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Here are my unedited notes based on our local tour guide when we were staying in Dien Bien Phu, January 22-23, 2011 inclusive:
“... For the colonial French government, Dien Bien Phu was the Waterloo of France against the Vietnamese ppl. With their superior war machine and better trained soldiers, the French Govt chose Dien Bien Phu to be their command central to control colonial Indo-China. They set up their military HQ in the valley and figured that the Vietnamese with their poor artillery, will not be able to shell them from the surrounding mountains.
But the French general at DBP underestimated the number of peasants turned underground supporters and the sheer number of the latter (human-wave strategy) who were hauling their artillery and digging tunnels to within striking distance of the French. Further more, the Vietnamese took advantage of the rainy seasons which rendered the French air force enormous scheduling and navigational difficulties.
Against all odds, the Vietnamese surrounded the valley from all sides and eventually overran the strategic gun hills of the French. Dien Bien Phu fell and thousands of French soldiers were captured. Even with severe casualties on the side of the Vietnamese, the battle of DBP was both a moral and military victory for the people of Vietnam. ...”
I have taken quite a few pictures of the area, including those taken in the underground bunker of the French commanders. Stay turned and I will post some of them upon my return to Canada.
Haricot
(in Hoi An, abt 25 min by car from the Da Nang Airport, Southern Vietnam)
Jan 24, 2011 18h50 local time
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2 comments:
Alain Delon 阿倫狄龍 也曾是 Dien Bien Phu 奠邊府 的 prisoner of war，回國後加入影圈，成名後拍過不少英語片。
I am looking forward to see more pix of 奠邊府。
【維基百科】奠邊府戰役（法語：Bataille de Diên Biên Phu，越南文：Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ）是法越戰爭（1946年～1954年）中法國與越南間最後一場戰役，該戰役發生於1954年。作戰一方為武元甲手下的越盟軍隊，另一方為法國空降兵及法國外籍兵團。中國派出軍事顧問團支援越方。戰役發生於越南北部足以扭轉戰局的戰略重地奠邊府村附近（奠邊府村距離老撾僅16公里，法國為阻越盟自此進軍老撾，故派重兵於此）。
1954年3月13日，越南人民軍及越盟游擊隊以數倍於法軍的兵力對奠邊府進攻，越方投入四個步兵師和一個工兵師的部隊。法軍則採取「添油戰術」，不斷向奠邊府戰場空投傘兵，前後共達1.6萬人，以補充戰場上損失。由於越軍以中國援助的大量馬克沁機槍和榴彈炮構成空中防禦網，造成法軍空投部隊損失慘重。
此役越軍大勝，擊斃法軍2,293人，俘虜10,998人，法國兩位少將砲兵司令及傘兵司令前後飲彈自盡殉國，宣示結束法國對越南自1884年中法戰爭以來70年的殖民統治。擊毀各型號飛機62架，繳獲重砲30門。5月7日，奠邊府法軍司令卡斯特里率部投降，並從此退出亞洲戰場。
Space:
Thank you for digging up the interesting facts/info from Wiki. Yes, it was quite a battle. The tour guide did mention abt the military support from other countries, incl China. With their air force advantage greatly reduced, the French was stuck in the middle of a “boiling pot” with no way out and was eventually defeated.
I look forward to posting and sharing my pics of DBP with you.
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