The Five-Pointed Star
By
Quinton Van Zyl
DATE: 11 May 1975
TIME: 06:00:00 Zulu, pre dawn local time
LOCATION: Gulf of Aden
France vs Somalia
Ever since gaining independence from Britain in 1960, Somalia has dreamed of reuniting all its former provinces to become greater Somalia once more. The national flag of Somalia features a five pointed star representing those areas claimed as part of the Somali nation - the former Italian and British territories; the Ogaden region of Ethiopia; the NFD region of northern Kenya and the former French colony of Djibouti. The constitution includes the statement "the Somali Republic promotes the union of the territories". The constitution also provides that all ethnic Somalis, no matter where they reside are citizens of the republic.
In 1969, Somalia suffered a bloody coup which saw Siad Barre come to power - one year later, Somalia was declared a socialist state. With military ambition high on the agenda, the new Somali government quickly strenghtened ties with Moscow. A deal was quickly set up where Soviet forces could make use of Somali airbases and ports in exchange for modern weaponry.
The unsuccesful struggle with Kenya in the 1960s has persuaded the Somali government to turn its attention northward. Their attention now seems squarely focussed on Djibouti. This small city state is home to a Somali ethnic majority and is one of the major shipping hubs of the Middle East - it is also almost completely incapable of defending itself. The diplomatic approach to reunification has been aggressively countered by Djiboutis former colonial master France, with the French foreign minister stating that
"The island of democracy that is Djibouti will never fall into the hands of a greedy dicatorship. France's commitment to the preservation of freedom in the area is strong and will be demonstrated by force if necessary."
Somalia has responded by expressing its urgent desire to liberate the oppressed people of the Somali nation under one flag and rid the region of colonial influences. Following this statement, the French navy despatched one of its Indian Ocean squadron frigates to the area and readied a far larger force for despatch to the region to "deal with any and all contingencies."
The mounting tension finally blew last week with cross border raids by Somali military forces and close support airstrikes on French army positions in Djibouti. The small French garrison is not expected to hold for much longer even with the support of a French Mirage squadron. The French task force passed the island of Socrota last evening and has now entered the Gulf of Aden.
While the Soviet Union would be delighted with the removal of the French presence in the region, they seem unwilling to overtly support their Somali allies. However, the presence of Soviet warships conducting hastily arranged exercises with the South Yemen navy has certainly got the attention of the French navy.
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ORDERS FOR CMDR FRENCH OPS
INTEL
Our forces stationed in Djibouti are taking a beating, Somali forces have reached the outskirts of the capital and it seems without reinforcements, the defences will fail within 48 hours. A large proportion of the Somali airforce has deployed to the airbase outside Hargeisa, with a few of the longer ranged units operating out of Mogadishu.
Elements of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet have been conducting exercises with the South Yemen navy, but it seems uncertain as to what further intentions they may have in the area. What is also uncertain is how much assistance they are giving the Somalis - some unconfirmed reports suggest they may have "instructors" assisting with the training of Somali pilots. They may also be passing contact reports on to the Somali's, however at this stage that is unconfirmed.
At this time not all vessels of the Somali navy have been accounted for.
MISSION
* Set up defensive combat air patrols around your forces - keeping a close eye on Soviet activity in the region.
* Conduct airstrikes as required in order to gain air superiority over Djibouti. You may consider attacking the primary forward airbase at Hargeisa, however be warned it is well defended by SAMs and AAA.
* Escort thr amphibious assault group to the reference points off Djibouti. Soften up the defences in the area and close to within 5nm of the enemy positions. The Ouragan has two embarked mechanised infantry companies, the LST's each have one. Once in range, launch the assault on the beachead. The companies each travel to their targets at 12kt (you wont see instantaneous results - this is real life).
* You need to destroy at least 6 of the Somali tank and army units.
* Neither the Foch or the assault ship Ouragan may be lost in this encounter as both are mission critical.
* For political reasons you may not lose more than two ships in total.
* To be considered successful, you must station three of the five amphibious ships in the area marked by the reference points for at least 4 hours.
You have 32 hours to complete your objectives.
COMMAND & SIGNAL: R 99 Foch
Unrestricted Emissions
Database: 1965 - 1979 Database
Status: Released - Tested in v3.6
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