Tragic massacre leaves 27 dead at the "Gate of Heaven".

(Baonghean.vn) - Mr. Le Van Toan has kept the map of his comrades' graves for the past 53 years. It is the only remaining memento after the attack carried out by the Chau Pha rebels in 1964.

Muong Long today. Photo: Nguyen Sach

The house of Mr. Le Van Toan, one of the workers at the attacked seedling nursery, is nestled in a small alley in Muong Xen town, Ky Son district. The entrance to the house easily brings to mind the dimly lit, cramped alleyways of urban areas.

One memento that the 77-year-old man has kept for over half a century is a yellowed piece of paper containing a diagram of the graves of his comrades who died in the bandit raid in Muong Long in 1964.

The map shows the locations of 27 graves that he himself drew after burying his comrades. The notorious bandit gang operated and harassed the Muong Long and Huoi Tu (Ky Son district) from 1962 to 1966. Their leader was a Mong bandit general named Gia Xia Sua, who called himself Chau Pha (King of Heaven).

Mr. Le Van Toan, one of the workers who participated in the 1964 anti-bandit raid. Photo: Huu Vi

Mr. Toan is from My Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (Nghe An province). His parents died early, and he had one younger sister, who later passed away, his only remaining relative. To forget his grief, he wandered to the mountainous region.

In 1962, the Nghe An Department of Agriculture established a seedling nursery in Muong Long commune (Ky Son district). He volunteered to join, even though he knew that the area where his unit was stationed was a dangerous jungle, where bandits could take his life at any moment.

But for him, having a workplace and close-knit colleagues like family was worth the effort for a young man in his early twenties. The nursery was headed by Mr. Nguyen Huu Cuong, from Thanh Phong (Thanh Chuong), and a man named Cung served as deputy head. They were both officials from the Provincial Department of Agriculture who came to assist at the seedling nursery.

“According to the provincial decision, back then, the camp was tasked with production and border protection. The camp was used to grow cabbage and kohlrabi seeds. According to research, there are only three places in the whole country that can grow seeds of those two vegetables, and Muong Long is one of them,” Mr. Le Van Toan said clearly, pronouncing each word distinctly.

During wartime, the camp also had its own militia. The entire militia had a single Xteng rifle. This old-fashioned weapon would only fire a few shots before the barrel turned red. Three K44 rifles were added to the militia. Each rifle had 20 rounds of ammunition. Mr. Toan was assigned a K44. That was also what helped him repel the bandits.

Mr. Toan has kept the map showing the locations of the graves of fallen soldiers for over half a century. Photo: Ho Phuong

“The camp had been operating for a year and a half when the attack occurred. That night will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. In just one night, I lost 27 comrades, including 20 workers at the seedling nursery. The remaining 7 were soldiers, civilian workers, and medical personnel,” the old man continued.

At the time, no one thought the bandits would be so ruthless. They seemed to be well-trained. With just the initial volley of bullets, the guard that day was killed. After that volley, the entire nursery was subjected to a barrage of gunfire. Many of the workers jumped into the drainage ditch to avoid the bullets but were hit by grenades thrown by the bandits. "Many workers died from grenade shrapnel," Mr. Toan said, wiping away tears.

According to Mr. Xong Ga Vu, former Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Muong Long commune, at the time of the attack, Mr. Toan managed to grab his K44 rifle and take cover in the unit's cooking stove. A large rock nearby helped shield him from the bullets. He was also hit by two bullets. One grazed his ribs, causing a minor cut, and the other hit the soft tissue in his thigh. When the gunfire subsided, he bandaged his wounds and waited for dawn.

Despite being nearly a hundred years old, Mr. Xong Ga Vu still remembers every detail of the event clearly. Photo: Ho Phuong

Around 8 a.m. on June 24, 1964, after another series of attacks, as the bandits were about to overrun the unit, he spotted the bandit leader. "I took him down with one shot," Mr. Toan continued his story.

The general's fall demoralized the bandits. They gradually retreated and were eventually driven out of the area by local troops and district police. For two consecutive years, military forces in the area intensified their suppression efforts. By 1966, the situation had stabilized. The seedling nursery continued its mission until 2015, when it was transferred to TH Milk Joint Stock Company.

The cemetery for fallen workers in Muong Long commune, Ky Son district, was built in 2012, nearly 50 years after an attack that killed 27 people. Photo: Huu Vi

For some reason, for many decades afterward, people seemed to forget the immense pain caused by the attack. It wasn't until 2006 that the local authorities investigated, and the soldiers who died in the battle on April 26, 1964, were posthumously awarded the title of martyr. In 2012, the Workers' Martyrs' Cemetery was built. During the construction of the cemetery, some of the remains of the martyrs, mostly from Nam Dan, were moved back to their hometowns by their relatives. Now, only 13 graves remain in the cemetery.

The tombstone of a fallen soldier at the cemetery. Photo: Huu Vi

With failing eyesight, relying on reading glasses and his grandson's study lamp, Mr. Le Van Toan could clearly see the location of each grave on the map. The map was hastily drawn, containing only names and hometowns, with only a few surnames recorded, such as Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lan, Nguyen Thi Nhung, Tu Thi Hien, Nguyen Thi Hao, and Nguyen Van Sam. Among them, Mr. Sam and Mrs. Hao were a married couple murdered in an ambush. Mr. Banh Duc Tu was a soldier from Nam Son (Do Luong)... Other names like Mr. Dao, Mr. Chau, Ms. Chau, Ms. Nhi, Ms. Nghe... were also recorded somewhat hastily. But when asked about their surnames, Mr. Toan remembered each face and hometown clearly. “Ms. Nhi and Ms. Nghe were medical staff. They were both very young, none of them married yet...” Mr. Toan recalled.

Mr. Toan probably never imagined that his notes would one day be so useful. They helped the families of fallen soldiers find their loved ones and assisted the government in compiling dossiers to posthumously honor 27 people who died in the raid.

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong