Word: giap
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Communists quickly isolated and overran a Foreign Legion outpost in the airstrip sector, and the French could not get it back. This was the third outpost the Communists had captured in seven days, and GHQ was despondent. Unless some way could be found to draw off Red General Giap's 40,000 men, said one top French commander, "General de Castries has only one chance in ten of holding...
...perimeter with fresh, air-dropped reinforcements-infantry volunteers with only a few hours' parachute instruction and no practice-and built up his ammunition stocks for the battle's third round. De Castries professed to have no doubt who would win. "I'm going to kick General Giap's teeth in, one by one," said...
French intelligence reported that Giap was also using the lull to bring up heavy reinforcements and supplies and to redraw his battle lines-nearer and nearer the fortress...
...week's end the colonel himself restarted the fighting. De Castries threw out a battalion, with light tanks in support, against a cluster of Red outposts to the northeast. Three and a half hours later, the Communists withdrew. Red General Giap put in five counterattacks, but the colonel held his gains...
Back at Hanoi, French GHQ optimistically noted that Giap's fourth counterattack showed "definite lack of conviction," and the tired, outnumbered French garrison is still given a 50-50 chance to hold Dienbienphu...