Zone 4 - Central Laos shares the fire with Dien Bien

(Baonghean.vn) -Implementing the Nava plan, in early December 1953, discovering our direction of attack, the enemy hastily sent 6 mobile battalions and 1 French battalion to Central Laos. They tried to consolidate and organize many defensive lines on Route 8 and Route 12, especially key positions such as Ba Na Phao and Na Pe. Along with organizing defensive lines, the enemy also organized attacks on our and our base areas, penetrating deep into the Vietnam - Laos border area.

Our army's artillery concentrated firepower towards the Dien Bien Phu stronghold.

With the determination to share the fire of Dien Bien, the Inter-Zone Command consolidated the 280th Volunteer Regiment and added 200 more officers to the Central Laos Executive Committee. Comrade Vo Thuc Dong, Political Commissar of Inter-Zone 4, was sent to directly serve as Secretary of the Executive Committee and Political Commissar of the Lao volunteer army.

On December 10, 1953, Commander of the Central Laos region Kham Tay Xi Phan Don and Secretary of the Executive Committee Vo Thuc Dong, Commander of the 280th Regiment Truong Sinh had a meeting to unify the action plan between us and our friends. The meeting concluded: “Winning the Central Laos campaign means destroying the plot to attract and hold our forces in Laos of the Nava plan. It means destroying the plot to create a “cross-section” of Indochina in Central Laos and Vietnam, and contributing to Dien Bien Phu and other campaigns to achieve complete victory in the Winter-Spring war of 1953-1954”.

Implementing the coordination plan, the friendly side organized 5 more Pathet Lao Companies, while our side urgently established transport stations from Nghe - Tinh to Central Laos. Ha Tinh province and 3 districts in Nghe An were assigned by the Central Government to provide food and provisions for the Central Laos campaign.

With the motto of operation: Proactive, flexible, surprise, sure attack, complete destruction, the Central Laos Campaign Joint Command assigned the task to the 325th Division to cut off Route 13, the enemy's main North-South Indochina traffic route in Laos. Having a large part of their forces destroyed, they were forced to send mobile troops to defend Central Laos, so General Nava's concentration on Northern Vietnam gradually collapsed.

On December 12, 1953, while the units were marching to set up positions to fight the enemy in Central Laos, on the main battlefield of the North, the 316th Division opened fire to liberate Lai Chau. The 1953-1954 Winter-Spring strategic offensive began.

On December 22, 1953, Regiment 101 won a great victory in the first battle of the campaign in Kham He, destroying a Euro-African Battalion and a 105mm artillery company. At dawn on December 23, the entire unit opened fire simultaneously, winning a great victory in Kha Ma, destroying another Euro-African Battalion and capturing 90 soldiers. The victory in Kha Ma opened the way for us to destroy the enemy's Route 12 defense line. The enemy quickly fled from Routes 8 and 12 to fortify in Nhom-ma-rat and Tha Khec.

At noon on December 23, 1953, Regiment 66 crossed Xe-bang-phai to attack and destroy the Au Phi Battalion (No. 2) and the Lao puppet troops in Pa Cuoi. On the same day, Regiment 101 swept away enemy resistance nests from Bi Lan to Na Hang. In a panic, in Cam Cot they had to board a plane and flee to Xa-van Na-Khet, leaving behind 74 military vehicles. Facing the fierce attack of the Lao-Vietnamese coalition, the enemy had to abandon Tha-Khec and flee to Se-No. We proactively consolidated the liberated area and hunted down the remaining enemy troops. On January 24, 1954, Na-va was forced to send 4 more mobile battalions, 3 parachute battalions, and 3 artillery battalions to Central Laos, bringing the number of troops there to a record 26 battalions. Seno had become a fiery furnace of the enemy, this was something beyond Nava's expectations and wishes.

With the spirit of the sky, coordinating to share the fire with the Dien Bien Phu front, the Central Laos Campaign Command concentrated all its strength to strike decisive blows at Seno, Lang Khang, Ba Na Phao, Mu Gia, Ban Bo .... at the same time, the victories from Dien Bien Phu flew to the front. The movement "Emulate with Dien Bien" was bustling in our units and our friends.

At the end of April 1954, Regiment 101 was assigned the task of moving south, together with the liberation army of It-xa-rac (Cambodia), continuously attacking the enemy to liberate Buong Sai, Xieng Pang, advancing down to the Mekong River to liberate most of Kampong Cham. The base in Northeast Cambodia was connected to Lower Laos, Central Laos and Zone 4, creating a continuous battle formation. Nava's plot to divide Indochina into two parts in Central Laos and Zone 4 failed.

During the Central Laos campaign, the campaign to share the fire with Dien Bien, the army and people of Inter-Zone 4 coordinated with the army and people of the People's Army and People to eliminate 6,100 enemies (mostly elite European-African soldiers), capture 1,200 guns, more than 2,000 military vehicles. Destroyed the enemy's defense lines of Routes 8 and 12. Liberated a large area of ​​400,000 square kilometers and 40,000 people.

The victory in Central Laos contributed to the complete failure of Navarre's plan to concentrate troops on the main battlefields of the North and divide Indochina, creating conditions for the Allied army and people to attack and rise up to liberate their homeland and creating conditions for our army and people to destroy the Dien Bien Phu stronghold - the last stronghold of the French expeditionary army on Vietnamese soil(*).

(*) Based on the document Military Region 4 history of resistance against French colonialism. NXB QĐND.H.1990.

Colonel Nguyen Khac Thuan