Party building

The heroic fighting and sacrifice of female commando Le Thi Bach Cat

Ngo Duc Tien • October 18, 2024 11:07

On September 20, 2024, General Secretary and President To Lam signed a decision to posthumously award the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to Martyr Le Thi Bach Cat, Teacher, former special agent of Saigon - Gia Dinh city, for her outstanding achievements in the resistance war against the US to save the country.

Ngo Duc Tien • October 18, 2024

On September 20, 2024, General Secretary and President To Lam signed a decision to posthumously award the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to Martyr Le Thi Bach Cat, a teacher and former special agent of Saigon - Gia Dinh city, for her outstanding achievements in the resistance war against the US to save the country.

FROM A FISHING VILLAGE GIRL TO A UNIVERSITY LECTURER

Le Thi Bach Cat was born on October 10, 1940 in Mai Bang fishing village (Nghi Thuy commune, Nghi Loc district, now Thu Thuy ward, Cua Lo town, Nghe An), in a poor fishing family with a tradition of studiousness and patriotism. Her father, Mr. Le Viet Thanh (1895 - 1966), was a village schoolteacher who made friends with party members in the Tan Viet organization, a patriotic organization founded by progressive intellectuals in Nghe Tinh and operating in the years 1927/1929, the predecessor of the Indochinese Communist League, one of the three predecessor organizations of the Indochinese Communist Party. Her mother, Mrs. Bui Thi Tranh (1898-1961), worked as a net-mender. They gave birth to 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls, Le Thi Bach Cat was the youngest daughter.

Although her family was poor, as the youngest daughter, Le Thi Bach Cat was raised and educated by her parents and siblings during her childhood. She attended primary school in the village, and secondary school in Nghi Trung. Her teenage years and youth were closely linked to the activities of the Nghi Thuy fishing village's National Salvation Youth Team. After graduating from secondary school, she passed the entrance exam to Nghe An Pedagogical College. After 2 years of diligent study, she achieved a good degree and was assigned to work as a teacher at Nghi Tan Primary School in the 1958-1959 school year.

Thanks to her outstanding professional achievements, especially in the school's cultural and sports activities, at the end of that school year she was sent to study at the Central School of Physical Education and Sports in Tu Son, Bac Ninh (later Hanoi University of Physical Education and Sports). After 2 years of studying hard, she achieved excellent results and was retained as a teaching staff of the school. In the 1960-1961 school year, she was sent to teach at Vinh University of Education and concurrently taught this subject at Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Vinh. She was one of the first teachers to teach and contributed to the founding of the Faculty of Physical Education at Vinh University. When she returned to teach in Vinh, on her days off she took advantage of her time to return to her hometown to help her mother mend nets, grill fish and take care of her sick mother.

From November 1961 to February 1962, she was assigned to teach at the Ministry of Education's Cadre Training School. From March 1962, she returned to teach at Tu Son Sports School, Bac Ninh. At this school, on October 5, 1964, lecturer Le Thi Bach Cat was honored to be admitted to the Vietnam Workers' Party. From a fishing village girl in Mai Bang Nghi Thuy, Cua Lo, she became an excellent young lecturer.

THE BLOODY DETERMINATION LETTER AND THE HEROIC SACRIFICES OF THE FEMALE COMMANDO IN SAIGON - GIA DINH

Teaching and working during the years when the country was seething with the spirit of working, studying and fighting against the Americans to save the country, the youth of the whole North were carrying out the movement of THREE READINESSES to volunteer to go to the Southern battlefield to fight against the Americans to save the country with the spirit of "Even one spike to fight the Americans/ Is better than a thousand pages of literary thesis", the young female lecturer and party member Le Thi Bach Cat wrote a letter in blood to the Ministry of Education and the Central Youth Union asking to volunteer to go to the South to fight.

Her legitimate wish was approved by her superiors. On April 28, 1964, according to Decision No. 697/QD BGD, Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat's file was officially transferred by the Ministry of Education to the Central Unification Committee to prepare for study and training to go to B. More than 300 cadres, most of whom were school officials in the North, including many children from the South, were gathered in Phu Tho to study and train for 3 months.

The cadre group that went to B that year was nicknamed Group 33, Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat also had the code name Le Lien Xuan. December 22, 1964, the anniversary of the founding of our Army, was the day Group 33 departed to the battlefield.

On the Truong Son road, the 33rd Division entered the battlefields and split into small groups to go to the battlefields of Binh Tri Thien, Tay Nguyen, Zone 5, Zone 6. The group that went to Ong Cu B Dai entered the Southern battlefield after 86 days and nights of marching, with over 200 soldiers still entering the Central Bureau's base in Boi Loi hamlet, Duong Minh Chau war zone, Tay Ninh. Here, after a period of studying the situation and tasks of the South, the 33rd Division was divided into small groups, some stayed at the Central Bureau, some went to the Western region, some went to the Central region, and the Southeast region. Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat was assigned to the Saigon - Gia Dinh battlefield with the nickname Y4.

