TRAPPED BY REBELS
French Garrison In Indo-China . NZPA—Reuter—Copyright Rec. 7 p.m. SAIGON, Oct. 9. The major part of a French garrison withdrawing from the Caobang outpost, on the China frontier, and several battalions of screening French troops, are reported by French Army headquarters to be trapped by Viet Minh forces west of the fortress town of Thatkhe. The rebel forces outnumber the French by 10 to 1, and it is feared that the French forces will be wiped out. The French were almost in sight of Thatkhe when Viet Minh forces swarmed from the dense mountain tree-lands in thousands and encircled them. Viet Minh forces in this area are put at 100,000 plus guerrillas. They possess light tanks and artillery. Several of France’s finest fighting battalions were trapped after the biggest battle of the four-year-old IndoChina war. They include Legionaires and Moroccan paratroops and infantrymen. A French Army spokesman admits it is the biggest reverse of the war.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 27517, 11 October 1950, Page 7
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158TRAPPED BY REBELS Otago Daily Times, Issue 27517, 11 October 1950, Page 7
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