INDO-CHINA: The Cavalryman

INDOCHINA

Only two things were known about General Henri Eugène Navarre in Indo-China: 1) he was a cavalryman; 2) he was the intelligence officer who had divined the exact and detailed order of battle of the German army facing France in September 1939. After three weeks as commander in chief of the French Union forces in Indo-China, little more was known about him. A small, shy man. he appeared to detest ostentation and ceremony. He hardly showed himself to the troops, and he evaded newsmen. Once he got into the news by accident when Communists shot up a DC-3 in which he was making a low-flying survey of enemy lines. Then, last week General Navarre completed his review of the Indo-China battlefront and made one of the most aggressive declarations yet to come from a French commander in that theater. The late Marshal de Lattre had said: "We will not let go of one inch of terrain." Said Navarre: "We will take the offensive."

Typically, he did not make the announcement personally, but had a spokesman read it to newsmen: "We shall give back to our troops the mobility and aggressiveness they have sometimes lacked. Our units have become too heavy. Certainly our troops have preserved their supremacy in pitched battle—when they are offered it by the Viet Minh. But this is not enough. Henceforth our troops will seek the enemy in the very heart of their jungle and paddies. They will impose battle on the enemy . . . Our infantry must have confidence in itself, in its weapons and its officers. There may be a real problem of confidence among our troops. If this problem presents itself, it will be resolved. We shall renew the war." Timing for the offensive: the end of the rainy season in September.

Navarre's plans were well received by French Union soldiers, who have become discouraged by continuous caution. Said a delighted staff officer: "One must not forget that his weapon is cavalry. And in cavalry, one attacks!"