Comrade Tran Trong Tan (Hai Tan), at that time the Standing Committee of the Saigon Gia Dinh Regional Party Committee (after 1975 he became a member of the Central Committee, Head of the Central Ideology and Culture Committee) directly received, guided, and assigned work to Le Thi Bach Cat to the City Youth Union to do intellectual work (to build a base among the intellectuals, teachers, and students of schools in the inner city).

At the headquarters in the old forest in the iron triangle of Ben Cat, Binh Duong, Le Thi Bach Cat and a few comrades from the City Youth Union continuously welcomed and opened special classes for patriotic intellectuals from the inner city to the war zone. There were classes of 3-4 people, and classes of more than 10 people. The time could be several weeks or longer. While studying, they also worked independently and practiced military training to avoid fighting the enemy. With the special target of young intellectuals who had never known anything about the revolution, but with the responsibility and enthusiasm of youth, teacher Le Thi Bach Cat influenced, won over, attracted, and inspired the students.

In particular, she has an innate talent for arts and sports, a good singing voice and flexible dancing skills, so she has taken advantage of her strengths to teach singing, dancing, and physical exercises... to inspire the students. Resistance songs resounded in the classrooms. She herself also went through these classes to learn more about the lives, thoughts and aspirations of intellectual youth in the inner city. The intellectual students who went through the classes of teacher Lien Xuan, whom the students often affectionately called Ms. Sau Xuan, when returning to the inner city, many were the core of the patriotic movement of teachers and students in the inner city of Saigon - Gia Dinh.

After the initial challenges in the special classes of the City Youth Union, in December 1965, teacher Le Thi Bach Cat was trusted by the City Party Committee and sent to Da Lat to work as a single-line spy in Da Lat, Tuyen Duc province (later Lam Dong).

At that time, Da Lat was the center of military schools of the Saigon government, the enemy's secret service was dense. Le Thi Bach Cat was assigned the task of building a base and organizing the struggle movement of students. For the first two months, she was arranged to stay at the house of Le Viet Nghinh, her eldest brother who had been living and working in Da Lat for a long time. Nghinh was also our secret base.

From a teacher in the forest, she had to learn to speak, to learn to be a Da Lat person in order to operate both openly and secretly. In just a short time, she had contacted secret bases in the inner city, connected and built more than 40 secret bases, trained 10 secret guerrillas, built 6 "political holes", especially organized the People's Association, students, and pupils to demand democracy in schools and neighborhoods.

From March 26 to early April 1966, Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat and her comrades mobilized and organized many demonstrations by students in Da Lat, including one in which more than 5,000 people took to the streets to protest and occupy the Da Lat Radio Station; although brutally suppressed by the enemy, it created a great echo.

At the end of 1965, Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat was transferred to join the armed propaganda commando force of Saigon - Gia Dinh. Returning to Saigon, she had a new identity card named Dinh Thi Lan, born in 1944, but her teammates often affectionately called her Ms. Sau, Ms. Sau Xuan. She was arranged to live in the inner city, at the house of Mr. Hoang Van Chat, also known as Nguyen Canh Khoa, who was a classmate of Mr. Hoang Viet Thanh, her father, from the same fishing village of Mai Bang, and also worked in the Tan Viet Party, but came to Saigon to do business and settle down since 1936. Mr. Chat was also the base of operations of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Regional Party Committee. From here, under the cover of a tailor, a packaging collector, a vegetable seller at Cau Ong Lanh, Cau Muoi, Ben Thanh markets... Ms. Sau built more than 10 secret bases in districts 2, 3, 4, with bases all the way to Thu Duc.

In November 1967, in preparation for the 1968 Tet Mau Than General Offensive and Uprising, the Saigon Gia Dinh Party Committee rearranged the Party Committee, Ms. Sau Xuan was added to the District Party Committee, Secretary of the District Youth Union, directly leading the armed propaganda cell of Districts 2 and 4, the central districts, and one of the four special forces units in Saigon Gia Dinh.

In just a short time of building up forces, receiving and purchasing weapons during the first phase of the 1968 Mau Than campaign, Sau Xuan mobilized the people to rise up in armed resistance to fight the enemy in the areas of Pham Ngu Lao, Chuong Duong wharf, Van Don wharf, destroying many enemy forces, raising the Front flag high in many locations in central districts on the night of the 30th to the early morning of the 1st day of the Mau Than Tet.

Right after Tet Mau Than, the special forces team led by Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat continued to consolidate their forces to prepare to fight the enemy.

The second phase of the Mau Than campaign took place in early May 1968. At that time, the element of surprise was no longer there, the enemy deployed battalions of soldiers to guard and surround. The commando platoon organized to fight the enemy, fighting with the enemy on every street corner, until noon on May 5, 1968, the unit retreated to base 83/2 De Tham - Co Giang, in the unequal battle, Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat was seriously injured. To preserve the force, Ms. Sau Xuan ordered the deputy platoon leader and comrades to "go immediately, disguise and retreat quickly, go back and tell the comrades that I will stay and fight until my last breath".

The enemy surrounded and tried to capture Ms. Sau, but she used guns and grenades to fight back. Before she died, she shouted: "Down with American imperialism, long live Ho Chi Minh." Angry at not being able to capture her, the enemy soldiers put Ms. Sau's body on a truck and drove away to kill her.

