This was the second battle of the Dien Bien Phu campaign, taking place from the night of March 14 to the morning of March 3, 15. Doc Lap hill base - the French call it Gabrielle - is located on a separate hill with no trees, dense with trenches and gun emplacements. The French called it a "torpedo boat".
The 5th Battalion of the 7th Algerian Infantry Regiment, holding defense on the hill, has been re-equipped with new weapons, including guns with infrared sights specialized for shooting in the dark. This is the only resistance center with two complete defense lines that force the enemy to break through twice when attacking.
The task of destroying the Doc Lap Hill base was assigned to Regiment 165 (Regiment 312) led by Regiment Commander Le Thuy, attacking in the main direction - the Southeast and Regiment 88 (Regiment 308) led by Regiment Commander. Bui Nam Ha commanded the attack in the secondary direction - the Northeast direction.
Artillery Group 351 concentrated all artillery firepower in direct support.
Battalion 255 (Regiment 174) launched a diversionary attack at base A1 - central subdivision.
General commander of the 308th Army Vuong Thua Vu commanded the overall battle.
18:14 p.m. March 3, 1954: Commander Vuong Thua Vu ordered artillery to begin firing at the bases. Lieutenant Moreau, commanding the 4th Company, died in the bunker.
By 24 hours: There is still no order to attack. The battalions were very impatient and all petitioned the regiment to attack immediately, without waiting for mountain artillery fire. The Standing Committee of the 165th Regiment Party Committee held an extraordinary meeting and decided to strictly comply with the orders of superiors, because there must be enough firepower to suppress the enemy to win.
March 15, 3: Paint guns and 1954 mm mortars were fully loaded.
3:30 a.m.: Commander Vuong Thua Vu gave the order to attack. The battle for Independence Hill begins. Our artillery spoke simultaneously. Enemy fire at the open door (breakthrough) was almost paralyzed. Regiment 165 opened very smoothly. After a few minutes of surprise, French artillery fired heavily at the Vietnamese assault charges. The 88th Regiment's attack opened in the wrong direction, and then had to readjust, meeting the assault charges of the 165th Regiment.
3:55 am: The battle takes place inside the base. Things happened so quickly that enemy troops from other bases could not support Doc Lap.
5am: The two armies of Regiment 88 and Regiment 165 ended the battle. The flag "Determined to fight and win" was planted by the soldiers of the 165th Regiment on the French headquarters on Doc Lap Hill.
5:30 a.m.: The French sent 5 tanks to lead 3 parachute battalions of 1.000 soldiers from the center of Muong Thanh to counterattack, aiming to recapture Doc Lap base.
7:30 a.m.: All tanks and paratroopers turned around and fled to the center of Muong Thanh. The battle is over. Regiment 165 and Regiment 88 wiped out the North African battalion, killing 483 soldiers. More than 300 Algerian troops surrendered. The Doc Lap hill stronghold was completely destroyed.
Assessing the two successful battles at the Him Lam stronghold cluster and the Doc Lap stronghold cluster, General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap commented: "These are the biggest offensive battles ever in the combat history of Vietnam." Our army's first battles against the enemy's strongholds were the first battles fought with heavy artillery and anti-aircraft artillery in coordination. The victories of Him Lam and Doc Lap marked the maturity of our army and laid the foundation for many future victories."/.
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