Comrade Phan Gan, a steadfast and determined soldier in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement

Comrade Phan Gan was born in 1910 [1], in a poor family in Lang Sau hamlet (now Dinh Lu village), Can Loc district, Ha Tinh province. He lost his mother at a young age, and father and son relied on each other at Dinh Lu communal house to make a living. Comrade Phan Gan's father was Mr. Phan Can, who worked as a seo mo (a fisherman), so the villagers called him Mr. Seo Mo. Every night, Mr. Seo Mo went out to catch shrimp and fish to earn money to support his only son, Comrade Phan Gan.

Every morning, after his father brought shrimp and fish home, Phan Gan would sell them at the market and in the village. After selling, Phan Gan would hang around Mr. Hoang Lac's house to learn the national language and Chinese characters. Impressed by the studiousness of the poor student, Mr. Hoang Lac took out paper and pen and let Phan Gan study in the same class as his son.

Besides teaching reading and writing, the two brothers Hoang Lac and Hoang Lien also taught Phan Gan shooting techniques and trained him in unarmed martial arts. When Phan Gan was able to read and write fluently and master martial arts, and recognized the intelligence, quick-wittedness and strong will of his young student, teacher Hoang Lac enlightened him about the revolution, educated him in patriotism and introduced Phan Gan to join the patriotic organization.

In early 1928, the Tan Viet group was born in Dinh Lu village. The patriotic intellectual youths in the village enthusiastically participated in revolutionary activities such as: Hoang Khoai Lac, Hoang Ky, Hoang Lien, Mai Cat, Mai Dinh, Nguyen Cu, Nguyen Cuong, Nguyen Than... Introduced by his teacher, Phan Gan was admitted to the Tan Viet organization. Under the leadership of the Tan Viet organization, disguised associations such as: roofing association, funeral association... were also established to help each other in daily activities and to propagate the revolution.

On February 3, 1930, the Communist Party of Vietnam was born. In April 1930, the Can Loc District Party Committee was also officially established under the direct leadership of comrade Tran Huu Thieu (from Anh Son, Nghe An) [2] - Provisional Secretary of the Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee.

By the end of April 1930, Dinh Lu village Party Cell was officially established, including 5 comrades: Mai Cat, Nguyen Cu, Hoang Khoi Lac, Mai Dinh and Hoang Ky. Comrade Hoang Khoi Lac was elected as Party Cell Secretary.

Implementing the Resolution of Can Loc District Party Committee, the work of developing party members was deployed quickly and promptly by Dinh Lu Party Cell. During this time, many patriotic young people with revolutionary awareness were introduced to join the Party ranks such as comrades: Phan Gan, Chu Hue, Chu The, Le Viet Hanh...

Responding to the call of the Regional and Provincial Party Committees to celebrate International Labor Day (May 1), Party cells in Dinh Lu, Kim Chuy and many cells in Lai Thach commune distributed leaflets and hung red hammer and sickle flags calling on the masses to stand up and fight to support the revolution.

In response to the struggle of workers and farmers in Vinh - Ben Thuy, from the early morning of August 1, 1930, over 500 farmers from Phu Luu and Lai Trach communes gathered at Truong Gio (Hong Loc). After listening to comrade Hoang Khoa Lac clearly state the meaning of the International Day against Imperialist War and clearly point out the plots and tricks of the French colonialists and their henchmen, comrade Phan Gan joined the revolutionary masses and marched to the district office to make demands. While marching in the protest group, they shouted slogans: Drive out the French colonialists, reduce taxes, abolish market taxes, ferry taxes...

Hearing of the people's struggle, District Chief Tran Manh Dan quickly dispatched soldiers to deal with it. Faced with the people's fighting spirit, the District Chief did not dare to suppress them and signed the 10-point petition that the people put forward and promised to respond within 10 days.

After the August 1st demonstration, the enemy tried to search and arrest cadres, party members and people participating in the struggle. Many party members in the village were arrested, such as comrade Mai Cat, Hoang Lien, Mai Kinh, Nguyen Dinh Cu...

