Many people often think that the fierce battle and the surrender of the French generals at the Dien Bien Phu battlefield marked the end of the Indochina War (1945-1954). However, a large-scale battle also took place within the framework of the war, which took place more than a month later. It was the battle of An Khe Pass (Mang Yang Pass), and in fact, this was the last battle of the Indochina War.
An Khe Pass is a pass on
Highway 19 in the bordering area of Tay Son district, Binh Dinh province and
An Khe town, Gia Lai province. This pass before 1954 also witnessed the defeat
of the French before Viet Minh forces in the An Khe campaign in 1953. Stationed
here is the 100th Regiment of the French army (Groupement Mobile No. 100).
Mang Yang Pass (An Khe) at that time
After the Dien Bien Phu
victory on May 7, 1954, the French General Staff carried out a secret operation
called Eglantine. This operation was intended to evacuate Regiment 100 (GM.
100) to avoid the unit being sieged again as at Dien Bien Phu. On June 24,
1954, GM. 100 were ordered to leave their defensive position at An Khe and go
down to the base at Pleiku about 80km away on Route 19. When they had traveled
about 15km, they fell into an ambush by the Viet Minh's 803rd Regiment.
Suffering heavy damage,
however many in the GM. 100 survived and managed to go about 30km more before
being ambushed again by the 108th Regiment on June 28, 1954. In total, since
June 24, GM. 100 lost more than 500 soldiers, while the Viet Minh had about 100
fatalities. More than half of the French vehicles and weapons were destroyed or
captured.
The cenotaph at the site of the battle
The ambush is widely
recognized as the last major battle of the Indochina War. Three weeks later, on
July 20, 1954, the ceasefire took effect when the Geneva Agreement was signed,
and on August 1, an armistice came into effect, signaling the end of colonial
Indochina France, and began the division of Vietnam. The last French soldiers
left South Vietnam in April 1956, at the request of South Vietnamese President
Ngo Dinh Diem.
Present-day battle site