Operation Ceinture

Operation Ceinture
Part of the First Indochina War
The region of Dong Bac, encompassing much of the Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang area.
Date 20 November 1947 – 22 December 1947 Location North-west of Hanoi, French Indochina Result French tactical victory Territorial changes Viet-Minh expelled from the region of Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang, but many escape French cordons.
Belligerents
French Union France	Viet Minh
Commanders and leaders
General Valluy[1]	Unknown
Strength
18 battalions[2]	Regiment 112 Doc Lap Brigade
Casualties and losses
Unknown	9,500[2]

Operation Ceinture was a late 1947 military endeavour by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the Viet-Minh during the First Indochina War. A month-long effort that commenced on 20 November following the cessation of Operation Lea, Ceinture (French: belt) intended to rid the region between Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang of Viet-Minh infiltration.^[1] The French utilised 18 paratroop battalions and naval landing craft to engage the Viet-Minh's 112 Regiment, however the latter were able to for the most part slip through French cordons, abandoning weapon caches. Dead and wounded totals given by Bernard Fall for the Viet-Minh reach 9,500, however he suggests that a portion were non-combatants.^[2]

The French did succeed in securing the region, and they withdrew their forces on 22 December, leaving a scattering of jungle fortifications to hold the region.^[2]

Notes

1. Windrow, Martin (2005-12-26). The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. Da Capo Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-306-81443-3.
2. Fall, Bernard B. (1967). Hell in a very small place: the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Lippincott. pp. 28–31.

References

Printed

• Hammer, Ellen Joy (1954). The struggle for Indochina. Stanford University Press.
• Buttinger, Joseph (1972). A dragon defiant: a short history of Vietnam. Praeger.
• Fall, Bernard B. (1967). Hell in a very small place: the siege of Dien Bien Phu. Lippincott.
• Kedward, Rod (2006). La vie en bleu: France and the French since 1900. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-013095-9.
• Roy, Jules (1963). The battle of Dienbienphu. Pyramid Books.
• Windrow, Martin (2005-12-26). The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81443-3.
• Fall, Bernard B. (1994). Street without joy. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1700-7.
• Devillers, Philippe; Lacouture, Jean (1969). End of a war; Indochina, 1954. Praeger.
• Fall, Bernard B. (1963). The two Viet-Nams: a political and military analysis. Praeger.