'The General's telegram shows the vision of a military genius'

To prepare for the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, General and Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap, on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Military Commission, signed a telegram to the entire front with the content: "Faster, faster, bolder, bolder, seize every minute, every hour, rush to the front, liberate the South. Determined battle and total victory".

Explaining more clearly the meaning of this historic telegram, Colonel, Doctor Vu Ngoc Thuy - Director of the Institute of Military Science and Arts, National Defense Academy, said that at that historic moment, the General's telegram was both an order from the Commander-in-Chief but also a call to encourage the spirit of officers and soldiers on the battlefield.

Colonel Vu Ngoc Thuy:The telegram was a timely order for our troops on the battlefields to carry out the opportunistic plan, quickly organize directions, form a siege and advance into the last lair of the Saigon government. At that historic moment, the General's telegram was both an order from the Commander-in-Chief but at the same time it was also a call to encourage the morale of the officers and soldiers on the battlefield. At an extremely important moment of the war, with short phrases, the General's order clearly defined the goal to be achieved, and at the same time indicated the motto of action to achieve that goal, if it was already fast, it needed to be even faster, if it was bold, it needed to be even bolder with the goal of liberating the South, fighting decisively and winning completely.

Colonel Vu Ngoc Thuy:That order was conveyed with the highest determination of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission to all levels of leaders and commanders of the battlefield; to each cadre, party member, and soldier to proactively and creatively direct all actions according to the motto of speed, boldness, surprise, and sure victory. Our entire nation marched with that spirit, strictly implementing the order, our army and people across the southern battlefields raised their determination to overcome all difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices, urgently increasing the speed of marching with the idea of ​​opening the way to advance, fighting the enemy to advance, creating momentum for the final decisive and strategic battle in Saigon to liberate the South.

PV:Colonel, can you tell us how the 4 Corps, considered the main force, demonstrated the spirit of fighting the enemy and advancing, opening the way and advancing?

Colonel Vu Ngoc Thuy:In practice, the 1st Army Corps from Ninh Binh was ordered to march at lightning speed, over 1,700 km, and by mid-April had reached the Southeast region. The 2nd Army Corps, after liberating Da Nang, marched urgently, with a distance of about 900 km along Highway 1 and to ensure the Corps' mobility, had to mobilize more than 2,000 vehicles of all kinds, and by April 18, had arrived in Bien Hoa and Ba Ria. As for the 3rd Army Corps, after successfully completing the mission of destroying the enemy in the Central Highlands battlefield and the Central Coastal provinces, it quickly mobilized and deployed its forces to the Southeast region.

We see that the order of General, Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap was truly a source of motivation to increase the will, determination to fight, and victory that could only be achieved by our army and people in the historic month of April 1975. That order met the aspirations of the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army, mobilizing and concentrating the strength of the entire country in the final confrontation, aiming at the goal of liberating Saigon and liberating the South.

PV:In the historical context at that time, did the Colonel think that the General's order requiring the troops to be fast, even faster, was also the guiding ideology to carry out the plan to seize the opportunity for the final decisive battle?

Colonel Vu Ngoc Thuy:The rapid transformation of the battle situation and the balance of forces between us and the enemy on the southern battlefield opened up a historic opportunity. If we did not seize that opportunity, if we were slow, the Saigon Army would have the opportunity to readjust its strategic deployment and recover to be able to hold out, at that time the war could have dragged on, and we would have lost the advantageous opportunity. The order that General, Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap drafted on behalf of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee was like a slice of history that saw the Party's grasp of the opportunity and strategic vision, paving the way for the Great Victory of Spring 1975 to liberate the South and unify the country.

PV:Before signing the telegram, the General had directed the fronts that if the enemy strategically withdrew from Hue and Da Nang, they must quickly attack Saigon. So, the General's telegram affirmed the General's strategic vision and genius military thinking, sir?

Colonel Vu Ngoc Thuy:That's right, the General's above comment demonstrated the vision of a military genius. Reality shows that the strategic arrangement of the ARVN on the Southern battlefield was mainly concentrated between the two ends, in the middle they arranged a thinner force, including the South Central Coast and the Central Highlands. Thus, Buon Ma Thuot town was a place where the enemy was not strong but it was related to the enemy's vital points. In the strategic determination to liberate the South, the General, together with the Central Military Commission, advised the Politburo to choose Buon Ma Thuot as a strategic acupoint, causing great surprise to the enemy.

Historical facts show that the victory of the Central Highlands campaign shook the entire defense system of the enemy in the Central Highlands. It led to the puppet government's wrong decision to withdraw from the Central Highlands to defend the plains of Zone 5. The element of surprise created a breakthrough in the campaign leading to a strategic breakthrough that had a chain reaction, breaking the enemy's strategic position, a turning point in the development of the military and political situation in the South. Taking advantage of the victory, we launched the Hue - Da Nang campaign, destroying the enemy's strategic plan to regroup. From here, we opened a strategic opportunity for a general offensive to attack the lair of the Saigon puppet government.

This has affirmed the genius of the General. The General, together with the Politburo, the Central Military Commission, the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army, wrote the greatest heroic epic in the history of thousands of years of building and defending the country of our people, in terms of breadth, depth, height and weight. That great feat will transcend all spaces and live forever. It is a powerful testament to the strength of patriotism and intelligence of the Vietnamese people in the cause of fighting to defend the country and liberate the nation.

PV:Thank you, Colonel../.