[2] It was launched on October 15 in an attempt to locate and destroy Viet-Minh Chu Luc troops operating under the command of Võ Nguyên Giáp around the area of Phu Nho Quan, south of the Red River Delta.

The operation was ended and the French withdrew by November 7, claiming approximately 1,000 enemy combatants killed, twice as many wounded, and 181 captured as well as a substantial quantity of weapons and ammunition.

Thanks to the terrain and the close border with China, the Viet Minh had succeeded in turning a "clandestine guerrilla movement into a powerful conventional army",[5] something which previously had never been encountered by the western world.

[6] In October 1952, fighting around the Red River Delta spread into the Thai Highlands, resulting in the battle of Nà Sản, at which the Viet-Minh were defeated.

The operation, launched on October 15, was described by Martin Windrow as "not a raid, but an attempt to fix and destroy a major element of the Chu Luc before Giap could deploy it.

The French claimed over 1,000 enemy killed and 2,500 wounded, while 182 were captured, along with "500 infantry weapons, plus 100 bazookas and recoilless guns and 3,000 mines.

[10] A number of the French units involved in Mouette would go on to serve at Dien Bien Phu, particularly the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment[11] and the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade.