'Comrade Chu Huy Man's life accompanies every step of the Party and the country'
(Baonghean.vn) - That is the sharing of Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi - former Deputy Commander of Military Region 4. He also said that one of his great fortunes in more than 50 years of military career was meeting and interacting with General Chu Huy Man and learning good things from the "Two strong" general.
Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi's house is located at the end of an alley in Doi Cung ward (Vinh city), with many fruit trees in the yard. At the age of 93, the general, who came out of the battlefield and was once the Deputy Commander of Military Region 4, is still agile, active and clear-headed. Every day, he still spends time tending to the vegetable garden, watering the fruit trees and visiting and chatting with the neighborhood.
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Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi talks about his memories with General Chu Huy Man. Photo: Cong Kien |
Having guests visit his home, Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi appeared very happy and talked openly and intimately. When asked about his memories withGeneral Chu Huy ManHe said: “Chu Huy Man's life has accompanied every step of the Party and the country. Because from a life of slavery, he was guided by the Party, became a revolutionary soldier and a talented general, then led the Party and the State. I was fortunate to meet and interact with him since the time of fighting in Zone 5, in the confrontation with the US - puppet and learned many things from him."
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Commander of Military Region V Chu Huy Man (2nd from left) meets with the Command Board of Division 2 during the campaign to liberate Da Nang (Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chi stands far right). Photo: NVCC |
In 1966, Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi was a staff officer of Regiment 31, Division 341B, and his unit marched to Route 9 (Quang Tri) and Southern Laos to replace Division 324 in withdrawing to consolidate forces. From here, he was present throughout the battlefield of Zone V, directly entering the life-or-death confrontation with the US-puppet army. During that long journey, Mr. Chi met many times with comrade Chu Huy Man - the talented commander in thebattlefieldArea V.
“Chu Huy Man always identified the core issues for each stage and each campaign. As a revolutionary activist from the grassroots, with a lot of experience in armed activities, and having been challenged and tempered in colonial and imperialist prisons, he was always trusted by the Party. In my opinion, these were important factors in forming the talented general Chu Huy Man, a general of battles and feats of arms.”
- Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi -
During his years on the battlefield, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chi was a regimental and divisional commanding officer, under the direct command of Commander of Military Region V Chu Huy Man. According to General Chi, comrade Chu Huy Man was a great contributor, together with the Regional Party Committee, Military Region Party Committee and Military Region Command, leading our army and people to successively defeat the strategies and tactics of the US - puppet army.
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Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi with documents about General Chu Huy Man. Photo: Cong Kien |
Zone V is known as the “pioneer in destroying the Americans” with resounding victories such as the battles of Nui Thanh, Van Tuong, Plei Me – Ia Drang. Commander Chu Huy Man participated in directing the successful construction of the “American Destruction Belt”, a unique and creative form of people’s war.
At the same time, he directed and successfully carried out the combined offensive campaigns of Ba Gia (1965), Sa Thay (1966), Tet Mau Than (1968), Bac Binh Dinh (1972), especially the Hue - Da Nang Liberation Campaign (1975) as Political Commissar. Thereby, demonstrating the strategic talent, decisiveness and firm grasp of the balance of power of the battlefield commander.
During the process of participating in combat and commanding units at the front, Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi had manycelebratememorable with General Chu Huy Man. He was loved by the Commander, first of all because of his fellow countryman Nghe An (his father was from Ha Tinh).
Whenever he met his fellow countrymen from Nghe-Tinh and Zone IV, the battlefield commander was always friendly and cheerful like brothers. Once, comrade Chu Huy Man told Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chi: "Any unit with a commander and many brothers from Zone IV, I feel very secure."
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Rare moment of leisure on the battlefield of Commander of Military Region V Chu Huy Man. Photo: Archive |
Furthermore, Mr. Chi was a commander who always rushed into battle, was brave, courageous, resourceful and achieved many resounding victories. A typical example was the battle to capture the Liet Kiem peak (Da Nang) in 1972, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chi was the Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander of Regiment 31, directly commanded, captured Lieutenant Colonel Quang Chinh, Deputy Provincial Commander and a puppet Major who was the battalion commander.
After this battle, Commander Chu Huy Man came down and hugged the unit commander very warmly and said: "You did well!". Mr. Chi replied: "Since you assigned me the task, I have to fight with all my might." The Commander immediately took half a bunch of bananas and gave them to Mr. Chi, saying: "These are bananas that I grew myself, they are very delicious!".
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Chief Chu Huy Man paid special attention to officers and soldiers on the battlefield. Photo: Archive |
In the battle of Nong Son (Quang Nam), Mr. Chi commanded the unit to deploy combat operations, eliminated 2 battalions (captured nearly 600 soldiers), and was awarded the First Class Military Exploit Medal. The Commander of the Military Region came down to congratulate, hugged and rewarded Mr. Chi with a sugarcane and said: "The sugarcane we grew is very sweet!"
Another time, after winning a battle, Mr. Chi's unit was congratulated by the Commander of the Military Region. Comrade Chu Huy Man asked: "After winning, what do you want most?". Mr. Chi immediately replied: "Yes, everyone wants to take a bath, have a big meal, and sleep soundly all night!". The Commander said: "This is normal forsoldier, and what about the commander?
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Comrade Chu Huy Man and comrades of the Zone V Party Committee at the Zone V battlefield. Documentary photo |
After thinking for a moment, Mr. Chi replied: “Yes! Sir… prepare for the upcoming battle!”. “What specifically?” – Comrade Chu Huy Man asked. After thinking for a moment, Mr. Chi suddenly remembered that after the battle, there was no meeting to draw lessons, then he replied: “… To draw lessons, sir!”. At this moment, the Commander seemed to exclaim: “That’s right! The important thing for a commander is to draw lessons after each battle, so that the next battle will be better.”
In the spring of 1975, Nguyen Xuan Chi was the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Division, commanding the unit that attacked and liberated Tam Ky. When they met again, comrade Chu Huy Man said: “You did a great job! But the situation was too urgent, we didn’t have time to give any rewards!”. Having said that, both of them shared the joy of victory…
“Whenever I recall memories of the battlefield, I often think of General Chu Huy Man, the Commander who was always respected by his subordinates. After the liberation of the South, he went to work in the Central Government. Every time we met again, he was still as close, friendly, and cheerful as when he was on the battlefield.”
- Major General Nguyen Xuan Chi -
