May 1, 1954: The third offensive of the campaign begins

* In the book: Henri Navarre, The Time of Truths (Excerpt from General Navarre's Memoirs on Dien Bien Phu) , translated by Nguyen Huy Cau, published by the People's Police Publishing House - Vietnam Military History Institute, it is written: “On May 1, the enemy's trenches were in direct contact with us. Their numbers were replenished and they also had a full reserve force. Their ammunition reserves were also sufficient. Facing them at this time, we only had tired units and were very short of troops. Part of the artillery had been destroyed and ammunition was also very scarce. The Viet Minh began a general offensive. After a day of fighting, the entire area around the Central area was under attack. Our counterattacks only partially restored the situation. Faced with the choice of either seeing the battle end quickly, or holding out for a few days by reinforcing our forces, at the request of General Co-nhi, I decided that on May 2, I would drop a paratrooper battalion into Dien Bien Phu. 5th - 1st Colonial Parachute Battalion (1BPC), but because the parachute area was narrowed, only half a battalion could be dropped.

Attacked by our troops, the enemy in the positions of Hill C ran in disarray, our shock troops in the trenches were using sniper rifles. (Photo: VNA)

Map of Dien Bien Phu stronghold. Source: Erwan Bergot, Dien Bien Phu: 170 days and nights of siege, translated by Le Kim, CAND Publishing House and Phuong Nam Cultural Company, Hanoi , 2003

The successes of our army and people after the first two attacks on the Dien Bien Phu battlefield continued to be the driving force for the movement to fight against the oppression of the puppet government and to demand justice for the people of southern Vietnam. The book “The Complete Book of Dien Bien Phu Victory” published by the Encyclopedia Publishing House recounted that time: “On May 1, 1954, when the third attack of our army and people in Dien Bien Phu began, workers and laborers in Saigon-Cho Lon marched in front of the City Hall of the southern puppet government. The demonstration gathered thousands of people to join and chant slogans: “Pay family allowances on a single basis!”, “Apply wage migration!”, “Open more schools!”, “Against the practice of exchanging houses for land!” . The slogans raised on International Labor Day expressed the goal of fighting for workers' rights, for independence, freedom, people's rights, democracy... The struggle in Saigon-Cho Lon during the Dien Bien Phu campaign demonstrated the patriotic and indomitable spirit of the people here, a beautiful and effective coordination with the main battlefield".

Nhandan.vn

Source: https://special.nhandan.vn/dottiencongthu3-chiendichbatdau/index.html?_gl=1*1bcllbb*_ ga*MTk3MTc4ODk3My4xNzAzMzM4NjUx*_ga_2KXX3JWTKT*MTcxNDUxNzg2Ni42MS4wLjE3MTQ1MTc4NjYuNjAuMC4w