Battle of the dien bien phu,! DienBienPhuwas a town in northwest Vietnam with an isolated air base built and used by the Japanese in World War Two. It was near the Vietnam/Laos border.The government of Laos was very much under the influence of the French though the Viet Minh had successfully infiltrated much of Laos, thus undermining the authority of both the Laotian government and, therefore, the French.By establishing a major force atDienBienPhu, the French hoped to cut the supply lines used by Giap’s men into Laos. It also placed a large and well-trained force in the heartland of the Viet Minh. This alone, the French hoped, would be enough to deter Viet Minh activity.In May 1953, the French premier, Rene Mayer, appointed Henri Navarre commander of the French Union Forces in Indochina.Navarre believed that one of his orders had been to defend North Laos though members of Mayer’s government denied that this had been the case in later years.Navarre decided to establish a major force atDienBienPhu. In 1952, the French had done the same at Na San to great effect. Here they had established a fortified camp that was supplied from the air. Giap had ordered frontal assaults on the base at Na San. He lost many men and had to withdraw. Navarre wanted to repeat this atDienBienPhu. His primary desire was to tempt Giap into another frontal assault with similar results.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 14:51:06 +0000
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