The French army would establish a fortified airhead by air-lifting soldiers adjacent to a key Vie… In Giap’s words: “We no longer conceived the Dien Bien Phu campaign as a large-scale siege battle, which took place unremittingly in a short period of time, but a campaign in which a series of siege battles, having the character of positional warfare, were fought in a rather long time. Artillery fire decimated them. However, General Giap understood the French “contradictions.” In fact, a copy of the Navarre Plan was given to Ho Chi Minh by the Chinese, who had gotten it from the Soviet KGB. At dark on 31 March, Langlais ordered Major Marcel Bigeard, who was leading the defense at Eliane, to fall back across the river. They built two roads, one from Phu Tho is 225 km away, and the other to Thanh Hoa is 340 km away. When presented with the plan, every … They based this on their successes in Korea. The Viet Minh counted 11721 prisoners, but 4436 were wounded. The 1954 siege of Dien Bien Phu is one of the epics of 20th century military history, featuring dramatic assaults, daring sorties, desperate counterattacks, and doomed last stands spread over 56 gruelling days. They were concentrated 640 km away from major battlefronts of the Red River Delta, and Dien Bien Phu. There were two key challenges. Another stalemate period from 15 April to 1 May occurred due to lowered Viet Minh morale. But this time they had to do it right because they were about to commit half of their entire battle force in the whole of Vietnam and therefore, failure was not an option. Thousands of workers, called Dan Cong, were conscripted to build these roads. This Autumn-Winter, you are assigned the taslc of marching to Dien Bien Phu to wipe out more enemy effectives, extend our resistance bases, and liberate more compatriots still under the … These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The other significant planning was air defense. A remote region bordering with Laos and China. In 1954, French forces in French Indochina sought to cut the Viet Minh's supply lines to Laos. Dien Bien Phu lies in northwestern Vietnam, Southeast Asia. French resistance collapsed shortly after midnight. In addition, the 351st Heavy Division would play a critical role. The 312th Division launched a massive infantry assault, using sappers to clear obstacles. Propaganda leaflets had been distributed to them for weeks, telling them it was “not their fight.” Thus on 17 March, the first phase of Viet Minh attacks was succesfully completed. The final strongpoint between the Viet Minh and the main headquarters in Claudine was Dominque 3. This attack was accompanied for the first time with Katyusha rockets. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was fought from March 13 to May 7, 1954, and was the decisive engagement of the First Indochina War (1946-1954), the precursor to the Vietnam War. Veterans of that battle are in their dotage, their famous commander Grand … Viet Minh losses were 600 dead and 1200 wounded. On 17 March, he flew to Dien Bien Phu, but his plane was driven off by anti-aircraft fire. But, the Viet Minh renewed their assault, forcing the French back. In addition, the French did not think that the Viet Minh could supply a force large enough to capture Dien Bien Phu. Claudine 11th Battery/4th Group/4th Colonial Artillery Regiment (11/IV/4 RAC) Capitaine Déal: HM1 155mm howitzer (x4) Claudine Platoon/1st Colonial Far East Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group (I GAACEO) Lieutenant Paul Redon: Quad-50 M2 0.50cal MG (x4) Epervier 1st Foreign Composite Heavy Mortar Company (1 CMMLE) Lieutenant René Colcy: 120mm mortar (x8) Claudine 2nd Foreign Composite … After that, 12 thousand men of the Vietnamese 312th and 316th Division charged into battle. On November 20, 1953 operation Castor along with 9000 French troops went to Dien Bien Phu for an initial 3 days. The entire 316th Division took the airfield at Lai Chau, 88 km north of Dien Bien Phu, and then marched toward Luang Prabang. A lull until 30 March gave the Viet Minh time to “tighten the noose” around the central zone of strongpoints: Hugette, Dominique, Claudine, and Eliane. General Giap ordered a general attack on all remaining units. Operation Castor was never conceived as a “large-scale airborne raid.” From the start, the mission was to become a “meat-grinder,” using “base aero-terrestre” tactic that worked at Na San. Combat support was comprised of an engineer battalion, truck company, ten light tanks, two 75-mm and 105-mm artillery groups, and four 155-mm howitzers. Instead, Viet Minh dug trench approaches, to get troops closer to strongpoints, before their final assaults. