Word: prabang
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Dates: during 1953-1953
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...Salan: "My decisions are made within a certain framework established in France before I took command. The framework is secret and personal." Salan described how he had stopped the Communists short of the Mekong River in Laos by creating hedgehog positions in the Plaine des Jarres and at Luang Prabang, reinforcing them by air: "The enemy had 40 divisions: I had twelve. I had to wage a cautious war of maneuver...
...summer monsoon broke over leafy Luang Prabang in a deluge. Huddled in steaming rubber capes, the French Union troops waited for the expected Viet Minh Communist attack. It did not come. The valleys beneath the great frowning mountains ran rivers of mud, but no Communist soldier waded them, nor was there one to be seen anywhere. Laotians, worshiping in the temple of the celebrated Golden Buddha, had predicted that the Communists would never capture the sacred city of Luang Prabang. Had their predictions proved true...
...capital. Like his Thai people, the King is a fatalist. In the temples his people lay offerings and burn incense before tranquil, smiling images of Buddha, confident that whatever comes, it will inevitably change, as the mystic circle of life completes itself. It is exactly 500 years since Luang Prabang was last invaded...
...temple opposite King Sisavang Vong's palace sits the most celebrated Buddha of all: the golden Luang Prabang, at least 1,100 years old, from which the town takes its name and its religious and political significance. The expression on this graven, gilded 'image is one of silent, secretive, comforting contemplation. People come thousands of miles to worship before it. Black-haired Thai maidens pray that the enemy will be defeated, and this week the chief bonze assured them that the enemy would be. The battle that is in preparation will, in effect, be fought for possession...
...weather is holding, and General Raoul Salan has airlifted a formidable last-minute defense force into Luang Prabang. While they dig in for a long siege, patrols fend off the Communist vanguard...