Operation Homesick

+ FAS Forces unable to secure a successful frontline in Vietnam, Borneo and Bali
	+ Union Forces successfully prevent the opening of a Second Front in Mainland Asia

Combatants| * The Free Atlantic States

Commanders| * (AUS) General Reg Pollard
* (ENG) General Claude Auchinleck
* (CAN) General Don Laubman
* (NZE) General Keith Lindsay Stewart
* Ho Chi Minh (As Leader of the Vietnamese Guerrillas)

Strength| * 25,000 British Marines
* 50,000 Australian Marines
* 20,000 New Zealand Marines
* 5,000 Canadian Infantry
* 1 Canadian Armoured Division
* 100,000 Vietnamese Communist Guerrillas
* 120,000 Indonesian Communist Guerrillas

Casualties| * 9,453 British Deaths
	+ 7,934 in Vietnam
	+ 1,115 in Borneo
	+ 403 in Bali

* 15,873 Australian Deaths
	+ 6,891 in Vietnam
	+ 2,419 in Borneo
	+ 6,563 in Bali

* 12,678 New Zealand Deaths
	+ 4226 in Borneo
	+ 8,452 in Bali

* 1,091 Canadian Deaths
* est. 10,000 - 20,000 Vietnamese Deaths
* est. 30,000 -45,000 Indonesian Deaths

**Operation Homesick** ,otherwise known as **The South East Asia Campaign**, was a failed Military Campaign fought from the 12th of September 1952 to the 5th of October 1952 during The War of The Pacific. Operation Homesick was fought between British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Soldiers of The Free Atlantic States and mainly Communist Guerrillas of The Union of East Asian Soviets.

## History

### Background

The Operation was a direct consequence of The Summer Offensive of 1952 where The Union managed to capture Midway, The Kashmir and knock out China from the War. The Free Atlantic States felt a hit in morale from the losses in The Summer and wished to make up for it. This resulted in the hastily planned "Operation Homesick". The Operation consisted of Three Naval Landings, one on South Vietnam, One on Borneo in Indonesia and another on Bali in Indonesia.

Commanding the Entire Operation was General Reg Pollard of the Australian Contingent of which he was also the commander. Alongside him were General Claude Auchinleck of The British Contingent, General Don Laubman of The Canadian Contingent and General Keith Lindsay Stewart of The New Zealand Contingent.

Facing them was General Takeshi Manusuko, The Newly Promoted Commander of The Union Army "Indo-Pacific" Command and Architect of The Summer Offensive of 1952. Manusuko was considered to be one of the finest Commanders the Union had to offer but during Operation Homesick, Manusuko was not near the fighting and was in Japan attending a War Council. The Main Commander on the Field was Ho Chi Minh of The Vietnamese Guerrillas. Manusuko was quick to communicate with Minh where he placed Minh in charge of a Force of 5,000 Union Soldiers whilst he travelled to oversee the Defence of South East Asia.

### Invasion of Vietnam

On the 12th of September, The Australian 1st and 2nd Marine Division landed in the Vịnh Gành Rái Sea region with the goal to Capture Saigon and Southern Vietnam. The Australians Successfully secured Beachheads after facing very weak Union Garrisons who consisted of poorly trained and equipped Conscripts. A Day Later, The British 4th and 2nd Marine Divisions arrived and by the 18th, The Canadian 6th Armoured Division had reinforced the Invasion Force. Over 50,000 Men had now secured the Cities of Vung Tau and Ba Ria and all along the Bay with very little opposition. They then began the March to Saigon.

Along the Road to Saigon, The Allied Force would be continuedly ambushed by Vietnamese Communist Guerrillas hiding amongst the thick Jungles. Every Allied Advance would be halted by these ambushes and this resulted in hours lost to fighting and cleaning up the narrow roads.

On the 20th, Allied Soldiers reached Saigon but their moral was crushed. They had already suffered over a thousand casualties and lost several Armoured Vehicles. The Battle of Saigon began and the weakened Allied Force faced a confident and supplied Union Army and Vietnamese Guerrilla Force numbering over 100,000 Strong. The Vietnamese had concentrated all of their assets and men inside and around Saigon. As The Allied Forces were entering the City, Vietnamese Forces continued to hit their flanks from the Jungles.

The Canadian Armoured Division briefly managed to push the Union Army out of Saigon on the 25th but would later be repelled by a counterattack on the 27th. The Allied Force under the command of Reg Pollard was ordered to withdraw from Saigon back to a perimeter around the Landing Zones. During the retreat, The Communist Guerrillas would continue to ambush and pick off the small Allied Columns.

After the full Army had arrived back to the Vịnh Gành Rái region on the 1st of October, General Pollard informed the Officers about the defeat at Borneo and Bali on the 19th and began ordering an evacuation before the Communists could crush the weakened Force. The attack came mid-evacuation on the 3rd and the Canadians formed a rear-guard to allow the other soldiers to evacuate resulting in 508 Canadian Deaths after they finally evacuated on the 5th.

7,934 British, 6,891 Australian and 1,091 Canadians would be killed in Vietnam. Vietnam would see the first usage of Combat Helicopters to transport Soldiers which was adopted by Australian Forces in the Last Weeks of the War to destroy enemy positions to allow the columns to evacuate.

### Invasion of Borneo and Bali

The Invasion of Borneo and Bali was undertaken by a Mainly Australian and New Zealand Force with A Single British Division. On the 15th The Borneo Landings took place and on the 17th The Bali Landings took place. Borneo and Bali were a different battle compared to The Vietnamese Front.

From the Landing, The Australians, New Zealanders and British were pounded by a strong Union and Indonesian Defence. Some Units even failed to land and were forced to navally shell the Enemy Positions prior to landing. This took the Invasion Force by surprise as they had been given information that Borneo and Bali would be incredibly weak and a Landing would see little enemy contact. This information was quickly proven to be incorrect.

On the 18th, The Australian Force holding the Left Flank of the Borneo Landing was assaulted by a force of 40,000 Indonesian Guerrillas and were pushed back after suffering heavy casualties. This assault continued to the New Zealand Central Flank who saw a 4 Battalion be killed or captured. The British Right Flank pulled back to the Beaches with the Australians and remaining New Zealanders. The same day saw the entire Bali Landing Force be assaulted by a Force of 50,000 Enemy Soldiers which forced the remaining New Zealand and Australians to evacuate from Bali after heavy losses.

Finally on the 19th, The Borneo Force would be successfully evacuated after losing thousands of soldiers and leaving a majority of their equipment. Bali would see most of the losses suffered in the Borneo-Bali Campaign due to the ferocity of the attacking forces. 2 Weeks and 2 Days Later, The Vietnam Force would evacuate and Operation Homesick was called off.

## Aftermath

The Initial Aftermath was of shock. The Free Atlantic States had been defeated by poorly trained and equipped communist guerrillas in less than a month. The FAS Forces had taken nearly 40,000 in losses. The Whole Operation was kept under a classified state by the Federal Government due to the embarrassment of losing despite the heroic actions of the soldiers participating in the Operation and the high casualty rate inflicted on the Guerrillas.

The Union was not all victorious however, the Invasion of South East Asia was not prevented by the Union Army but by Vietnamese and Indonesian Communist Guerrillas. The Union army actually performed very poorly especially in Vietnam where they lost Saigon. The Vietcong Guerrillas under Ho Chi Minh had become distant from the Communist Government in Japan and instead began pushing for further autonomy. This is still continuing to the present day which may present an issue for the Union.