Battle of Route Coloniale 4

Date	30 September-18 October 1950
Location	Vietnam
Result	Viet Minh victory

Belligerents

French Union

State of Vietnam

Viet Minh

Commanders and leaders

Marcel Carpentier

Võ Nguyên Giáp
Hoàng Văn Thái

Strength

6,000 French and 2,000 Vietnamese regulars

30,000 Viet Minh regulars

Casualties and losses

French: 4,800 killed and wounded
2,000 missing or captured
State of Vietnam: 1,000+

Unknown

The Battle of Route Coloniale 4 (called Chiến dịch Biên giới [Border Campaign] in Vietnam) was a battle of the First Indochina War. It took place along Route Coloniale 4 (RC4, also known as Highway 4), a road which was used to supply the French military base at Cao Bang. French military traffic along the road had previously been subject to an ongoing series of ambushes during 1947-1949.

The battle lasted from 30 September to 18 October 1950 and resulted in a French defeat. Several units of the French army, including some battalions of the Foreign Legion, were devastated by the Viet Minh and essentially ceased to exist as fighting units.

During the French Indochina War (1945–1954), French forces attempted to re-establish colonial control of Vietnam, while nationalist forces led by Ho Chi Minh fought for independence. Initially, the Vietnamese guerrilla forces, the Viet Minh People's Army of Vietnam (VPA), were unsuccessful in dealing with the better -trained and -equipped French forces. Their situation improved in 1949 after the Chinese Communist army of Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalist army led by Chiang Kai-shek. This gave the VPA forces, now almost completely made up of members of the Vietnam Communist Party, a safe haven for organization and training, as well as an initially sympathetic ally to provide them with arms and logistical support.

Vo Nguyen Giap, the military leader of the VPA, launched an offensive against the French in early 1950. From February to April, his operation Le Hong Phong I developed through the Red River Valley, largely giving the Viet Minh control of northwestern Tonkin, near the Chinese border. The area became a Viet Minh stronghold, except for the RC4 highway.

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