam) began to look for powerful allies, with whom the country would be able to regain some of the lost territories in the early XX century. Since Thailand lost those territories mostly to France, Britain and British Raj, choosing Japan as strategic ally seemed somewhat rational sollution. Both nations closening ties did not go unnoticed, yet Thailand aimed for staying neutral for as long as possible.
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In May 1940, France lost to Germany in Europe and as result Vichy France was created. The now weakened French retained control of majority of colonies, including French Indochina, modern day Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Shortly after, in September 1940, Japanese troops forced Vichy government to provide access to Indochina bases and logistical lines (so needed for Japanese to sustain southern front in war against China), then expanded via short invation to de facto military control of Indochina. Japanese would eventually - after bloody fighting - disarm French forces there in 1945, when French Indochina army would declare its support for the Allied cause.
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Nevertheless, territories lost to France in 1907 indeed interested the Thais. Using the political shielding of now close Japan, Thai dictator Plaek Phibunsongkhram claimed that Vichy France should cede majority of Cambodia into Thailand. At the same time, starting from October 1941, numerous border clashes erupted to add some arguments for the claims. French, however, remained steady and did not budge. Also, army of Indochina begun dislocating troops for Laos and Cambodia.
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In early January 1941 Thai military command finally received green light for serious military operations, that includes carrying out offensives into French Indochina. At the onset of the war, French had 2 infantry divisions made of various regiments, mostly mixed colonial ones, as well as dreadful 5th Foreign Legion Regiment. French Air Force had some obsolete aircraft, approximately 100, of which about 60 could be considered front line. These included thirty Potez 25 TOE reconnaissance/fighters-bombers, four Farman 221 heavy bombers, six Potez 542 bombers, nine Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters, and eight Loire 130 reconnaissance/bombers flying boats. There were only 20 Renault FT-17 tanks in Indochina, but these - on the contraty to popular belief - did not take part in fighting.
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The slightly larger Thai Army was a relatively well-equipped force. Consisting of 60,000 men, it was made up of four armies. The largest were the Burapha Army with five divisions and the Isan Army with three divisions. Independent formations under direct control of the army high command included two motorised cavalry battalions, one artillery battalion, one signals battalion, one engineer battalion, and one armoured regiment. The artillery was a mixture of Krupp guns and modern Bofors guns and Howitzers, while 60 Carden Loyd tankettes and 30 Vickers 6-ton tanks made up the bulk of the army's tank force. As of air force, first-line strength were 24 Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bombers, nine Mitsubishi Ki-21 medium bombers, 25 Curtiss Hawk 75N pursuit fighter planes, six Martin B-10 medium bombers, and 70 Vought O2U Corsair observation/attacker aircraft.
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On 5th January 1941, Thai swept into Laos and Cambodia, pushing aside worse equipped and smaller French force. Then Thai troops focused on securing administration of newly captured territories - generally that war was going kinda slow and bloodless, at least during early stages.
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After two weeks of engagements and some stabilization, French admiral and Governor-General of French Indochina Jean Decoux ordered the French army to launch a larg scale counter attack and push Thai troops from Cambodia. The main axis of attack was marked against newest Thai gains - villages of Koum Phreav and Yang Dang Khoum in Cambodian Battambang province.
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Against that target, the so called "Groupement J" was created under command of colonel Jacomy. A formidable force, it consisted of 4 infantry battalions, including one French Forreign Legion, two artillery battalions, including one Foreign Legion, as well as mixed motorized column from 11th Colonial Infantry Regiment. French did not know the size of Thai forces defending Yang Dang Khoum, since no intel was gathered, so French attacked blind, launching flanking attack from the north with two fixing frontal attacks.
