Nearly 21.000 improved bicycles, each carrying 200-300 kg, contributed to solving the problem of transporting food and weapons for the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
On December 6, 12, the Politburo decided to launch a general offensive campaign against the "impregnable fortress" of the French army at Dien Bien Phu. According to calculations by the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and the General Department of Supply, to serve more than 1953 people on the front lines (87.000 soldiers and 54.000 civilians), it is necessary to mobilize at least 33.000 tons of rice (not including rice). for civil servants), 16.000 tons of meat, 100 tons of vegetables, 100 tons of salt and about 80 tons of sugar...
Food sources and food supplies for the battlefield were mainly mobilized from Viet Bac regions (Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen), Inter-region 3 (Hai Phong, Kien An , Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong) and Inter-zone 4 (Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue). Most had to be transported over a distance of 500-600 km, mostly steep and dangerous passes, where French planes often bombed.
On July 27, 7, the Prime Minister decided to establish the Central Front Supply Council chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. The task is to direct the central and local branches to mobilize maximum human and material resources to serve the battlefield. In addition to more than 1953 trucks, one of the main forces serving logistics for the Dien Bien Phu campaign was carts.
Army of bicycles on the way to the campaign. Photo: TTXVN
Bicycles at that time were very rare, the most popular were Peugeot or Lincoln made in France and only wealthy families could own them. Each Peugeot is worth a fortune, but responding to the call of the local Front Supply Council, many families did not hesitate to support.
According to statistics, during the Dien Bien Phu campaign, Viet Bac provinces mobilized more than 8.000 bicycles, Inter-zone 3 more than 1.700 vehicles, Inter-zone 4 more than 12.000 bicycles.
Initiative to improve bicycles
According to documents from the Vietnam Military History Museum, one of the first people to improve and help bicycles carry more goods was Mr. Ma Van Thang, from Thanh Ba, Phu Tho province. Being Chairman of the Administrative Resistance Committee of Thanh Minh commune, Thanh Ba district, in early 1954, Mr. Thang joined the civil union and was assigned to be the leader of the bicycle carrying group of Phu Tho province.
The group consisted of 100 people, codenamed T20, the main task was to transport goods from Au Lac warehouse, Yen Bai province, to the foot of Pha Din pass, Son La province, a distance of more than 200 km through many dangerous steep passes. Mr. Thang was assigned a Lincoln. At first, on average, each trip could only carry 80-100 kg of rice.
While going over the steep pass, Mr. Thang and his teammates came up with the idea of tying a small piece of bamboo to the handlebars. The bamboo piece is nearly a meter long, making it easy to maneuver because the bicycle is very bulky because it is loaded with rice sacks. Another piece of bamboo is tied to the longitudinal axis of the saddle, about 50 cm higher, which not only helps maintain balance but also allows you to use your shoulder to push the bike more conveniently.
The workers also reinforced iron, tied more wood around the frame and three stations to increase rigidity when loading goods. They also use fabric, old clothes or cut pieces of inner tube to line the inside to increase the durability of the tire.
Two three-legged wooden chairs were also added, one to lean on the bike while resting, the other to hold the bike when going down steep mountain passes. With this creative approach, Mr. Thang and the T20 cart group have gradually increased the transport volume to 200-300 kg per trip.
Mr. Ma Van Thang's bicycle is on display at the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum. Photo: Hoang Phuong
Improved carts can carry more than 10 times the number of public workers on foot, minimizing the consumption of rice for transport groups along the way. In addition, carts can also operate well on narrow, rough or muddy roads that cars or other types of transport cannot travel.
Mr. Thang's initiative was later studied by many people, but there were also some who were skeptical. While transporting goods to Nghia Lo junction, Yen Bai province, his car was unexpectedly inspected, at this time the volume of goods on the car was up to 352 kg. This number is considered a record for a single cart trip, and was confirmed and praised by the Campaign Support Committee on the entire front.
At the end of the campaign, the T20 Phu Tho bicycle group transported about 85 tons of goods, exceeding the target by 15%, and was awarded an emulation flag. Counting the entire campaign, Mr. Thang alone transported 3.700 kg of goods over a total length of 2.100 km. The vehicle he used was recognized as the most productive cart in the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
Record for bicycle carrying 345,5 kg
Improved bicycles were then widely disseminated throughout Viet Bac, Inter-zone 3, Inter-zone 4. During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, Thanh Hoa was the locality that mobilized the most of this vehicle with about 3.500 units.
According to the Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee's historical documents, the Thanh Hoa town's civil resistance convoy was born the earliest with nearly 100 people and vehicles. Next are the convoys of trucks from Quang Xuong, Hoang Hoa, Dong Son, Thach Thanh, Ha Trung, Nong Cong districts...
Mr. Trinh Quang Them, Captain of the Fire Civil Service Team in Hop Ly commune, Trieu Son district, participated in the bicycle convoy serving the Dien Bien Phu campaign, since the end of 1953, "everywhere in Thanh Hoa was boiling with enthusiasm." battle". That same year, Mr. Them volunteered to join the local bicycle group.
