The Defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu (1954)
Dien Bien Phu was a town located in Northwest Vietnam and was the location for where the most ferocious and largest battle took place during the first Indochina War. The battle lasted from March 13 to May 7 1954. The battle at Dien Bien Phu was fought between the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and the Viet Minh troops under Vo Nguyen Giapa and was what led up to the Geneva Accords which ended the war between Viet Minh and France. Yet, it also caused Vietnam to split along the 17th parallel into North and South Vietnam. At the time that the first Indochina War was drawing to a close, time was running out for the French Forces. They needed to defeat the Viet Minh troops to regain control of Indochina. Commander Navarre, commander of the French forces had established some of his forces to stay at Dien Bien Phu. The French had thought that if they took control of Dien Bien Phu, supply lines to Laos would be cut and that with their large and powerful troops, Giap’s troops wouldn’t stand a chance.
On November 20, 1953, a few months prior to the battle, French troops had already begun arriving in Dien Bien Phu. Within the following three days, there were 9,000 soldiers and allied troops there. Soon enough, by the end of the month, there were six parachute battalions and with the successful battles they waged against the Viet Minh, it gave Colonel Christian de Castries with enough confidence to think that they might defeat the Viet Minh. Nonetheless, the French had some disadvantages. They had no allies nearby with bases that they could rely on, they were in a jungle that they had not secured, and five Viet Minh forces consisting of 50,000 Vietnamese soldiers were surrounding them. The battle of Dien Bien Phu had begun when the Viet Minh had launched a massive surprise artillery barrage. By March 30, 1954, the French forces had been suffering severely. They had lost their Legionnaire commander Paul Pegot and his entire staff and their aerial supplies were taking heavy losses from the Viet Minh machine guns. The French had suffered for most of March but on April 5th, but, their fighter bombers and artillery successfully inflicted a devastating number of losses on a single Viet Minh regiment that was caught on open ground. Although they were successful on this one particular day, they suffered for most of April. By May 7, 1954, the last day of the battle, the Viet Minh had launched massive attacks on all of the French Units and had captured them. Their suffering drew them to the point where they were completely exhausted and didn’t have enough supplies to go on. With no weapons and energy, some of the French forces gave into the Viet Minh. The battle had cost the French 3,000 troops, 8,000 being wounded, and a loss of 48 aircrafts. The Viet Minh suffered 8,000 dead soldiers and 12,000 wounded.
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On November 20, 1953, a few months prior to the battle, French troops had already begun arriving in Dien Bien Phu. Within the following three days, there were 9,000 soldiers and allied troops there. Soon enough, by the end of the month, there were six parachute battalions and with the successful battles they waged against the Viet Minh, it gave Colonel Christian de Castries with enough confidence to think that they might defeat the Viet Minh. Nonetheless, the French had some disadvantages. They had no allies nearby with bases that they could rely on, they were in a jungle that they had not secured, and five Viet Minh forces consisting of 50,000 Vietnamese soldiers were surrounding them. The battle of Dien Bien Phu had begun when the Viet Minh had launched a massive surprise artillery barrage. By March 30, 1954, the French forces had been suffering severely. They had lost their Legionnaire commander Paul Pegot and his entire staff and their aerial supplies were taking heavy losses from the Viet Minh machine guns. The French had suffered for most of March but on April 5th, but, their fighter bombers and artillery successfully inflicted a devastating number of losses on a single Viet Minh regiment that was caught on open ground. Although they were successful on this one particular day, they suffered for most of April. By May 7, 1954, the last day of the battle, the Viet Minh had launched massive attacks on all of the French Units and had captured them. Their suffering drew them to the point where they were completely exhausted and didn’t have enough supplies to go on. With no weapons and energy, some of the French forces gave into the Viet Minh. The battle had cost the French 3,000 troops, 8,000 being wounded, and a loss of 48 aircrafts. The Viet Minh suffered 8,000 dead soldiers and 12,000 wounded.
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