"Bloody Siege – the battle of Dien Bien Phu" Topic

"The First Indo-China war broke out shortly after the end of the Second World War and lasted until 1954. French soldiers were dispatched to deal with the growing tide of Communist activities in the colony and to prevent popular nationalist forces from wresting control of the colony. Pivotal in this bloody struggle was the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Realising that his forces were losing ground to the hit and run guerilla tactics of the Viet Minh, the French commander, Henri Navarre, adopted a new military concept provided by his advisor, Colonel Louis Berteil, which he believed would counter the guerilla activities and effectively lead to a forced Viet Minh withdrawal. Berteil devised the idea of emplacing a fortified position behind enemy lines by airlifting troops and material to a strategic area…"
Full article here
link

Anyone have tried to wargame this?

Amicalement
Armand

I have been collecting stuff for playing Indo-China in general and DBP in particular off and on for a few years. I aim to run an Indo-China game using a modified version of Chain of Command from TooFatLardies at Swedish game convention GothCon next year.

Yes, the US did, and they succeeded. Something to do about having enough aircraft … the French colonial forces couldn't be adequately resupplied, reinforced or supported.

I knew an Algerian guy who was there, a colonial paratrooper. One night (after a good number of drinks) he said about the siege: "they weren't supposed to have artillery". He was very upset.

Have you seen the Schoendoerffer film Dien Bien Phu? Hard to see in the US but well worth it. The director was captured at the actual battle. His son portrays him in the film.

Interesting.

Amicalement
Armand

I think the french had enough aircraft. Problem was landing them after the Viet Minh began shelling the airfield (apparently, they weren't supposed to do that). As they closed in air drops became difficult (smaller drop zones/ closer AA guns). I've read it's possible the French could have reinforced DBP properly to stop the garrisons constriction, but decided not to.

Have the film. Nice overview of the battle from the French perspective. Didn't know that about the director.

Anyone not familiar with the battle may be interested to know the French made about ten major sorties outside their entrenchments (battalion size and up) effectively reversing the roles of attacker and defender.