Battle of Hòa Bình

Part of the First Indochina War

Date	10 November 1951 – 25 February 1952
Location	Hòa Bình, Vietnam
Result	Việt Minh victory

Belligerents

French Union

Việt Minh

Commanders and leaders

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Raoul Salan

Võ Nguyên Giáp
Hoàng Văn Thái

Casualties and losses

French:
At least: 436 killed, 458 missing and 2,060 wounded
At most: 5,000 casualties

5,000–9,000 casualties

French Union

The Battle of Hòa Bình was fought during the First Indochina War. It occurred from 10 November 1951 to 25 February 1952, when French Union forces attempted to lure the Việt Minh out into the open and to force it to fight on French terms.

Following the string of defensive victories during the early months of 1951, the French command under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny sought to go back on the offensive. After the French victory at the battle of Đông Triều, de Lattre had drawn up a plan to test his offensive strategy.

Hòa Bình, capital of the Muong people, located 62 kilometres (39 mi) from Hanoi, was selected by General de Lattre for the offensive. Hòa Bình was an area of strategic significance for many reasons. For the Việt Minh, the control of Hòa Bình would allow them free movement in the valleys north of Hanoi as well as the flow of military supplies. De Lattre’s plan was to take Hòa Bình, where Giáp's regular divisions would be forced to confront superior French firepower and eventually be destroyed.

On 10 November 1951, Operation Tulipe was launched with the objective of seizing Chợ Bến Pass and extending French control beyond Provincial Route 21.

After the French Task Force North and the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion (1er BEP) had linked up west of Chợ Bến, they both continued the thrust while other mobile groups were moving in from the south and the east. At this point, the Việt Minh were forced to abandon Chợ Bến, but heavy fighting occurred between the French and elements of the Việt Minh that included the 64th Regiment and 164th Regional Battalion. By the end of the day, the French Union forces had achieved their objective with Mobile Group 2 and 1st Colonial Parachute Battalion (1er BPC) reaching their target north of Chợ Bến.

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