Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-02
Wet Mini Close
Giant Pincers
On French Fort
Outpost Is Captured
On One Side, Reds
Attack From Other
BY the Assoc,oted Press

HANOI. Indo-C China. April a.
Thousands of fresh Wet Mimi
troops smashed into a French
outpost about a mile northwest
of the center of besieged Diem
Bien Phu today and the French
launched heavy counterattack,
supported by tanks, in an at
tempt to regain the position.
Other rebel forces crashed at
the French Union fortress from
the southeast in a gigantic pine
ers movement aimed at the heart
of the bastion.
The French high command in
Hanoi said the Wet Mini.
throwing in a division on the
northwest while two others at
tackled the southeast and east,
overran two outpoStS in the
northwest sector. but a French
counterattack drove the rebels
from one of these.
Another counterattack was
underway to throw them out of
the other. the French reported.
Meanwhile, Wet Mimi troops
struck across the border Of Laos
into Cambodia in the first Com
munist-led military penetration
into that Indo-C Chinese state.
(Story on Page A-3D
Losses Are Heavy.
The French high command
said the rebel forces at Diem
Bien Phu were suffering heavy
losses" in their wild charges at
the barbed wire barricades Of
the hill-encircled fortress ITS
miles west of Hanoi.
The rebels driving at Diem
Bien Phu from the southeast
reached the first strings Of
barbed wire, the French said.
French heavy machinegun,
tank and artillery fire moved
down rebels charging wildly on
the barbados. hurting grenades
and high explosives in long
bamboo poles in an effort to
blow up the barriers and break
through.
An army spokesman termed
the struggle in the southeast
very savage and Violent" with
much hand-to-hand fighting.
Driven From One Outpost.
In the northwest the Wet
Mini by the thousands fought
their way first into two OUT
posts. one of which they later
had to give up under a heavy
French counterattack.
They chung to the other. The
French, aided by tanks. artillery
and squadronS of planes which
are strafing and bombing the
charging masses of rebels, are
trying to recapture the post and
to plug up the hole in the
northwestern stronghold which
could pave the way for a break
through into the center of the
fortress.
Ihe seriousness of the Situa-
ton was accentuated by the fact
that the Wet Mimi in attacking
the northwest were using one
division against the French
Union defenders who for four
days and four nights had been
without rest or sleep and have
had to depend upon parachuted
supplies to try to stem the mas
Sive rebel assaults.
Hand-tO- Hand Fighting.
There was savage hand-to-
hand fighting as the French
forces repeatedly beat back the
rebels trying to break through
into the plains headquarters
center.
AS the second major Wet Mimi
attempt to overwhelm Diem Bien
Phu ragged on in its third day, the
fighting was so furious the
French had no chance to esti-
mate the losses on either side.
They had said earlier that the
rebels lost some 1000 of their
estimated 10000 attackers in the
first 48 hours of the renewed
assault.
The attack on the northwest
was the first in that sector Of
the current drive on the French
fortress, though the rebels in
their first mass frontal attack on
the plain three weeks ago had
taken two posts in the center Of
the northern defense perimeter.
This time. until today they
(See INDO-CHINA. Page A-3)