Seize & Hold

INDOCHINA

The great Communist offensive in Indo-China, which had been expected since the monsoons ended in October, has not materialized, probably because General Henri Navarre's aggressive spoiling operations have kept the Viet Minh off balance. Last week Navarre launched the biggest airborne attack since the Langson border raid in July, this time against the Communist base at Dienbienphu. Between the Black River and Laos. This time it was not a hit-and-run raid; the French meant to seize Dienbienphu and hold on.

The enemy in Dienbienphu had been threatening the isolated French base at Laichau, a hedgehog supplied by air, which the French have been using to build up anti-Communist guerrilla forces among the friendly Thai tribesmen. Dienbienphu was also important to the enemy supply, especially for rice raids.

A fleet of C-475 wheeled west from Hanoi one day last week, carrying more than 1,000 paratroopers (including some Vietnamese) to Dienbienphu. They made a neat drop and took the enemy, about 800 strong, wholly by surprise. After a series of sharp fire fights in the tall elephant grass, the Communists were routed and dispersed. They launched a suicidal counterattack by one company to cover the retreat of their main force. Though the French said they killed more than a hundred of the enemy and that their own losses were much smaller, they did not come off unscathed. Some were cut down by a group of Communists out for mortar practice, who fell on the paratroopers with small arms and knives before they could free themselves of their chutes.

But the French had Dienbienphu. Next day they flew in reinforcements, fanned out as far as ten miles from the base, began reconditioning the airstrip. The Viet Minh were reported to be moving up their 316th Division, and it seemed possible that the Communists might break their own tactical rules by fighting a pitched battle for Dienbienphu, rather than let Navarre's men stay in possession.

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