Once again, Dodelier called on Colonel Ducournau’s airborne task force. To accomplish that mission, Ducournau added the two Foreign Legion Parachute Battalions to the 5th Colonial Paras, the Moroccans of the 3/4th RTM, and the French and Vietnamese of Commando 35. On December 19, with the 1st BEP leading off from Ap Da Chong and the 2nd BEP from Hill 564, the task force swept south to link up with Rocher Notre-Dame. Viet Minh resistance was light. The two BEPs continued with a reconnaissance in force into the Xom Sui depression on December 20, recovering the dead left by the 1st Colonial Paras some 10 days earlier.

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With the area temporarily clear, the French considered that the battle for the Black River was over. The airborne task force battle staff, 3/4th RTM, the 2nd BEP, and the 1st BPC were returned to Hanoi for general reserve duties.

Giap, however, ordered Colonel Vuong Thua Vu’s 308th Division into the Black River to relieve Tan’s 312th. By December 21, Regiments 102 and 36 had moved back into the Ba Trai forest.

At 1100 hours on December 21, Commando 35 stumbled across a Viet Minh bivouac south of the Yen Cu–Ap Da Chong road. An hour later, a patrol from the 5th BPC ran into a company supported by heavy weapons on Hill 82. Under heavy fire, the paras managed to break contact, but they were re-engaged by 1700, requiring air support to break contact and withdraw. On December 22, both Commando 35 and the 5th BPC came under heavy enemy attack at Hills 564 and 82 and were almost overrun.

A reconnaissance patrol was ambushed to the east of Luing Phu and Tach Xa, and legionnaires from the 1st BEP fell into an ambush some three kilometers south of Xom Bu. The BEP required two platoons of Sherman tanks and fighter-bomber support to break contact.

In the face of this new threat, General Salan reinforced the Black River sector with an airborne task force staff, the 2nd BEP, the 1st Vietnamese Parachute Battalion (1st BPVN), Edom’s Mobile Group 1, and two additional batteries of artillery. The 1st BPVN jumped one company into Rocher Notre-Dame on December 23, followed by the remainder of the battalion under the command of Captain Depont at Ap Phu Tho on December 24.

On December 24, the airborne task force, consisting of the 5th Colonial Paratroops, the 1st and 2nd BEPs, the 2/1st Algerian Tirailleurs and two platoons of Sherman tanks, was ordered to counterattack Regiments 102 and 36 and expel them from the sector. To do so, they planned a pincers movement by the two BEPs around Hill 82 while the 5th BPC covered them from the southeast. The 1st BEP encountered little difficulty, but the 2nd BEP ran into heavy enemy resistance at Hill 61 and then just below Hill 57. Under Viet Minh pressure, the 2nd BEP was pushed to the east. When the 2/1st Algerians moved in to reinforce them, they were hit on the flank. The Viet Minh then broke through to the road running north from Yen Cu to Cam Dai. While the 2nd BEP regroup at Hill 61 under cover of close air support, the Algerians regrouped toward Yen Cu. The fight had cost the 2nd BEP 12 killed and 31 wounded, while accounting for 300 Viet Minh killed.

In the face of continued Viet Minh resistance, it became clear that a major offensive was needed. Dodelier ordered his units to hold their positions while he launched French-led North Vietnamese reconnaissance units (Commandos-Army Forces North Vietnam) into the Ba Vi and Ba Trai regions. From December 25, 1951, to January 3, 1952, the commandos pinpointed various units of the 308th Division in the Ba Tai forest. These were hit with artillery and close air support, while the French built up their forces and made plans for a preliminary attack designed to draw off Viet Minh forces that could reinforce the sector.

Operation Nenuphar kicked off on January 4 and 5, 1952, with the Ducournau’s airborne task force, Edom’s Mobile Group 1, and Thomazo’s Mobile Group 4. In a repeat of previous operations, the paratroops took up blocking positions between Yen Cu and Ap Da Chong while Mobile Group 4 attacked to the south of Ngoc Nhi. Mobile Group 1 supported this with a diversionary attack against Tach Xa, and on January 6, Colonel de Rocquigny’s airborne staff from Hanoi, backed up by the 1st Colonial Paras, launched a deception operation toward Viet Minh staging depots at Viet Tri in hopes of forcing Viet Minh reserves to assemble around Phu Lu.

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