Tension escalated through the fall of 1946. A misunderstanding in Hai Phong resulted in Viet Minh militiamen killing twenty-three French soldiers. North of Hanoi, six French troops were killed days later. On November 23, 1946, the French retaliated by butchering more than six thousand men, women, and children in a single day, bathing the streets of Hai Phong in blood. Fighting soon spread throughout the country.
