Battle of Dong Dang - Chinese Positions

Chinese Positions

The Chinese had established an extremely strong position, centred on a 300-metre high limestone plateau which rose just to the west of the Mandarin Road and ran due north from Dong Dang to the Gate of China and beyond into China itself. This massif overlooked Dong Dang and the approaches to the Gate of China, and presented a sheer cliff face towards the southeast. It could only be climbed on its western side, and the Chinese had established a sheltered artillery position on its summit, just behind Dong Dang, commanding the steep western slopes that an attacker would have to scale. A number of infantry camps and several other artillery emplacements had been built on the summit.

The left of the Chinese position lay along the hills directly to the east of the Mandarin Road, which were covered by the elevated infantry and artillery positions on the limestone massif. These positions were quite secure against a frontal attack as long as the massif itself remained in Chinese hands. To reach a position from which they could assault the limestone massif the French would first have to take Dong Dang, which lay directly in their way. The Chinese had deployed their right wing in and around Dong Dang. The small low-lying town was the weakest point in the Chinese position, but the Chinese had done what they could to strengthen it by building three strong forts on the hills to its west, overlooking the villages of Dong Tien and Pho Bu and the That Ke valley. These strongpoints, the ‘Western Forts’, were linked by a defensive line which contained Dong Dang itself. The Chinese could also rely on the Dong Dang stream, a fast-flowing arroyo which ran across the entire front of their line, to act as a moat for their defences and slow down any French attack.