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (French: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu; Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ) was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. Concrete fortifications and strongpoints were constructed. Die 5de BPVN, wat nog moeg is, en die swakste valskermbataljon op die slagveld is, loods ’n teenaanval. But in reality, they had up to 350 guns including Soviet rocket launchers. . An American reporter finds himself in the middle of the 57-day battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam between the French army and the Vietminh, which finally resulted in the defeat and surrender of the French forces and France's eventual withdrawal from Vietnam. Battle of Dien Bien Phu. In his own words, “we strictly followed this fundamental principle of the conduct of a revolutionary war: strike to win, strike only when success is certain; if it is not, then don’t strike.”, The attack approach would not be one single human wave, but would be a siege campaign. Woodmansee, ‘Indochina The Last Year of the War,” Bernard Fall. On May 7, 1954, the struggle for Indochina was almost over for France. During this time, the Viet Minh made trenching and sapping approaches to get their assault troops closer to the strongpoints. “No, I’m not going to shoot anymore,” replied the colonel. Here is part 2, covering the period from the outset of that war up to Dien Bien Phu. The Algerian battalion abandoned Gabrielle. The last French radio transmission to Hanoi was: “The enemy has overran us.”. Giap took his time, though. The Viet Minh victory in this battle effectively ended the eight-year-old war. Langlais and Marcel Bigeard, (our dear Bruno,) maintained good terms with de Castries. Eliane 2 was under heavy attack. On 10 April, the French tried to retake Eliane 1. In 2003 Dien Bien Phu was named the capital of the new Dien Bien Province, which covers a total land area of 9, 560 square kilometres and has a population of 499, 899 (2006). Second phase of the Dien Bien Phu battle began on 30.3.1954, when the rain stopped and the Vietnamese started shelling positions Dominique and Eliane. Well, unfortunately for the French, he rejected using the “Human Wave” tactic. The contradictions were in Giaps words: “. Finally, they moved the artillery pieces up the steep jungle roads, and set them into concealed bunkers, that had to be cut into the sides of the hills. The French, it seemed, were confident and daring the Viet Minh to attack. As General Giap wrote about Navarre: ” . I hope it provides several interesting “points of departure,” that you might later encounter, or want to read about further. The contradictions were in Giaps words: “. Hundreds died along the way. 5,” Bernard Fall, Major J.W. This forced the French into two options, either attack Viet Minh bases in the Tuyen Quang and Thai Nguyen “redoubt,” or place troops astride the Laos invasion route. But, his extraordinary physical condition and mental toughness enabled him to survive the four months of captivity. The 367th Air Defense Regiment, part of the 351st Division, had about twenty-four M1939 37-mm anti-aircraft guns. Find out what happened prior the US involvement in Vietnam and how you can experience it while playing a range of upcoming CS Vietnam scenarios. Did you know what Chinese advice General Giap rejected? A French “crisis-of-command” emerged, as senior officers realized that de Castries was incompetent to conduct the defense. Since his spring 1953 attacks in northern Laos, Giap retained four divisions in the Thai highlands and the northern part of central Vietnam, equidistant between the Red River Delta and Luang Prabang. 500 Legionnaires were killed. “You’re not going to shoot anymore?” asked the Viet Minh in French. Second, how would they supply these forces with no good roads from their bases in central and southern Tonkin? The entrenched ‘air-land’ camp of Dien Bien Phu was established by parachute drop in November 1953. In spite of entreaties by General Rene Cogny, able commander of the Red River Delta, Navarre insisted on the Laos option. In this campaign, we would have absolute superiority in number to destroy the enemy, sector by sector, till the fall of the entrenched camp.”