In 1948, General Pierre-Georges Boyer de la Tour embarked upon a major “pacification” effort based on the creation of a system of inter-linked posts protecting the economy and the major lines of communications in the Mekong Delta. By September 1949, de la Tour had installed some 3,000 fortified posts, surrounded by barbed wire, and mobilized some 70,000 men to run it. In 1949–1950, General Nguyen Binh tried to break de la Tour’s hold on the delta, especially with a view to obtaining rice. However, Nguyen Binh’s decision to send main force battalions against these posts ended in a stinging defeat for the Vietnamese general. Without their own artillery and adequate logistics, the Vietnamese forces were vulnerable to French artillery and airpower. See also PARALLEL HIERARCHIES; PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE; REVOLUTIONARY WARFARE; SERVICE ACTION.