With Ducournau the school of Indo-China arrived in Algeria. Setting up his headquarters in Arris, he immediately decided to pursue relentlessly the F.L.N. into the hills, living with the indigènes according to Mao’s often quoted principle of the “fish in water”, and taking with him as guides and trackers some of the loyal Chaouias that Jean Servier had recruited for the defence of Arris.

XREF: Connects to counterinsurgency warfare theory and the ironies of colonial powers adopting revolutionary tactics, echoing similar dynamics in Vietnam and elsewhere. SEED: A possible essay angle: how counterinsurgency tactics migrate between opposing sides and what the 'fish in water' principle reveals about colonial vs. anticolonial legitimacy.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 328