"The Siam army has broken through the border, and I'm sure they have destroyed the outposts there." Lieutenant Anatoly shouted loudly, pressing the throat telephone. The German-made fi156 "stork" military reconnaissance aircraft with the French Air Force's tricolor aircraft logo turned lightly in the air, and the route began to remain parallel to the highway.

"Stay safely away, [squirrel]." Second Lieutenant Brian, the observer in the back seat of the reconnaissance aircraft, warned.

"I understand, I don't want to cause trouble either." The pilot nicknamed [Squirrel] leveled the fuselage and slightly closed the accelerator.

Looking down from the cabin, the road leading to Shishufeng was filled with ongoing personnel and vehicles. Judging from the direction of the team's advance, it was obviously not a French army.

Intelligence shows that the Siam Army is equipped with light air defense weapons, and many of them were sold to them by the French themselves, including the thirteen-two-mm Hakikas machine guns and some 25-mm Hakikas machine guns. Although the number is not a large number, no matter which one is enough for this "stork" to kill it.

Of course, the Siamese troops on the ground had discovered this reconnaissance aircraft long ago, but it seemed that their commanders were not very concerned about it. Perhaps they recognized that it was an unarmed light reconnaissance aircraft and was not threatening to the marching column.

"There are all infantry and a large number of trucks, which should be baggage units. They are advancing southeast along Highway 5." The driver reported to his superiors via radio.

"Have you taken all of it?" Anatoly turned his head and asked in the back seat.

"All of them are taken, hell, they are opening fire at us." Brian shouted. At this moment, a faint smoke rose between the marching queues. Under the sunset, the pilots could clearly see green tracer bombs slowly rising from the ground, like a group of fireflies flying in the air.

"It's time to evacuate, we've taken enough photos." Anatoly swung the wings and then began to turn to the outside.

"Try to rush back to Akleda before dark. The runway there is not very good. I hope we won't encounter Siamese fighters. We must bring this batch of important films back." Brian turned the seat under him to the rear, grabbed the stock of the mg17 self-defense machine gun, and loaded it hard.

"That annoying bug flew away." Major Dapnahit, the combat staff officer of the 35th Infantry Battalion, turned his face and looked at the regiment commander sitting on his right.

"This is not a good omen, Major Man." Lieutenant Colonel Lano, the commander of the infantry battalion of the 35th Battalion, said with his head resting on the back of the chair and his eyes closed."

I understand what you mean, Lieutenant Colonel." Although the combat staff said this, they looked disapproving.

The real name of Dapunahit is quite long and it is difficult to pronounce. This is very common in Siam. Therefore, before adulthood, Siam people have a simple nickname, which is convenient for parents, relatives, friends and teachers to call them. As a result, they often continue to use it after adulthood. Dapunahit's nickname is "Man".

Lieutenant Colonel Lano is a real family. The elders of the clan are great nobles with the title of [Pha], equivalent to Western marquis. He has not studied in the military academy for a few days and has been through family relations until now. Although his qualifications and background are very strong, it cannot convince officers of the young and strong faction like Major Man.

"The cavalry company has captured the village of Puenkun. The company commander claimed that he had only encountered slight resistance. It is obvious that after France was defeated by Germany, the French army had lost their fighting spirit." The Siamese major showed a hint of pride. He did not believe the rumors in the army, saying that the French had transferred a large number of elite troops from the local area. In his opinion, it was a group of exiled defeated troops, who had long been broken by the Germans. How could this kind of waste be an opponent of the Siamese army?

"You must not be careless, Major. The French are not as simple as you imagined. Remember the news last month? They annihilated a Japanese infantry battalion." Lano opened his eyes and glanced at his combat staff. He had had enough of the provocations of this combative little boy in the past few months. If the little boy had not had some status in his family, Lano would have tried to kick him out of the infantry battalion.

