Nghe An in the 1953-1954 campaign and the Dien Bien Phu campaign

According to modern history, when studying the Dien Bien Phu victory, it is necessary to place it in the context of the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring Campaign. It was a series of campaigns aimed at stretching out the enemy, distracting the enemy, and dividing the fire for the main Dien Bien Phu battlefield.

Nghe An soldiers on the way to Dien Bien Phu. Photo: Document

To supply Dien Bien Phu, Nghe An was assigned to open Highway 15A, the road originating from Do Luong (Cay Da Bu) through Sen Se to Phu Quy, through Lam La, Bai Xang to Thanh Hoa province, Hoa Binh and to the North to connect the free zone of Lien Khu 4 with the main battlefield. It is calculated that in this road opening campaign, Nghe An mobilized 6,600 laborers; with 1.5 million workdays. During this time, districts along Highway 1A and Highway 7 also mobilized laborers to repair the road. In total, the whole province mobilized 5 million workdays for traffic construction.

The completion of strategic route 15A has connected the traffic arteries between Inter-zone 4 with Inter-zone 3, Inter-zone 5 with the Vietnam-Laos border mentioned above, creating conditions for the Thanh-Nghe-Tinh rear area to maximize its supply mission for Dien Bien Phu later.

Before the Dien Bien Phu campaign broke out, Nghe An was assigned to mobilize 20,000 people to serve the Central Laos campaign to distract the enemy so that we could move troops to Dien Bien Phu and destroy part of the enemy's strength, forcing them to passively deal with us. The whole province mobilized 1,500 bicycle porters, along with 20,000 foot porters to serve the central and front lines. After 7 months, the Nghe An porter-porter group overcame difficulties and achieved very high productivity. In Do Luong town alone, there were three brave emulation fighters: Nguyen Van Han, Nguyen Van Huu and Nguyen Thi Truc. 20,000 foot porters also made miracles. They followed the 325th division to serve at the front line; crossed Highway 12 with the army, liberated Banaphao, Nhommarat, Mahaxay, and then liberated Tha Khet. The porters successfully completed the tasks of transporting food, carrying the wounded, recovering spoils of war, and cleaning up the battlefield...

Entering direct support for the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, Nghe An carried out the Government's order to carry out general mobilization. Particularly, the highest service was for the porters. On the first day of the Lunar New Year 1954, over 32,000 porters, including 2,000 porters on bicycles, along with thousands of new soldiers, youth volunteers, and military technical workers, eagerly set out for the front line. Implementing the strategic determination: "All for the front line"; "all for victory". Never before had the rear area of ​​Nghe An devoted its people and resources to the front line with such intensity and urgency! All sectors, all classes, and all people devoted their efforts to Dien Bien Phu. There were families with fathers and sons, sons-in-law, and sons-in-law going to the front line. Many teenagers, only 15 or 16 years old, also volunteered to join the army and youth volunteers. Many elderly people enthusiastically went to the porters to serve the campaign. Although the frontline laborers had to wade through streams and climb mountains, suffer from malaria, and experience bombs and bullets, which was very arduous and dangerous, many people still went two or three times in a row. Those who stayed at home also competed with those who left by increasing production and practicing thrift to support the front. In a very short time, farmers in the whole province had put 1,496 tons of taxed rice into the warehouse. (Equal to 50% of the 1953 target and 82% of the tax that Inter-zone 4 assigned to Nghe An in the first crop). This was a great effort because during this time the enemy also tried to attack the rear. (From the beginning of 1953 to July 1954, they sent Au Co soldiers and puppet soldiers to raid the coastal communes of Nghi Loc and Quynh Luu; 14 times dropped 397 commandos into the areas of Quy Chau, Tuong Duong, Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Nghi Loc; twice raided the border areas of Tuong Duong and Quy Chau; They dropped bombs on villages, killing 854 people and injuring 506).

It can be said that one of the reasons leading to the glorious victory of Dien Bien Phu, which resounded throughout the world, was the issue of serving our troops well in combat and timely replenishment of troops. Later, the late General Secretary Le Duan commented: "Without Thanh-Nghe-Tinh, there would be no Dien Bien Phu victory."

Nguyen Van Sy

(Hung Dung, Vinh)

(The figures in the article are taken from "History of Nghe An Party Committee" volume 1 and "History of Vinh City" volume 2)