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War Against the French
First Indochina War
Early War
- From 1946 until 1950, just as the war was getting started, it was stalemated
- The French had to bring men from France over to Vietnam, which was not very practical for their country
- The Viet Minh had more access to men, resulting in more men fighting for Vietnam
- The Vietnamese "Guerrillas" hid in the jungle as well as villages, making it very hard for the French to find and attack
- It was also very difficult for the French to tell regular citizens apart from soldiers, making it easy for the Viet Minh to spy on the French
- The Viet Minh was able to make many surprise attacks and ambushes; in a sense, they were always one step ahead of the French
- Although opinions on the Viet Minh varied throughout Vietnam, most all citizens had one thing in common: They resented French rule
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US & China Step In
-In 1949, China won the civil war and established control in areas that bordered Vietnam
- This was a major breakthrough in the war becuase for the first time, the Viet Minh was able to obtain weapons outside of what could be made or stolen in the jungles of Vietnam
- With the help of China, the Viet Minh was increasingly more powerful, while still having a homeland advantage
- The US stepped in around the same time as China, providing aid and weapons to France in fear of communism spreading to Asia
- In 1950, the French had an artillery advantage of 16:1 against the Viet Minh
- The artillery advantage however was not enough to defeat the overwhelming amount of men and citizens fighting on the side of the Viet Minh
- China's support strongly impacted the Viet Minh, and helped lead them to their victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954
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Battles
- There were many important battles throughout the Indochina War
- One of these battles is known as the Battle of Vinh Yen
- The Battle of Vinh Yen lasted from January 13th - January 17th
- In this battle, the French was led by a WWII Hero, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.
- Defeating the Viet Minh, this was a turning point for the French who had been familiar with continual victories from the Viet Minh
- A diary entry written by a Viet Minh officer was released, describing the scene occuring on the first day of the Battle of Vinh Yen
- Battle of Hoa Binh
- On December 9, 1950, the Viet Minh launched their first ambush against a garrison on the Black River
- This battle had many human-wave attacks, and ambushes by the Viet Minh
- the French were forced to retreat from the garrison, giving the Viet Minh the entire River Bank to use to launch ambushes
- This became known as the "Meat Gridner Battle"
- In Bernard Fall's novel "Street Without Joy", he describes the scene of Hoa Binh:
"Probably the bloodiest river battles since the American Civil War were fought between the French and the Vietminh around Notre Dame Rock, with ships being attacked and sunk by gun fire, mines, and even frogmen. On January 12th, the Vietminh ambushed one whole river convoy south of Notre Dame Rock. Most of the ships were severely damaged and forced to turn back. The first jaw of the pincers around Hoa Binh had closed. The French no longer attempted to push through river convoys to Hoa Binh. The stage was now set for the battle of Road No. 6." - Fall, "Street Without Joy"
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