Ho Chi Minh had informed the Americans, who let me know, of his refusal to meet me. The meteorological conditions (pouring rains) and the events which, in the world, rushed prevented this meeting, and Paris, occupied by so many other urgent and capital problems neglected to answer the message of the
Here then, since March 10, is Japan master of Indochina. If he pretends not to question the principle of our sovereignty, he nevertheless strives to extinguish our influence and undermine our authority. The agents of the Kempeïtaï, faithful to their plan for Greater Eastern Asia, endeavor to prepare
The Resistance grew rapidly within the French army. Airdrops take place, the secret of which is difficult to keep; the chatter reveals many plans, real or imaginary, while the Vietnamese listen and observe.The Japanese authorities were soon alerted to these preparations_ which all indicates that t
The known history of viet nam, over 2000 years long already, is fertile in upheavals. The Chinese invasions and the long periods of domination they entailed, the struggle for emancipation and territorial expansion, internal rivalry, the difficult unification of the Three Kys (Tonkin, Annam, Cochinch
“The colonel left me to attempt this regrouping, but the command proved impossible. Faced with the mess that was only increasing, I radioed the Z.F.N.E. the parachuting of a battalion at Ban Ca. The arrival of a fresh battalion there might have been decisive, because nothing was yet definitively los
The breakthrough of October 7 will take place in appalling conditions. Ambushed everywhere, well sheltered, the enemy is preparing to wreak havoc. Behind every rock, behind every tree, there is a Viet.Followed by the Tabors, the legionnaires advance meter by meter, under uninterrupted fire. Unequal
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
On October 4 around 10 a.m., after an exhausting night march, the 1st B.E.P., the remains of the 11th Tabor and the survivors of the Feuillet companies reached a hilltop south of 765. Faced with these events, Lepage abandoned his his decision is reinforced by the arrival of Commander Delcros. After
Giaps strategyAt 2:30 p.m., “the sky fell on Lepages head”. He learns from a message dropped on his P.C. what he should always have known:his column must reach out to the garrison of Cag Bang, the Charton column, which is about to leave the city. The order, dated September 29, defines the different
The only chance to succeed:take Dong Khé On Saturday, September 30, Bayard set off under the orders of Lepage. At 1 p.m., the goumiers left That Khé on foot:Dong Khé objective, which must be taken. The operation, baptized Tiznit, will not be easy, because it is obvious that the Viets, who used form
The Charton column:a disparate convoyCao Bang, October 3, 6 am. The fifteen outposts of the hedgehog defending the city are abandoned one after the other. The last position evacuated, the 150 tons of ammunition stored in the Citadel jump. It is a disparate convoy that engages on the R.C.4. The troop
January 1949, Mao Tse Tung returned to Beijing. At the beginning of March, the Chinese communist gangs began to operate in liaison with the Vietminh. On the night of March 16 to 17, 1949, 1,500 Viet Minh men, supported by significant Chinese reinforcements, seized two posts between Na Chan and That
This is the final massacre. Jeanpierre counts the survivors of the B.E.P. :130, the equivalent of a company, which he splits into five groups, guided by an officer. The stall takes place through the Quang Liet valley, which joins That Khé. Soon an ambush completes what was left of the B.E.P. Its the
He is slender, knotty, of medium height, and between the cap and the pipe which rarely leaves his lips, the strong hooked nose betrays the man of character just as his gaze, sharp, attentive, the eye of a bird of prey, betrays the man of war. His name is Antoine-Marie-Pierre Charton, he is a lieuten
On May 1, Giap gave the order for a general offensive for 10 p.m. The garrison of Dien Bien Phu only has three days of food left, that day, 275 rounds of 155, 14,000 rounds of 105 and 5,000 mortar rounds of 120. Two points of resistance fall on the first attack , but Bigeard and Langlais hoped to ho
The battle of Dien Bien Phu therefore begins under unfavorable conditions for the French; the officers know it or have a presentiment of it; it seems that Navarre and Cogny have doubts about its outcome. But the die was cast.On the evening of March 12, 1954, Giap gave his last orders before the atta
After the November 20 parachute drop, Dien Bien Phu quickly became a fortified area, capable of receiving 12,000 combatants. But why did you choose such a place? Because the French command is losing patience. Engaged in a war with the revolutionary army of the Vietminh since December 19, 1946, he ab
Dawn will rise on the airfields of Gia-Lâm and Bac-Mai, in the immediate vicinity of Hanoi, in Tonkin. More than 1,800 French and Vietnamese are ready, fully equipped, nerves tense, waiting to go into battle. With them, their three chiefs, Majors Bigeard, Bréchignac and Souquet. All three are season
Despite its very modest numbers — 3 infantry companies (4/10th R.M.I.C.), a camp company (Europeans), 10 G.I. platoons and 3 parachute groups from outside (Captains Fabre , Serres and Tual) —, the group of North Laos will retreat to China at the end of May leaving in Indochinese territory guerrillas
A modern fortified post, with abundant and relatively powerful armament (81 mortars and 75 cannons), Dong Dang was held by a strong company (170 men including 30 Europeans). Connected by telephone to Lang Son and Nacham, the station also has a radio link. On the 9th, during the day, given the visib
Weakened by the First World War, Russia suffered two revolutions in 1917, twelve years after that of 1905. February Revolution overthrows Tsar Nicolas II while that of October , known as the Bolshevik Revolution, pushed Russia into a new economic, political and social regime. A civil war breaks out
Having become sole emperor, Theodosius promulgated the Edict of Thessalonica on February 28, 380 to force his people to embrace the “Catholic” faith followed by the bishops of Rome and Alexandria. His choice is religious as much as political, because he received Catholic baptism in the same year 380
The uprising of August 1, 1944 holds a unique place in the collective memory and historical consciousness of Poles. And this is because the Nazis had suppressed the uprising with a brutality rare, even for themselves. 200,000 people, most of them civilians, died, many of them in mass executions. Hun
On August 10, 997 there was one of those events that represent a before and after in historical processes. The looting, by Almanzor, of the city where one of the most important Christian relics in Europe was found, the remains of the Apostle Santiago, was a turning point in the so-called Christian R