In Ngan Cau block, Dien Ngoc ward, Dien Ban town, Quang Nam province, there is an earthen well that has been recorded in the heroic history of the resistance war to protect the Fatherland. That is Nha Nhi well, where the unequal but full of intelligence and bravery battle between 7 special reconnaissance forces of the Provincial Military Command and local soldiers and the enemy took place.
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| Monument to the battle at Nha Nhi well. Photo: THAI MY |
Once in his small house in Dien Nam commune, Dien Ban district (at that time, it had not been separated into a commune and upgraded to a town), Mr. Le Tan Vien (Hien), the commando captain of the 7 Dien Ngoc warriors in the past, told me quite detailed stories about this historic battle. The wounds of war always haunted him, tormenting his body painfully, but he felt that he was luckier than his comrades who had fallen in the fire and bullets. His eyes were filled with tears, blurred with the heroic memories of those fierce war days... That was February 1962, the Standing Committee of the Quang Nam Provincial Party Committee decided to establish a Steering Committee for the uprising campaign in the sandy areas of Dien Ban and Hoa Vang districts, directly led by Mr. Tran Van Dan, Deputy Secretary of the Hoa Vang District Party Committee, and Mr. Nguyen Chu, Deputy Secretary of the Dien Ban District Party Committee. To support this campaign to destroy evil and destroy the shackles, on the evening of April 24, 1962, from the mountainous area of Hien district, Quang Nam Provincial Military Command reinforced a special forces team of 7 soldiers to the sand area including: Le Tan Vien, Team Leader; Vo Nhu Hung (Vo Truoc), Deputy Team Leader and soldiers Nguyen That, Tran Tho, Tran Nghia, Nguyen Si and Nguyen Riu. The task of the special forces team was to go to Dien Ngoc commune (the enemy named Thanh Thuy commune) to coordinate with the armed task force of Dien Ban district stationed in Dien Ngoc to plan a surprise attack on the enemy's headquarters.
On the evening of April 25, 1962, the Provincial Commando team crossed the river to Tu Cau village with 4 members of the district armed team led by Mr. Vo Tien (Thu), Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, and team members including Dang Xuoc, Le Tuu and Dang Bao Chi, discussing the target of attacking the headquarters of the puppet council and the villains of the two communes of Dien Ngoc (Dien Ban) and Hoa Hai (Hoa Vang) at 5:00 p.m. on April 26, 1962. However, the attacks were unsuccessful because on the evening of April 25, 1962, it rained heavily, the secret march of the commando team left some footprints in the sand, so the leaders of Dien Ngoc commune quickly mobilized mothers and sisters who were revolutionary bases to pretend to carry baskets to go to the market early to erase the traces.
However, this action was discovered by some enemy informants. At exactly 8:00 a.m. on April 26, 1962, enemy troops from Vinh Dien and Hoi An rushed out, Nung commandos from Non Nuoc and Hoa Hai communes moved in, forming a three-pronged siege with more than 2,000 troops. The Vinh Dien wing was commanded by Major Tran Quoc Thai, Dien Ban District Chief, the Nung commando force stationed at Non Nuoc was commanded by Captain Sau. The unequal battle between the commando team and the Dien Ban district working team began to become more and more fierce, with smoke and fire billowing everywhere, comrades Nguyen Si and Tran Tho sacrificed themselves. While fighting back, they retreated to Cam Sa, Quang Hau, and Dien Nam villages to preserve their forces, but the enemy also surrounded them, so they had to retreat to Ngan Cau village and Dien Ngoc commune. At 3:00 p.m. the same day, the enemy divided into many groups to attack. The special forces and the Dien Ban district working team continuously fired in resistance, and team member Nguyen That was killed.
Dozens of them were eliminated from the battle, but the enemy, relying on their large force, diverse soldiers, and fully equipped weapons, stubbornly advanced. At this time, the combat force of the special forces and Dien Ban district had only 8 people left. Facing the enemy's very strong firepower, the combat force both returned fire to hold the enemy back, and retreated to a pond, about 6.6 meters in diameter, 2 meters deep, and filled with water at the bottom. This pond was a dry well dug by Mrs. Nhi, Ngan Cau village, to get water to irrigate crops during the dry days, so the villagers often called it Nha Nhi well. Around the well, there were many wild pineapple bushes that obscured it, making it difficult for the enemy to know the number of our troops in the well. Thanks to Nha Nhi well, which was used to reduce casualties, our force opened fire and continuously repelled 6 enemy attacks. When the sun began to set behind the western mountain range, the soldiers' 8 submachine guns were out of ammunition, only 1 pistol was still effective. Captain Le Tan Vien ordered Nguyen Riu to shoot at the enemy, the remaining team members clung to the edge of the well to observe the M26 grenades the enemy had just thrown, then immediately grabbed them and threw them back at them. With this "hitting the enemy with his own petard" tactic, the enemy's grenades killed dozens of them.
It was getting dark, the enemy grenades were thrown to the Nha Nhi well, making it impossible to observe anymore, so the grenades exploded right in the well, killing comrades Tran Nghia and Le Tuu, and injuring the rest. It was completely dark, the enemy crawled up to pull the bodies of their comrades, and bandaged the wounded. Taking advantage of this time, Vo Nhu Hung was slightly injured, so he helped Nguyen Riu, Vo Tien helped Le Tan Vien escape the enemy's encirclement, was taken home by the secret base to bandage his wounds, and then transferred to a safe location. As for comrade Dang Xuoc, who went to check on the enemy situation before the battle, he was shot and injured by the enemy in Ngan Giang village, then they captured him, took him to headquarters, brutally tortured him, and he fell before the enemy's brutal guns.
The glorious battle at Nha Nhi well by 7 special reconnaissance forces of Quang Nam Provincial Military Command and Dien Ban District armed task force destroyed more than 100 enemies, causing confusion and fear among the enemy. The fighting spirit and steadfast courage of the soldiers in this battle were engraved in the glorious history of the heroic land of Quang. For that feat, the Chairman of the Central Central Region Liberation Front Committee awarded the honorable title "Seven brave soldiers of Dien Ngoc" and the First Class Liberation Medal. On August 31, 1990, the Ministry of Culture and Information issued Decision No. 839/VH-QD ranking Nha Nhi well as a national historical relic.
THAI MY
(According to "History of the revolutionary struggle of Dien Ngoc commune, period 1930-1975" and "History of the Dien Ban district Party Committee, 1930-1975", Da Nang Publishing House 2003).
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