'Who controls Dien Bien Phu, controls Hanoi, who controls Hanoi rules over Vietnam.'
These were the thoughts going on in General Li Xingke's mind, as he sat at a table, inside his mobile command vehicle, studying the map of Dien Bien Phu, while holding in his hand a wooden chesspiece of a white king.
"Not again." He then said, in a low tone, as he felt his nose bleeding again and the pain in the lungs again.
"You alright, General?" Asked Zhou Xianglin, entering the room.
Li nodded. "Nothing to be worried about. Any news?"
She looked at him with sadness, knowing of his true health condition. "We have been bombing and raiding the base for three days now and the Vietnamese are growing impatient. They fear that we may encourage the Gweilo to send in more reinforcements."
Li shook his head. "Those Vietnamese... They're too undisciplined."
"How should we proceed?"
"Send the 57th Division to attack the Northern positions in exact 55 hours. 24 hours later then, we will strike to the Eastern flank."
"Then when should we send the mechanised units?"
"Later on." Replied Li. "The Vietnamese are in a hurry, so let's make them happy. We are Chinese, however and we don't need to hurry." Concluded Li Xingke, contemplating the chess piece.
General Juin came out of his command centre at Hill Claudine in the huge fortified complex that covered the valley of Dien Bien Phu.
"Colonel Lefebvre, get me the Jeep, we'll go on an inspection." He then said to his aide.
"Sir, yes sir!"
As his aide went to look after the car, he lit his pipe and looked at the area around him. The bombings had made damages and left already some dead and wounded, but these were contained: he had expected such a move by General Li Xingke, after all. He even felt he knew what was to come: a strike to the North, on the positions of hills Gabrielle and Béatrice, which guaranteed access to the valley and control over the Route 41. Probably, this would have been done with Vietnamese units, while the Chinese would have attacked from the West with the mechanised division, something that worried him much more.
Finally, his officer arrived with the car and he entered it.
"We're heading North, to Gabrielle. I want to inspect that sector first." He said to the driver.
"Do you think we have any hope?" Asked Colonel Lefebvre. "The Chinese are estimated to have twice as many troops as we do, other than more reserves."
The General shrugged his shoulders. "Li Xingke is a capable general, but predictable and his numerical superiority will still have to face our guns, while our Air Force will soon be after his artillery. We should not have problems in holding them."
"Holding them, Sir? For how long?"
"Until their exhaustion, of course. It will take weeks, maybe months." Replied the General, smoking his pipe.
"Right, God help us." Concluded the colonel, as they headed North.
After three days of ceaseless bombing and failed attempts by the Chinese Imperial Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force to establish air superiority over Dien Bien Phu, Li Xingke authorised the first attacks, by the Vietnamese Hills Gabrielle and Béatrice. This while other Vietnamese troops surround sought to cut off the communication between the main base and Hill Isabelle, to the South. This was however frustrated by the 38th Mountain Artillery Group "Belluno" of the Italian Army and the 40th Field Artillery Regiment "Lazare Carnot", of the National Guard, located on Isabelle and Juno (main base, South), respectively, which with their fire made it impossible for the Vietnamese to occupy the positions they would have needed.
This favourable situation lasted for nearly ten days, during which the Europeans managed to fend off all the attacks by the Vietnamese infantry, which lost over 4,000 men. This initial success provoked a wave of enthusiasm amidst loyalist and European circles in Vietnam, back in the metropolis, and among the troops fighting in Dien Bien Phu, all of this, while the State and colonial propaganda overinflated the achievement. This enthusiasm, however, provoked General Juin's most fatal mistake: that of sending the cavalry, supported by two infantry regiments, out to a counterattack, aiming at the Chinese camp and at capturing General Li Xingke. While this force was capable of opening its way until the target, once there it was caught in a trap, by General Li, who managed to surround it and engaged it to a deadly fight, leading to the near annihilation of the two infantry regiments and the decimation of the cavalry brigade. Only the European air superiority made it possible for those troops to make it back.
