At this time, the enemy's local forces and reinforcements were reorganized, relying on tanks to launch a counterattack to knock us out of the base. The fighting was fierce, the gun emplacements and trenches were all crushed by bombs and bullets. On the same day, the enemy organised three assaults, but they were all repelled by Regiment 102; hundreds of paratroopers were eliminated from combat.
On the night of April 1, 1954, Regiment 102 organized the third attack toward the underground bunker on Hill A1. The enemy resisted fiercely. We made a strong attack on the enemy's underground bunker but could not find the tunnel door. Due to strong enemy fire suppression, we were forced to withdraw to the defensive line. In the following days, each side occupied half of the base, we occupied the eastern half, the enemy occupied the western part of the base.
While Regiment 102 was fighting on Hill A1, Regiment 36 received orders to attack and destroy enemy base 106. At 6:30 pm on April 1, 1954, the attack on base 106 began; Vietnamese soldiers' firepower simultaneously and intensely bombarded the base.
After a barrage of 105mm artillery fire, the Battalion 80 of the Regiment 36 moved to the very last trench. The leading company immediately rushed to open the door. Due to the weakening of the enemy's defence system in the stronghold, the leading company of Battalion 88 rushed straight into the command post and captured the Lieutenant of the post.
Battalion 80 quickly captured area A and advanced straight to area B along the trenches in the base to destroy the enemy, capturing 33 people alive. In area C, the enemy relied on bunkers and trenches to resist fiercely but were neutralized by Vietnamese soldiers. Within just 30 minutes, Regiment 36 completely took control of base 106, destroying and capturing 160 Legionnaires' soldiers.
On the enemy's side, Nava decided to send 3 more airborne battalions to reinforce Dien Bien Phu with the hope: "If Dien Bien Phu can hold for three more days, the Viet Minh will have to give up." French planes began dropping parachutes at night to reinforce Dien Bien Phu, but only after dropping one platoon did they have to stop, because flares clearly illuminated the drop zone, becoming a target for our soldiers to destroy.
