Dien Bien Phu veterans: "We fought with the belief of victory"

Looking back at this battle, Nghe An Newspaper had a conversation with Major General Bui Duc Tung - former Commander of Nghe An Military Command, Chairman of the Provincial Veterans Association and a person who directly participated in 56 days and nights in the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

France miscalculated.

PV:Dear Major General Bui Duc Tung, the Dien Bien Phu victory is considered a “golden milestone” in the history of our nation’s struggle to defend the country and is likened to the “Bach Dang and Chi Lang victories of the 20th century”. For you personally, when you think of Dien Bien Phu, what do you remember most?

Major General Bui Duc Tung:I have just finished a poem about the entire Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954. It has been a long time, but I still remember every detail and every memory very clearly. Those were the days when we first went to Dien Bien Phu, with a march lasting more than a month from Phu Tho to Dien Bien Phu, over passes and streams. Rest days and marching nights were full of enthusiasm.

At the age of 92, Major General Bui Duc Tung is still lucid and remembers clearly the events of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. Photo: My Ha

The second memory is pulling the artillery with the 312th Division. At that time, our unit received 1 artillery piece but had to divide into 3 groups to pull it up. One group made the road, one group camouflaged it, and the remaining group pulled the artillery piece. The spirit of the artillery pulling team has been recreated in many articles and songs, but I think it did not fully reflect the spirit of the soldiers at that time. At that time, the weather in the Northwest sometimes rained, sometimes cleared, but the soldiers were most afraid of the rain. With just a rainstorm in the jungle, the soldiers tried their best to pull it but could not even get a kilometer. Our biggest motivation was to try to pull the artillery piece as quickly as possible to get to the battlefield and hope for the order to fight.

Regarding Dien Bien Phu, I still remember very clearly the general offensive event on May 7, 1954. In this battle, our situation was like a broken dam, wherever our troops fought, soldiers came out in droves to hand in their weapons, raise white flags and surrender.

PV:In the 50s of the last century, according to the assessment of the French and American military, Dien Bien Phu was located in an important strategic position not only for the Indochina battlefield but also for Southeast Asia. Dien Bien Phu was also considered a "turntable" that could rotate in four directions: Vietnam - Laos - Myanmar - China; at the same time, it was the "key" to protect Upper Laos. As for a young soldier like you at that time, what was your first impression when you first set foot in Dien Bien Phu? At that time, what was the balance of power between the enemy and us?

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Major General Bui Duc Tung:At the age of 17, I joined the revolution in my hometown. After 1945, I was mobilized to work and fight in Inter-zone 10 (later the Viet Bac military zone), so I directly participated in many campaigns in the resistance war against the French. In 1952, I also participated in the Northwest campaign, so Dien Bien Phu was no longer strange to me.

However, when they returned in 1954, Dien Bien Phu was very different and was a large, fertile land, with many improvements in the lives of the ethnic minorities there. That was also the reason why the French wanted to enter Dien Bien Phu to take control of the strategic area because Dien Bien Phu was only about 200 km from Upper Laos and 300 km from our revolutionary base. The French intention was that if they could take over Dien Bien Phu - the key area of ​​the Northwest, they would be able to resolve the entire Indochina battlefield.

The only thing is, before going to Dien Bien Phu, the French made many miscalculations and quickly got bogged down, even though they continuously sent troops to Dien Bien Phu with more than 16,000 troops. They did not anticipate that the Northwest was a free zone so our logistics and food were quite easy. Meanwhile, the enemy's rear for supplies was very far away and mainly by air, so it was very difficult when we had cut off the airport.

Dien Bien Phu battlefield today. Photo: PV

PV:The Dien Bien Phu campaign lasted for 56 days and was divided into 3 phases. Looking at it objectively, which phase did you find the most difficult?

