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The arrival of the 316th Viet Minh Division prompted Cogny to order the evacuation of the Lai Chau garrison to Điện Biên Phủ, exactly as Giáp had anticipated. En route, they were virtually annihilated by the Viet Minh. "Of the 2,100 men who left Lai Chau on 9 December, only 185 made it to Điện Biên Phủ on 22 December.
[7]: 10 14 April. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles returned to the United States after having failed to persuade France and the United Kingdom to support a multinational effort to assist the French in Điện Biên Phủ. The French wanted American air strikes, but opposed a multinational coalition; the British preferred to rely on the ...
The operation was a tactical success for the French. However, Giáp, seeing the weakness of the French position, started moving most of his forces from the De Lattre Line to Điện Biên Phủ. From December 1953 to March 1964, the Việt Minh concentrated more than 40,000 troops to encircle the 15,000 French troops at Điện Biên Phủ.
Điện Biên Phủ lies in Mường Thanh Valley, a 20 km (12 mi) long and 6 km (3.7 mi) wide basin sometimes described as "heart-shaped." It is on the western edge of Điện Biên Province, of which it is the capital, and is only about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the border with Laos .
Tô Vĩnh Diện (1924–1 February 1954) was a soldier in the Việt Minh during the First Indochina War against France in Vietnam. Dien was proclaimed a national hero by the Việt Minh after his death in the period leading up to the Battle of Dien Bien Phu .
The 1954 to 1959 phase of the Vietnam War was the era of the two nations. Coming after the First Indochina War, this period resulted in the military defeat of the French, a 1954 Geneva meeting that partitioned Vietnam into North and South, and the French withdrawal from Vietnam (see First Indochina War), leaving the Republic of Vietnam regime fighting a communist insurgency with USA aid.
After intelligence reports on 3 December 1953 showed four enemy divisions closing on Điện Biên Phủ, Navarre issued instructions accepting battle and calling for Điện Biên Phủ to be held at all costs. [4] By January 1954 he started exploring plans for withdrawal. He soon realized any breakout attempt would be suicidal. [5]
August 1 - The First Indochina War ends with the Vietnam People's Army in North Vietnam, the Vietnamese National Army in South Vietnam, the Kingdom of Cambodia in Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Laos in Laos, emerging victorious against the French Army.