April 10, 1954: French troops captured part of Hill C1, troops of Regiment 98 fought hand-to-hand with the enemy

The enemy's counterattack to retake Hill C1 entered its second day. By noon on April 10, 1954, the enemy had captured part of Hill C1. The reinforcements of Regiment 98 had to use bayonets to rush up and engage in close combat with the enemy.

Panoramic images of the Dien Bien Phu campaign at the Dien Bien Phu Historical Victory Museum

With the advantage of air power and artillery support, the enemy concentrated their forces and counterattacked to retake the top of C1 hill, pushing a company of Battalion 439, Regiment 98 back to the eastern half of the hill. At 9:00 p.m. the same day, Regiment 98 organized a counterattack but was unsuccessful. During the day, the French dropped 302 legionnaires and 195 tons of ammunition to Dien Bien Phu.

At our request, both sides returned wounded soldiers: Wounded French soldiers were returned south of Claudine, on Highway 41; our wounded soldiers were returned at Km 2 of Pavie Road (to Lai Chau ).

To carry out the remaining tasks of the second phase, according to the determination of the Campaign Command, on April 10, 1954, the General Command issued Order No. 95/B1, signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People's Army - General Vo Nguyen Giap, sent to Divisions 308, 312, 316, 304, 351 and assigned specific tasks to the above units.

Also on April 10, 1954, the General Department of Politics issued Directive No. 88-CTH, signed by Comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh, Director of the General Department of Politics, on ideological leadership to complete the tasks of the Dong Xuan Campaign. The Directive was sent to the corps, command areas and subordinate regiments. Accordingly, the Directive set out Leadership motto The ideology is: To step up propaganda, encourage the fighting spirit of the troops, raise the determination to destroy the enemy to a new level; overcome the subjective ideology of underestimating the enemy, fearing fatigue and wanting to rest; actively coordinate with Dien Bien Phu to destroy more enemy forces, and gain complete victory for the Winter-Spring Campaign.

Source