Operation Dragon Rouge - Hostage Rescue in Stanleyville*
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Date: November, 1964*
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Battle Location: Stanleyville, the Congo*
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Battle Type: Assault - Belgian Paras vs Simba Rebels*
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Single Player Only - Belgian Human Player vs Simba AI*
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Game Length - 19 Turns*
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Victory Conditions - There are three Victory Conditions.*
1)The Belgian Player must capture all the Victory Hexes.*
2)At least 7 squads from 11th and 13th companies must exit the right side of the map.*
3)There are six hostage "squads" with 12 men each located around the city. If any hostage is killed the Belgian Player loses.*
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Design Sources: http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/odom/odom.asp#vii and other internet sites - google "operation dragon rouge"*
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"In early August 1964, several thousand Simba rebels under the command of Nicholas Olenga stormed the defenses of Stanleyville (modern-day Kisangani), a city of 300,000 deep in the heart of the newly independent Republic of the Congo. The victorious rebels promptly took more than 1,600 European residents hostage and announced that any attempt by the Congolese government to recapture the city would precipitate the killing of the Europeans. So began the drama that culminated in the first - and in many ways, the most complex - multinational hostage rescue operation of the cold war." - Odom (see sources)*
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As the Simbas moved into the environs around Stanleyville, they took even more hostages. Eventually they held over 2000 Africans, Europeans, and Americans captive. The majority of the European hostages were Belgian, the former colonial ruler of the Congo. The Belgian and American governments attempted to release the hostages by negotiations, but met with failure after failure. Finally, the two governments decided to launch a joint assault to free the hostages by force.*
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The operation to liberate Stanleyville had two main components. The first was "Dragon Rouge", an airborne assault on Stanleyville by elements of 1 Para and 2 Commando of the Belgian Paracommando Regiment. The United States would employ  C-130E aircraft to transport the Belgians and their equipment thousands of miles from Belgium through Spain, Ascension Island, the staging area at Kamina, and then on to Stanleyville. The main objective of Dragon Rouge was to secure the airfield and then advance into Stanleyville to liberate and evacuate the hostages. The second component, called "L'Ommengang" was an overland drive of European and Katangan (southern Congolese) mercenaries led by Belgian officers. These men were to capture and hold the city, using it as a base for future operations against the Simbas. Included in L'Ommengang was the infamous Soldier of Fortune Mike Hoare, who commanded the 5th Brigade and would spearhead the advance to Stanleyville.*
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On the morning of November 24th, Dragon Rouge was launched. 320 Belgians from 1 Para, were dropped on the Stanleyville Golf Course by the C-130s. The Paras rushed to seize the nearby airfield and, after a brief firefight, quickly secured the control tower and hanger. After establishing a perimeter, the Belgians cleared the runway of all obstacles, allowing a second wave of C-130s to land and off-load armored jeeps, AS24 motorized tricycles, and 12th company from 2 Commando.*
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As the paras were landing, a lead column from the 5th Brigade was also approaching Stanleyville. Delayed by ambush after ambush, the mercenaries would reach the outskirts of Stanleyville a few hours after the first paras landed.*
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Leaving the HQ company and various support elements to defend the airfield, the 11th and 13th companys of 1 Para moved off to to Stanleyville, followed by the recently arrived 12th. Intelligence on the situation in Stanleyville was poor, but it was known that the hostages had been divided into several groups that were dispersed throughout the city. The plan called for 11th company to advance along the main Avenue Monseigneur Grison towards the center of the city, main objectives being the Police HQ and the Victoria Hotel, where a large number of the hostages were believed to be held. 13th company was to advance along the banks of the Congo River, towards the Hotel des Chutes and the Ketele Military Camp, just east of downtown Stanleyville. 12th company was to secure the Stadium and the northern edge of the downtown area, blocking any Simba reinforcements moving down from the northern suburbs. Since speed was of the essence, the paras left most of their heavy equipment behind. The armored jeeps from the recce squadron were to support the paras with their heavy MGs, while the AS24 tricycles would give them some additional mobility.*
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The Belgians were ambushed and sniped as they made their way to downtown Stanleyville, but the majority of Simbas had already fled, not wanting to tangle with the elite paras. So resistance was generally light and they made good progress. As they moved through the city, the paracommandos encountered hundreds of dazed and frightened hostages, abandoned by their Simba captors. They were told to move to the airport for evacuation, following the route along the Avenue Monseigneur Grison. Despite the speed of their advance, the paras reached one group of hostages literally seconds too late. A squad of Simbas had lined up hundreds of men, women, and children two blocks from the Victoria hotel and opened fire on them just before the 11th appeared on the scene. 20-30 were killed instantly and many more wounded. Spotting the red berets of the onrushing paras, the Simbas fled, allowing the men of the 11th to give what medical aid they could to the wounded and secure the survivors.*
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Despite this horrible setback, all the objectives were secured and the vast majority of the hostages were soon safely assembling at the airfield, waiting to be flown out by the C-130's.*
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Around noontine, the advance column of the 5th Brigade hooked up with elements of the 13th near the Ketele Military Camp. The paras began to fall back to the airfield as the 5th advanced, leaving control of the city proper to Hoare's men. The Simbas eventually regrouped and launched several poorly coordinated attacks on the airfield and the city that were easily repulsed. By late afternoon, the battle for Stanleyville was mostly over and Operation Dragon Rouge entered the history books.*
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Over 2,000 hostages (Europeans, Americans, and Africans) were evacuated safely, but it was eventually estimated that around 60 were killed, including a large group located on the southern bank of the Congo River. The paracommandos suffered two killed and six wounded.*
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Was Dragon Rouge a success? Odom writes, "Dragon Rouge is one of the most difficult hostage rescues on record. The distance involved, the austere support, the use of combined forces, the number of hostages, and the lack of intelligence increased its difficulty. That Dragon Rouge took place in hostile territory in the middle of a civil war, and that it was as much an evacuation operation as a hostage rescue, further compounded the difficulties associated with it. Considering all that, Odom adds, "while the results of Dragon Rouge were not ideal, they were better than might have been expected against such difficult odds."*
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Scenario Notes - Expect much tougher resistance than the paras actually faced historically.*
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Design by: VDS*
Map by: VDS

