Hòa Bình, capital of the Muong people, located 62 kilometres (39 mi) from Hanoi, was selected by General de Lattre for the offensive.

For the Việt Minh, the control of Hòa Bình would allow them free movement in the valleys north of Hanoi as well as the flow of military supplies.

De Lattre’s plan was to take Hòa Bình, where Giáp's regular divisions would be forced to confront superior French firepower and eventually be destroyed.

On 10 November 1951, Operation Tulipe was launched with the objective of seizing Chợ Bến Pass and extending French control beyond Provincial Route 21.

After the French Task Force North and the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion (1er BEP) had linked up west of Chợ Bến, they both continued the thrust while other mobile groups were moving in from the south and the east.

By the end of the day, the French Union forces had achieved their objective with Mobile Group 2 and 1st Colonial Parachute Battalion (1er BPC) reaching their target north of Chợ Bến.

Realizing the difficulty of phase two, de Lattre divided French Union forces into three operational groups, which together would capture Hòa Bình by land, sea and air.

Due to the build-up of Việt Minh forces in the area, elements of the 1st Colonial Parachute Battalion were ordered to reinforce Thu Phap.

At the same time, Võ Nguyên Giáp began to concentrate his troops on Hòa Bình and Colonial Route 6 as the 304th, 308th and 312th Divisions were being redeployed with fresh reinforcements.