Read Online Giap: The General Who Defeated America in Vietnam by James A. Warren - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James A. Warren
Ads: Link
conflict against the Soviet Union known as the Cold War. Consistently throughout the War of Resistance, the United States supported France’s effort to regain its hold over Vietnam, despite America’s longtime advocacy of self-determination for colonized peoples. Mao, for his part, was too deeply engaged in civil war with Chiang’s Nationalists to offer much help to his fellow Communists—at least for now.
THE MARCH TO WAR, STEP BY STEP
As the French Expeditionary Force (FEF) rose in strength to 100,000 men, including thousands of troops from France’s African colonies and the unitsof the French Foreign Legion, Giap labored nonstop to build up Vietminh military power on the ground. Between September 1945 and the formal start of the War of Resistance in December 1946, Giap essentially doubled the size of the Vietminh’s main base area in northern Tonkin, and established several other smaller bases in Tonkin, and along the coast in northern Annam. The regular army expanded from perhaps 5,000 to 50,000 troops, with 30,000 north of the 16th parallel, and about 50,000 trained guerrillas throughout Vietnam. 8
Throughout the remainder of 1946, local French and Vietminh military units shared responsibilities for preserving order throughout the country, but their interactions were increasingly beset by misunderstanding and mistrust. In such a climate local commanders took matters into their own hands. Murders, ambushes, and atrocities were committed by both sides in the summer and fall of 1946. On September 24, an intense clash between Vietminh and French troops in Saigon degenerated into a riot. Enraged Vietnamese broke into the European sector of the city and killed 150 Western civilians, most of them French.
By early November, General Jean Valluy, the new FEF commander in chief, began contingency preparations for a major operation against Giap’s forces in Tonkin. The operation’s objective: to crush Giap’s forces before they had a chance to redeploy from the environs of Hanoi to the Viet Bac. On November 20 he sent several units into Haiphong to seize control of the customs house along the waterfront, where Giap’s troops had been collecting vital customs fees. More importantly, the Vietminh had been receiving critical arms shipments through Haiphong. Some Vietminh Tu Ve—local militia—apparently fired on the French and took one or more soldiers prisoner just as the French moved in on the customs office.
Hostilities quickly escalated. Valluy knew he would need control of the port in order to land fresh expeditionary forces for a mobile campaign in Tonkin. Accordingly, he ordered all Vietminh to evacuate the area around the port. A defiant Giap refused to budge. Valluy answered in a manner that French commanders, to their detriment, would repeat time and time again. On November 23, a French cruiser approached the port and bombarded the Vietnamese areas of the city indiscriminately, setting off a host of firefights all over the town, and leaving 6,000 civilians dead.
It took French reinforcements from the Red River Delta until November 28 to clear out the Vietminh units. Covered by militia and regionalforces, Giap’s regulars withdrew into the countryside with few casualties. “Although the French government in Paris seemed anxious to achieve a settlement [thereby averting war],” writes Duiker, “its representatives in Vietnam were taking matters into their own hands.” 9
The march toward full-scale war continued. Both sides took measures to strengthen their positions in Hanoi, twenty miles from the port of Haiphong. On December 7, Giap called on all militia and regional forces in the vicinity to prepare to launch attacks on French military installations and government offices within five days. Civilians joined Vietminh forces to prepare defensive positions throughout the city, constructing roadblocks and firing positions in buildings and digging tunnels to facilitate maneuvering out of the line of fire.
THE MARCH TO WAR, STEP BY STEP
As the French Expeditionary Force (FEF) rose in strength to 100,000 men, including thousands of troops from France’s African colonies and the unitsof the French Foreign Legion, Giap labored nonstop to build up Vietminh military power on the ground. Between September 1945 and the formal start of the War of Resistance in December 1946, Giap essentially doubled the size of the Vietminh’s main base area in northern Tonkin, and established several other smaller bases in Tonkin, and along the coast in northern Annam. The regular army expanded from perhaps 5,000 to 50,000 troops, with 30,000 north of the 16th parallel, and about 50,000 trained guerrillas throughout Vietnam. 8
Throughout the remainder of 1946, local French and Vietminh military units shared responsibilities for preserving order throughout the country, but their interactions were increasingly beset by misunderstanding and mistrust. In such a climate local commanders took matters into their own hands. Murders, ambushes, and atrocities were committed by both sides in the summer and fall of 1946. On September 24, an intense clash between Vietminh and French troops in Saigon degenerated into a riot. Enraged Vietnamese broke into the European sector of the city and killed 150 Western civilians, most of them French.
By early November, General Jean Valluy, the new FEF commander in chief, began contingency preparations for a major operation against Giap’s forces in Tonkin. The operation’s objective: to crush Giap’s forces before they had a chance to redeploy from the environs of Hanoi to the Viet Bac. On November 20 he sent several units into Haiphong to seize control of the customs house along the waterfront, where Giap’s troops had been collecting vital customs fees. More importantly, the Vietminh had been receiving critical arms shipments through Haiphong. Some Vietminh Tu Ve—local militia—apparently fired on the French and took one or more soldiers prisoner just as the French moved in on the customs office.
Hostilities quickly escalated. Valluy knew he would need control of the port in order to land fresh expeditionary forces for a mobile campaign in Tonkin. Accordingly, he ordered all Vietminh to evacuate the area around the port. A defiant Giap refused to budge. Valluy answered in a manner that French commanders, to their detriment, would repeat time and time again. On November 23, a French cruiser approached the port and bombarded the Vietnamese areas of the city indiscriminately, setting off a host of firefights all over the town, and leaving 6,000 civilians dead.
It took French reinforcements from the Red River Delta until November 28 to clear out the Vietminh units. Covered by militia and regionalforces, Giap’s regulars withdrew into the countryside with few casualties. “Although the French government in Paris seemed anxious to achieve a settlement [thereby averting war],” writes Duiker, “its representatives in Vietnam were taking matters into their own hands.” 9
The march toward full-scale war continued. Both sides took measures to strengthen their positions in Hanoi, twenty miles from the port of Haiphong. On December 7, Giap called on all militia and regional forces in the vicinity to prepare to launch attacks on French military installations and government offices within five days. Civilians joined Vietminh forces to prepare defensive positions throughout the city, constructing roadblocks and firing positions in buildings and digging tunnels to facilitate maneuvering out of the line of fire.
Similar Books