TGeneral Bui Duc Tung:The entire first phase (from March 13 to 17, 1954) lasted only 3 days and in the opening battle we had a resounding victory at Him Lam. But the second phase (from March 30 to April 30, 1954) to capture Hill A1 was not easy and it was the most difficult phase. Attacking Hill A1 was very difficult because at that time, the south of Hill A1 was the enemy's army, the north of Hill A1 was our army, both sides kept arguing for a whole month and fought back and forth many times but could not resolve the issue. Later, to attack the enemy's defense, we had to apply the "encirclement" tactic, digging trenches to gradually approach the enemy's positions, attacking, seizing parachutes, causing the enemy a lot of damage.

Thai Xoe dance art in Muong Lay (Dien Bien). Photo: PV

We always take the initiative

PV:NFor many years, the world has admired and talked a lot about the Vietnamese military art in the Dien Bien Phu campaign. However, in 1954, when the strategy changed from “fight fast, solve quickly” to “fight firmly, advance firmly”, it was not easy and was “a difficult decision”. At that time, when receiving this information, did you think we would succeed? And what was the most important factor for Dien Bien Phu to win?

Major General Bui Duc Tung:When I participated in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, I was only 27 years old and my rank was low, so I did not know what the command plan was, I only knew that the superiors' instructions were "fight fast, win fast". In the early days, we were active and enthusiastic in pulling the artillery and occupying the battlefield, partly because of that.

In such a situation, when we had just pulled the artillery in and then received orders to retreat and pull the artillery out, the soldiers' minds were filled with worries and doubts such as: "Why not fight?", "Should we fight again or not?"... However, "military orders are like mountains" and no matter the circumstances, we still believed in victory because if we wanted to fight for sure and win for sure, we had to prepare carefully. After fighting, we realized that this motto was very realistic, with little bloodshed and a resounding victory, complete annihilation. But "fight quickly, win quickly" did not necessarily have such an absolute result.

Documentary photos of the fighting spirit and sacrifice of soldiers in the historic Dien Bien Phu Campaign 60 years ago. Documentary photos

PV:The Dien Bien Phu campaign left a great impression on the image of General Vo Nguyen Giap. You yourself, throughout your military career, have had many encounters with the General. Can you share your memories of General Vo Nguyen Giap?

Major General Bui Duc Tung:General Vo Nguyen Giap was a commander who knew how to seize opportunities and was decisive, which was clearly demonstrated in the Dien Bien Phu campaign. He was also a calculating, considerate, and experienced person, so his command was to "win, fight firmly, advance firmly". Later, when I participated in the fight against the Americans and then in peacetime, I also met General Vo Nguyen Giap many times. The most memorable was in 1976, after liberating Da Nang, the General visited the division and I met him. My biggest impression of the General was that he was friendly and loved his soldiers. The General was also the son-in-law of Nghe An, so he always had a special interest in this land. Every time he returned to visit his hometown, he always gave careful and sincere instructions.

Bauhinia flower season in Dien Bien Phu.. Photo: Tran Duy Ngoan

PV:During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, thousands of young men from Nghe An went to battle, dedicating their youth to peace and national unification. How do you evaluate the role of Nghe An soldiers in this campaign?

Major General Bui Duc Tung:The contribution of Nghe An children to Dien Bien Phu was enormous, including the soldiers who directly participated in the battle and the frontline laborers. Back then, when walking on the march, meeting a convoy asking "Who is this, are you from my family?", the shouts were loud and loud. Dien Bien Phu also left its mark on the exploits of Nghe An soldiers such as hero Phan Tu who had the initiative to make explosives to clear the route, ensuring the transportation of weapons to serve the campaign, hero Dang Dinh Ho - who excellently completed the task of commanding the troops to open the door to attack Hill C and many, many other steadfast examples.

Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument and some photos of this heroic campaign. Documentary photo

I also affirm that not only in the Dien Bien Phu campaign but also in the two resistance wars against the French and the Americans, the contribution of Nghe An soldiers was very great. Even at that time, any unit that received Nghe An soldiers was very happy because Nghe An soldiers were industrious, hard-working, united, brave and especially intelligent.

PV:Thank you, General!