Father of France

Chapter 203 Convergence
The swaying landing craft was packed with soldiers. North African infantrymen from Algeria gripped their rifles tightly, their knuckles white from the effort; on the Senegalese sniper's dark face, only the whites of his eyes stood out in the dim light.

The foreign legion soldiers mostly remained expressionless, as if it were just a routine exercise, but their bodies, pressed close to the ship's side and leaning slightly forward, betrayed their intense vigilance.

The tense soldiers were fully prepared, but thankfully it was just a false alarm. They couldn't help but admire the landing site chosen by the higher-ups; apart from the somewhat poor infrastructure, there were no other problems.

Mandabe was just a small port with a population of just over 20,000, but it was one of the few usable landing points in northwestern Madagascar. The residents here were greeted by soldiers who outnumbered the local population. Everyone was trembling with fear, lest they attract the attention of soldiers of unknown origin.

After landing, the first combat mission for this expeditionary force from Africa was to move south and control the west coast of Madagascar. This mission was not difficult for the African soldiers and the Foreign Legion. The soldier who received the order shrugged and wiped his submachine gun: "It's all the same everywhere. For us, the battlefield is home."

After landing, Major General Padua issued the order to move south and, in the name of the expeditionary force commander, issued the first sanction against Madagascar: "Effective immediately, all ports in Madagascar are prohibited from berthing vessels of illegal nationality, and any foreign vessels that enter territorial waters without notification shall be sunk immediately."

Five days after the Madagascar Expeditionary Force's African troops began their military operations, Mandabe welcomed another fleet. French Indochina forces finally arrived and began their second landing, making this not-so-important port busy once again.

"We've finally arrived. I feel like I've turned into a fish." Coman put on his mask and went ashore with Bokassa's company. Although the possibility of racial discrimination here was unlikely, what if it happened?
Soldiers from the same Youth Division, dressed identically to Koman, had been waiting for a long time at the landing point. Upon seeing the distinctive formation that didn't even show their faces, they knew these were their comrades.

"Settle the Vietnamese people in the camp." Koman was quite blunt. After disembarking, he immediately began to lead his men to help maintain order, and even requisitioned the masked man who had come to pick him up.

They came all the way from afar at France's invitation, shouldn't we take good care of them? What about unity?

Although the second expeditionary force that landed was busy, there was no chaos thanks to the maintenance of the military police.

Most of the Vietnamese soldiers who disembarked were curious. The vast majority of them had never been far from home and had heard that other troops on Java Island had made a fortune. In addition, they had a certain contempt for the black people in Africa and did not think that the enemy was difficult to deal with.

Many people joined the expedition with the hope of an easy victory and the prospect of making a name for themselves. Koman had previously used his few days in French India to successfully alleviate the anxiety of many Vietnamese soldiers.

Despite being a military policeman whose duty was to supervise the troops, he ended up doing the work of a political commissar. Fortunately, the results were good, and most of the Vietnamese soldiers were not nervous.

"This expeditionary force is quite large." Martin himself appeared when the 4th Division of the Vietnamese National Army landed, and couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the surging crowd.

"The Vietnamese National Army is organized according to wartime division structure, with 17,000 men per division. In addition, we have drawn some foreign legions and French troops, making this expeditionary force 22,000 men, but not all of them are combat personnel."

Koman reached out and pulled off his mask, smiling as he looked at Martin, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. He explained, "We've requisitioned several cargo ships from the Saigon Rice Trading Center, one of which is carrying 10,000 tons of rice, in case there are any problems with the grain requisition here. By the way, did the person I asked you to bring arrive?"

While in French India, Coman was not idle. In addition to spending his brief time on the landing and building up the morale of the Vietnamese troops, he also made contact with Martin, who was in Djibouti at the time.

Before the General Staff issued the order to suppress Madagascar, Koeman contacted General Dragon, believing that they should take the opportunity to get things done in one go.

The problem remains if we only kill without building, and building is a complex issue. The first step is to conduct a thorough investigation of Madagascar, even if it's not a complete one.

In particular, mineral exploration is needed. The world's fourth largest island and Africa's largest island, with an area of ​​600,000 square kilometers, has a highland in the center of the island. It is absolutely impossible that there are no minerals, they just haven't been explored yet.

Saying there are no minerals on the Tibetan Plateau is not as serious as saying there are no minerals on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

"We brought some exploration teams, and it cost the Youth Division a lot of military funds," Martin replied somewhat perfunctorily. "Hopefully, we can achieve a good result."

“What kind of talk is that, you miser?” Coleman couldn’t help but say. “You don’t think that money belongs to you personally, do you? It’s the wealth of the entire division.”

“No, not really. I might actually have some Scrooge-like traits. If you had left a couple of days later, you would have seen your American girlfriend,” Martin said as he walked side by side with Coleman. “She’s already back in Saigon.”