At the end of 1930, comrade Phan Gan was assigned the task of executing the henchman Van Phong stationed at the Thuan Thien ferry guard post in Can Loc. Trusted by his superiors with this important task, comrade Phan Gan and comrade Cu Hue searched day and night for ways to destroy the target. On a cold and rainy night at the end of November, when the soldiers were playing cards, the two men crawled close to the guard post. After identifying the assassination target, comrade Phan Gan opened fire and killed Van Phong, a man with many blood debts to the people of Can Loc, then retreated to Phu Luu village to hide.

Faced with the strong development of the revolutionary movement in Can Loc, the French colonialists tried to strengthen their forces, sending soldiers to station in many places. At its peak in Can Loc, the enemy had built 37 military posts and outposts, with more than 900 legionnaires and 141 guard posts [3].

The French colonialists implemented the policy of "better to arrest by mistake than to let go", so during this time many party members fell into the hands of the enemy, typically in the siege on April 14, 1931, from Gieng Gian to Cau Trot, the enemy arrested 38 people, including 12 party members and 26 civilians...[4].

The enemy's brutal terror further increased the patriotism of the party members and the masses. Therefore, on the evening of August 15, 1931 (lunar calendar), under the command of comrade Phan Gan, the revolutionary masses gathered to surround the house of Nguyen Bia - the main commander. Because Nguyen Bia was away from home, the army only managed to kill two of his most powerful henchmen. While fighting the enemy, comrade Phan Gan was injured and was taken back to the rear by Mr. Bui Von.

After this siege, the French colonialists repressed even more brutally, they surrounded every house to "drain the pond to catch fish", hoping to secede from communism. After only a short time, almost all cadres, party members, organizations and unions in the commune were arrested, leaving only a few party members who escaped such as: Phan Gan, Nguyen Huyen, Nguyen Nhat...

Faced with the enemy's intense pursuit, the Central Region Party Committee decided to retreat and operate secretly in the mountainous areas. During this time, thanks to the people's shelter and protection, comrade Phan Gan was able to avoid the enemy's pursuit.

At the end of 1931, facing the enemy's fierce pursuit, comrades Phan Gan, Le Loc, Tran Xu, Nguyen Tam, and Nguyen Tai had to go abroad to Siam (Thailand) to take temporary refuge and contact the overseas Party Committee.

By mid-1933, three comrades Phan Gan, Le Loc, and Tran Xu were assigned to return home. Upon arriving at Truong Bat (Huong Khe - Ha Tinh), comrades Tran Xu and Le Loc fell into enemy hands. Comrade Phan Gan escaped and returned to Dinh Lu to contact comrades Mai Cat and Nguyen Cu to re-establish the Party cell and find ways to contact comrades in Thach Ha, Nghi Xuan, and other districts to restore Party bases.

To easily travel around the villages, Phan Gan disguised himself as a soldier with two guns in his pockets and a patrol officer's badge in his hand, and went around the villages and communes to make contacts and find ways to organize a conference to re-establish the provisional Provincial Party Committee.

On a rainy night in late August 1933, after returning from a meeting at Tien Pagoda, Phan Gan stayed at the house of Mr. Nguyen Tuan, a native of Vinh Hoa village, when he was suddenly arrested by French colonial soldiers and imprisoned in Ha Tinh prison. During his days in prison, despite being brutally tortured, his steadfast will as a communist party member could not be subdued. He still actively participated in the activities of the Party Cell at Ha Tinh prison.

Knowing that he could not escape the death penalty, Phan Gan tried to tell people outside: "I will definitely be executed, so if you see any other cases where the secret police are still interrogating and beating other party members, please tell me so I can take responsibility for them so that those comrades can escape" [5].

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Knowing that they could not get anything out of the staunch communist soldier, on October 19, 1933, the French colonialists took him to Ru Bin in Dinh Lu village to be shot. Returning to his birthplace, comrade Phan Gan asked the soldiers to remove his blindfold and gag so that he could see his homeland and village for the last time. Before being shot, he shouted: Long live the Indochinese Communist Party!

Comrade Phan Gan passed away at a very young age, and the people of Dinh Lu deeply mourned him. His death was a loss to the Party and the revolution. Comrade Phan Gan's entire life of living and fighting will forever be remembered and honored by generations.

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