The decisive military engagement in the French Indo-China War. In an attempt to defeat the Vietminh guerrilla forces, French airborne troops seized and fortified the village of Dienbienphu overlooking the strategic route between Hanoi and the Laotian border in November 1953. Contrary to expectations, the Vietnamese commander General Giap was able to establish an effective siege with Chinese-supplied heavy artillery, denying the garrison of 16,500 men supply by air, and subjecting it to eight weeks of constant bombardment between March and May 1954, which finally forced its surrender. The ensuing armistice ended French rule in Indo-China within two months.