Hero in Nghe An uses folk tricks to carry out urgent wartime tasks

Excellent communication line protection

Born in Bac Yen village (Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province), from a young age Nguyen Toan witnessed the painful loss of his family and hometown due to the oppressive and exploitative policies of colonialism and feudalism. From then on, he soon became enlightened and joined the revolution.

From 1945 to 1950, Nguyen Toan was the head of the youth group for national salvation, village self-defense force, village chief, participated in the guerrilla platoon, commune reconnaissance team leader, deputy commune team leader and semi-concentrated guerrilla platoon leader of the commune, then commune team leader. In 1950, he was the commune team leader assigned to bring civilian laborers to serve the Hoa Binh campaign until the campaign ended in victory.

Portrait of Hero Nguyen Toan.

In 1951, he was appointed as a courier of the Nghe An Post Office, carrying out the task of communicating from Yen Thanh to Do Luong, a distance of 38 km where the enemy often used planes to bomb. Thanks to the local people, he found a shortcut through the mountains, fields and villages. Not only could he travel easily during the day, but it was also half the length of the previous route, leaving in the morning and returning in the evening, and then disseminated it to his comrades.

In 1953, Nguyen Toan was transferred to work as a telegrapher, joined the Executive Committee of the Trade Union, and was a member of the Nghe An Post Office. In February 1953, he was sent by the Company to coordinate with the 304th Division, guiding telegraphers and 80 laborers to lay wires for the Upper Laos campaign with the urgent task of completing 200km of wire in 20 days, through deep mountains and forests, over 60 streams, 40 bridges...

Reporters repair receivers to overcome difficulties on the battlefield. Photo: Archive

Faced with that situation, he clearly explained the requirements of the front, discussed the implementation plan and divided the work into 4 groups, each group had 2 radio operators guiding 20 laborers to be in charge of 50 kilometers and agreed to compete with each other. Nguyen Toan was responsible for the most difficult section, with many streams and dense forests, and was responsible for communication, monitoring and helping other groups.

In the urgent time, the Company could not provide porcelain for insulation, waiting would be too late, and without porcelain, there would be no communication. He also thought of a way to use dry bamboo to replace porcelain for insulation, then spread it to other groups; the line was completed 3 days early, quality was guaranteed and 1,500 pieces of porcelain were saved.

Protecting the line to keep communication open throughout the 5-month campaign was a difficult and dangerous task. As soon as the gunfire of the campaign started, enemy planes continuously bombed fiercely, especially the sections crossing bridges and ferries, sometimes 5-6 times a day. The front line was required to be directed every hour and every minute, and if the line broke, it had to be immediately reconnected. He came up with a way, on the one hand, to set up 5 reserve routes through 5 important bridges such as Khe Choang, Khe Kien...

Telephone wires were reconnected after being bombed or shelled by the enemy to ensure uninterrupted communication. Photo: Archive

Whenever the wire broke, he used that spare section of road and assigned each comrade to be in charge of a section of road. He went down to the communes along the line to explain the function of the power line, organized 22 protection teams, and gave instructions on how to protect and connect the wire. The line across Khe Na bridge was 420 meters long, with mountains on one side and deep water below, and it was located between the central and front lines, so the enemy dropped time-explosive bombs and shelled continuously. Nguyen Toan proposed that he himself be responsible for guarding this section of the wire.

Every day, he prepared the wire and tools, and at 5am he went to the tunnel cover near the bridge. Every time the wire was broken due to enemy aircraft bombing, he reconnected it in time to serve the campaign. By April 1953, the front expanded, and the policy was to lay 200 more kilometers of iron wire. Nguyen Toan proposed to organize an express mail route to be more convenient and was approved. He organized it into 7 stations, arranged the route and assigned specific tasks, and he was in charge of the 70 km stretch with the steepest slopes. He stacked bamboo rafts instead of wooden boats to cross the streams quickly and carry many people, then spread the word to other stations, so the express mail route was shortened from 2 days to 1 and a half days.

Received ring from Uncle Ho

In 1954, peace was restored, the task of the telegraph operator, based on the motto of self-reliance, was to strive to build networks, improve the quality of lines to promptly serve all aspects of the Party and Government's direction, and expand to serve the increasing needs of the people.

Assigned to support the laying of power lines for Group 4 in Cua Lo, Nguyen Toan researched and proposed a shortcut through the mountain, leaning on trees, using up 2 wooden poles, shortening the distance by 1 kilometer, reducing the time by 2 days, saving 20 workers, 200,000 VND, and good communication lines.

In October 1956, Nguyen Toan was assigned to install a 35-kilometer power line for Group 5 (Nghia Dan), with a deadline of exactly 7 days. Thanks to his creative work, he completed it in 4 days. At the end of 1956, Nguyen Toan was asked to urgently install 22 kilometers of wire in 3 communes of Hung Tan, Hung Tay, Hung Trung (Hung Nguyen) within 7 days. In just 3 days, he completed the task, ensuring the technique, saving 100 bamboo poles worth 17,600 VND, shortening half a kilometer of wire, and benefiting 28 workers. While building the power line, he always thought about contributing to making the Postal Service profitable, saving the Government and people's public funds such as: When overhauling the Do Luong - Thanh Chuong road, according to the plan, 400 meter poles had to be purchased for 350,000 VND, he realized that the meter poles would only last 6 months, so he suggested the Company and guided his brothers to go to the village to buy bamboo, which was both faster and saved 400,000 VND. In 1957 alone, he helped the unit save a total of 800,000 VND.

Female liaison officer radioed to report information.

With his dedication and creativity, at the 2nd National Congress of Heroic Workers - Farmers - Soldiers in 1958, he was awarded the title of Hero of Labor for "Having set an example of bravery and productive labor in the patriotic emulation movement in 3 years of economic restoration and cultural development". On this occasion, he met Uncle Ho and was given a ring by him. Through the periods from the war to the day of national reunification, there wereSeven cadres and employees of the Postal sector were honored to be awarded the Labor Hero title by the State, of which Nguyen Toan is the first person in the Postal sector to receive this noble title.

In 1977, he retired after 27 years and 6 months of continuous work. Nguyen Toan was still a pioneer, actively participating in local social activities and was highly trusted until his death in 2000.