Lieutenant General Nguyen Quoc Thuoc: Military exploits

(Baonghean)Last year, I went to Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district to find retired general Nguyen Quoc Thuoc, to wish him a happy 75th birthday, because I was once a soldier in his army. It turned out that he had moved to Hanoi to live with his wife and children on Lang street, Cau Giay district. Fortunately, right in this new hometown, he told me a part of his military career...

Lieutenant General Nguyen Quoc Thuoc was born in 1926 in Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc, Nghe An. He grew up in a family knowledgeable in Chinese. His father, Nguyen Hoa, was well-versed in Chinese and lived a noble life. His mother, Nguyen Thi Huong, was virtuous and responsible. All of these family traits fostered a tradition of studiousness, morality and integrity in all four children. The eldest brother, Nguyen Quoc Phon, was the commune party secretary for many years; his younger brother, Professor Nguyen Quoc Thi, was former Vice Principal of Vinh University. The youngest sister also joined the army.

Mr. Thuoc studied at Co-le de Vinh School, the cradle of revolution during the French colonial period. He had just finished his course when the national liberation revolutionary movement reached its peak, and the Viet Minh organization developed strongly. In April 1945, he was fortunate to be introduced to the Viet Minh organization by comrade Tran Van Banh (the younger brother of Senior General Tran Van Quang). From then on, he received many important organizational tasks assigned in the uprising to regain power for the people and to organize the construction of a new life after independence.

In 1947, he was admitted to the Communist Party. From then until 1949, he was the Youth Secretary of Nghi Loc district. With his enthusiasm and organizational talent, the youth movement in the district had remarkable developments, especially the movement of joining the army. To set an example and also to fulfill his earnest wish to directly hold a gun to fight the enemy, in 1949 he volunteered to join the army. As a party member and young intellectual, he was admitted to Tran Quoc Tuan Officer School, a school that trained platoon and company level commanders at that time. With his ability to grasp new things quickly and practice enthusiastically, Colonel Hoang Dien really appreciated Thuoc and promoted him to be a teaching assistant.

When peace was restored in the North, Mr. Thuoc had the opportunity to improve his knowledge in all aspects, including campaign-level and strategic command. Therefore, in 1965, when the 325B Division was established in the B3 region (Central Highlands), a fierce battlefield in the South, he was appointed Chief of Operations of the Division, despite his new rank of Major. After the Tet Offensive (1968), the Ministry of National Defense established the B3 Central Highlands Front, and Mr. Thuoc was still assigned the position of Chief of Staff of the B3 Front.

After that, Chief of Staff Nguyen Quoc Thuoc was appointed as Regiment Commander, commanding Regiment 24, directly commanding a spearhead. When he returned to this regiment, many difficulties existed, especially in terms of troop numbers and tactics. Under his command, all aspects were consolidated, the unit became a "steel fist" in the Central Highlands battlefield and the two friendly countries of Laos and Cambodia.

The most famous battle of this regiment was the victory over the enemy's operation in Chu Ba in early 1969. After winning those three large-scale operations, his regiment received a telegram of praise from Uncle Ho: "You have promoted the tradition of bravery and resilience, completed your mission well, and contributed to defeating the "Vietnamization of the war" strategy. But you must not be arrogant or complacent; continue to smash the operations of the US and puppets". AFP also commented: "This is the bloodiest battle after Mau Than, smashing the large-scale operations of the US and puppets".

The 24th Regiment had many more heroic battles like that, including the battle in Laos. A book about our country's history recorded the feat of this regiment: "From March to June 1970, our troops combined with the Lao liberation army to launch two consecutive counterattacks to liberate the two towns of Attopo and Xa-ra-van; completely liberating Attopo province." After that, the regiment advanced to Cambodia to liberate many provinces. This created a favorable battlefield situation for us in the 1970s. At the end of that year, the Central Highlands Front was re-established, and from then until the end of 1973, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thuoc was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Central Highlands Front.

After the Paris Agreement (1973), the US was forced to unilaterally withdraw its troops from South Vietnam, creating a new situation. At the end of that year, on behalf of the Party Committee and staff, Mr. Thuoc was sent to the North to report on the situation and receive a new plan. According to the plan, the Central Highlands Front had to urgently implement all aspects to realize the determination to liberate the South within two years and when the opportunity arose, immediately launch a shortened attack. During this time, due to his many important contributions, in March 1975, Mr. Thuoc was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Chief of Staff of the Central Highlands Campaign.

On February 23, 1975, General Van Tien Dung, representing the General Command, officially approved the plan of the Central Highlands Campaign Command, which had the active contribution of the staff. On March 4, the Central Highlands campaign officially began. From March 4 to March 9, the army organized a diversion, deployed formations, and created conditions to attack Buon Ma Thuot. After 6 days and nights of fighting, the force-building phase of the campaign was completed, Ban Me Thuot was divided from all sides, and the first key battle (March 10 and 11) was successful.

After the victory of Buon Ma Thuot, on April 8, 1975, in Loc Ninh, the Saigon - Gia Dinh Liberation Campaign Command was established. Our forces were divided into 5 army corps in the direction of attack, the 3rd Army Corps in the Northwest direction, Colonel Nguyen Quoc Thuoc as chief of staff,

On March 26, 1975, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign began to open fire. By April 30, our tanks had knocked down the iron gate of the Independence Palace, lowered the puppet regime's flag, and raised the liberation flag. It only took 34 days. The 3rd Army Corps, with Major General Vu Lang as commander, Colonel Dang Vu Hiep as political commissar, and Colonel Nguyen Quoc Thuoc as colonel, contributed to the nation's great spring victory. Then, from July 1978 to December 1979, Colonel Nguyen Quoc Thuoc was in the position of Deputy Commander and then Chief Commander of the 3rd Army Corps.

Due to his achievements in helping to liberate Cambodia, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thuoc was promoted to the rank of Major General and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Third Army Corps. In 1983, he was assigned the position of Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of Military Region 4.

From then until December 1996, he was promoted to Lieutenant General, Commander of Military Region 4, a member of the Party Central Committee and a delegate to the National Assembly for three terms. At this point, everyone knew about a military delegate who questioned sharply and frankly against corruption in National Assembly sessions. But I think, maybe few people know about his military career, because he is very busy and rarely talks about himself?

Hoang Chinh