Close the siege and wait for the day of general attack
Entering phase 2 of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, our anti-aircraft artillery troops were ordered to join infantry divisions to close the siege and wait for the day of the general attack.
On the entire front, as of April 11, 1954, we had shot down and destroyed 49 enemy aircraft of various types, including: F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat and F4U Corsairs fighters; L19, C-47 Dakota, C-119 transport aircraft; B26 Invader bombers. However, there was still a type of B.24 Privateer bomber that our troops had not yet been able to shoot down. Therefore, the French army called the B.24 a "flying fortress" in the sky, no type of gun or anti-aircraft artillery could shoot down.
The French B.24 aircraft caused us many difficulties in combat operations on the battlefield. Compared to fighter aircraft such as the F6F and F8F, the B24 aircraft was much larger, could carry nearly 10 tons of bombs and ammunition, and flew higher with a longer range.
In early April 1954, the Party Committee and commander of the 367th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment launched a competition among anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine gun units across the front to shoot down the 50th enemy plane in the sky of Dien Bien Phu to celebrate Uncle Ho's birthday.
Responding to this emulation campaign, the Party cell and officers and soldiers of Company 828 were determined to shoot down the 50th plane to win the prestigious award for the unit. From then on, the officers and soldiers of the company started to do their best in all combat preparations, not allowing any small mistakes in any step.
Defeating the "flying fortress" in Dien Bien Phu
On April 12, 1954, the sky of Dien Bien Phu was filled with sunshine. This was good weather for enemy aircraft to operate. At around 11:30, there was the sound of an aircraft engine. From the observation post, a scout informed the entire company that a B24 aircraft was operating. Immediately, the entire company took up combat positions. Thanks to good training and careful preparation, our troops quickly captured the target.
When the B.24 was in the sights of four 37mm anti-aircraft artillery batteries, the rangefinder soldier announced the distance regularly. When reaching a distance of 3,000m, the company commander ordered the artillery batteries to open fire simultaneously. The B24 was hit by a bullet and crashed into the ground in the middle of a young forest near Ban Keo, before bursting into red flames and belching black smoke.
This was the first B.24 Privateer aircraft built by the US and provided to France to be shot down on the spot during the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
Taking explosives from the B.24 "bomb warehouse" to attack A1 hill
The artillery soldiers did not expect that the bombs in the cabin of the shot-down B.24 plane would be the reserve source of explosives for our troops in a historic battle not long after.
The bombs in the wreckage of the B.24 were contact bombs, the detonation system was located at the tip of each bomb, so it could only explode when dropped from a certain height, or detonated by other detonation methods. Therefore, when it was lying still in one place, it was no longer dangerous.
Entering the third phase of the campaign, our most important task was to destroy the A1 stronghold. For the enemy, as long as A1 exists, the stronghold group exists, so the enemy was determined to keep A1. In the battles, we and the enemy fought for every inch of land. We had occupied 2/3 of the stronghold but could not develop it so we had to stop. To open the way to destroy all the enemy troops in the stronghold group, our determination was to destroy the A1 high point.
Carrying out the determination of the Campaign Command, the engineering troops were assigned the task of secretly digging a tunnel into the heart of A1 hill, placing a large amount of explosives so that when ignited, the bunker would be blown away. After two weeks of hard work, digging every inch of soil and rock within range of enemy guns and grenades, the engineering soldiers dug a tunnel nearly 50m long, about 10m deep from the top of the hill, enough to hold a ton of explosives. The tunnel went into the heart of A1 hill, and after digging, a new difficulty arose: the explosives used for the attack were not enough as calculated. If we waited for the rear line to move up, we would lose the opportunity to attack, greatly affecting the combat plan of the entire campaign.
And the “bomb warehouse” from the B.24 “flying fortress” shot down by anti-aircraft troops in Ban Keo field became a source of supply. One by one, the engineers neutralized and skillfully “gutted” the bombs. The total amount of explosives removed was 500kg.
During the campaign, we had made many plans, including launching a movement to seize the enemy's parachutes and supplies. However, shooting down an aircraft on the spot that had not yet had time to drop its bombs to get explosives to fight in the decisive battle was not part of any plan, and in reality no one could have calculated it. Only in fierce combat would such special situations appear. The important thing was that our troops had made full use of the favorable factors, creating a combined strength to destroy the enemy.
With the available explosives, the engineers gathered just enough for the giant 1,000kg explosive. The campaign command decided to choose the explosion of the explosive on Hill A1 as the charge signal for the attack on the evening of May 6, 1954. At exactly 8:30 p.m., the engineers set off the explosive. The explosion shook the hill. The explosive's destructive power opened the door for our troops to advance and destroy the last enemy resistance nests on this hill. At dawn on May 7, 1954, we finished off the A1 stronghold, continued to attack the enemy at the remaining strongholds, and in the afternoon, attacked straight into the center of the stronghold, the enemy's last lair, ending the victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.
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