THE LAST BATTLE OF THE INDOCHINA WAR

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

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