Operation Brochet

Operation Brochet Part of the First Indochina War Location of the Red River Delta Date August - October 1953 Location French Indochina Result Viet Minh tactical victory Belligerents French Union France State of Vietnam Viet Minh Strength ~9,000 - 15,300 ~10,000 Casualties and losses 96 dead[1] 10 dead[1]

First Indochina War Masterdom Haiphong Hanoi Cao Bằng Papillon Léa Ceinture Đông Khê RC4 Vĩnh Yên Mạo Khê Đáy River 1st Nghĩa Lộ Hòa Bình 2nd Nghĩa Lộ Lorraine Nà Sản Bretagne Adolphe Muong Khoua Atlante Camargue Hirondelle Brochet Mouette Pollux Castor Điện Biên Phủ Condor Mang Yang Pass

Operation Brochet took place during the French Indochina War, between August and October, 1953. A combined arms operation, Brochet involved 18 battalions of French and South Vietnamese troops and 42nd and 50th Viet Minh Regiments,^[2] fighting in the southern reaches of the Red River Delta near Tonkin in North Vietnam.^[3] The 1st and 2nd Parachute Battalions of the French Foreign Legion (BEP),^[1][3] and the 1st and 3rd Colonial Parachute Battalions (BPC) took part,^[4] as did forces of the Vietnamese National Army.^[2] Their objective was to sweep the Delta and remove Viet Minh influence.^[2]

Brochet enjoyed only limited success.^[3] By October 11, 1 BEP had lost 96 men against only 10 confirmed Viet Minh casualties,^[1] and despite French efforts between 5,000 and 7,000 of the Delta villages remained under Viet Minh control.^[2]

Notes

References

Online

• Fall, Bernard B. (December 1956). "Indochina: The Last Year of the War. The Navarre Plan" (PDF). The Military Review. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 

Printed

• Fall, Bernard B. (1966). Hell in a Very Small Place. The Siege of Dien Bien Phu. London: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81157-9. 
• Fall, Bernard B. (1961). Street Without Joy. The French Debacle in Indochina. New York: Stackpole Military History. ISBN 978-0-8117-3236-9. 
• Fall, Bernard B. (1967). The Two Vietnams. A Political and Military Analysis (Second ed.). New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. 
• Roy, Jules (1963). The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-0958-8. 
• Windrow, Martin (2004). The Last Valley. Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-304-36692-7.