Li Xingke, then, exploited the occasion to launch a major attack, committing an entire mechanised division on conquering the Hills Françoise and Huguette, central sector, to the West, cutting in two the European defence system and taking control of the airport. The operation resulted in a full success for what concerned the conquest of Hill Françoise, defended by French and Bavarian troops, but slowed considerably as they reached Huguette, where the Europeans reorganised their ranks and, though at a high price, resisted. As the death toll increased, however, General Juin requested reinforcements. It was now time for the 3rd Airborne Task Force to return to action.
Giulio finished buttoning his white jacket, wore the medal to military valour and the dark ribbon of the Italian colonial officers,* coming down from his right shoulder. He then put on some perfume, the Ambra by Profumeria di Santa Maria Novella and then, holding his pith helmet, looked at his image at the mirror.
'I look just perfect.' He thought, looking at the last details, before leaving his flat.
"Going for a last night out?" Asked Lieutenant Colonel De Cristoforis, who was outside, smoking a cigarette.
"That's right, sir." Replied Giulio, who was heading to his car. "I'll pick up my girlfriend and then we go to the Olympia, they're doing a cover of Edith Piaf and Charles Trenet."
"Interesting." Replied the Major, still smoking. "By the way, is your girlfriend the Franco-Vietnamese model that accompanied you to the opera yesterday?"
"Yes! It's her."
At those words, the Lieutenant Colonel took a more serious expression, almost worried. "And you said that she's in the Red Cross now?"
"That's right, working at the military hospital, why?"
"Nothing, nothing. I just hope everything will go well for you."
Giulio remained without understanding the change of behaviour of his superior, but removed the thought from his mind immediately. "Thank you, sir."
"Never mind. Now go, or you'll be late."
Giulio took his car and went to pick up Héléne at her family mansion, where he greeted her parents, who were more apprehensive than usual, but knowing of his imminent deployment, wished him good luck; then the two headed to the Olympia.
The Olympia was a famous café in Hanoi's city centre, built in Art Nouveau and famous for its concerts, mostly of jazz and other music spanning from the 1920s to the 1960s. With its ambience which offered a unique, untouched taste of the Belle Epoque, the place was considered to be an institution in Hanoi. There, Giulio and Héléne took a table for two on a higher spot, from where they had a view to the stage, without however being too close to it.
"To what should we cheer?" Asked Giulio, as the waiter served them the dinner and the wine.
"To a safe return?" Proposed the girl.
"To a safe return." Echoed Giulio, raising his glass.
In the meantime, on the stage, a male singer making the cover for Charle Trenet made his entrance, amidst the applauses and started singing La Mer.
"The vibes of this place are so lovely. Feels like being in Fellini's Dolce Vita."
"Well, if you like that movie, then when you come to Italy, I should take you to Harry's Bar, in Rome."
"I would love it! Is it still there? Is there also... Café de Paris?"
"Café Paris has been closed for a bit now, an ugly story, to be fair. But Harry's Bar is still there, in Via Veneto and still like in the good old times. There's also JKO, now that I think about it."
"This sounds lovely. I never visited Rome, though it might sound strange." Replied happily Héléne.
"In this case, it will be our next destination, when all of this will be over."
As they continued their dinner, with the music being played in the background, Héléne felt she had to say something. She had it in her mind for long, by then, yet, she did not have the courage to say it, as she knew it would not please Giulio. Yet, one way or the other, he would have found it out, at some point.
"Giulio." She started. "I need to tell you something."
"I'm listening." Replied Giulio, without any suspicion.
"Earlier, when you saw my parents, they weren't that nervous because of you. They were like that because of me."
"What were they worried about?" He asked, without understanding.
"I asked for transference. I believed it was the right thing to do."
"And what's wrong with it? I mean, I'm sorry we won't be able to meet that often but still..."
"Giulio." She stopped him. "I've asked for transference to Dien Bien Phu."
At those words, Giulio nearly chocked with the food he was eating. "You what? Dien Bien Phu?"
She nodded. "I did it and I am departing with you tomorrow. They were in need of personnel and I felt like I had to give my contribution. After all, this war is to defend us too."
"Héléne, no..." Replied Giulio, appalled. "You'll put your life in danger there."
"So will you."
"But for God's sake! Do you know what the Gooks do the Eurasians?"
"I do." She replied, resolute. "Yet, I want to go."
"Please, don't."
"Sorry, I must. I have already signed up and now is everything arranged."
Giulio sighed and lowered his head, shaking it.
