Word: laotians
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...Americans try it. The plan: U.S. Army instructors would train a big, new Vietnamese army, starting some time this summer, as they had once trained the South Koreans and the Greeks. The objective: five new Vietnamese divisions ready for action this year; four more Vietnamese, one Laotian and three Cambodian divisions ready...
...campaign. "We have not been surprised," said Navarre. "The situation is just what we expected ..." The Communists had not taken their current major objectives: the rice-rich Red River Delta around Hanoi, and the encircled French strongpoint at Dienbienphu. And their heavily headlined offensive against Luang Prabang, the royal Laotian capital, "may be considered blocked...
...undefended Communist port of Tuyhoa. Among his principal objectives: to recover the headline initiative, revalorize the folks back home and convince the U.S. that his army was worth more aid. Two weeks ago, the Communists moved one division in three lightly equipped columns toward the royal Laotian capital of Luang Prabang (pop. 15,000). Presumably they could not hold the capital long with their extended supply lines. Their objective: to win headlines, increase the war weariness of the French Cabinet and public, and synchronize with the Big Four talks...
...Viet Minh divisions, some 20,000 strong, slipped away to the southwest; they swerved unopposed across Indo-China's wooded mountain spine, then invaded the "associated state" of Laos in its southern, least strongly defended sector (see map). The Communists fell by night upon a French-Laotian company near the border and cut it quickly to pieces. Then the invaders headed west through scraggy hillsides towards the Mekong, using footpath trails to bypass the French defense posts along the main highway. They need not have bothered: the French, hopelessly outnumbered, were already pulling out. The day after Christmas...
...Theories. At this stage of the battle, Ho's military intentions are not clear. From Thakhek, he could move northwest against Luang Prabang, the Laotian royal capital; he could move south towards Savannakhet and its important nearby airfield. He could dig in at Thakhek and wait for the French to send reinforcements from the decisive delta against him. At Thakhek, too, he could pose a threat to neutral but strongly anti-Communist Siam. The Siamese were taking no chances: they declared nine provinces an emergency zone and moved troops and artillery to the Mekong, directly opposite the Communist positions...