Political Commissar Vo Thuc Dong on the Central Laos front
(Baonghean) In September 1953, I attended the Conference to disseminate the three major tasks of Inter-Zone 4 in the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring Campaign. As soon as the meeting ended, a comrade from the Inter-Zone Command's office came and whispered:
- Invite comrade Truong Sinh, Commander of the 120th Volunteer Regiment, to meet Political Commissar Vo Thuc Dong. Upon arrival, without giving me time to say hello, Dong got straight to work:
- The situation is very urgent! The Regional Party Committee has assigned, Mr. Hoang Anh - Secretary of the Inter-Regional Party Committee directly directs Thanh Hoa to serve the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. You and I will go to Central Laos to discuss with Mr. Kham Tay, Commander of Central Laos, to launch the Central Laos Campaign. We will leave tonight, while you are going, you will grasp the situation of the mission and I will hear about Laos, how to grasp the issues firmly so that when we get to Laos, we can deploy immediately. The work is very urgent!
Chairman Pogotny, member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, awarded the Medal of Friendship among Peoples to comrade Vo Thuc Dong.
I didn't have time to visit my wife and children in Duc Tho, even though it had been several years since we had last seen each other. After dinner, we set off immediately. The first lesson I learned on this trip from Political Commissar Vo Thuc Dong was urgency and specificity. When he briefed me on the mission, he spoke briefly so that I could grasp the requirements of the campaign, the mission of firmly protecting the rear of Zone 4 and providing maximum support of human and material resources to Dien Bien, Central Laos, and Binh Tri Thien. As for my reporting to him, it was extremely difficult. He asked me in detail about the situation of the army, people, friendly forces, the enemy situation, my intentions, and those of my comrades in the Regiment command. However, when I reached Lac Xao, I intended to send an additional platoon to protect him because the enemy often ambushed him on the upcoming road, but he dismissed the idea:
- No matter how fluent you are in Lao, we can rely on the local people to protect us. No one can protect the cadres better than the people. The more compact the formation, the more secret it will be. But the direction of march and the time of march must always change, always distracting the enemy...
We did not return to the Regiment Headquarters but went straight to the Central Laos Headquarters of Commander Kham Tay. Knowing that Mr. Dong had come, Mr. Kham Tay was very happy and treated us to a jar of rice wine. With his flexible behavior, during the banquet, Mr. Dong reported the Inter-Zone Party Committee's plans for the campaign. The request for organizing the Lao-Vietnamese Joint Forces was very welcomed by Mr. Kham Tay and assigned tasks right at the banquet: Mr. Kham Tay, Commander and Mr. Dong, Secretary of the Joint Personnel Committee and Political Commissar, Political Commissar of the volunteer forces (including the units of the Ministry that were about to send reinforcements). I was appointed Deputy of the Personnel Committee, Mr. Phung Duy Phien was appointed Chief of Staff.
The meeting of the Lao-Vietnamese Joint Command Committee was held on the first morning when Mr. Dong arrived at the Central Laos Command. After a discussion and analysis of the situation and mission requirements, Mr. Kham Tay asked Mr. Dong to conclude the meeting. I was a bit startled, having just arrived, our situation was still facing many difficulties, especially in terms of supplies, while the enemy's situation was currently weak, the fighting force was not synchronized, while the enemy still had 5 fully equipped battalions, rich logistics, and still had blockades on routes 8, 9, 12... how would Mr. Dong conclude?
In particular, if you make a mistake the first time when working with your friends, everything will be difficult later. Unexpectedly, with his outstanding ability, Mr. Dong concluded everything correctly. In particular, the 4 solutions proposed were: We and you closely coordinate to continuously open training courses for cadres at commune, district and provincial levels; organize 30 delegations to build political bases among the masses, mobilize villages to build guerrilla forces, contribute to building the armed forces in Ma Ha Xay, Bo La Pha, Ta Oi, Nuong Nong, Kam Kot, along Highway 9... Regarding supplies, he instructed Mr. Nguyen Van Than - Zone Committee member of Zone 4 to be in charge of supplying the campaign, establishing transport stations from Nghe - Tinh to Central Laos, mobilizing 300,000 laborers in these two provinces to transport weapons, food, provisions, medicine... As soon as Mr. Dong concluded, the applause rang out like thunder. I really did not expect him to grasp the situation so quickly, only to be so close. And what I appreciate most is that he bases all his solutions on the people's hearts. After the meeting, Mr. Ka Xi's (Mr. Dong's Laotian name) reputation multiplied very quickly among his friends.
He is an experienced political officer, in the days I spent with him I learned from him a spirit of listening to everyone to draw conclusions that have high leadership and direction but are very concise, easy to remember, easy to understand. When discussing the campaign's combat motto, he spoke first, stating 12 words: "Proactive, flexible, secret, surprise, hit firmly, destroy completely" to direct units and agencies to develop plans that closely fit the situation. Paying great attention to party work and political work, he struggled with the political agency to find every measure to educate soldiers, laborers, and youth volunteers to clearly and deeply understand Uncle Ho's words: "Helping friends is helping yourself, eating at home, doing housework on friends' land", taking care of implementing ethnic policies with friends during the mission. Wherever he went, he reminded how to implement the slogan "When you go, people remember, when you stay, people love".
In leading the fight, Mr. Dong had very new ways of doing things. The mobilization of Company 126 Thanh Chuong, 128 Con Cuong, and other local army units in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh to join the fight was his initiative. I still remember him reminding me many times that in the long run, a province of the Inter-zone must form a sisterhood and sponsor a friendly province. What a far-sighted vision!
When in the main battlefield of the North, the 316th Division opened fire to liberate Lai Chau, he agreed with the Kham-Tay to let the 101st Regiment attack and liberate Kham-He immediately. The victory of Kham-He on December 20, 1953 was the basis for him and the Kham-Tay to be determined to liberate Kha Ma, Nhom Ma Rat, and Kham Muon. When General Nava added a few more troops, he was so happy that he shouted: "So he fell into Mr. Giap's trap!" And he immediately reminded us: Difficulties are coming! That was true. The enemy took advantage of reinforcements, took advantage of the ability to ensure logistics to counterattack fiercely. In the midst of difficulties, Dong showed himself to be extremely calm. I still remember the motto he stated at that time: "Avoid strong points, attack weak points, develop downwards."
The victory in Central Laos was a glorious milestone in the history of the Vietnam-Laos alliance. In this victory, the role of Political Commissar Vo Thuc Dong was very important. In good times and in bad, he was an example, a support, and a source of confidence for us. Being close to him throughout the campaign, I recognized in him the outstanding qualities of a party cadre, a military commander, a foreign affairs worker who was skillful in dealing with people, steadfast in principles, and a comrade who was always sincere and respectful of his comrades!
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(Recorded according to the story of Lieutenant Colonel Truong Sinh - former Commander of the 120th Regiment of Volunteers, Deputy Head of the Central Laos Campaign Committee, from Duc Yen, Duc Tho, Ha Tinh)
Nguyen Khac Thuan
