Operation Ceinture

Operation Ceinture
Part of the First Indochina War

The region of Dong Bac, encompassing much of the Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang area.
Date20 November 1947 22 December 1947
LocationNorth-west of Hanoi, French Indochina
Result French tactical victory
Territorial
changes
Viet-Minh expelled from the region of Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang, but many escape French cordons.
Belligerents

France French Union

North Vietnam Viet Minh
Commanders and leaders
General Valluy[1] Unknown
Strength
18 battalions[2] Regiment 112
Doc Lap Brigade
Casualties and losses
Unknown 9,500[2]

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 Lea, Ceinture (French: belt) intended to rid the region between Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang of Viet-Minh infiltration.[1] 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. Dead and wounded totals given by Bernard Fall for the Viet-Minh reach 9,500, however he suggests that a portion were non-combatants.[2]

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.[2]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 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.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Fall, Bernard B. (1967). Hell in a very small place: the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Lippincott. pp. 28–31.

References

Printed