The day of October 6 will be crucial. The Charton column continued to progress slowly but without insurmountable difficulties and arrived at 590. However, two incidents with disastrous consequences for the future marked the day:a company of partisans who, under the orders of their captain, acting on their own initiative, attempted to make the junction with the column Lepage - the officer is unaware that it is surrounded - falls into a deadly ambush. To get her out of this mousetrap, you have to engage the whole battalion. "A company of partisans, perhaps the best, writes Charton, was put out of action and above all precious time was lost."
Second incident:the group of civilians, difficult to command, stops for an unknown cause. The 3rd/3 R.E.I. who follows believes in a commanded halt and stops in turn.
It only leads to 590 around 6 p.m. after having fought fairly hard rear guard battles.
At Langson, however, his eyes are open:we become aware of the situation. Lepage receives the order to pick up.
You still have to be able to do it.
At 3 p.m., Colonel Lepage, who, in accordance with orders, took command of the two now close groups, asked Lieutenant-Colonel Charton to stop on the spot and leave. immediately send elements to the peaks of Qui Chay to help him unblock the gorges of Coc Xa, also called “The Source”, the only place to leave the cursed basin. Lepage intends to drop out on October 7 at daybreak.
Charton, however hostile to this solution, obeyed. “At that time, he wrote in his book R.C.4, nothing stood in the way of the progress of my group towards That Khé continuing. Once there, helped by the guns of That Khé, I would have opened the R.C.4 in the direction of Lepage. But he refused this solution:"I'm surrounded, he told me by radio, and I can't last 24 hours longer. So stay put and wait for me".
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To break through, Lepage sees only one unit:the 1st B.E.P. Or at least what's left of it. It's a suicide mission Of the 800 men that the battalion originally had, Commander Segrétain and his deputy, Captain Jeanpierre now number only 300, exhausted by the fighting of the previous days, short of ammunition:around ten 'mortar shells. A few grenades. The B.E.P., alone, without support, will be decimated.
Segrétain and Jeanpierre ask Le-page for permission to delay the operation. We must, they say, ask General Carpentier to send the fighter planes the next morning. So there, yes, we will pass. Lepage agrees and requests the necessary air support. He is refused:the weather is bad. Lepage sends Segrétain a message as follows:"Drill at all costs:the fate of the group is in the hands of 1 "B.E.P.". It is midnight.