Operation Lea
Operation Léa was French Union military operation between 7 October and 22 December 1947 during the First Indochina War. It was an attempt by the French General Valluy to crush the Viet Minh. An airborne force would capture the Viet Minh leadership and three French columns would strike into the Viet Minh heartland.
The parachute assault surprised the Viet Minh, nearly capturing Ho Chi Minh and General Giap, but it soon recovered and began ambushing the three French columns.
The operation was soon called off and the French forces withdrew to the lowlands. It was a tactical success, inflicting severe casualties on the Viet Minh, but strategically indecisive, because it failed to capture the Viet Minh leadership or seriously cripple its military forces.
Read more about Operation Lea: Background, Operation Léa, Aftermath
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“Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.”
—Francis Bacon (1560–1626)