The March 13th attack took the French by surprise due to their ability to command and control large amounts of military assets. The revered airstrip was damaged beyond immediate repair by the second day of the gunnery assault, forcing the French to rely solely on parachute drops for resupply (Trueman, 2015). To make matters worse, Colonel Charles Piroth, the French artillery commander, committed suicide with a hand grenade on the second day due to his inability to counter fire the Viet Minh batteries (Cavendish, 2004). T’ai troops, loyal to the French, deserted their positions allowing additional strongholds to be overthrown. This superior number of Viet Minh artillery permitted Giap's plan of attack to cripple the French resupply by air.
…show more content…
Senior French officers lost confidence in Colonel de Castries and replaced him with a Paratrooper, Colonel Pierre Langlais. The French launched numerous assaults in late March with little to no results when challenged by the strong Viet Minh counter-attacks. The Viet Minh continued to advance and counter any French attacks. They controlled a majority of the airfield by April 22nd, making parachute air drops nearly impossible. The French made a few last ditch efforts, on May 1st and 6th, which succeeded in taking back lost battleground. Giap ordered an all-out attack on the remaining French strongholds on May 7th. The final French position was captured at nightfall with 11,721 troops apprehended. 10,863 of these men were held as POW’s while a mere 3,290 were repatriated four months later. The Viet Minh suffered approximately 8,000 KIA’s and suffered a staggering 12,000 wounded (Trueman, 2015).
Scholars have argued the most important factor in the outcome of this battle was the role of artillery and the Viet Minh's numeric advantage of guns with ammunition. This fire superiority abolished the French air power and disrupted French logistical operations (Pennington, 2006). The battle simply became one of logistical attrition. Different studies of DBP confirm that the airlift was a deciding factor in the defeat of the French. The French leadership chose to ignore the warnings of the French air commanders who lacked necessary assets to carry out the mission (MAJ Ryan F. Ferrell,
Senior French officers lost confidence in Colonel de Castries and replaced him with a Paratrooper, Colonel Pierre Langlais. The French launched numerous assaults in late March with little to no results when challenged by the strong Viet Minh counter-attacks. The Viet Minh continued to advance and counter any French attacks. They controlled a majority of the airfield by April 22nd, making parachute air drops nearly impossible. The French made a few last ditch efforts, on May 1st and 6th, which succeeded in taking back lost battleground. Giap ordered an all-out attack on the remaining French strongholds on May 7th. The final French position was captured at nightfall with 11,721 troops apprehended. 10,863 of these men were held as POW’s while a mere 3,290 were repatriated four months later. The Viet Minh suffered approximately 8,000 KIA’s and suffered a staggering 12,000 wounded (Trueman, 2015).
Scholars have argued the most important factor in the outcome of this battle was the role of artillery and the Viet Minh's numeric advantage of guns with ammunition. This fire superiority abolished the French air power and disrupted French logistical operations (Pennington, 2006). The battle simply became one of logistical attrition. Different studies of DBP confirm that the airlift was a deciding factor in the defeat of the French. The French leadership chose to ignore the warnings of the French air commanders who lacked necessary assets to carry out the mission (MAJ Ryan F. Ferrell,