How to Protect France

BATTLE OF INDOCHINA

General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny flew to Paris last week. In three months of brilliant leadership he had turned the tide in Indo-China; now he wanted Paris to back up his gains. His request was modest: 15,000 to 20,000 reinforcements, including many technical specialists.

De Lattre expects the Ho Chi Minh Communists to attack next month, counts on the improved morale of his present forces and the increasing flow of U.S. material to hold the enemy. About June he hopes to launch a counteroffensive that will drive the Communists back across the Chinese border, put the French in a strong position to resist further attacks. He will need 1) officers and noncoms to replace those lost in combat, 2) men to train the Vietnamese army, which he plans to raise from 20,000 to 100,000.

In Paris, De Lattre ran into opposition from two quarters. Defense Minister Jules Moch said he could not spare officer cadres, pointed to the ten divisions he had promised General Eisenhower for European defense in 1951. General Alphonse Juin, just back from a tour of troubled Morocco, said he needed veteran units in North Africa. But De Lattre had a firm supporter in Jean Letourneau, Minister for the Associated States. Said Letourneau: "We protect France by fighting in Indo-China."

French law forbids sending new conscripts to combat areas. One proposed compromise is that De Lattre get 12,000 men, mostly from North Africa, and that some of this year's class of conscripts be sent to North Africa (not a combat area) for training.

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