Battle of Route Coloniale 4
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Route Coloniale 4 (called Chiến dịch Biên giới [Operation at border zone] in Vietnam) was a battle of the First Indochina War
. The battle lasted from 30 September to 18 October 1950. The French won the first battle of the RC4 on 9 October 1947.
Route Coloniale 4 (RC4, also known as Highway 4) is a road in Vietnam
, bordering the Chinese border from Hanoi
to Cao Bang. It is notorious for a French military disaster in 1950 in which several units of the French army, including some battalion
s of the Foreign Legion
, were devastated by the Viet Minh
and essentially ceased to exist as fighting units.
During the French Indochina War
(1945–1954), French forces attempted to re-establish colonial control of Vietnam
, while nationalist forces led by Ho Chi Minh
fought for independence. Initially, the Vietnamese guerrilla
forces, the Viet Minh
, were unsuccessful in dealing with the better -trained and -equipped French forces. Their situation improved in 1949 after the Chinese Communist army of Mao Zedong
defeated the Nationalist army led by Chiang Kai-Shek
. This gave the communist Viet Minh a safe haven for organization and training, as well as an initially sympathetic ally to provide them with arms and logistical support.
Vo Nguyen Giap
, the military leader of the Viet Minh, launched an offensive against the French in early 1950. From February to April, his operation Le Hong Phong I raged through the Red River Valley
, largely giving the Viet Minh control of northwestern Tonkin
, near the Chinese border. The area became a Viet Minh stronghold, except for the RC4 highway.
On 25 May, 2,500 Viet Minh troops overwhelmed the French fortress at Dong Khé
, which lay at the strategic center of RC4, thus cutting the supply line between the French positions at Cao Bang and Lang Son. French parachutists
retook Dong Khé on the evening of 27 May and a company of Legionnaires took charge of the fort.
Meanwhile, the Viet Minh regular army, the Chu Luc, was becoming larger and better trained. By the beginning of September, it comprised roughly 100,000 combatants in 70 battalion
s, with another 33 battalions of regional forces (40,000 men) as well as some 60,000 local support personnel. Giap then began harassing French positions along RC4 in northern Vietnam with mines and ambushes. The French responded by dismantling their small posts along the road and concentrating area forces in the fortified positions at Dong Khé and Cao Bang. Giap planned to launch another assault on French positions in operation Le Hong Phong II.
On 16 September, five Viet Minh infantry and one heavy weapons battalions attacked Dong Khé. It was then garrisoned by some 300 French troops comprising the 5th and 6th companies of the 2nd battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the French Foreign Legion (3rd REI). On 18 September, the fort was overrun after bitter fighting, and only 12 survivors escaped to the nearby post at That Khé. 140 Legionnaires had been taken prisoner, the remainder being killed or missing in action.
That Khé was quickly reinforced by the Foreign Legion's 1st Parachute Battalion (1st BEP), which parachuted in on 17 September. The 1st BEP waited at That Khe while a force of French colonial
troops, the Moroccan
1st and 11th Tabors
, assembled at Lang Son
. Designated Groupement Bayard the combined force comprised 3,500 men under the command of Colonel
Le Page. The task force launched an intelligence raid, capturing prisoners who said a massive Viet Minh offensive was planned.
Meanwhile General Marcel Carpentier, the commander in chief of French Indochina, decided to evacuate Cao Bang. The commander of the Cao Bang fort, Colonel Charton, was ordered to destroy his heavy equipment and motor transport and evacuate towards Dong Khé. The plan was that Groupement Bayard would fight its way north from That Khe and retake Dong Khé, holding it long enough to link up with the Cao Bang group. This group comprised 2,600 troops and 500 civilians, the latter mostly pro-French Tho
partisan
s and their families.
regiment
, together with the remaining forces from Le Hong Phong I. The Viet Minh rebuffed the French forces, which were forced to pull back and wait for air support. Le Page renewed the attack on 2 October, pushing west to bypass Dong Khé as Viet Minh numbers were overwhelming.
Meanwhile Colonel Charton's group, led by the 3rd Battalion of 3rd REI
, left Cao Bang on 1 October; contrary to orders he took with him his heavy equipment. The group's movement down RC4 was slowed by Viet Minh ambushes. After bitter fighting, they finally abandoned their heavy equipment and linked up with Groupement Bayard in the hills around Dong Khé on 5 October.