After a short training period in the district, he went to Pho Cong, Ngoc Lac district to pick up a cargo truck to Lai Chau, Son La. The road is more than 500 km of steep passes, but every trip he and his teammates take is filled with food. "Every day and night, we march to avoid bombing planes," Mr. Them said.
The steep mountain pass to the Northwest was inherently arduous and the march at night made it even more difficult. Each day, on average, Mr. Them's cart travels 15-20 km. Rain or shine, they go without stopping.
At that time, most poor farmers like Mr. Them did not have bicycles so they did not know how to ride. Taking on the task of loading, everyone was briefly trained on how to drive the vehicle, but they only practiced pushing and carrying and did not have time to practice driving. "Many people are very good at carrying bags but don't know how to ride a bicycle," Mr. Them said.
More than 11.000 cart workers from Thanh Hoa province gathered at warehouses in Cam Thuy district and Hoi Xuan town of Quan Hoa district (more than 120 km from Thanh Hoa city) to staff and reorganize the team. Strong people and good vehicles are assigned to join the fire line, average people join the middle line, women and the elderly are assigned to the rear line.
People of towns in Thanh Hoa saw off a group of civilians on bicycles and backpacks to serve the front line in 1954. Documentary photo
Vehicle teams are staffed by each district, each district has a company, also known as a C. Below the company is a platoon with each unit having about 30-40 people and vehicles. The platoon is divided into squads of about 15 people forming groups of three (three people per team). When going downhill, one person holds the steering wheel and two people pull the cart to keep it from drifting. When going uphill, one person in front tied a rope to the neck of the cart and pulled it up, while the person behind used the force to push.
In each pack bike team, there is also a vehicle that transports tools, spare parts, and a charcoal stove to mend the inner tubes of damaged vehicles. This "mobile repair workshop" is ready to change tires, increase rims, and weld frames to ensure the entire squad marches to support on time.
The "pack more, go faster" movement is increasingly spreading, encouraging citizens to increase the weight of their luggage. Initially, each vehicle only carried 100-200 kg per trip, later increasing to 300 kg and more. Among the cart workers in Thanh Hoa at that time, the most prominent "cart master" Cao Van Ty always carried 315 kg.
Mr. Bui Tin - who was twice honored with the Ho Chi Minh Badge and the third-class Victory Medal, carried 320 kg during the campaign. Especially the "Thanh Hoa cart champion" Trinh Ngoc with a record of transporting 345,5 kg in one trip, is considered a legend on steep and dangerous mountain passes when transporting goods from Thanh Hoa to Dien Bien Phu.
“Our spirit at that time was very determined. Because of the assigned task, no matter how difficult it is, try to overcome it, no matter how difficult it is, you must go. Bringing a kilogram of food to Dien Bien is extremely arduous, bloody and not normal," said former fire line worker Trinh Quang Them.
Mr. Them said that now that he thinks back on that road, he cannot imagine why he was able to pass it, "it's like a legendary story." The invention of improved bicycles is truly a "miracle", because if you carry 20 kg at a time, you don't know when you will have enough food for the campaign.
Mr. Trinh Ngoc's bicycle carried more than 345 kg of food during the Dien Bien Phu campaign. Image: Le Hoang
Thanh Hoa transported 56% of food and 40% of food for the campaign
During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, Thanh Hoa was a major rearguard when mobilizing more than 180.000 civilians to carry the foot and 11.000 civilians to carry the transition. The entire province had more than one million people (with about 27 million workdays) participating in the campaign, equal to half the population of the province at that time.
Along with cars, bamboo boats, bullock carts, horse carts, etc., Thanh Hoa's bicycle convoy of more than 3.500 carried nearly 16.000 transports of food, medicine, and ammunition to the front. The province transported more than 9.000 tons of rice to the battlefield, accounting for 56% of the total amount of rice for the front lines; 450 tons of dried fish, 2.000 pigs, 1.300 cows, 250.000 eggs, 150 tons of beans, 20.000 bottles of fish sauce and hundreds of tons of vegetables, accounting for 40% of the food used in the entire campaign.
On a national scale, during the entire Dien Bien Phu campaign, the Viet Minh mobilized nearly 21.000 bicycles of all kinds. Along with 11.800 rafts, more than 7.000 wheelbarrows, more than 2.000 buffalo carts, horse carts... transported more than 25.000 tons of food, 266 tons of salt, 62 tons of sugar, 577 tons of meat, 565 tons of dry food, 1.200 tons of ammunition, more than 1.700 tons of gasoline and 177 tons of other materials.
French journalist Giuyn Roa in the book La Bataille de Dien Phu said that "It was not China's aid that defeated General Navarre (General Commander of the Expeditionary Force in Indochina), but Peugeot bicycles carrying 200-300 kg of goods, pushed by human power - people who eat not yet full and sleeping right on the ground with a nylon sheet. General Navarre failed not because of his means but because of his opponent's intelligence and determination to win."
When summarizing the Dien Bien Phu campaign, General Vo Nguyen Giap wrote in his memoirs Dien Bien – Historical rendezvous: "Cart transport has become the second most important transport force, behind motor vehicles."
