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(Old page) East Indies Crisis - do not edit: Difference between revisions

From Roses, Tulips, & Liberty
(→‎A shift in doctrine: Added this part to give greater detail)
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===Operation Slachthuis===
Operation Slachthuis was launched on the eve of 1965, on the 2nd of January 1966 by the Krijgsmacht & KNIL. It was the rapid and sustained escalation of the military operations against the Soendanese rebels with the objective of neutralizing Soendanese fighting capabilities, it was launched as the whole military capabilities of the Netherlands were reorganized in the east indies.
 
The four objectives of the operation (which evolved over time) were to boost the morale of the Landmacht & KNIL militaries at the time, promote the newly established regime in Batavia, and persuade the Soendanese rebels to come to the negotiation table, destroy Soendanese logistical systems, lower their morale and destroy their ability to fight this war sustainably by destroying their limited industrial ability, halt the flow of men and material into Dutch controlled lands and weaken their air defence systems. It was also launched to send a message to the Dutch allies that they were in this fight to win it, that they were able to fight it and to its opponents that they should not underestimate them.
 
The operation became one of the most intense air/ground battles waged before the blooding and the final years of the war. It was a difficult campaign since the enemies were distributed across the islands, they had a mixture of Russian fighter interceptors and sophisticated air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons. This created one of the most effective air defences at the time, yet after the operation was done this air defence network was weakened and in some places destroyed completely. It did eventually see the Netherlands achieve its goal of severly destroying Soendanese air defense capabilities in the critical fronts.
 
== 1967-1972 (Stalemate)==
The next 6 years (1966 - 1972) were marked by small-scale, jungle warfare, with intermittent periods of high-intensity large-scale operations conducted by both sides. At the time the Netherlands maintained control over large portions of southern Sumatra, all of the Malaysian peninsula, Java and most urban centers on those islands, with Borneo and Celebs being the areas where urban centers were heavily contested.
dThe next 5 years (1967-1972) were marked by the rebels and the Dutch recuperating their losses, stabilising frontlines, and modernising their fighting forces at a rapid pace. With Dutch control of Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula by 1969 was relegated to the coastal areas and urban centers. To deal with the new strategic reality of the situation, the KNIL was operationally integrated into the armed forces. At the same time, the usage of large-scale bombing raids, that devastated entire sections of the jungle became the norm. All of this was possible as the early investments were bearing the fruits of their labour, more advanced weapon systems, aerospace systems and ships were becoming available in massive numbers, combined with the increase in available manpower made allowed the Netherlands to become a larger and more high-quality force.
 
The rebels did not sit idle, controlling the interior of Sumatra and the Malaya peninsula they were able to properly build up their forces. Moving away from just an unconditional force and towards a mixed force. While never able to beat the Dutch in an open battle their new strategic concept would be that of weakened battle, bleed the dutch with a thousand cuts rather than one punch. It was a period where fighting still was taking place and by all measures was quite intense. For the east indies crisis, it was silent, for everyone knew that both sides were preparing for the slugfest that would become the final part
To deal with the new strategic reality of the theatre of operations, in that they were increasingly fighting overwhelming numbers, the KNIL units were more and more separated on an operational level yet integrated from a divisional command level. It would see an increase in large-scale bombing operations that devastated entire sections of the jungles, cities and other key areas where t was assumpted that rebel activity was present. This destroyed entire regions of Soenda and even eradicated several species as their biomes were destroyed. This massive scale of devastation was possible due to the fruition of early investments, and more advanced weapon systems that increased the firepower available to any platform and increased the network integrated and shortened the kill chain.
 
The rebels tho did not sit idle, controlling the interior of Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula they were able to properly build up some armoured forces. They moved towards a hybrid doctrine of indirect warfare and conventional operations. While they were never able to beat the Dutch in an open battle, both in the air, land and on the waters, they were able in their view to bleed the Dutch out, by a thousand cuts. Killing more and more Dutch soldiers thus decreasing morale at home.
 
Thus where the fighting was mixed and relatively stable with the exception of the relatively major operations every 5 months. Both sides knew that the other was preparing for a massive start and increase in combat operations.
 
=== Operatie: Dolle dinsdag ===
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