The French forces were driven into the Coc Xa gorge, where they were completely annihilated by 7 October. Martin Windrow notes that: Some 130 of the Legion parachute battalion out of the 500 that had jumped emerged from this breakthrough fight; they had only escaped by clambering down lianas shrouding a 75 ft cliff with their wounded tied on their backs.
In an attempt to support the embattled troops the 1er BEP Replacement Company (120 men) under Lieutenant Loth had been merged with 268 men from 3e BCCP (Bataillon Colonial de Commandos Parachutistes, Parachute Colonial Commando Battalion) under Captain Cazeaux and they were parachuted into That Khe on 8 October, but over the course of the next week destroyed as well. Only 23 survivors of the 1st BEP, led by Captain Jeanpierre
, managed to escape to French lines: it became the first French parachute battalion lost in combat, followed by the 3rd BCCP, of which only 14 soldiers returned unscathed.
replaced Carpentier as commander in chief of French Indochina in late 1950 and restored French morale.
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
. The battle lasted from 30 September to 18 October 1950. The French won the first battle of the RC4 on 9 October 1947.
Route Coloniale 4 (RC4, also known as Highway 4) is a road in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, bordering the Chinese border from Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
to Cao Bang. It is notorious for a French military disaster in 1950 in which several units of the French army, including some battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s of the Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
, were devastated by the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
and essentially ceased to exist as fighting units.
RC4 in the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
(1945–1954), French forces attempted to re-establish colonial control of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, while nationalist forces led by Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
fought for independence. Initially, the Vietnamese guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
forces, the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
, were unsuccessful in dealing with the better -trained and -equipped French forces. Their situation improved in 1949 after the Chinese Communist army of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
defeated the Nationalist army led by Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
. This gave the communist Viet Minh a safe haven for organization and training, as well as an initially sympathetic ally to provide them with arms and logistical support.
Vo Nguyen Giap
Vo Nguyen Giap
Võ Nguyên Giáp is a retired Vietnamese officer in the Vietnam People’s Army and a politician. He was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War...
, the military leader of the Viet Minh, launched an offensive against the French in early 1950. From February to April, his operation Le Hong Phong I raged through the Red River Valley
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...
, largely giving the Viet Minh control of northwestern Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
, near the Chinese border. The area became a Viet Minh stronghold, except for the RC4 highway.
On 25 May, 2,500 Viet Minh troops overwhelmed the French fortress at Dong Khé
Battle of Dong Khe
The Battle of Dong Khe was a major battle of the First Indochina War. The fight began on 15 September 1950 and ended on 18 September with a French defeat...
, which lay at the strategic center of RC4, thus cutting the supply line between the French positions at Cao Bang and Lang Son. French parachutists
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
retook Dong Khé on the evening of 27 May and a company of Legionnaires took charge of the fort.
Meanwhile, the Viet Minh regular army, the Chu Luc, was becoming larger and better trained. By the beginning of September, it comprised roughly 100,000 combatants in 70 battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s, with another 33 battalions of regional forces (40,000 men) as well as some 60,000 local support personnel. Giap then began harassing French positions along RC4 in northern Vietnam with mines and ambushes. The French responded by dismantling their small posts along the road and concentrating area forces in the fortified positions at Dong Khé and Cao Bang. Giap planned to launch another assault on French positions in operation Le Hong Phong II.
On 16 September, five Viet Minh infantry and one heavy weapons battalions attacked Dong Khé. It was then garrisoned by some 300 French troops comprising the 5th and 6th companies of the 2nd battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the French Foreign Legion (3rd REI). On 18 September, the fort was overrun after bitter fighting, and only 12 survivors escaped to the nearby post at That Khé. 140 Legionnaires had been taken prisoner, the remainder being killed or missing in action.
That Khé was quickly reinforced by the Foreign Legion's 1st Parachute Battalion (1st BEP), which parachuted in on 17 September. The 1st BEP waited at That Khe while a force of French colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
troops, the Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
1st and 11th Tabors
Goumier
Moroccan Goumiers were soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. The term Goumier was also occasionally used to designate native soldiers in the French army of the French Sudan and Upper Volta during the colonial era.-Description:The word...
