"He Who Holds Out"

INDOCHINA

The official French spokesman arrived at the press camp in Hanoi one night this week with stirring news "We may now consider," he said, "that the second phase of the battle for Dienbienphu is ended." This meant that 15,000 surrounded, bonetired French Union troops had again thrown back 40,000 Communists assaulting the rubble-dust fortress of Dienbienphu. The army of Red General Giap, torn by frightful casualties, was still coming in from the jungle and the hills, and a third great assault was abuilding. But so far, Dienbienphu had gallantly defended the hopes of the free world, and the tricolor still rippled free in the gunsmoke. The battle last week:

DDay: Overcast and grey. At 1600, Giap orders gunfire against the five remaining French strongpoints in the 12-by-4-mile valley. At 1630, black-garbed Communist infantry come at a run for the southern strongpoint. It is only a feint. Half an hour later 105-mm. fire hits the northeast and southeast strongpoints, and Communist infantry moves into trenches near the French barbed wire.

At 1830, bugles sound, and suicide squads blast through the wire. Two Communist divisions, some 10,000 strong, launch a "human sea" attack against both strongpoints. It is the first big attack since bloody "Phase One" of 17 days before. Objective: Bald Head Hill, 200 ft. high in the southeast strongpoint, commanding all other French positions.

At 2000, the two Red divisions crack the northeast strongpoint, overrun three of its five or six outposts. Then the Communists take Bald Head. At 2200, French Commanding Colonel Christian de Castries calls for air support. Privateers, B-26s, Bearcats, even DC-3 transports sprinkle high explosive and napalm into Red infantry support zones, but the enemy holds its gains. French HQ later admits: "The first news was bad."

D-Plus-One: An elite Moroccan battalion counterattacks on Bald Head. It is close-quarter battle with light machine guns, rifles, knives, grenades and crude bamboo spears. Six times the hill changes hands. At 0700, French 19-ton tanks and flamethrower squads sear the Communists out. The Moroccans count 300 Communist dead on just one segment of their broken wire. De Castries radios HQ: "I am still master of the situation."

But the Communists hold their gains in the northeast. All day, French and U.S. civilian pilots airdrop sorely needed supplies. Many supply loads drift into enemy lines. In the afternoon, French tactical air puts in two big strikes against the three fallen outposts in the northeast. At 1600, De Castries counterattacks the outposts, wins back two. But he cannot stay. French HQ claims the enemy lost 1,350 dead in the first 24 hours. French casualties are also high, and there is no evacuation for the wounded.

D-Plus-Two: Just after midnight, the Communists surge again towards Bald Head, marked by a single lightning-blasted tree-stump etched against the flarelight. The Moroccans repel them, and quiet comes. For almost eleven hours the tired armies get a rest. Early afternoon, the Communists slam in heavy strength against Bald Head, and edge the Moroccans off the crest. But De Castries is still confident. "Le moral de mes hommes est formidable," he says on the radio to HQ. "If you see my wife," adds De Castries coolly, "give her a kiss from me."

Then the Moroccans launch one of the epics of the battle: they make eleven separate counterattacks against Bald Head and eleven times they fail with losses. They try once more--and win. From Paris comes word that France's highest unit citation has been awarded to the entire garrison: "The heroic sacrifice of those who have fallen, the fierce tenacity of the fighters, adds a new glory to ... our arms," says France. De Castries is nominated for brigadier general.

D-Plus-Three: The day of climax. At 0100, Giap hurls part of his third and only fresh division against Dienbienphu's untouched northwest strongpoint. Its code name: Huguette. The French here are outnumbered six or eight to one. The defenses crumble. By 0400, the Communists locust-swarm over two of Huguette's five or six outposts. One 50-man suicide squad infiltrates the French center, gets within 200 yards of De Castries' command post before it is wiped out. De Castries calls out staff officers, cooks, orderlies, switchboard operators for the infantry fight. Reports sift out that De Castries has issued the order: "I expect all the troops to die at the positions assigned to them rather than retreat an inch." HQ denies it, but Dienbienphu surely teeters at death's edge. Then De Castries counterattacks.

The tough foreign legionnaires, Frenchmen, North Africans, Thais, Cambodians and Vietnamese snatch back one outpost. At 0800, De Castries counterattacks again, and fails. At 1000, he goes in for the third time--and wins. But two hours later, De Castries has to withdraw. Says an HQ spokesman: "This is the most violent struggle of the war." All day the French hang on:

D-Plus-Four. The tireless De Castries orders another counterattack at 0400. This one clears Huguette of the enemy. At dawn, he attacks from Bald Head, and for the first time in the battle, some C ommmunists drop their arms and run.

More good news: reinforcements from Hanoi are dropped--tough paratroopers in red berets. Red gunfire slackens, and the Reds pull back 500 yards from Bald Head to regroup. The situation, says French HQ. is "serious, but less critical."

In five days & nights, the Communists have gained one-half of the northeast and a clawhold in the northwest--at a fearful price of 7,000 dead, some 10,-ooo wounded and 80 prisoners (on top of 9,000 casualties in Phase One). This is more than half Giap's original striking force. The dangling Communist dead are beginning to putrefy on the wire, and French planes drop leaflets in the enemy lines: "Remember Giap, the Butcher of Dienbienphu." The French have lost perhaps 2,000. But Dienbienphu holds.

In the evening, the radio brings the voice of French Commanding General Henri Navarre to the garrison: "Final success belongs to him who holds out to the last moment. I am convinced it will be the valorous soldiers of De Castries who will hold out to the last moment."

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