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Thai, on the other hand, belonging to 4th Infantry Division, were prepared and more than aware of French actions. Thais secured control of the air (also Thai pilots proved they might have been one of the best in the world by that time). Thai aerial reconneissance provided data to the ground troops that dug in heavily and deployed forward scouts. Finally, a armoured counterattack column was prepared for the right moment.
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French forces were engaged on 16th of January 1941 in their staging areas, quickly discovered by Thai recon. Nevertheless, French moved in to attack, but its directions were already known. Thai put up still and stubborn defence in well prepared positions, relaying on heavy machinegun fire and canons deployed in direct fire roles.
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Finally, after few hours, when French attack reached the grinding halt, Thai tanks appeared and caused panic in French lines. The entire force crumbled and routed towards city of Seam Reap, chased by the Thai armour. The day was saved by Foreign Legion battalion that arrived late as well as Legion artillery that remained in its initial position and decided on fighting via direct fire. Legion also brought 25mm AT guns, a rare item in French Indochina's armory. Thais did try to break Legion positions using all they got, including heavy airstrikes, yet the Legion withstood and Thais returned to Yang Dang Khoum, while rest of French forces were effectively saved from destruction.
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At the end of the day, Thais claimed the battlefield and French attempt failed painfully, yet Thais failed to destroy the enemy force, making this battle somewhat indecisive. Historically, about 100 Thais and between 200-300 French troops were killed and scores more on both sides wounded, making battle of Yang Dang Khoum the bloodies of war entire.
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A day later French Indochina Navy scored a major win against the Thai Navy nead the island of Ko Chang. VIctory was serious, yet not decisive. Nevertheless, Japanese mediated ceasefire worrying that their ally might loose the war in the end. Bangkok government was moderately interested, controling little new terrain after 2 weeks of serious fighting. Yet it finally gave way under the Japanese pressure. Finally, in middle of 1941, French ceeded a couple of Laos and Cambodia provinces to Thailand, mostly border ones (including Battambang with Yang Dang Khoum in it). The gains were however much less than expected (about 1/4 of territories originally lost in 1907) and infuriated Thai public opinion that blamed Japanese for early interference. In result, Thailand begun to slowly drift away from Japanese ties and looked for other possible allies. On 7th December 1941, when Pacific War begun, Thailand declared neutrality, yet for this reason a day later it was invaded both by Japanese and British, finally siding with Japan for the remainder of the war.
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But that is quite a different tale.
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NOTES: Scenario uses historical data on forces involved and their equipment. For this reason it is playable from both sides, but Player should have a few things in mind while picking side. Scenario has very long turn playtime. This is for a reason to allow both French attack take place and Thai counterattack. When playing as Thailand, generally play as you wish. First destroy the French attack and when you feel strong enough, launch a counterattack and attempt to destroy Foreign Legion artillery battalion.*
When playing as French, it is recommended to do as following: your use of Foreign Legion is free. You might either keep it in reserve or use it to bolster the attack on the Thai held villages. However, if your attack fails to gain a real foothold after about turn 35, turn back and consider it lost. Thai AI will move out to counterattack at about turn 35 - from now on your task will be to defend your artillery. In such situation, you should NOT attempt to capture Thai villages again should you break Thai counterattack. This will essentially give the most historical outcome. If you managed to capture the villages, simply hold against Thai reinforcements.
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Design: Marcin "SaS TrooP" Kaluza*
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Sources: Various sources, a lot of digging and questions asking, but best credit goes to "Le Franc-Tireur" paper, released Autumn 1996, detailing the battle and French force composition.

