March 13 – May 7, 1954 · North Vietnam Theater
March 13 – May 7, 1954
The decisive battle that ended French rule in Indochina. General Giap surrounded a French garrison at a remote valley with 50,000 Viet Minh troops and, impossibly, hauled artillery over jungle mountains to shell the airstrip. Resupply became impossible. After 57 days, the surviving garrison of roughly 10,800 surrendered. France's defeat was total and humiliating.
Commanders