On December 6, 1953, the Politburo held a meeting under the chair of President Ho Chi Minh to approve the strategic plan for the Winter-Spring of 1953-1954 and decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

Transporting goods and weapons serving the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

Soldiers marched to the northwest region to join the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

105-mm cannons weighing over 2 tonnes each were pulled over steep and bumpy passes to positions for firing.

Dien Bien Phu campaign started with a massive artillery bombardment on the Him Lam Hill (Beatrice) outpost.

At 17:30 on March 13, 1954, General Commander Vo Nguyen Giap ordered the launch of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

Vietnamese artillery troops attacked and occupied Muong Thanh airport on April 24.

Vietnamese army launches waves of attack and won over the A1 Hill (named Strongpoint Eliane 2 by the French).

French General de Castries and his army staff officers surrendered on May 7, 1954.

Vietnamese soldiers and locals in Dien Bien province flew the ‘Determination to fight, Determination to win’ flag and raised high the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh in celebration of the Dien Bien Phu victory.

President Ho Chi Minh awarded badges to soldiers who made many feats in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

General Vo Nguyen Giap presented President Ho Chi Minh's ‘Determination to fight, Determination to win’ flag to the units achieving feats. Dien Bien Phu is one of the strategic battles in Vietnamese history, confirming the immense maturity of the Vietnam People's Army.

The 1954 Dien Bien Phu Victory forced the French government to sign the Geneva Agreement in July 1954, recognising the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the three Indochinese countries, ending Vietnam’s nine-year resistance war from 1945 to 1954.

Source: Nhan Dan