-
The Battle Begins
The last battle of the first Indochina War begins. The two sides in this battle were the French and the Viet Minh. -
Period: to
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
All pictures and information was gathered from the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu -
The Viet Minh Attack
The Viet Minh attack on "Gabrielle", which was being held by an Algerian battalion. -
"Anne-Marie" Ends
Both the Tai's and the French withdrew from the fight at "Anne-Marie". -
The Lull
Starting on this date, there was a lull in the fighting. The Viet Minh used this time to tighten their hold on the French central area. This went on until March 30th, 1954. -
Confrentation
Colonel Langlais and his fellow paratroop commanders confronted de Castries in his bunker to discuss the matter of who would be in charge of the French. -
Assaults begin
The Viet Minh 312th division captureed "Dominique 1 and 2", only leaving one more between them and the French general headquarters. The 316th division attacked on "Elaine 2" and captured half of it. -
French fight back
The French launched an attack on "Elaine 2" and got back the half that the Viet Minh had taken. -
The French push back
The French push back all of the Viet Minh who captured "Hugette 7" the night before. -
Trench Warfare plans placed
Giap decided to emply entrechment and sapping to try and overrun the French defences east of the river. -
French fight back
The French are victorious in their efforts to retake "Elaine 1" -
Attacks continue
The garrison of "Hugette 1" attacked and was joined by artillery from the garrison of "Claudine" -
Supplies are gone
"Isabelle" had exhausted its water supply and was nearly out of ammunition by the end of April. -
The Viet Minh attack
The Viet Minh launched a mass assault and overran "Elaine 1", "Dominique 3", and "Hugette 5" -
Attacks continue
The Viet Minh continue to attack and blow up "Elaine 2" in the process. -
The End
Giap ordered an all-out attack against all of the remaining French units. De Castries eventually raidoed in to say that the end was near. By nightfall the French were all captured and the Viet MInh had won. This was the end of the precursor to the Vietnam War.
