But de Lattre realized that this temporary retreat was nothing but a brief respite given him by Giap and his Chinese advisers before new tactics could be devised to cope with the new offensive spirit instilled into the French forces by de Lattre after the disastrous border campaign of 1950, and by the ever-mounting influx of American equipment. In order to take advantage of this temporary stalemate this time, de Lattre decided to strike first and in an unexpected direction: instead of aiming at the enemy's main centers of resistance in the northeast, he struck out across the bend of the Black
...more
