In the Balance

INDOCHINA

Chill mists hung low over besieged Dienbienphu, and gecko lizards croaked in the night. From the hills, Communist General Giap's loudspeaker blared at the defenders in Vietnamese, French, Arabic and German: "Surrender or die." The 15,000 French Union defenders did not bother to reply. But back at headquarters in Hanoi there was less of an air of silent defiance. "If Giap will pay the price of at least 15,000 dead," said a top Vietnamese official, "he can probably have Dienbienphu." Said a Frenchman: "Before the battle I gave Giap a 20% chance to take the place. Now I give him 40%."

Problem No. 1 was Giap's artillery. It was considerably better than the French had anticipated. Red 105-mm. gun crews and their Chinese instructors commanded all six remaining French strong points of the fortress as well as its two shell-pocked airstrips. French planes and helicopters could not get down tp evacuate more than a few of Dienbienphu's wounded. French patrols, water parties and couriers had to run a deadly daytime gauntlet. French pilots chalked such notes as "best wishes" and "May your buttocks be scorched" on their bombs, and flew three missions a day against the Red emplacements. But they got poor results through the heavy flak, the camouflage and the mist.

Problem No. 2 was Giap's "mole-man" infantry. Every night the Communists dug and tunneled up to the French wire, loosening ground so that they could quickly dig assault trenches when the signal came to go in; they neatly infiltrated between the fortress' HQ and its southern strong point. Five times last week the French sent out tanks and infantry to ease the throttlehold; they killed 260 Communists and captured 14. At week's end the French launched a strong counterattack, claimed 1,000 casualties. But every night the Red moles came back.

Problem No. 3 was Giap's buildup. His 37-mm. antiaircraft guns were effectively harassing the French supply airlift to Dienbienphu, and his guerrillas were raiding French supply routes and depots near Hanoi. But Giap was able to move reinforcements and ammunition to his 40,000-man striking force in 200 new Molotov trucks down two open roads from Red China. The French could do almost nothing to stop him: they needed their very few combat planes for Dienbienphu itself.

The French were close to certain that Giap planned to renew his offensive when his buildup was complete--perhaps early in April, before the full moon.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.