The military operation codenamed Lèa was an attempt of the french colonial forces in Indochina to capture the communist leaders of the vietnamese movement for independence (Viet Minh), which started on October 7th, 1947 and was unsuccessfully finished at December 22, 1947. The Viet Minh (abbreviated from Việt Nam ộc Lập ồng Minh Hội, League for the Independence of Vietnam) was formed by Ho Ngoc Lam and Nguyen Hai Than in 1941 to seek independence for Vietnam from France. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Background

After the full outbreak of the First Indochina War in December 1946 the french colonial forces had made fast achievements by capturing the major cities Haiphong, Hanoi, Làng Son, Cao Bang as well as nearly the complete western and southern region of Tonkin, which was the stronghold of the Viet Minh movement. The reasons for the fast advancements were the superior firefower, naval and air support of the french forces. The major forces of the Viet Minh were nearly surrounded by the french in the eastern part of Tonkin. There remained only a greater gap between the towns Cao Bang in the north and Yên Bái in the south. During April 1947 Ho Chi Minh has made a last try to achieve a ceasefire and to continue the negotiations with the french government about the vietnamese independence from 1946. But the french only demanded him to surrender, because the position of the vietnamese forces seemed to be desperate. But he refused on April 26 the french offering: "In the French Union is no place for cowards. I would be one, if I would accept." During the rest of the spring and the summer the french made assaults to the bases of the Viet-Minh-Troops in Tonkin but could not arrange a conventional battle. Instead the Viet Minh returned after the French had marched out. The First Indochina War (also called the French Indochina War) was fought in Southeast Asia from 1946 through 1954 between the nation of France and the resistance movement led by Ho Chi Minh, called the Viet Minh. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Haiphong (Vietnamese: Hải Phòng, Chinese 海防) is the third most populous city in Vietnam. ... Hanoi opera house Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội; Chinese: 河内), estimated population 3,500,800 (1997), is the capital of Vietnam and was the capital of North Vietnam from 1954 to 1976. ... Cao Bằng is a town in northern Vietnam. ... Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of Chinas Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh (Vietnamese Hồ Chí Minh), originally named Nguyễn Sinh Cung, also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành, Nguyễn Ái Quốc, Lý Thụy, Hồ Quang (among others) and popularly called Bác Hồ (uncle Ho) in Vietnam (May 19, 1890 - September 3, 1969) was a Vietnamese revolutionary, statesman... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ...

The french supreme command in Indochina under general Jean-Etienne Valluy realized, that the recent tactics of minor assaults to estimated headquarters of the Viet Minh would not lead to an end of the war. From their intelligence department they received some information that the location of the head quarter of the Viet Minh was in the city Bac Can. They planned to capture Ho Chi Minh and the staff of the Viet Minh and to get the complete victory over the vietnamese independence movement. Jean Etienne Valluy Jean-Etienne Valluy (May 15, 1899-January 4, 1970). ...

Operation Lèa

The french military operation Lèa in autumn 1947

The operation started on October 7th by the airborne landing of 1,100 paratroopers at the city of Bac Can. The paratroopers took over the control of the city swiftly, but could not capture Ho Chi Minh or any other of the vietnamese leaders. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ...

At the same time other french troops (strength est. 15,000 men) started a movement from the city Cao Bang in north of Tonkin in direction Yên Bái in the south. The primary target of this action was to cut off the vietnamese forces from any supplies which could probably reach them from China. The second objective was to surround the vietnamese forces completely and destroy them during a battle. Despite the french reached the designated town Yên Bái, they were not able to destroy the forces of the Viet Minh. The greatest part of the 40,000 vietnamese guerrilla troopers could slip through gaps in the french lines. Among them were the leader Ho Chi Minh and his staff with general Vo Nguyen Giap. At the end of the operation the vietnamese forces had suffered a loss of 9,000 men. General Vo Nguyen Giap (Vietnamese: Võ Nguyên Giáp) (born 1912) is a Vietnamese four-star general, who was the military leader of the Viet Minh guerrilla group under Ho Chi Minhs political leadership, and of the Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. ...

After the failure of Operation Lèa the french supreme command changed the tactic again. Because of financial and economic reasons France was not able to send more troops to Indochina. The foreign legion began to establish outposts on every important road (Route Coloniale 4, Route Coloniale 3) to hold up the surrounding of the Viet Minh in the eastern part of Tonkin. But the vietnamese forces could easily slip through these lines and reinforce themselves from supplies which came from the chinese border or from own manufacturing. This leaded to the turnaround of the war from the now established stalemate into the first vietnamese victories in 1949/1950. 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Events January January 5 - US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 - The United Kingdom recognizes the Peoples Republic of China. ...