HEROIC LE THI BACH CAT LIVES FOREVER WITH HER HOMELAND AND COUNTRY

Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat heroically sacrificed at the red address 83/2, Co Giang Street on May 5, 1968, that year she was just 28 years old. Right after the Mau Than campaign, in the reports of the City Party Committee, the City Youth Union, the armed forces of Saigon Gia Dinh city, and the Southern Education Subcommittee, Le Thi Bach Cat was listed as a typical example of a typical intellectual, a talented, resourceful, and brave female commando.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung, in 1967/1968, was a member of the City Party Committee, Chief of the City Party Committee's Office and Head of the Intelligence Department, the direct boss of Le Thi Bach Cat at that time (after 1973, Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung became a member of the Central Propaganda Department, Head of the Southern Education Subcommittee) and initiated a wide-ranging study campaign among teachers and students in the liberated areas, from which it spread to all classes of people. He said: "In the blood of Le Thi Bach Cat is the patriotic blood of teacher Nguyen Tat Thanh, of Uncle Ho's homeland".

Mr. Pham Chanh Truc, who was a member of the Standing Committee of the Youth Union of the Region in 1965-1967, in charge of the Youth Union of universities in Saigon, commented: "Ms. Sau Xuan is a courageous, dynamic, active person, who discovers problems and solves them in a meticulous and trustworthy manner. She always obeys the orders of her superiors, has the ability to organize and command, lives with a high sense of responsibility to the collective, is friendly with everyone, is cheerful, sings often and sings well."

(After 1975, Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung was Permanent Deputy Minister of Education; Mr. Pham Chanh Truc was Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee).

“

I have known Ms. Sau Xuan since 1966 when she went with Mr. Ba Kich to the base... Ms. Sau Xuan was from the North, crossed Truong Son to the South to work with great hardship, but was still gentle and influenced many people to follow the revolution.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hien, a female comrade of Saigon special forces

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hien, a female Saigon special forces comrade, recounted: "I knew Ms. Sau Xuan since 1966 when she went with Mr. Ba Kich to the base. At that time, I was a liaison in the war zone. After that, Ms. Sau Xuan returned to work in the inner city, selling vegetables and fruits at Cau Muoi market. Ms. Sau Xuan was from the North, crossing Truong Son to the South to work with great hardship, but she was still gentle and influenced many people to follow the revolution. In the second phase of the Mau Than General Offensive in 1968, among the four groups deployed by the District Party Committee, Ms. Sau Xuan was in charge of group 83/2 De Tham, and I was in charge of one group. The remaining two groups were in charge of Ms. Muoi Hoa (Bui Thi Hoa) and Ms. Sau Tam (Le Thi Hoa). After the battle in alley 83, I met Ms. Tam Ton (Tran Thi Dien) who recounted: "Ms. Sau Xuan ordered everyone to retreat to preserve their forces while she stayed behind to hold off the enemy until she died. Her fighting example is extremely brave and courageous.

The contributions of the teacher - the heroic female Saigon Commando Captain to the Mau Than Spring General Offensive and Uprising in 1968, the heroic sacrifice of Ms. Le Thi Bach Cat inspired her comrades and compatriots in both the North and the South to rise up in labor, study and fight to follow Uncle Ho's teachings "Fight to make the Americans go away, fight to make the puppets fall", creating the historic victory of April 30, 1975, liberating the South and unifying the country.

Since 1975, the Party Committee, government and people of Ho Chi Minh City have erected a monument in alley 83/2 De Tham - Co Giang to mark the historic victory of Le Thi Bach Cat and her comrades in the battle on May 5, 1968. A street and a school in Ho Chi Minh City are named after Le Thi Bach Cat. The city's youth also had the initiative to name an award for young union members with outstanding achievements in studying and training after Le Thi Bach Cat.

In her hometown (Nghi Thuy, Cua Lo), in 2000, Nghi Thuy Secondary School was named after Le Thi Bach Cat. The road that passes through the land where she was born, next to the Le family church, there is a hundred-year-old banyan tree, where she often sat to play cards in her childhood. The road leading to the fishing port is now named Le Thi Bach Cat.

Operating in secret conditions, sometimes in a single line, her teammates, some dead and some alive, had many difficulties verifying events and people, but her teammates, comrades, and even her students, together with her family, coordinated with the District Party Committee, the City Military Command, the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Former Teachers and Nghe An Province, persistently and persistently collected and verified documents, prepared a dossier to propose conferring the title of hero on martyr Le Thi Bach Cat, and that legitimate wish was affirmed and fulfilled.

Upon hearing that the teacher - female Saigon commando Le Thi Bach Cat was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Armed Forces, Hanoi University of Sports and Physical Education filed a request to change the school's name to Le Thi Bach Cat University. People in Ho Chi Minh City as well as in her hometown Nghe An are eagerly preparing for the ceremony to receive the title of Hero of female martyr Le Thi Bach Cat, to contribute to making the patriotism and the example of sacrifice of the female hero live forever with the homeland and country.