In the Year of the Tiger: the War for Cochinchina, 1945-1951 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By William McFall Waddell III Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Dr. John Guilmartin, Professor of History Dr. Peter Mansoor, Gen. Raymond E. Mason Chair in Military History Dr. Alan Beyerchen, Professor of History, Emeritus Copyright by William M. Waddell 2014 ABSTRACT In 1950 the French stake in Indochina experienced two parallel, but very different outcomes. In Tonkin the French military suffered a major catastrophe in the form of the Route Coloniale 4 disaster that nearly unmade the entire French position in the north of Indochina. In the south, in Cochinchina, something very different occurred. A series of resource-constrained, but introspective commanders, built a strong, circumscribed hold over the key economic and political portions of the country. By restraining their effort and avoiding costly attempts at the outright defeat of Viet Minh, the southern French command was able to emerge victorious in a series of violent, concerted, but now largely forgotten actions across 1950. It was, it must be remembered, not just French failure that set the stage for the American intervention in Vietnam, but also the ambiguous nature of French success. ii DEDICATION pour les causes perdues iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to acknowledge the assistance of my thesis advisors, Dr. John Guilmartin, Dr. Peter Mansoor, and Dr. Alan Beyerchen. They have nurtured my interest in and passion for history, and pushed me to think in ways I certainly would not have on my own. I have also benefited greatly from my discussions with fellow students during my graduate studies. Sarah Douglas, Rob Clemm and Frank Blazich in particular, have helped me far more than they realize, I’m sure. Lastly, I need to thank my family. My wife, Valerie, and my parents have devoted extraordinary amounts of time to helping me. Without their support I never would have been able to complete this project. I also need to mention my three boys (Liam, Elias and Sam) who have accepted with maturity far beyond their ages my frequent need to retreat to my desk and pore over strange books instead of playing at trains. iv VITA June 1997 .......................................................Kittatinny Regional High School June 2001 .......................................................B.S. History, West Point June 2011 .......................................................M.A. History, The Ohio State University September 2008 to present ............................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS “Tai-erh-chuang, 1938: The Japanese Juggernaut Smashed,” City Fights: Selected Histories of Urban Combat from World War II to Vietnam. Ballantine Books, New York, 2003. “Backgrounder#11: Reconciliation Movements in and around Baghdad.” Institute for the Study of War (2007) Review, Sudhir Hazareesingh, “In the Shadow of the General: Modern France and the Myth of De Gaulle,” H-Net Reviews (December 2012) FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication..........................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita...................................................................................................................................... v Publications......................................................................................................................... v Fields of Study .................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures..................................................................................................................viii List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... x Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: “Les armes parleront…” – The War for Tonkin............................................. 35 Chapter 2: “A Land for Heroes” - Cochinchinese Land and People................................ 83 Chapter 3: Trace de sang - The War for Cochinchina, 1945-1947 ................................ 106 Chapter 4: l’ossature solide - Latour’s War, 1947-1949 ................................................ 156 Chapter 5: All For The General Counter-offensive – Viet Minh Strategy and Tactics.. 216 vi Chapter 6: La Geste de Chanson –the battles of 1950.................................................... 273 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 327 Appendix A: Commanders of the C.E.F.E.O.................................................................. 338 Appendix B: Commanders of the TFIS/FFVS ............................................................... 339 Appendix C: French Military Acronyms ........................................................................ 340 Appendix D: Vietnamese Glossary................................................................................. 342 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 344 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Tonkin................................................................................................... 82 Figure 2. Cochinchina....................................................................................................... 84 Figure 3. Sects of Cochinchina ......................................................................................... 88 Figure 4. Viet Minh dispositions, 1945-1946 ................................................................. 124 Figure 5. T.F.I.S. Zones .................................................................................................. 146 Figure 6. T.F.I.S. Disposition, May 1947 ....................................................................... 148 Figure 7. T.F.I.S. evacuations 1947................................................................................ 163 Figure 8. Operation VEGA (Feb 1948) ......................................................................... 175 Figure 9. Layout and Fields of Fire of Main Post........................................................... 197 Figure 10. Basic Guard tower in Betelnut Wood............................................................ 197 Figure 11. Go Cong Sector Map..................................................................................... 198 Figure 12. Viet Minh War Zones................................................................................... 240 Figure 13. Viet Minh Chi Doi, 1945-1946 .................................................................... 241 Figure 14. Viet Minh Military Organization.................................................................. 252 Figure 15. Viet Minh Trung Doan, 1947....................................................................... 254 Figure 16. Trung Doan Locations, 1947........................................................................ 256 Figure 17. Tieu doan 309 Basic Organization ............................................................... 258 Figure 18. Chu Luc Trung Doan dispositions, 1950...................................................... 263 viii Figure 19. Organizational table for Trung Doan Chu Luc Tay Do................................ 264 Figure 20. Chanson Receiving Flowers From Vietnamese Delegation, June 1951....... 276 Figure 21. Tra Vinh province......................................................................................... 286 Figure 22. Viet Minh troops storming temple at Bac-sa-ma ......................................... 291 Figure 23. Burning of Watchtower at Chông-Nô outside of Cau Ke ............................ 291 Figure 24. Viet Minh leading prisoners away after Cau Ke campaign.......................... 294 Figure 25. Area of Operations during "High Waters" Offensive................................... 318 ix List of Abbreviations NARA National Archives and Records Administration RG Record Group SHAT Service Historique de l’Armée de Terre VKD Văn Kiện Đảng x INTRODUCTION The French are by tradition and inclination boar hunters. In the medieval world the French noblesse d’épée (nobles of the sword) proved their worth in great, wide- ranging hunts for this mammoth beast. French heralds in those days chided their rivals, the English, for having no quarry quite like this across the channel.1 Beyond its size, the boar was infamous for its ferocity, its insensitivity to pain and a total lack of cunning. Its name became synonymous with enemy. The animal left the large marks of destruction everywhere in its wake, and so could be tracked with relative ease. French knights did so mounted, flying through the woods accompanied by teams