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All About Ba C?t
L� Quang Vinh (1923 � 13 July 1956), popularly known as Ba C?t ("C?t" in Vietnamese is "to cut" which refers to the finger he himself had partially severed), was a military commander of the H�a H?o religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam during the 1940s and early 1950s
Ba C?t and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army (VNA), the Vi?t Minh, and the Cao ��i religious movement from 1943 until his capture in 1956
Known for his idiosyncrasies, he was regarded as an erratic and cruel leader who fought with little ideological purpose
His sobriquet came from the self-amputation of his left index finger (although it was erroneously reported that it was his middle or "third cut finger")
He later swore not to cut his hair until the communist Vi?t Minh were defeated
Ba C?t frequently made alliances with various Vietnamese factions and the French
He invariably accepted the material support offered in return for his cooperation, and then broke the agreement�nevertheless, the French made deals with him on five occasions
The French position was weak because their military forces had been depleted by World War II, and they had great difficulty in re-establishing control over French Indochina, which had been left with a power vacuum after the defeat of Japan.
In mid-1955, the tide turned against the various sects, as Prime Minister Ng� ��nh Di?m of the State of Vietnam and his VNA began to consolidate their grip on the south
Ba C?t and his allies were driven into the jungle, and their position was threatened by government offensives
After almost a year of fighting, Ba C?t was captured
He was sentenced to death and publicly beheaded in C?n Tho.