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Dong Khe is a small townlet about 40km from
Cao Bang, the road from Cao Bang to
Dong Khe is virtually traffic-free road climbs through a gorge of sheer
limestone cliffs before cresting the dramatic Dong Khe pass. In 1950 this pass
was the scene of a daring ambush in which the Viet Minh gained their first major
victory over the French Expeditionary Force. As you enter Dong Khe, you come to
a district of houses which have been miraculously preserved since the town's
evacuation by the French. The war memorial is dedicated to Vietnamese soldiers
who were killed during the siege of the town, the first major French defeat of
the Indochina War. In the ensuing panic, forts all along the border were
abandoned, an estimated six thousand French troops were killed or captured, and
the Viet Minh netted 950 machine guns, eight thousand rifles and a few hundred
trucks. |
