The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 309, Ed. 2 Wednesday, April 21, 1954 Page: 5 of 40
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5-A THE ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS
A Abilene, Texas, Wednesday Evening, April 21,1954
THE HOT WAR IN INDOCHINA
This Battle Is Political
coms at the rate of one St. Cyr
(the French Wert Point) class a
year," Gen. Cogny told me.
An officer remarked: “We were
beaten by the Germans in 1940 be-
cause we lost so many officers in
the first world war. Now, if there
is a third world war, we may be
beaten because so many officers
have been lost in Indochina."
Tomorrow: Ho Chi Minh and
Moscow
first time.
.0.
36
NG
at
k!
Editor's Noto-William L Ryan
is in Singapore writing free from
censorship after a tour of Indo-
china during which he flew over
the embattled fortress of Dien
Bien Phu. This is the third of five
articles by Ryan on Indochina.
By WILLIAM L. RYAN
AP Foreign News Analyst
SINGAPORE tel — For 40 ter-
rible days and nights soldiers of
the French Union have been writ-
ing a new page of glory with their
blood. Yet the fearful battle of
Dien Bien Phu is more for polit-
ical objectives than military.
Dien Bien Phu, once not even
a spot on the map of northwest
Indochina, suddenly became one of
its best known names. When the
Vietminh Communists decided to
attack March 13, they brought
home to the non-Communist world,
with dramatic impact, the gravity
of the situation in Southeast Asia.
It was to be a major military-
political battle of the seven-year-
old war. The Communists desper-
ately wanted to inflict a crushing
blow. The French equally needed
a victory if the political line were
to be held. But the French were
in an unenviable position. They
could lose the battle but it was
difficult to see how they could win
a clear-cut decision, since they
were holed up and immobile be-
hind fortifications 180 miles from
the nearest French base. They
might inflict frightful casualties on
the enemy as long as he attacked
on masse, but he remained there
continuing the siege.
‘Must Win This One*
“We must win this uue,” said
Gen. Rene Cogny, French com-
mander in north Indochina. He
seemed to consider the battle
would be won if the all-out attack
were repulsed. The monsoon rains
were due soon, to bog down mili-
tary operations. That would hurt
Vietminh supply lines, but it also
would hinder the French air force’s
job of supplying and reinforcing
the fortress.
So badly did the Communists
want it that Russian-made Molo-
tov trucks brought in a steady
stream of heavy weapons and mu-
nitions and possibly as many as
6,000 Chinese advisers and tech-
nicians were overseeing the Vlet-
minh’s transition from jungle war-
fare to mass attack.
If the troops of Communist Ho
Chi Minh sought military victory
alone, the price would be too great.
Wiping out the fortress and its
defenders would be a great mili-
tary victory but the Communists
are not exclusively concerned with
that.
Cause France’s Fall
The Vietminh already has suf-
fered thousands of casualties to
the spectacular gamble. Why?
Capitalising on Paris’ weariness
/ and impatience with the war, the
I Commurrists hoped to convince
I France that her position to Indo-
I china was hopeless. The Commu-
I nists hoped to cause the fall of
the French government to be suc-
ceeded by one eager to negotiate
i with Ho and get out of Indochina.
The Communists also expected to
make the voice of Ho heard at
U.S. AIRMEN SERVICE PLANE FOR DIEN BIEN PHU FLIGHT
Phu is confusing to many. Why
did Gen. Henri Navarre, French
commander in chief, choose such
a spot to make a fateful stand?
It is a plain of red dust in a swelt-
ering valley surrounded by com-
manding hills which permit fire to
be poured down upon it. The de-
fenders have no rear-the nearest
French forces are 180 miles east.
There is no place to fall back. It
was a matter of stand or be mas-
sacred.
The best explanation I could
get:
Dien Bien Phu had been a clust-
er of mud and straw huts perched
on poles. Last fall the French
cleared away the villagers, cut
down the trees and began build-
ing fortifications. The reason was
that the French were developing
among the friendly, anti-Commu-
nist Thai tribesmen a type of war-
fare waged by the Maquis (guer-
rillas) in France in World War II.
Gradual Buildup
The Vietminh sent its 316th Div-
ision to clean out the Thais. The
French flew more troops to Dien
Bien Phu to protect guerrilla ac-
tivities. The French kept reinforc-
ing Dien Bien Phu, building strong-
points and setting up seas of
barbed wire barricades, until by
Jan. 1 It was a formidable com-
plex 6 by 4 miles, encircled by
thickly forested hills. The entrance
was protected by eight hill strong-
points. The command post complex
was made up of underground po-
sitions. well-bunkered and encir-
cled with more barbed wire.
Two hill positions fell to the Viet-
the Geneva conference opening
Monday.
The prise sought was a nego-
tiated agreement which would
leave the Vietminh, strongest po-
litical force in the country, ready
to step into the vacuum if and
when the French withdrew their
troops. The effect of that on all
Southeast Asia would be enorm-
ous.
Why Choose This?
The bow and why of Dien Bien
minh in early assaults. The Viet-
minh dug in behind protecting
hills and trees on the approaches
to the fortifications.
Likely Navarre did not expect
the Vietminh to come up with
heavy artillery or shift over to
mass attack tactics. His support-
ers say the original strategic pur-
pose was to bar a Vietminh drive
into northern Laos. The Commu-
nists, however, did send a div-
ision into northern Laos in Janu-
ary, bypassing Dien Bien Phu.
That turned out to be a diversion.
The Vietminh was not primarily ini-
mobility.
Have ‘Verdum Complex’
“They go further back than a
Maginot Line complex," said one
observer. “They seem to have a
Verdun complex.”
Night and day since the battle
began, transport planes, supplied
by the United States, have taken
off with men and American sup-
plies. The men are dropped only
by night into the lighted fortress
complex. If conditions are poor too
many men land outside the fortress
area and face death or capture
and about 40 per cent of the sup-
plies are lost. If conditions are
good, supply losses are kept to
about 10 per cent.
The French say they don't have
enough planes for both supply and
support. But the French lack pilots
in Indochina. Gen. Cogny said he
could scrape up pilots for about
Because the earth is not a per-
fect sphere the length of a degree
of latitude varies slightly between
the poles and the equator.
100 more planes, including a trans-
port, a fighter and perhaps two
bomber squadrons—but even this
seemed optimistic. Where are the
pilots? In Paris, the French point
out they have commitments in that
respect to NATO.
Casualties in Quality
The enemy is suffering perhaps
five times the casualties of the
French at Dien Bien Phu. But
French casualties in the 7% years
of war have been costly, more in
quality than in quantity. The
French have lost about 16,000
Frenchmen, all noncoms and of-
ficers, and about 40,000 French
Union troops, including North Af-
ricans in the Foreign Legion and
Vietnamese with the French Union
forces.
“We are losing officers and non-
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The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 309, Ed. 2 Wednesday, April 21, 1954, newspaper, April 21, 1954; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1649462/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Public Library.