. The cemeteries in A1 Hill (644 tombs) and Doc Lap Hill (2432 tombs), A1 Hill, where bitter fighting took place. His greater mistake was that with the conception of a “bourgeois” strategist, he could not visualize the immense possibilities of a people’s army, and the entire people who were fighting for independence and peace; it was still more difficult for him to realize the evolution and remarkable progresses of our people and our army, understand and appreciate the great possibilities of an indomitable fighting spirit of a people’s army which was determined to fight and to win.”. It borders Lai Chau Province and Yunnan Province of China to the north, Son La Province to the east and Phongsali Province of Laos to the south and west. They also cut off Isabelle, the extreme southern strongpoint. These crews sometimes disassembled the cannons, hauled them in place in pieces, and then reassembled them in the final positions. The Chinese provided 70 advisors, the “South China Sea Action Group.” They suggested using one massive “Human Wave” attack to take Dien Bien Phu quickly. When France occupied the important valley of Dien Bien Phu with a large force, the leadership of the Viet Minh knew that they had to retake the valley. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. . If that wasn’t enough, Navarre launched the Atlante Plan on 20 January 1954 against Tuy Hoa, a stretch of coast in central Vietnam. Quite the same Wikipedia. And, French never thought these guns could be brought to the battle in large numbers, and sited in the hills surrounding Dien Bien Phu. Much of the travel took place at night, to avoid airstrikes. Eliane 1, defended by Mooccans, was captured at midnight. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Dit misluk en Gabrielle val. On 6 May, the Viet Minh blew up a tunnel under Eliane 2, and within a few hours overran that outpost. The fighting was brutal and the positions changed hands more than once. Viet Minh available artillery was estimated by French intelligence to be 40 to 60 medium howitzers. The Japanese had built a good airfield there. Colonel Louis Berteil, commander of Mobile Group 7 and Navarre's main planner,[19] formulated the hérisson ("hedgehog") concept. In April 1953, the 316th Division moved into Laos, overwhelmed the Sam Neua garrison, and pursued fleeing defenders towards the Plain of Jars. by David Galster | Sep 6, 2018 | CS: Vietnam (Work-in-Progress), Vietnam: Bruno's Bunker. In November 1953 the French army began building a base in the mountains around Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, hoping that it would lure the Viet Minh guerrilla fighters into an open battle. At night, 14 March. The French strong-points at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam are falling again. ... Gabrielle, Dominique, Elaine, and Claudine. .The contradiction between concentration of forces and occupation of territory; the contradiction between the buildup of a large-scale mobile force, and the scattering of his forces to various regions; between the strategic offensive and strategic defensive.”. On 13 February 1954, Navarre airlifted another five battalions, including a parachute battalion, into Luang Prabang, thus further dispersing his forces. The next morning, an artillery shell hit headquarters, severely wounding commander and staff. C-47 and C-119 planes had to supply at least 200 tons daily from Gia Lam and Cat Bi airbases, 300 km away. Viet Minh resumed a pounding artillery fire, which permanently disabled the landing strip. The Hugette 1 garrison attacked to cut through to supply water to Hugette 6. They found no Viet Minh regulars, (who were diverted north,) and instead were harrassed by guerrillas. In another misunderstanding, Cogny envisioned a lightly defended point from which to launch raids; Navarre, however, believed that he intended to build a heavily fortified base capable of withstanding a siege. On 30 March, the 312th Division captured Dominique 1 and 2. Further supplies had to be parachuted in. Reconnaissance planes and fighters of the permanent squadron constantly flew over the entire region strafing and bombing. The strongpoint changed hands several times, but by morning was in French control. And all around them, as on some gruesome Judgment Day, soldiers, French and Viet Minh alike, began to crawl out of their trenches, and stand erect for the first time in 54 days, as firing ceased everywhere. For just under two months Dien Bien Phu was cut off. Attempts to reinforce the garrison by parachute had to be done with lone planes to avoid AA fire. Dien Bien Phu based F8F Bearcat from Fighter Group 1/22 Saintonge Mortar and… M24 Chaffee (1944) The Chaffee was the last American light tank of WW2, designed to replace the Stuart and had a long career postwar, in Indochina, Korea and elsewhere.
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