'The Iron Wall' of the Fatherland

(Baonghean.vn) - Eighty-two years ago, on March 28, 1935, the First National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (held in Macau, China) adopted the "Resolution on Self-Defense Forces". This was the Party's first resolution on organizing, directing the construction, training, and operation of self-defense forces. This day marked a milestone in the birth and became the Traditional Day of the Vietnamese Militia and Self-Defense Forces. In 1949, President Ho Chi Minh signed a decree establishing three types of armed forces: the main army, the local army, and the militia and guerrilla forces.

From the "Red Self-Defense" teams - the precursors of the Vietnamese revolutionary armed forces born during the Nghe Tinh Soviet Uprising (1930-1931) - to the Bac Son guerrilla unit, the National Salvation Army, the Ba To guerrilla unit, the Southern Guerrilla Army, and guerrilla units operating in war zones throughout the country... all were organized on the basis of the people's political forces under the leadership of the Party and served as the core for partial uprisings in localities, acting as the vanguard force in the General Uprising, crushing the French and Japanese rule, and seizing revolutionary power for the workers and peasants (August 1945).

Militia forces during wartime. Archival photo.

During the resistance war against the French colonial invasion, with the policy of simultaneously fighting and building the nation, and a people-to-people, all-encompassing resistance, our Party advocated for the strong development of militia and guerrilla forces that did not detach from production, serving as the core force in fighting the enemy at the local level.

President Ho Chi Minh once emphasized: "These militia and guerrilla organizations can not only be responsible for suppressing counter-revolutionaries, maintaining security in villages, protecting the interests of the masses, fighting the enemy, and coordinating operations with the main army, but they can also supplement the main army."

Thanks to this, the militia and guerrilla forces experienced remarkable growth, increasing from about 100,000 people during the August 1945 General Uprising to approximately 1 million people in early 1946, expanding nationwide and forming a network spanning mountains, forests, plains, and cities.

The soldiers of the National Guard and the people of Hanoi fought to defend every house and street corner in the early days of the nationwide resistance war. (Archival photo)

Implementing the policy of "transforming the enemy's rear into our front line," with rudimentary weapons at hand, the militia and guerrillas relied on the terrain and geographical features of their villages, and on the people's war strategy to eliminate evil and injustice, contributing to the construction, expansion, and protection of base areas; at the same time, they coordinated with local troops to conduct guerrilla warfare, wearing down and destroying enemy forces, and pinning down the enemy in cities and towns.

Particularly during the final stages of the resistance war, especially the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring campaign, culminating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the activities of the militia and guerrillas coordinated seamlessly with the main army and local troops, launching powerful offensives and making a significant contribution to the "glorious victory that shook the world," forcing France to sign the Geneva Accords, ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina.

Entering the resistance war against the US to save the nation, and adhering to the revolutionary policies and guidelines of the Party, the militia and guerrilla forces of both North and South Vietnam continued to make significant contributions to the construction and protection of the socialist North and the national democratic revolution in the South.

Militia forces transport ammunition to the battlefield. (Archival photo)

During the years of escalating US imperialism and expanding its bombing campaign against North Vietnam (1965-1973), the North Vietnamese militia and self-defense forces developed rapidly in both quantity and quality (accounting for 12% of the North Vietnamese population). They were organized into platoons, companies, and in some places, battalions, regiments, and divisions; and were equipped with weapons suitable for the combat missions of each force.

In the northern provinces, in coordination with the People's Public Security forces, the militia achieved many successes and maintained security and order. They were also the core force and the driving force in production and combat movements such as: "Plow in one hand, gun in the other," "Hammer in one hand, gun in the other," "Production and combat simultaneously," "Singing drowns out the sound of bombs," etc.

Guerrillas and self-defense forces of Zone 5 during the resistance war against the US to save the country. (Archival photo)

Furthermore, the militia was also a crucial link in the multi-layered, multi-directional air defense network of the three branches of the armed forces, contributing alongside the people and army of North Vietnam to defeating the US air and naval bombing campaign, firmly protecting the great rear area of ​​North Vietnam, and providing effective support to the great front line of South Vietnam.

In the South, armed self-defense units and guerrillas emerged, forming the core of support for the political struggle against the pacification policies of the US and the Ngo Dinh Diem regime. By 1960, the Southern militia and guerrillas had grown to approximately 10,000 people, with self-defense and guerrilla units in villages, communes, and hamlets. Combining the Party's "two legs," "three prongs," and "three zones" fighting strategy, the army and people of the South intensified guerrilla warfare.

Militia members of Dien Hung commune, Dien Chau district (Nghe An province) used infantry rifles to shoot down a US jet. (Archival photo)

Militia and guerrillas, in coordination with local and regular troops, defeated the new warfare tactics of the US and the South Vietnamese army, such as "helicopter assault," "armored vehicle assault," and the forced relocation of civilians and the establishment of strategic hamlets. When the US shifted to the "Limited War" strategy, to proactively prepare to counter this new adversary, the revolutionary forces in the South, with the Southern Liberation Armed Forces as the core, of which the militia and guerrillas were a crucial component, developed rapidly.

Adhering to the motto "province liberates province, district liberates district, commune liberates commune," the militia and guerrillas were the core forces in combat operations in villages and communes; protecting the people and the territory; and at the same time, ready to supplement and reinforce local and main army forces, making an important contribution to the overall victory of the army and people of the whole country in the Great Spring Victory of 1975, completely liberating the South and unifying the country.

The Vietnamese militia is growing stronger and stronger – an "iron wall" in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

With their immense contributions to the cause of national liberation, nation-building, and defense over the past eight decades, the militia and self-defense forces deserve President Ho Chi Minh's affirmation: "The militia and self-defense forces and guerrillas are the forces of the entire nation, an invincible force, an iron wall of the Fatherland. No matter how brutal the enemy is, if they touch that force, that wall, any enemy will be annihilated."

In the "Strategy for National Defense in the New Situation," the militia and self-defense forces are still considered the core force in building the "people's defense posture," building a national defense system, building defense zones, and building fighting villages and communes within the current provincial defense zones, contributing together with the army and people nationwide to firmly protect the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam.

Peace

(Synthetic)