Chapter 30 Zero Four Command

At the military meeting chaired by General Duan Xiwen, everyone finally realized that this was a battle of life and death.Immediately organize a mixed field force of the three or five armies, and select 600 people from the two armies-the whole essence of the lone army.However, Major General Jiansai could not agree with General Duan Xiwen's battle plan. At that time, Major General Jiansai had no relationship with the lone army, but since Prime Minister Marshal Thanom issued an order, he had to follow the order.The reason for the failure of the Thai National Defense Forces lies in the frontal attack, and the lone army is repeating the same mistakes, and also adopts the frontal attack.There was a fierce dispute between the two sides. Major General Jiansai thought it was a dead end. General Duan Xiwen insisted on not changing it. In the end, General Duan Xiwen threatened that if he changed the battle plan, he would refuse to be the commander in chief. Nodded, but General Duan Xiwen asked Major General Jiansai to stay by his side until the end of the war, because it was Thailand and the Chinese generals could not use it freely.Major General Jiansai asked if one month was enough, and General Duan Xiwen replied:

"Enough, maybe for a week." On the fourth day after the Chiang Rai Conference, the lone army assembled in Changkhong City with drums and drums. Major General Jiansai frowned. Obviously, a trap had been laid on the mountain. Under the intersecting blockade of light and heavy machine gun fire nets, none of the 600 Chinese soldiers escaped doom.However, Major General Jiansai actually only saw 500 Chinese soldiers. It was a day before the rainy season in April. Under the cover of artillery, attack at an angle of elevation. As expected, the firepower of the Miao soldiers was blazing, and the lone army began to suffer casualties, but the offensive was not frustrated. They received a strict order that they must attack to the mountainside in one go, not afraid of any cost. General Duan Xiwen personally supervised the battle.

At the same time as the attack was launched, twelve small boats sailed out from a bush about ten kilometers upstream of Badang. There were no lights and no figures. Moored at the northern foot of Huameng Mountain, a hundred solitary brothers, armed with carbines, grenades, and flamethrowers temporarily equipped by the Thai government, landed quietly and followed the trail indicated by the intelligence to climb up stealthily. This tragic battle ended at dawn. The reason for the lone army's strong attack was to attract the main force of the Miao CCP. The fighting methods of the Chinese were different from those of the Thais, so the Miao CCP had to reinforce them again and again. All forces, including the defense forces of Houshan, were all invested.When they were rejoicing that they had finally locked the lone army on the mountainside, the back mountain was like an open door.Part of the Miao Communist Party collapsed, and most were captured.The losses of the lone army were also very heavy, more than 70 people were killed in battle, and more than 300 people were slightly or seriously injured, accounting for half of the entire army.This is the biggest loss since the retreat to Thailand, almost making it impossible for the lone army to form an army.When the corpses and wounded soldiers were transported back to Mesle and Tangwo respectively, the village was full of wailing, crying for their husbands, sons and relatives.

This battle left General Jiansai with a moving impression on the Chinese. General Duan Xiwen apologized to him for not telling him the strategy first, because the spies of the Miao Communist Party spread everywhere. If it leaked, the surprise attack on Houshan failed. A total of only one heavy machine gun can wipe out the lone army when they land, and the overall situation will be out of control.General Jiansai became friends with General Duan Xiwen from admiration, until General Jiansai was later promoted to general and prime minister, the friendship remained unchanged.However, the reputation of the "Ninety-Three Division" and its contribution to Thailand began to be accepted by the Thai people.His Majesty the Emperor of Thailand personally awarded General Duan Xiwen a medal to reward the bravery and loyalty of the lonely army.General Duan Xiwen, a trusted senior general from Yunnan Province, described to me his mood when he received the medal.

"General Duan told me that he only knelt down to one person in his life, that is his grandfather. But at the award ceremony, he knelt down to the King of Thailand. An unsuspecting lone army." The blood of the Lone Army laid the foundation for the Lone Army Hmong to live in Thailand today.After Padang was conquered, the Thai Defense Forces did not move in—they couldn't bear the hardships there, and handed it over to the lone army.It is garrisoned by the mixed troops of the 3rd and 5th armies, and Mr. Duan Guoxiang, a general of the three armies, serves as the commander.This shows that the Thai government trusts the lone army and entrusts them with all the defense fortresses.The Thai government issued Thai citizenship certificates to the families of the dead soldiers, wounded soldiers, and the families of the wounded soldiers. It also fulfilled its promise to issue residence permits to other lone soldiers.The lonely army is like a floating weed, wandering in the poor mountains and rivers of the Thailand-Myanmar border area for 20 years, and now it uses its own blood to exchange for a piece of land for itself to take root.

Then, the Thai government approved the reorganization of the isolated army, called the "Northern Thailand Mountain People's Self-Defense Force", with General Duan Xiwen as the commander and General Li Wenhuan as the deputy commander.Here, there is one thing that I haven't figured out so far, that is, how to deal with their weapons and how to replace them with new weapons, because everyone's statement is different, so I can't tell what is the real fact.What is more credible is that a senior general of the lone army told me that the number of armed personnel in the Self-Defense Forces is 1,500, and the Thai government supplies ammunition and food fodder according to this standard.However, the weapons have not been updated. If the Supreme Command of Thailand needs to fight alone, it will be issued temporarily.It is understandable why it is so strict in this respect.No matter how loyal you are, the Chinese are still Chinese, and from the standpoint of Thailand, the more cautious the better.

In order to control the lone army, the Thai government specially organized an unnamed headquarters in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand, where His Majesty’s Palace is located, because it was set up in the No. 4 barracks of the Chiang Mai border police. Most people call it "Zero Four Headquarters".Later, no one knew whether the Thai government gave it an official name. Everyone only knew that "04 Command" was the supreme command of the Self-Defense Force (Lone Army).