"I'll be fine." She said, taking his hand. "Plus, you'll be there to protect me, will there be a safer place?"
Giulio forced a smile and put his other hand over hers. "You can be sure of that. I'll be there to protect you."
In the meantime, the male singer finished his songs and left, applauded by the audience, while a French young woman in her 30s was introduced.
"Mes dames et Monsieurs." Started the presenter. "It is with great pleasure that I introduce tonight here, Mademoiselle Gabrielle Lamartin, directly from Paris, who will sing for us Edith Piaf."
Everybody applauded the entrance of the young lady enthusiastically, while Héléne moved her chair next to Giulio.
"Merci a tous! Merci a tous!" Said the singer twice, smiling and greeting the guests. "It's a pleasure for me to be here tonight and I am glad to see so many people, it's truly moving. Since I see so many uniforms in this room, I would like to start with a special piece, which I would like to dedicate to all the heroes who are fighting in Dien Bien Phu and to those who will soon depart to go there. Ladies and gentlemen, Mon Amant de la Coloniale!"
The guests clapped once again, then as they stopped, the band began to play and then the singer, with a beautiful voice, very similar to Edith Piaf's, started the song:
"Il était fort et puis si tendre
Que, dès notre première nuit,
Je sentais que je ne pourrais plus me reprendre,
Et pour toujours, j'étais à lui.
J'voyais toutes les femmes lui sourire.
Moi, je m'cramponnais à son bras
Et j'les regardais comme pour leur dire:
"Il est à moi, et je l'lâche pas!"
C'était un gars de la Coloniale.
Il avait là, partant du front
Et descendant jusqu'au menton,
Une cicatrice en diagonale,
La peau brûlée par le soleil.
J'en ai plus jamais vu d'pareil
A mon amant de la Coloniale (...)"
Giulio arrived at the Dien Bien Phu Airbase, in Northwestern Vietnam, at around 5 a.m., with the air convoy that brought fresh troops, supplies and more medical personnel to the base. The flight, which departed before the sunrise went mostly undisturbed, with the European Air Force securing control of the skies and fending off Chinese attempts at intercepting the air convoy, which managed to land at the base within the established times.
Arriving in Dien Bien Phu, the first thing that Giulio heard as he left the airplane, was the sound of the combat, coming from the hills right next to the runway, more specifically from Huguette 2 and 3. As everyone disembarked, General Juin asked to see all of the senior officers of the 3rd Task Force, in order to debrief them about their mission.
"Welcome to Dien Bien Phu, ladies and gentlemen." Started the French General. "I am General Charles Juin, commander of the base. I wish I could indulge in more formalities, but as you can see the situation is critical: right after repelling our counteroffensive, Charlie has launched a massive attack on Françoise and Huguette, conquering the former and advancing though the latter, reaching the positions 2 and 3, along with Hill Epervier and threatening directly our runway. You are therefore under order to reach those position and reinforce them. If Huguette falls, we lose the airfield. Now if you will excuse me, I'll go instruct your colleagues. Good day." Saying so, the General handed them some maps and dossiers and left after saluting them.
"Well, you've heard the General." Started De Castries. "We'll place the artillery next to the airfield. Galahad, you'll distribute your battalion between heights 2 and 3. Visconti-Gonzaga, your cavalry will support the Alpini on Huguette 3, where it appears that they are concentrating their cavalry and..."
"Sir, permission to speak." Intervened Giulio.
"You may speak, Galahad, but only because you asked the permission."
"May I suggest that we launch a counterattack?"
"Now? Are you joking?" Replied sternly the Brigadier General.
"By no means, sir, just use the other troops to reinforce Huguette and leave my unit and two cavalry squadrons encircle them from the North. If we come down quickly from Hill Anne-Marie, exploiting their exhaustion for fighting through the night and preventing them to send in fresh troops, they'll have no chance."