The 35th Infantry Battalion has a total of 700 people, and the actual number is only a little over 500. The entire battalion is divided into four companies, three ordinary infantry companies and a machine gun company, as well as the guard platoon directly under the battalion headquarters, a baggage platoon and a communication squad. Because it was arranged in the vanguard sequence, the superiors also sent an additional mortar platoon to the battalion when they set off to strengthen the assault firepower of this pure infantry unit.

This battalion is equipped with the 66 Siamese Mauser, which is actually the Siamese imitation G98 Mauser rifle. The so-called 66 means that it was finalized in the 2466 Siamese calendar, which is converted into the Gregorian calendar in 1914. This is a reliable weapon, using an 8x52 Mauser bomb. For Asians, the recoil is a bit too high.

This is also one of the reasons why Siam chose to buy Japanese Type 38 rifles. Another reason is that the dictatorial prime minister wanted to try his best to eliminate the traces left by Rama VI in the army. His group of students who were funded by the royal family were highly valued by the king. After returning to China, most of them were valued. It can be said that they were deeply favored by Rama VI. However, when the king passed away, they launched a coup to overthrow the royal rule, and their hands were covered with blood loyal to the royal military and civilians. What these people feared the most was the restoration of the royal family. If it weren't for the large number of such rifles, Piwensong would have wished that all of them would use the Japanese Type 38 to replace the group of rifles named Rama.

In the combat plan of Siam, the 35th Infantry Battalion followed the vanguard company of the 12th Cavalry Battalion, followed by the 20th Infantry Battalion, because there was only one road leading to Shishufeng, and the transportation of the Siam troops relied on carriages and trucks, and could not march off the road.

The cavalry battalion has a relatively high degree of mechanization and has rushed to the forefront all the way. The Siamese infantry battalion can only rely on foot to advance, and the soldiers are carrying heavy equipment supplies. As the fatigue increases, the speed of progress gradually slows down. So, before I know it, there is a disconnect between the 35th Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Company of the 12th Cavalry Battalion, and as time goes by, the distance between the two troops continues to widen.

Captain Depan's troops easily defeated a mixed Khmer and French army unit in Puenkun Village. The village lies on Highway 5 leading to Shishufeng. France set up a guard post here, and the Khmer police and French colonial troops stationed together had thirty people. These defenders simply fired bullets at Siamese armored vehicles and light tanks at will, and then climbed onto two Renault trucks and turned around to retreat in Shishufeng.

Depan's troops successfully occupied this important border village without firing a few shots throughout the journey. This place is a planned military station setting point. The village is located on a major transportation road and has sufficient clean water. In particular, there are many ready-made houses that can be provided to the baggage troops to store supplies and live in.

Because of the urgent task, Depan did not stay in the village for more time. He only left a platoon of infantry to complete the occupation of the village and town.

Just as the Khmers hated the Siamese, the Siamese were full of disgust and contempt for the Khmers. They believed that the once powerful Angkor dynasty had turned into dust. In the failure of previous wars, the Khmers had long lost the courage and glory that their ancestors had, and were not qualified to continue to occupy this fertile land. They should hand it over to the rule of the powerful Siamese dynasty.

The Siamese infantry broke open the door of every villager's house, and concentrated the men, women, young and old who had no time to escape in the open space in the center of the village. Because no one resisted during this period, no bloody atrocities finally occurred.

But waiting for this group of Khmer villagers will definitely not be a good thing. They may be released by the army after the operation is completed, but they are destined to lose all their possessions here, because the Siamese will not allow these Khmers to continue living on this land. The villagers' houses, fields and production tools will be confiscated and handed over to the Siamese farmers who came from behind. This is a practice in the Southeast Asian war. The winners get everything, while the losers are alone.

Depan's troops attacked the highway towards the capital of Banteimengi Province. One of his infantry platoons remained in Puenkun. The 35th Infantry Battalion, which was the support of the cavalry company, was still slowly advancing on the highway almost two kilometers away from Puenkun. The Siamese troops set up an intermittent long snake formation on Highway 5.

At this time, the Siamese people never expected that a French armored force was approaching the highway in the southeast direction, and a classic encirclement and annihilation battle would begin here.
Chapter completed!