Paintball Scenario Report: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu

I was deep in the countryside of Indo-China, with nearly 500 French Foreign Legionnaires and Viet Minh getting ready to wage the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

France was at war with Vietnam, called French Indo-China, in 1947. The communist party of Indo-China was led by Ho Chi Minh ("he who enlightens"; real name Nguyen Ai Quoc), with its army the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam). The communists fought guerilla warfare against the French, hit and run, hit and run.

A strong French base was set up at Dien Bien Phu, to the west of Vietnam near the border with Laos and about 300 miles from Hanoi. The base did not have enough troops for an effective defense.

The Viet Minh wanted to take Dien Bien Phu. In January 1954 they began the push. By March 13, the French were essentially surrounded by forces led by Ho Chi Minh. The battle lasted until May 8. The communists had approximately 290 artillery pieces and 50,000 fighters, against about 88 big guns and 13,000 French (and not all the French were well-trained for battle).

Artillery pounded the French positions. Defenses to the northeast and north took a pounding as the Viet Minh advanced. The French were, indeed, surrounded. The defense to the northwest held. Artillery continued to pound; the Viet Minh also had strong anti-aircraft positions in caves in the surrounding mountains. The airstrip was too dangerous for French reinforcements or resupply planes. 

Trenches dug by the Viet Minh, led by General Giap, allowed them to advance ever-closer. The Viet Minh with broadcast loudspeakers and leaflets told the French to desert and offered safety to any deserters. History says a couple thousand (the "Rats of Nam Yum") didn't leave but did quit fighting and stayed in the middle of Dien Bien Phu; these were reportedly Vietnamese, Tai, Moroccan, and Algerian men.

The French counterattacked, sometimes with limited success. April 2 brought reinforcements by parachute, not enough. The rains came in late April, making everything horribly muddy and dampering French air support. In early May, in heavy rains, a few parachutists landed, not enough. 

The Viet Minh started using Stalin's Organs (huge Russian-built rocket launchers with 36 barrels, called "Katyusha" in Russian and "Stalin's Organs" or "Nebelwerfer" by the Germans) to increase the artillery attack effects. On May 6, a huge French air attack had some effect until the Viet Minh massed and counterattacked.

By May 7's morning most of Dien Bien Phu belonged to the Viet Minh. Brig. Gen. Christian de la Croix de Castries, the French commander, was ordered not to surrender. A final radio message to Hanoi is reported to have said, "We're blowing up everything around here. Au revoir." The Viet Minh raised their flag over the command bunker. Fighting continued. At night, a few French units tried to get away, and a few people made it through the jungle to other French-held outposts. May 8 brought total Viet Minh control over Dien Bien Phu. The French Colonial Empire had suffered a loss from which it would not, in the long run, ever recover. French domination and colonialism in Indo-China would soon end.

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Historical summary by APG Staff.

Dien Bien Phu looked quite a bit like Hog Back Mountain Paintball to me that Sunday. The day before, all of my family obligations were taken care of. My youngest daughter won her soccer game, my oldest ended up in a tie in her softball game, and I was off to the paintball shop to get geared up for a Sunday of walk-on paintball.

Convenient in my eyes, a little too convenient in my wife's, a paintball shop opened up just a couple hundred yards from the front door of my home in Leesburg, Virginia. I stopped to get paint and air when the store manager, Keith from Check-It Paintball, asked me if I'd be interested in coming out to the big game to shooting a couple of photos for the store. Excited to break out my new digital camera, I quickly agreed.

The next morning: The participants came in all forms, from camo-clad players to casually dressed moms and dads, and everything in between.

After the safety briefing and dividing of the teams, the raffle tickets and the prize giveaway began. The grand prize was a brand spanking new DM4, going out to a lucky young lad who literally started shaking after hearing his number called.

Next, we headed off to battle. The French held their ground in a two-story fort, as the Vietnamese went on the offensive and tried to capture the fortified position. Three hundred or so digital pictures later, and what seemed like as many paintball hits on me and my camera, and I was done for the day.

The French managed to maintain a large points lead, and ended up victorious, unlike the actual 1954 battle. I captured the day from the front lines of the wooded conflict, as these pictures show.


John LaBillois writes from Leesburg, Virginia.