Page 257 - Thorn In The Heart

Chinh Nguyên

enough doctor to care for them in the emergency. Vietminh
troops let their wounded soldiers die slowly in the cold climate
outside the French barbed wire defense. These soldiers were
screaming, echoing and mixed with the heavy shells exploding
under the dull light of parachute flares on the valley.

Early March 15, 1954, Vietminh heavy artilleries started
continuing to pound the French camps, plus with few more
infantries with full assault to attack the camps without stop.
There were more French heavy guns down in their pills and
Colonel Piroth, who in charge of French artillery was suicide at
midday because his unit was a total loss.

French volunteered paratroopers continued to jump out of
airplanes at the high attitude in daily as the raining parachutes to
reinforce under the threaten of Vietminh anti-aircraft shells
exploding around them.

Also under their feet had the sense of dreadful hell by
Vietminh’s thunder blast canon shells, broken up the bunkers on
the ground with the columns of smoke and flame rising in the
air. There were some close combats in the connecting trenches
between the Strongpoints of Isabelle, Gabrielle and central
camps with loudly yells. All paratroopers must take at their own
risk for the anti-aircraft bullets exploding around them after they
just jumped out of the C-47 airplane at high altitude.

Each time of air reinforcement, some dozen soldiers
wounded in the air, struggled before landing and the parachutes
dragged them on the ground with screaming. Few of them broke
to a part by the Vietminh's anti-aircraft bullets and dropped on
the ground like dead meat. Also, lots of soldiers were killed in
the air while the strong wind blowing their bodies away from the
battlefield, and dangled nowhere on the top of the trees of the
raining forest.

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