May 7, 1954: Dien Bien Phu campaign marks complete victory

On May 7, 1954, the entire group of enemy strongholds at Dien Bien Phu were destroyed by Vietnamese soldiers' troops, the "Determined to fight, determined to win" flag was flying on top of the bunker of French General de Castries on May 7, 1954. (Photo: VNA)

In the west, the 308th Division completed the settlement of Base 310, also known as Na Noong (Claudine 4). By 9 am, the units completed their assigned tasks and were ready to move into a general attack.At 2:00 pm on the same day, Regiment 209 (Division 312) launched an attack on Base 507 near Muong Thanh Bridge. The enemy at Base 507 raised the white flag to surrender. Taking advantage of the victory, Division 312 attacked and destroyed two bases, 508 and 509 on the left bank of the Nam Rom River.

Faced with a situation where the enemy army was in chaos and had lost its fighting strength, the units immediately took advantage of the favourable opportunity to attack the enemy stronghold. Wherever Vietnamese soldiers advance, the enemy surrenders. At 5:15 pm on May 7, 1954, a wing of Division 312 approached the enemy command post.

Company commander Ta Quoc Luat and four soldiers, Hoang Dang Vinh, Bui Van Nho, Nguyen Van Lam and Dao Van Hieu, entered the bunker to arrest French General de Castries and the entire staff of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold group.General de Castries was captured. But in the direction of Hong Cum, the enemy still resisted. On the night of May 7, 1954, taking advantage of the darkness, the enemy troops here organised a retreat toward Upper Laos.

The Campaign Command ordered Division 304 to actively search, and at the same time ordered the 102nd Regiment to urgently march to Tay Trang, to block the enemy's retreat. At 10 pm, Division 304 surrounded and captured all the enemy troops in Hong Cum who escaped. Thus, after 56 days and nights (from March 13 to May 7, 1954) of stubborn fighting, Vietnamese soldiers and people completely destroyed the Dien Bien Phu stronghold group. During the entire campaign, Vietnamese soldiers destroyed and captured 16,200 enemies. The total number of enemy aircraft shot down and destroyed at the front was 57, in addition, five aircraft were shot down on the supply line to the front. Vietnamese soldiers confiscated all of the enemy's weapons at Dien Bien Phu.