What happened at Dien Bien Phu in 1954?
1 Answer
The local French garrison surrended to the Viet-Minh.
Explanation:
Dien Bien Phu was a fortified military base in the north east of Viet Nam. At the time of the Indochina War it was defended by soldiers of the foreign legion and paratroopers (in particular) led by French general Christian de Castries and sieged by the Viet-Minh troops of general Vo Nguyen Giap.
The battle may possibly be considered as one of the worst military blunders of the French army because they basically placed themselves in the perfect spot to be massacred by the Viet-Minh. In fact the fortress of Dien Bien Phu was surrounded by hills that offered a perfect location to place artillery with which pummel the French.
The French army underestimated the Viet-Minh thinking that they would never be able to amass the artillery necessary to endanger their position.
The French garrison soon found itself surrounded by the enemy and with no possibility of escaping or receiving help.
The fortress also had an airstrip that "tempted" the French to flow in more troops to reinforce the besieged garrison resulting in an increase of the number of potential targets for the Viet-Minh!
The effect of the defeat at Dien Bien Phu was so hard that the French government decided to abandon the north of Viet Nam to the Viet-Minh (setting the boundary on the 17th parallel).
[The fortress and the hills surrounding it]
