THE BATTLE OF DONG KHE

Not far from this idyllic landscape the Battle of Dong Khe took place in September 1950. It was a major battle of the Vietnamese against France who had been established in Vietnam (Indochine) for about 100 years. It was a Viet Minh victory.

“As the Colonial Route 4 (now Highway 4A) was a vital supply line that provided the Viet Minh with weapons and ammunition from China, the commander of the Viet Minh forces, Nguyen Giap, wanted to hang on to this important route at whatever cost. Thus, in order to avoid a future French attack aimed at blocking this vital supply line, he deemed necessary to capture the French outpost of Dong Khe.

When more Chinese weapons and communist troops had arrived in Tonkin through the border of northern Vietnam, Nguyen Giap decided to launch an assault on the French Dong Khe fortress on September 15, 1950. After three days of ferocious fighting, Dong Khe fell in communist hands on September 18.

Having been defeated at the battle of Dong Khe, the French joint Chiefs of Staff wanted to protect the French forces at the Cao Bang outpost. So, they ordered the commander of the French unit deployed there, Colonel Charton, to withdraw a 100 km southwards to the town of That Khe. To protect and support their withdrawal, a Foreign Legion battalion, commanded by Colonel Lepage, was sent to the area to meet Charton’s men.

On the way back, both units were constantly under attacks carried out by both Viet Minh and Chinese forces, suffering a lot of casualties. Thus this French withdrawal from Cao Bang towards That Khe was hell on earth.” (Wikipedia)

Over 4000 men lost their lives and there were also thousands of wounded not to mention the civilians.

Brand:	NIKON CORPORATION
Camera:	Nikon D90 Check out Nikon Nation!
Lens:	Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5DCMacroAsp.IF HSM
Recording media:	JPEG (digital)
Date Taken:	3 May 2011 - 8:02 AM
Focal Length:	26mm
Lens Max Aperture:	f/3.4
Aperture:	f/16.0
Shutter Speed:	1/30sec
Exposure Comp:	-1/3
ISO:	400
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
Flash:	No Flash

Title:	THE BATTLE OF DONG KHE
Username:	JN_CHATELAIN_PHOTOGRAPHY
Uploaded:	11 Nov 2011 - 5:40 PM
Tags:	CAO BANG PROVINCE, HIGHWAY 4A, Karst mountains, Landscape / travel, North east, Paddy fields, Travel photography, Vietnam
VS Mode Rating	Unrated These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2 Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode
Votes:	19
	Variant - Report