Dien Bien Phu - Going through historical days

Update: 02-05-2024 | 12:34:03

Part 1: Hearing "ho keo phao” in the basin

"Hooray, pull our artillery over the pass/ Hooray, pull our artillery over the mountain/ The slope of the mountain is high, but the determination is higher than the mountain...". Referring to the Dien Bien Phu campaign, it is impossible not to mention the triumphal music of “Ho keo phao” (Ballad of hauling up the artillery pieces) by composer Hoang Van, who witnessed the hardships of our soldiers pulling artillery day and night across the mountains, trekking through the jungle to fight in the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954. With profound lyrics and heroic sounds resounding on the Dien Bien Phu relic clusters after 70 years, the spirit is still surging and visitors feel like they can relive with the country's heroic days.

Reliving with heroic memories

Revisiting the old battlefield at the age of 96 and 77 years of the Party membership, Colonel Nguyen Huu Tai, former Political Head of the Regiment 209 under the Group 312 in the Dien Bien Phu campaign said emotionally: "Many comrades died and remain on this historical land forever. In the atmosphere of victory, I deeply remember President Ho Chi Minh, the genius leader of our Party and General Vo Nguyen Giap, the first Commander-in-chief of the Vietnamese People's Army... ”.

A delegation of veterans visits the A1 Hill relic

Colonel Nguyen Huu Tai still remembers every little detail about the Dien Bien Phu campaign 70 years ago. He said: "My unit was ordered to pull 12 artillery pieces into the battlefield by hand. After 9 days and nights, we continuously pulled the artillery to the west of the battlefield, but were then ordered to pull the artillery out. To reassure the soldiers' spirit, the unit briefly grasped three contents: unchanged determination to destroy the enemy; absolute trust in superiors; thorough compliance with orders…".

Pulling the artillery in was arduous, but pulling it out was even more difficult. Due to being discovered, the enemy continuously bombed and plowed through the forests, but our soldiers still bravely passed through the fire net, determined to bring the artillery out safely with casualties that were inevitable. With the spirit of determination to fight and win, many examples who sacrificed themselves to save the artillery such as Nguyen Van Chuc, To Vinh Dien..., further motivating Dien Bien soldiers to enthusiastically enter the campaign.

Hill A1 showing the silhouettes of Dien Bien soldiers

Nguyen Thi Hong from Dien Bien provincial Relics Management Board said: "During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, Hill A1 was the most glorious battleground on the battlefield. Among 56 days and nights of digging into mountains, sleeping in underground tunnels, Dien Bien soldiers spent 39 days fighting with many sacrifices and losses to destroy this base. Our troops attacked 5 times to defeat 30 enemy counterattacks. More than 2,500 outstanding children of the Vietnamese people dedicated their youth and lives to the campaign until the day of victory.

Nguyen Thi Hong (left), from Dien Bien provincial Relics Management Board, introduces the battle on Hill A1 to visitors

According to Mrs. Hong, as an extremely important base for France in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, every year, Hill A1 relic welcomes many domestic and foreign tourists, especially on the occasion of April and May 1 holidays. Most of them are visitors from Europe, veterans and students from all over the country who return to the root to review the heroic victories of the nation.

With medals glittering on his chest, Nguyen Trung Thanh, a veteran of Hung Yen province said: "Nearly 70 veterans came to Dien Bien today to see the evidence with our own eyes and hear stories about fierce battles on Hill A1, helping us feel the scale of Dien Bien soldiers’ spirit of determination to fight and win in the past. We are even more proud of the glorious victories of our nation 70 years ago". Whilst, Tran Van Hai, a member of Yen The district’s Veterans Association in Bac Giang province visited all the items of the relic site. “When visiting the Dien Bien battlefield in the past, we can fully see the greatness of our army and people. All the entrenched fortifications here were built so solidly by the French, but we still managed to destroy them...", he admired.

Over the past 70 years, the gunfire stopped on Hill A1, but every inch of land and blade of grass still bears the shadow of Dien Bien soldiers of the past. The sound of "Ballad of hauling up the artillery pieces" still echoes with every footstep of tourists on the battlefield which “resounded throughout the five continents and was world-shaking”.

On March 13, 1954, after careful preparation in all aspects, our army opened fire to launch the first attack on the Dien Bien Phu stronghold group. After 5 days of fighting, we quickly destroyed two of the enemy's most fortified bases, namely Him Lam and Doc Lap. On March 30, 1954, we launched the second attack on the stronghold group, simultaneously attacking the hills in the eastern slope of the central division. On May 1, 1954, we launched the third attack, capturing the remaining bases. At 8:30 p.m on May 6, 1954, our troops detonated a 960-kg explosive on Hill A1. On May 7, 1954, our soldiers raised the flag of victory. General De-chat Stri and the entire staff of the stronghold were captured alive...

Hill A1 is considered as the "throat" of Dien Bien Phu, a valuable high point in terms of tactics and campaigns. If Hill A1 was captured, the entire Muong Thanh field in the French base would be controlled. Therefore, the battle of Hill A1 was extremely fierce. Here, there are still traces of the old battle such as the explosive crater created by thousands of kilograms of explosives that shook the enemy's will; the base command bunker, the gun bunker on the top of the hill and the French bunker system that were once considered as the "inviolable" ones... Here, there is still the intact evidence of the French Bazeille tank that was destroyed by 4 soldiers on the early morning of April 1, 1954 along with the mass grave of 4 soldiers under the Regiment 174 and Regiment 102...

Reported by a group of correspondents-Translated by Kim Tin

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Dien Bien Phu - Going through historical days

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