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The Battle of Route Coloniale 4 (called Chiến dịch Biên giới (Border Zone'' ) in Vietnam) was a battle of the First Indochina War. It took place along Route Coloniale 4 (RC4, also known as Highway 4), a road which was used to supply the French military base at Cao Bang. French military traffic along the road had previously been subject to an ongoing series of ambushes during 1947-1949. 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 Foreign Legion, were devastated by the Viet Minh and essentially ceased to exist as fighting units. ==RC4 in the First Indochina War== During the French Indochina War (1945–1954), French forces attempted to re-establish colonial control of Vietnam, while nationalist forces led by Ho Chi Minh fought for independence. Initially, the Vietnamese guerrilla forces, the Viet Minh People's Army of Vietnam (VPA), were unsuccessful in dealing with the better -trained and -equipped French forces. Their situation improved in 1949 after the Chinese Communist army of Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalist army led by Chiang Kai-Shek. This gave the VPA forces, now almost completely made up of members of the Vietnam Communist Party, a safe haven for organization and training, as well as an initially sympathetic ally to provide them with arms and logistical support. Vo Nguyen Giap, the military leader of the VPA, 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 Viet Minh control of northwestern Tonkin, near the Chinese border. The area became a Viet Minh stronghold, except for the RC4 highway. On 25 May, 2,500 VPA troops overwhelmed the French fortress at Dong Khé, which lay at the strategic center of RC4, thus cutting the supply line between the French positions at Cao Bang and Lang Son. French paratroops retook Dong Khé on the evening of 27 May and a company of Legionnaires took charge of the fort. Meanwhile, the VPA regular army grew in size and experience. By the beginning of September, it comprised roughly 100,000 combatants in 70 battalions, with another 33 battalions of regional forces (40,000 men) as well as some 60,000 local support personnel. Giap then began harassing French positions along RC4 in northern Vietnam with mines and ambushes. The French responded by dismantling their small posts along the road and concentrating area forces in the fortified positions at Dong Khé and Cao Bang. Giap planned to launch another assault on French positions in operation ''Le Hong Phong II''. On 16 September, five VPA infantry and one heavy weapons battalions attacked Dong Khe. It was then garrisoned by some 300 French troops comprising the 5th and 6th companies of the 2nd battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the French Foreign Legion (3rd REI). On 18 September, the fort was overrun after bitter fighting, and only 12 survivors escaped to the nearby post at That Khé. 140 Legionnaires had been taken prisoner, the remainder being killed or missing in action. That Khe was quickly reinforced by the Foreign Legion's 1st Parachute Battalion (1st BEP), which parachuted in on 17 September. The 1st BEP waited at That Khe while a force of French colonial troops, the Moroccan 1st and 11th Tabors, assembled at Lang Son. Designated ''Groupement Bayard'' the combined force comprised 3,500 men under the command of Colonel Le Page. The task force launched an intelligence raid, capturing prisoners who said a massive Viet Minh offensive was planned. Meanwhile, General Marcel Carpentier, the commander in chief of French Indochina, decided to evacuate Cao Bang. The commander of the Cao Bang fort, Colonel Charton, was ordered to destroy his heavy equipment and motor transport and evacuate towards Dong Khé. The plan was that Groupement Bayard would fight its way north from That Khe and retake Dong Khé, holding it long enough to link up with the Cao Bang group. This group comprised 2,600 troops and 500 civilians, the latter mostly pro-French Thai partisans and their families. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Route Coloniale 4」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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