Brigadier General De Castries raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like an insanity. But it's an insanity worth trying. Still, we must be quick and act now. Lieutenant-Colonel De Cristoforis will command the operation. Now out of my sight, the three of you."**
Under the command of De Cristoforis, the Alpini and the cavalry were then brought north, to hill Anne-Marie (this, along with Huguette, Epervier and Claudine were just slight reliefs, heavily trenched and fortified), from where they could see better the situation in Huguette and Epervier. First, what they saw before their eyes was an area covered by corpses and destroyed knightframes. A repugnant orgy or decaying bodies, some of which completely burnt or torn apart, over a grey land, devastated by so much bombing and fighting. There, on the last fortifications before the airfield, the Chinese, supported by some Vietnamese and Lao infantry, kept under pressure the Europeans.
"Galahad, begin to send your battalion forward and secure the route from Anne-Marie 4 to the airfield. Cavalry, keep ready to attack Charlie in Huguette 4 and 5." Commanded the Lieutenant-Colonel.
"Yes, sir!" Replied on the radio the officers involved.
Without going himself into the field, Giulio sent forward two companies, to seize the route. Being too exposed to be usable, the Sino-Vietnamese had deployed only a few sentinels to guard it, as their main line of communications passed through the positions 4 and 5 and then reached Hill Françoise. In this way, it was sufficient to rely on the snipers to eliminate those sentinels and secure the road.
"Cavalry, charge!" Commanded De Cristoforis.
"Alpini, with me!" Echoed Giulio, rallying his troops.
Within a couple of minutes, the knightmare frames of the Italian and French cavalry, used the road to make their entrance in the field, striking at the position that they were ordered to, while Giulio moved the entirety of his battalion behind the attacking forces, engaging the Vietnamese soldiers who were left guarding the rear lines.
The operation was a success: the Asians, coming from an entire night of intense fighting, were tired and especially the Vietnamese and Lao infantry fell back whenever the fight began to turn against them. At the same time, the Chinese cavalry was well determined to keep fighting, but started running off of ammunition and power for their knightframes, making it impossible to continue the attack. It was a this point that General De Castries and the other the defenders at Huguette 1, 2 and 3 to counter-attack, squeezing the Chinese between them and the Alpini, which had by then surrounded the enemy.
Li Xingke shook his head. This first attack against Huguette failed, but at least had helped showing some of the weaknesses of the Europeans. In fact – he thought – had not been for the reinforcements, Huguette would have likely fallen.
"General Li." Started Zhou Xianglin. "Our tributaries are asking to resume the original plan and strike from the North and North-east."
"No way." Cur short Li. "Tell them that it's the suzerain, not the vassal who decides." After a break, hoqever, he decided to correct himself: "Better, tell them that I will meet them soon after extracting the cavalry from the field and that for the purpose, I need three infantry regiments."
"Yes sir."
"This must be the same person who defeated my cavalry months ago, after the raid on Chongqing." He said by himself, while re-focusing on the computer. "Same type of manoeuvre. Not bad, but he's getting predictable. "
"Sir, we have the infantry." Announced his aide.
"Amazing. Let's rescue our cavalry."
From an elevated position, Giulio was studying with his binoculars the behaviour of his troops. They were fresh, rested and determined to wipe out the enemy, whom however was opposing a heroic resistance. He did not like that. They were wasting time and this could have meant more reinforcements coming soon.
"Huguette 4 and 5 reconquered." Announced triumphantly Marcantonio on the radio.
"Well done." Replied Giulio. "I'll disengage two companies and send them to your replacement; we need you here. Lieutenant-colonel De Cristoforis, I ask permission to proceed."
"Permission granted." Replied their superior.
"Here Visconti-Gonzaga, hold." Said suddenly Marcantonio. "Enemy infantry advancing to our position."
"Here Galahad, do you need reinforcements?" Asked Giulio.
"Negative, we can deal with them."
In spite of the initial optimism, the European cavalry was soon outnumbered by the Vietnamese infantry, ultimately forcing them to ask for reinforcements.
"Here Visconti-Gonzaga. I'm sorry but we'll need to be reinforced by at least two companies."
Giulio, who through the whole combat had not left his position, frowned: his troops were all engaged in combat and though he tried to understand how to avoid it, he understood that by sending two companies to rescue the cavalry, he would have opened a corridor, allowing the trapped enemy to escape.
"Galahad here. Can't you really hold for longer? I don't think Charlie will last long here."
"Visconti here. We can try."
"No way." Intervened De Cristoforis. "Better not to risk. Galahad, send two companies to reinforce him."