, assembled at Lang Son
Lang Son
Lạng Sơn , sometimes Langson, is a city in far northern Vietnam, is the capital of Lang Son province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Road 1A.-History:...
. Designated Groupement Bayard the combined force comprised 3,500 men under the command of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Le Page. The task force launched an intelligence raid, capturing prisoners who said a massive Viet Minh offensive was planned.
Meanwhile General Marcel Carpentier, the commander in chief of French Indochina, decided to evacuate Cao Bang. The commander of the Cao Bang fort, Colonel Charton, was ordered to destroy his heavy equipment and motor transport and evacuate towards Dong Khé. The plan was that Groupement Bayard would fight its way north from That Khe and retake Dong Khé, holding it long enough to link up with the Cao Bang group. This group comprised 2,600 troops and 500 civilians, the latter mostly pro-French Tho
Tho
Tho may refer to:*Thổ people, ethnic group in Northern Vietnam**Tho language, language spoken by Thổ people*Jeff Tho, badminton player from Australia...
partisan
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
s and their families.
Battle of RC4
On 30 September, Groupement Bayard set out from That Khe, led by the 1 BEP. However, Giap had concentrated ten battalions around Dong Khé, reinforced by a complete artilleryArtillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
, together with the remaining forces from Le Hong Phong I. The Viet Minh rebuffed the French forces, which were forced to pull back and wait for air support. Le Page renewed the attack on 2 October, pushing west to bypass Dong Khé as Viet Minh numbers were overwhelming.
Meanwhile Colonel Charton's group, led by the 3rd Battalion of 3rd REI
3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment
The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the French Foreign Legion. The regiment is stationed in French Guiana, protecting the Centre Spatial Guyanais.-World War I:...
, left Cao Bang on 1 October; contrary to orders he took with him his heavy equipment. The group's movement down RC4 was slowed by Viet Minh ambushes. After bitter fighting, they finally abandoned their heavy equipment and linked up with Groupement Bayard in the hills around Dong Khé on 5 October.
The French forces were driven into the Coc Xa gorge, where they were completely annihilated by 7 October. Martin Windrow notes that: Some 130 of the Legion parachute battalion out of the 500 that had jumped emerged from this breakthrough fight; they had only escaped by clambering down lianas shrouding a 75 ft cliff with their wounded tied on their backs.
In an attempt to support the embattled troops the 1er BEP Replacement Company (120 men) under Lieutenant Loth had been merged with 268 men from 3e BCCP (Bataillon Colonial de Commandos Parachutistes, Parachute Colonial Commando Battalion) under Captain Cazeaux and they were parachuted into That Khe on 8 October, but over the course of the next week destroyed as well. Only 23 survivors of the 1st BEP, led by Captain Jeanpierre
Pierre Jeanpierre
Pierre Paul Jeanpierre was a French Army officer. He fought during World War II, the First Indochina War, the Suez Crisis and the Algerian War, where he was killed in action...
, managed to escape to French lines: it became the first French parachute battalion lost in combat, followed by the 3rd BCCP, of which only 14 soldiers returned unscathed.
Aftermath
Of the more than 6,000 French soldiers and civilians involved in the operation, only 700 reached French lines. Lang Son, the next French base to the south, was abandoned on 17 October and on 18 October the French command evacuated posts south of Lang Son on RC4. Panic spread in French-controlled Hanoi and there was talk of an evacuation. Ultimately, however, General Jean de Lattre de TassignyJean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny, GCB, MC was a French military hero of World War II and commander in the First Indochina War.-Early life:...
replaced Carpentier as commander in chief of French Indochina in late 1950 and restored French morale.
See also
- History of VietnamHistory of VietnamThe history of Vietnam covers a period of more than 2,700 years. By far Vietnam's most important historical international relationship has been with China. Vietnam's prehistory includes a legend about a kingdom known as Van Lang that included what is now China's Guangxi Autonomous Region and...
- Viet MinhViet MinhViệt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
- First Indochina WarFirst Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
- French Foreign LegionFrench Foreign LegionThe French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...