Operation Ceinture

Operation Ceinture was a late 1947 military endeavour by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the Viet-Minh during the First Indochina War. A month long effort that commenced on 20 November following the cessation of Operation Lea, Ceinture (French: belt) intended to rid the region between Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang of Viet-Minh infiltration. The French utilised 18 paratroop battalions and naval landing craft to engage the Viet-Minh's 112 Regiment, however the latter were able to for the most part slip through French cordons, abandoning weapon caches. Dead and wounded totals given by Bernard Fall for the Viet-Minh reach 9,500, however he suggests that a portion were non-combatants.

The French did succeed in securing the region, and they withdrew their forces on 22 December, leaving a scattering of jungle fortifications to hold the region.