What is Battle of Ðiện Biên Phủ?
[[File:Victory in Battle of Dien Bien Phu.jpg|thumb|Victory in Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] The '''battle of Ðiện Biên Phủ''' was a 1954 battle between [[Vietnam|Vietnamese]] and [[France|French]] forces. Vietnam won, which made the [[France|French]] give up in the [[First Indochina War]]. The independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was secured, and [[Vietnam]] was divided into [[North Vietnam]] and [[South Vietnam]]. With the launch of Operation Castor, French soldiers were dropped from the Red River Delta by air, deep into the northwestern hills of Vietnam, into Việt Minh territory. They established a well-fortified garrison at Ðiện Biên Phủ, alongside an airstrip to supply their troops. That was an attempt to lure the Vietnamese guerrilla fighters, commanded by General [[Võ Nguyên Giáp]], into an all-out firefight to inflict devastating losses in which the French would use their heavy artillery and superior firepower. However, the Việt Minh did not take the bait but brought Chinese-funded heavy artillery into this difficult area, much to French surprise. The Việt Minh also used its superior numbers in human wave tactics to overwhelm the French. Next, the Việt Minh dug deep trenches and used its artillery to shoot down any French airplanes, destroy the French airstrip, and bombard the French troops into submission. The French surrendered in May 1954 after two months of fighting. The number of French soldiers at the garrison had increased from 12,000 to over 15,000. After years of fighting and this defeat, the French no longer wanted to continue fighting. It was the first time an Asian colonial army defeated the army of a European power by military might.<ref>{{cite book| last = Tanham| first = George Kilpatrick | title = Communist Revolutionary Warfare: From the Vietminh to the Viet Cong | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fVFiM8wHxV4C| date = 2006 | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group| language = en| isbn = 978-0-275-99263-7 }}</ref> That was considered to be a surprise disaster for the