spartans_in_darkness

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1. 4. (c)
.4. (d)
(5//515f
result was a rare opportunity to watch the development
of the battle for Dien Bien Phu from.vantage
point of both sides. There was little 'that
occurred in the fighting that Washington didinot
know about.
(V) The Battle Begins
(U) At 5:00 P.M. on 13 March, Giap launched
his attack. Viet Minh artillery blanketed the
French guns and blasted the fortified French
positions. At midnight, Giap's troops rose up and
seized the first French fort, Beatrice. In four more
days of heavy fighting, another French fort,
Gabrielle, fell while two more were partially occupied.
The northern part of Dien Bien Phu was
now occupied by the Viet Minh, with the added
danger of a totally unobstructed view of the main
airstrip. The French artillery commander.
Colonel Charles Piroth, realizing he had failed to
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