19 Dienbienphu Pt. 2 (Beatrice and Gabrielle)

Join me in discussing the epic story of the battle of Dien Bien Phu as the siege finally begins. In part two, we follow the tens of thousands of Viet Minh porters, bicycles, and men who dragged artillery through the mountains, see how badly short-changed the French fortifications were, and live through the first brutal days of March 1954 as strong points Beatrice and Gabrielle fall.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro and welcome back
00:57 Recap: Navarre's plan and the case for Dien Bien Phu
04:41 The open valley and the artillery assumption
06:07 Recap: the paratroopers take the valley, and Giap answers
07:39 Viet Minh preparations: 50,000 porters and 21,000 bicycles
09:23 Believers and conscripts
10:10 Soviet trucks, French strafing runs, and war communism
13:07 Hauling the guns: the Viet Minh artillery
15:49 Guns on the forward slopes, hidden in caves
17:44 French preparations: 36,000 tons needed
20:09 4,000 tons approved, and 3,000 of it barbed wire
21:14 Bulldozers, generators, and the underground hospital
22:02 The evacuation plan
22:55 Tired troops and half-built fortifications
24:21 The French artillery and the strong point layout
25:53 Into the battle: the downward spiral
26:48 March 11-13: the airfield under fire, and the wait
28:16 March 13, 1700 hours: the assault on Beatrice
29:26 The command bunker is hit
31:08 Beatrice falls
32:22 Giap's truce and the 192 survivors
33:43 March 14: the 5th Vietnamese Paratroop Battalion jumps in
34:40 The assault on Gabrielle
37:01 Marched through the wire: "He has done his duty"
38:08 Gabrielle falls, and the cost of three days
39:28 Colonel Piroth
40:59 Morale cracks: Keller and Anne-Marie
41:40 March 16: Bigeard jumps back in, and de Castries' message
42:48 March 17: the wounded handover gambit
44:02 Anne-Marie abandoned, and the Rats of Nam Yum
44:48 Landing under the guns: ambulances, AA, and night glide landings
46:36 Giap's strangulation phase begins
47:20 Two little nuggets: Thai families and the field brothel
48:18 Wrap-up and next episode

Recommended reading: Hell in a Very Small Place by Bernard B. Fall.