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Concept
Battle of Route Coloniale 4
Summary
The Battle of Route Coloniale 4, also called the Autumn-Winter Border Campaign (Chiến Dịch Biên Giới Thu Đông) by the Viet Minh, was a battle of the First Indochina War. It took place along Route Coloniale 4 (RC4, also known as Highway 4), a road used to supply the French military base at Cao Bằng. French military traffic along the road had previously been subject to an ongoing series of ambushes during 1947–1949.
The aim of Việt Minh in the 1950 Border Campaign was clearing the way between the Vietnam-China border for the supply flow from the newly formed People's Republic of China. In this campaign the Việt Minh also tried to test new tactics and gain new experiences in a large scale battle which the Việt Minh had not previously used.
The battle lasted from 30 September to 18 October 1950 and resulted in a French defeat. Several units of the French army, including some battalions of the French Foreign Legion, were devastated by the Việt Minh and essentially ceased to exist as fighting units.
During the French Indochina War (1945–1954), French forces attempted to re-establish colonial control of Vietnam, while the Vietnamese guerrilla forces, the Việt Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh fought for independence. Initially the Việt Minh were unsuccessful in dealing with the better -trained and -equipped French forces. Their situation improved in 1949 after the Chinese People's Liberation Army of Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalist army led by Chiang Kai-shek. This gave the Việt Minh, now almost completely made up of members of the Vietnam Workers Party, a safe haven for organization and training, as well as an initially sympathetic ally to provide them with arms and logistical support.
Võ Nguyên Giáp, the military leader of the Việt Minh, launched an offensive against the French in early 1950. From February to April, his operation Le Hong Phong I developed through the Red River Valley, largely giving the Việt Minh control of northwestern Tonkin, near the Chinese border. The area became a Việt Minh stronghold, except for the RC4 highway.
Official source
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