Battle of Hòa Bình
The Battle of Hòa Bình took place during the Indochina War between French colonial troops and the Việt Minh from November 10, 1951 to February 25, 1952. French troops conquered the city of Hòa Bình , but had to give it up again after several months of defense against the Viet Minh.
prehistory
After the French troops fought off several attempts by the Viet Minh to break into the Tonkings delta region with large military units, the commander- in- chief in Indochina, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny , planned to go on the offensive. His destination was the city of Hoa Binh west of the delta. On the one hand, the French leadership hoped to lure the Viet Minh into an open battle , as the French leadership suspected important supply routes for the Viet Minh in Hoa Binh. The city was also the center of the Mường minority, who often acted in pro-French .
course
On November 14, 1952 three French landed paratroopers - battalions in Hoa Binh. On the same day, 22 infantry and artillery battalions and two armored units set off from the delta along Route Coloniale 6. The French troops were able to achieve their goal of occupying the Hoa Binh area with almost no resistance.
The Vietnamese commander-in-chief Vo Nguyen Giap ordered an evasive withdrawal of his troops, but assembled three divisions by December, which attacked Hoa Binh. These were supported by two other divisions that fought in the rear of the French. The Viet Minh could not take Hoa Binh, but cut it off from its transport links and water supply. The Viet Minh used a two-tier organizational model for the first time at Hoa Binh. Within a division, one further unit was kept in reserve and refreshed for each unit at the front. This enabled the Viet Minh to maintain an eight-week offensive. According to estimates, around 150,000 people should have been employed as porters in the hinterland to support the operation logistically. Keeping Hoa Binh against this constant pressure became more and more costly for the French side, especially as the security situation in the delta became increasingly difficult due to the infiltration of the Viet Minh. After de Lattre had to resign from his post due to cancer, his successor Raoul Salan gave the order to evacuate Hoa Binh in January 1952. The withdrawal from Hoa Binh took place in a withdrawal operation lasting several weeks in order to keep losses low.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam , New York 2013, pp. 288–289
- ^ Charles R. Shrader: A War of Logistics - Parachutes and Porters in Indochina 1945-1954. Lexington, 2015, p. 274
- ^ Bernhard Fall: Street without Joy , 4th edition, Harrisburg, 1994, p. 59