NTO - Dien Bien Phu

It is no coincidence that the name "Dien Bien Phu" is included in the World Military Encyclopedia. Seventy years ago, on March 13, 1954, the great Dien Bien Phu Campaign began, marking the end of nearly a century of French colonial invasion and occupation of our country.

The 54 fierce and arduous days and nights that followed brought the Vietnamese nation to the pinnacle of victory, making the phrase "Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh - Dien Bien Phu" a shining symbol for colonial peoples around the world , urging many oppressed nations to rise up and "use our own strength to liberate ourselves."

The final decisive battle point

After eight years of waging a war of aggression against Vietnam, despite mobilizing their economic and military resources to the fullest extent, the French colonialists failed to achieve their basic objective: to destroy the revolutionary government and resistance forces, and to re-establish their rule over Indochina as before 1945. On the contrary, they suffered heavy losses: 390,000 soldiers were killed, their occupied territory shrank, the conflict between concentrating and dispersing forces deepened, and the French army on the battlefield gradually fell into a passive defensive position.

The victory flag flies atop General De Castries' bunker. (Archival photo)

On the other hand, economic and financial difficulties, along with the escalating anti-war movement within the country, pushed the French government into a new political crisis. Taking advantage of this situation, the US imperialists intensified their intervention in Indochina, actively providing aid to the French colonialists to prolong and expand the war in order to serve their counter-revolutionary global strategy.

In 1953, General Henri Eugène Navarre – considered "a strategist of both military and political prowess" – was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French expeditionary forces in Indochina. Navarre devised a military plan hoping to achieve a decisive victory within 18 months to "end the war honorably." After surveying the area, he decided to concentrate forces and build Dien Bien Phu into the strongest fortified complex, the site of a decisive strategic battle against our army.

Dien Bien Phu is a large basin valley located in the western part of the Northwest mountainous region. According to General H. Navarre and French and American military strategists, it "is a strategically important location for the Indochina battlefield and the entire Southeast Asian region, situated on the transportation axis connecting the borders of Laos, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), and China." From Dien Bien Phu, the French army could protect Laos, then recapture lost territories in the Northwest, and create favorable conditions to destroy our main divisions.

The French quickly established 49 strongholds here, organized into 8 clusters, heavily fortified with a total of over 16,000 troops, including many elite units such as infantry, artillery, engineering, tank, and air force units—among the most elite in Indochina, equipped with new equipment and weapons, and powerful firepower. Dien Bien Phu became an unprecedentedly strong complex of fortified positions in Indochina, a "fortress" that both France and the United States considered "impregnable".

General Navarra was right to think that Dien Bien Phu would be the place where the main Vietnamese forces would be crushed, because he knew that in this mountainous valley, the French had an absolute advantage in transportation and air supply. Meanwhile, Vietnam would have no way to transport artillery across hundreds of kilometers of jungle and mountains to reach the battlefield while simultaneously ensuring logistical requirements. However, these subjective assessments were a mistake that soon led to the French army's historic defeat.

Miracles make greatness.

It is no coincidence that the name "Dien Bien Phu" later appeared in the world's military encyclopedia. Henri Navarre focused on building Dien Bien Phu into a "vicious trap," a "giant grinding machine" for the Viet Minh army, but when General Vo Nguyen Giap reported to President Ho Chi Minh about the French intentions, the President said, "We are not afraid. If they intend to concentrate their forces, we will force them to disperse, and we will fight!"

With that policy in mind, during the winter-spring of 1953-1954, we launched numerous campaigns in Central and Southern Vietnam, as well as in Upper and Lower Laos, to force the enemy to disperse their forces with the motto: Active, proactive, mobile, and flexible; fight with certainty, advance with certainty, fight only when victory is certain, and resolutely refrain from fighting if victory is not certain.

In December 1953, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Party met and approved the battle plan, deciding to choose Dien Bien Phu as the decisive strategic battle. We recognized that destroying the Dien Bien Phu fortified complex would defeat the highest form of defense, the greatest effort, and would be a decisive blow to completely break the will of the French and Americans to continue the war, forcing the French government to seek a solution to end the war through negotiations. General Vo Nguyen Giap was entrusted with the responsibility of Commander-in-Chief of the front.

While the French colonial forces concentrated their efforts on building their base, we secretly occupied and moved artillery into the high hills surrounding the basin. To accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, our army and people performed a logistical miracle. In over two months, tens of thousands of militiamen repaired and built hundreds of kilometers of motorized roads leading to Dien Bien Phu, relying largely on human strength and rudimentary equipment. The book "Stories of Dien Bien Phu" writes: "The men worked continuously for 12-13 hours a day. The record for swinging a sledgehammer started at 1,700 blows, eventually reaching 3,000 blows in a single breath. A truly extraordinary display of strength."

When assigning the task to General Vo Nguyen Giap, President Ho Chi Minh briefly instructed: "Only fight if victory is certain; do not fight if victory is uncertain." President Ho Chi Minh's instruction led to a historic decision in a historic campaign. To ensure victory, just before the opening shots of the campaign, when all personnel and equipment were ready, the Commander-in-Chief of the front, General Vo Nguyen Giap, carefully considered the situation and decided to withdraw the artillery from the battlefield, postponing the opening date from January 26th to March 13th, 1954, a month and a half later than originally planned.

Forty years after the historic victory at Dien Bien Phu, General Vo Nguyen Giap recalled: “On that day (January 26, 1954), I made the most difficult decision of my life as a commander: to change the combat strategy from a quick attack and quick victory to a steady attack and steady advance.”

For over a month, we continued to mobilize the entire population to wholeheartedly support the front lines. Our army proactively shifted to a long-term siege of the enemy, disrupting their supply lines; building fortifications and movement routes for artillery; digging hundreds of kilometers of trenches surrounding Dien Bien Phu, ensuring that the troops could fight under all conditions; concentrating firepower to destroy each stronghold, creating a situation of dividing and isolating the battlefield, and ultimately destroying the entire fortified complex.

In reality, that bold, timely, and wise decision was the "key" to unlocking the Dien Bien Phu fortified complex, simultaneously affirming the great stature of President Ho Chi Minh and his outstanding disciple, General Vo Nguyen Giap. After 56 days and nights of siege and isolation, we completely destroyed the "impregnable giant fortress" of the French colonialists, achieving a great victory with immense symbolic significance – the Dien Bien Phu victory, "renowned throughout the world and shaking the earth."

According to VNA

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