BATTLE OF INDO-CHINA: Tonkin Line

BATTLE OF INDOCHINA

When Communist rebellion erupted in Tonkin's Red River delta four years ago, the French relied on a web of 900 funny little Beau Geste forts built of bricks, mud and logs. This winter, Chinese Comrade Mao Tse-tung gave Indo-Chinese Comrade Ho Chi Minh bazookas, mortars and artillery, which blasted many of the French forts to rubble. Only the dynamic leadership of newly arrived General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny and hastily shipped U.S. arms hurled Ho back.

Last week Tonkin's uneasy quiet was broken by the urgent growl of American...

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