But they were met with fierce resistance from the guerillas , and were stuck in a bloody war that lasted nine years .

Victims included Cause_to_be_included dissidents and leftists , union and peasant leaders , priests and nuns , students and teachers , intellectuals and suspected guerillas .

Reinforced Cause_change_of_strength by paratroopers , the French and their Vietnamese allies tightened Cause_change_of_strength a net around the defending Viet Minh , but delays Change_event_time in the movement of French forces left gaps through which most of the Viet Minh guerillas , and many of the arms caches the operation was expected to seize , escaped .

Perhaps even more important the countryside itself was well known Know to Bruce , and there were plenty of remote and difficult areas to allow cover Hiding_objects and protection Preserving for his band of guerillas .