“We’re on a military operation, how did Ava end up with you?” Koman would be lying if he said he had no regrets, but since he was already here, he could only show his willingness to share the burden for his country. “Look at what you’re saying, she’s rich. Although military operations are classified, they’re not to the point where no one can be told.” Martin smiled and said, “She even wanted to come over. I advised her not to come in the telegram. I heard she’s planning a charity event. I hope good luck is with you.”

"Always doing these strange things." Did he go to the great Eastern country and get some feudal dregs, or was he influenced by karma and retribution? Even though he thought this, Koman felt a warmth in his heart.

Now that we're here, Coman can't just stay immersed in romance. Does he still want to make progress? He changed the subject, saying, "It seems that British India is about to become independent. Judging from the local colonial representatives, if British India becomes independent, Paris will also try to transfer sovereignty of French India."

"The British are willing to give it up? Wasn't it supposed to be the jewel of the British Empire?" Martin had always thought the rumors of British India's independence were just idle talk, but he never expected that Britain was actually preparing to relinquish it.

"British India is paralyzed. There are strikes in major cities. If riots break out, the British army will not have the strength to suppress them. The next step for Britain will be to focus on managing the Malayan colony."

Koeman recalled that Britain seemed to have a backup plan: to merge the British East African colonies into the British East African Federation with Kenya at its core, but this plan also failed.

Then, as if remembering something, Coman said that he had brought a batch of Tiger Balm from Saigon, which was more suitable for the hot and dense forest climate. Many French soldiers came to Madagascar from North Africa and suffered greatly from the environment there, which was also the reason for recruiting the Vietnamese National Army.

The two went together to Major General Padua's headquarters. Although the expeditionary force in French Indochina was larger, the main force was composed of Vietnamese, so Major General Padua, who had arrived earlier, was still the commander of this joint expeditionary force.

The French operations on the west coast progressed rapidly, mainly because the west coast, with its savanna climate, was ideal for the North African troops. Also, due to the climate, the population was much smaller than on the east coast and the central highlands. This sparse population on the open grasslands allowed the landing African Expeditionary Force to quickly seize the land.

"These people don't seem to be like the Bantu people on the East Coast, causing us so much trouble," Koeman said to Martin after investigating at headquarters. "We can't eliminate all the competitors of the Austronesians in the Central Highlands. The Federal Plan is the most suitable political system for maintaining French influence."

In short, Madagascar's population is dominated by Austronesians, but the remaining ethnic groups are mostly descendants of African immigrants who migrated across the sea. The status of these ethnic groups is similar to that of Yugoslavia, where Serbs comprised 40% of the population, but because they were less than half, they were not the dominant ethnic group.

This island is 400 kilometers wide from the strait in Africa, which is not close. It is difficult for Africans to cross, and for so long, they have not been able to shake the status of the Austronesian people.

As Koeman and his command staff gathered information, Major General Padua, commander of the expeditionary force, finally appeared. Upon seeing Martin, he immediately understood the situation and inquired, “The French Indochina Expeditionary Force will rest for three days. Next, we will assist the French forces in Antananarivo in seizing control of the entire Central Highlands. We will be facing the Merina, the largest ethnic group on the island, who once ruled Madagascar. Currently, the uprising is spreading from the east coast towards the Central Highlands; we cannot wait any longer.”

“I know, their queen’s head is kept in Paris.” Koman answered, unconsciously tightening his grip on the knife he had brought, which was quite professional. “Our troops are not yet aware of the current situation in the Central Heights, and we are waiting for orders from headquarters.”

This attitude pleased Major General Padova greatly. "We are conducting reconnaissance through various means to find a route to Antananarivo. According to intelligence, it is not yet certain whether any local tribal leaders have joined the rebels in the east, but we believe we will have news soon."

Koman stood at attention and listened to Major General Padova's orders before leaving the command post. He then said to Martin, who had come out with him, "I hope the South Islanders won't cause us any trouble. How about we drop some leaflets with the air force? Although literacy rates might be a bit of a problem, we can't be without them, can we? We've come with good intentions, and we're even planning to build hospitals and schools to boost agricultural development."

"So you're saying the East Coast isn't included?" Martin sighed helplessly, pulling Coman along. "Come on, let's get you settled in your camp first."

Over the course of several days, through reconnaissance troops, aerial reconnaissance aircraft, and the bribing of local guides, intelligence on the Austronesian Merina people of the Central Highlands was continuously delivered to Mandabe.

The distinction between the Merina and Bantu people remains quite clear, and the situation in the capital, Antananarivo, is generally stable.

However, not the entire Central Plateau is as stable as Mount Tai. Such nationalist slogans always incite some tribes, making them less calm.

Having confirmed the situation was stable, the French Indochina Expeditionary Force set off after three days of rest. The steppe terrain was replaced by more rugged mountains covered with low shrubs and massive granite formations. The expeditionary force trudged laboriously through this undulating green sea.

The massive army traversing the mountains was a mental test, but Koman couldn't show weakness. Could he really not handle marching tens of thousands of people? That was definitely not an option.

(End of this chapter)