Operation Ceinture was a late 1947 military endeavour by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. A month-long effort that commenced on 20 November following the cessation of Operation Léa, Ceinture (French: belt) intended to rid the region between Hanoi, Thái Nguyên and Tuyên Quang of Viet-Minh infiltration.[2] The French utilised 18 paratroop battalions and naval landing craft to engage the Viet-Minh's 112 Regiment, however the latter were able to for the most part slip through French cordons, abandoning weapon caches. The cumulative casualties after Operation Ceinture and Operation Lea were 1,000 for the French and 9,500 for the Viet Minh (though some of these may have been civilians).[3][4]
| Operation Ceinture | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Indochina War | |||||||||
 The region of Đông Bắc, encompassing much of the Hanoi, Thái Nguyên and Tuyên Quang area. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Viet Minh | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Jean Étienne Valluy | Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 18 battalions[1] |
Regiment 112 Doc Lap Brigade | ||||||||
The French did succeed in securing the region, and they withdrew their forces on 22 December, leaving a scattering of jungle fortifications to hold the region.[1]
Notes
edit- ^ a b Fall, Bernard B. (1967). Hell in a very small place: the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Lippincott. pp. 28–31.
- ^ Windrow, Martin (2005-12-26). The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. Da Capo Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-306-81443-3.
- ^ Fall, Bernard (2005). Street without joy: The French debacle in Indochina (4th. ed.). Pen & Sword Military. p. 30. ISBN 9781844153183.
- ^ Waddell, William M. (2018). In the Year of the Tiger: The War for Cochinchina, 1945–1951. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780806162584.
References
editPrinted
- Hammer, Ellen Joy (1954). The struggle for Indochina. Stanford University Press.
- Buttinger, Joseph (1972). A dragon defiant: a short history of Vietnam. Praeger.
- Fall, Bernard B. (1967). Hell in a very small place: the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Lippincott.
- Kedward, Rod (2006). La vie en bleu: France and the French since 1900. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-013095-9.
- Roy, Jules (1963). The battle of Dienbienphu. Pyramid Books.
- Windrow, Martin (2005-12-26). The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81443-3.
- Fall, Bernard B. (1994). Street without joy. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1700-7.
- Devillers, Philippe; Lacouture, Jean (1969). End of a war; Indochina, 1954. Praeger.
- Fall, Bernard B. (1963). The two Viet-Nams: a political and military analysis. Praeger.