"Sir, yes sir." Replied Giulio, with some disappointment.
The battle for Huguette Hill ended with a European victory. After fighting trench by trench for over 12 hours, the Europeans were saved by the arrival of the 3rd Airborne Task Force, which not only rescued the defenders, but also launched a counteroffensive, surrounding the Chinese and Vietnamese attackers, which nonetheless managed to disengage thanks to the arrival of three more infantry regiments. At the end of the battle, though Giulio stood for making another push and also reconquering Françoise, he was stopped by Brigadier General De Castries, who believed that the troops were too tired and losses already high for such kind of action. Thus ended the first battle over Huguette.
When the Sun set, the Chinese began to bomb Dien Bien Phu with missiles and to launch airstrikes. Now, repelling them became the job of air and missile defence systems, along with the Air Force, while the other troops could only remain inside their trenches, pillboxes and bunkers, waiting for the storm of steel to calm. In the middle of this, Giulio seized the opportunity to go check on Héléne when some of his comrades, wounded by the bombing, had to transported to the field hospital.
"Héléne! Héléne! Where are you?" Shouted Giulio, walking through the nursery.
"You shouldn't be here, Major! This is a field hospital, not a playground!" Reprimanded a medical officer. Giulio ignored him, continuing to search for his girlfriend.
"Here, Giulio! I'm here!" She said, rushing to hug him. Her eyes betrayed her exhaustion, just like her uniform covered by blood revealed what her day must have looked like.
"I must look horrible..." She said, after kissing him.
"You are always beautiful." Replied Giulio, holding her arms. "This place... It's a nightmare."
"It is! If only you saw what's been going on here at the hospital."
"The battlefield was sufficient. Those trenches are a depiction of hell."
She took a long breath. "I need some fresh air. Even if it's dangerous."
As they walked outside, they found a sky crossed by missiles, rockets and shells, that fell like falling stars, along with constant lightnings and thunders of the air battle taking place above their heads. At some point, they could even see a Chinese fighter jet falling down, flying right above their heads before crashing against a fortified depot, which luckily resisted.
"What a romantic night, don't you think?" Observed Giulio, with irony.
"Well, the futurists would say so." Replied Héléne.
"The beauty of war. The beauty of death." Said Giulio, looking above. "The Chinks want to achieve air supremacy, so that we no longer target their artillery and they can destroy the airfields. So, there will be more."
"Do you think they'll manage?" Asked the girl,growing worried.
Giulio shrugged his shoulders. "I prefer not to think about it. It's not in our hands."
"You're right, be what God wants to be. At least we are in this together."
"Yes, we are together." Echoed Giulio, taking her hands. "If we'll have to, we'll die a sweet death." He added, kissing her lips.
Their moment was interrupted by the abrupt arrival of a young colonel of the Swedish Army, followed by his regiment, all of whose members seemed over hyped.
"Forwards, to me, brave Nibelungs!" Shouted the Colonel, who had long blond hair and beard and wore a dark leather jacket, along with several rings and metal bracelets, definitely not part of the uniform. "Let's show the fucking bastards Thor's fury!"
"Valhalla!" Shouted then his soldiers.
"But what..." Started Héléne, perplexed.
"Colonel, what's happening?" Shouted Giulio.
The officer turned at him, drinking a can of beer and throwing it away. "Colonel Anders von Hopken and these are the Life Guards Dragoons, Swedish National Army!" Shouted the officer. "Enjoy your time with your girlfriend, because when we'll come back there won't be a single Charlie left!"
At those words, his comrades cheered, as the group quickly headed to the regiment's assault helicopters.
Giulio smirked. "I really wish I had their enthusiasm."
"Oh, don't. Please, don't." Replied immediately Héléne. "A dead hero won't bring me any comfort."
NOTES
* In our TL, Italian colonial officers used a blue ribbon, the blue being the colour of the House of Savoy (reason for which our national football team uses it). In this TL, however, there was never a Kingdom of Italy or a Risorgimento, while the Italian Republic is the continuation of the one established by Napoleon in 1802.
** Here once again there should be a map showing the historical battlefield of Dien Bien Phu, which is the same in which the scenario is set, except, obviously, for different tactics. In Chapter 14 I have left a link to a map.