[SaS TrooP]

OK, here comes second from three Thai scenarios I made, since this nation probably had no scenarios this far.

This one is smaller as of my standard, only battalion size. Enjoy!

Nasty Nakhon Surprise*
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Date: 8th of December, 1941*
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Location: Just north of City of Nakhon Si Tammarat, Nakhon Si Tammarat Province, Southern Thailand*
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Type: Thai delay and (possible) counterattack vs. Japanese assault*
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Since the crawling beginning of Thai dictatorship in 1932, Thailand (till 1939 called Siam) began to look for powerful allies, with whom the country would be able to regain some of the lost territories in the early XX century. Since Thailand lost those territories mostly to France, Britain and British Raj, choosing Japan as strategic ally seemed somewhat rational sollution. Both nations closening ties did not go unnoticed, yet Thailand aimed for staying neutral for as long as possible.
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Back in early 1941 Thais successfully took parts of modern day Laos and Cambodia from their previous enemy, Vichy France. However, even though Thais were winning the conflict on land, they suffered a defeat in the seas durking battle of Ko Chang, where one of thai heavy cruisers was crippled. Seeing this - and to the great dismay of Bangkok - Japanese pushed heavily towards ceasefire that left Thais with no option other than accepting limited territorial gains from the French.
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As Thailand was definitely pro-Japanese to this point, public opinion blaned Tokyo for overexaggerated interference. Thai dictator - Plaek Phibulsonghkram - previously aiming for strict alliance with Japan now decided to steer the country towards "last minute neutrality", particularly given incoming Brito-Japanese confrontation. This move, however, came too late and in the eve of Pacific War Thailand found itself in a position of asian Norway. Japanese needed further staging areas for attacks against Malaya and Burma. Thailand would be a great place to start. British on the other hand were more than eager to preemptively move into Thailand to deny Japanese the mentioned landing grounds.
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Few hours before invasion on Malaya, Japanese provided Bangkok with ultimatum: join us or face invasion. The cabinet was divided, there was no answer in time. Thus, at dawn, Japanese forces - grouped in two armies and supported by fleet - begun landing operations at about 15 different points all over Thailand, starting with Bangkok outskirts and ending in more remote areas.
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One of the landings took place just north of Nakhon Si Tammarat in the southern Thailand and was one of vital areas for quick Japanese movement against Malaya. Japanese troops - about 1500 men from 3rd Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment, as well as elements of 18th Air District Regiment, 32nd AA Battalion and 6th Construction Company - disembarked unoposed, yet quickly noted by the Thai. Their job was to prepare further landings and disarm Thai forces in the area.
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Unbeknownst to the Japanese, local Thai forces of 39th Infantry Battalion, together with 6th Division Staff, were already aware of Japanese landings at nearby Songhla (they were notified by the phone). Instead of remaining in the Camp Vajiravudh - normally hosting high readiness units during their training sessions - they actually deployed effective yet hasty defence in order to contain Japanese beachhead.
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What was supposed to be a formality, turn into a bloodshed. Thais tried to push Japanese back to their crafts but were stopped by superior artillery. On the other hand, Thai machineguns kept Japanese infantry at bay and did not allow them to cross Tha Phae canal, what would allow to bypass the defences. The battle lasted for several hours before ceasefire order arrived for the Thais. At midday the Cabinet finally gathered and Plaek Phibunsonghram accepted the Japanese terms and allowing Japanese i
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It must be noted - perhaps other scenarios will be created in the future - that Thai forces, even though outgunned and outnumbered, stood strong with the government and offered resistance - usually a fierce one - against nearly all Japanese landing zones. Exact Japanese casualties are not known, yet during 6 hours of fighting they probably suffered about 1000 dead and unknown number of wounded. That dead are given at number of about 150-200 dead and 300-400 wounded.
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If you play this scenario as Thais, at least hold steady. Your battalion is partly deployed, you get police support for your cause - they will hold Japanese for a while. 3rd Company (together with MG support) is not yet deployed, use them as you see fit. They may also fare well as counterattacking force.
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If you stop Japanese advance and will be at strength, attempt to overrun the beachhead, eliminating it completely. In that case you will score a complete victory that eluded the Thais.
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When playing as Japanese, your orders are simple: expand the beachhead, crush Thai resistance, make your way through Tha Phae Canal and occupy Camp Vajiravudh, ending the presence of the defender.
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Either way: Good luck!
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This particular scenario is playable from either side, but it is somewhat recommended to play as Thais and Japanese as AI.
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Design: Marcin "SaS TrooP" Kaluza*
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Sources: Various internet sources, those are rather scarce on particular engagements of that invasion.

[DRG]

Originally Posted by SaS TrooP

OK, here comes second from three Thai scenarios I made, since this nation probably had no scenarios this far.

Actually, there are already 4 in the game

ScenarioID Title sMonth sYear Player_1 Player_2
624 Siam Sambal 1/41 1 1941 France Thai
741 Thai Hot 12/41 12 1941 Japan Thai
700 Surabaya Slugfest 11/45 11 1945 India Thai
760 Unlikely Allies 11/45 11 1945 India Thai

Your's is #5