(LĐ online) - "Fifty-six days and nights of digging mountains, sleeping in tunnels, pouring rain, eating rice balls/ Blood mixed with mud, unwavering courage, unwavering will", our army and people created the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu "famous in five continents, shaking the earth", the brilliant golden history of our nation.
By the end of 1953, the Indochina war had lasted for 8 years, and the French army was in a passive position on the battlefield. France was almost unable to bear the burden of the Indochina war and had to ask for help from the United States. In order to save the tragic situation and create a great victory to turn the war situation in favor of France, General Nava, Commander-in-Chief of the French expeditionary army, proposed a plan to concentrate all resources to build "a giant, impregnable fortress" in Dien Bien Phu, the strongest stronghold in Indochina with a total force of 16,200 troops at its peak. The French and American military considered this a trap to attract and "crush the main force of the Viet Minh", nurturing the ambition to gain a decisive military victory within 18 months, as a basis for implementing "an appropriate political solution to resolve the war" (H. Navarre, The Time of Truths, CAND Publishing House, H. 2004, p. 93) and finding an "honorable way out" for France.
Faced with new developments in the situation, on December 6, 1953, the Politburo met and listened to the General Military Commission present the 1954 Spring combat plan. With courage, intelligence and highly promoting Vietnamese revolutionary heroism, the Politburo assessed Dien Bien Phu as a strong base, but with the fundamental weakness of being isolated, very far from the enemy's rear, all supplies and transportation had to rely on air. For us, although Dien Bien Phu was far from the rear, with very difficult logistics, but with the determination to fight and win of the entire Party, the entire army, the entire people, both the frontline and the rear, we were able to overcome the difficulties and certainly defeat the enemy at Dien Bien Phu. Based on a scientific analysis of the balance of power between us and the enemy, the Politburo approved the operational plan of the Central Military Commission, chose Dien Bien Phu as the strategic decisive point in the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring campaign and decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign with the determination to completely destroy the enemy's stronghold complex.
With the special significance of the Dien Bien Phu campaign, President Ho Chi Minh and the Party Central Committee decided to establish the Campaign Command, the Front Party Committee with General Vo Nguyen Giap as Commander and Party Committee Secretary. The Government decided to establish the Front Supply Council with comrade Pham Van Dong as Chairman. All preparations for the campaign were carried out urgently with the slogan "All for the front, all for victory". The Politburo and the General Military Commission decided to concentrate 4 infantry divisions, 1 artillery division with a total strength of over 40,000 people. The main army units quickly assembled, day and night clearing forests, cutting mountains to open roads to pull artillery, building battlefields, ready to attack the enemy. More than 260,000 laborers and youth volunteers braved bombs and bullets to head to Dien Bien Phu to ensure logistics for the campaign. Initially, the Party Committee and the Campaign Command decided to choose the motto of "fighting fast, resolving quickly" (expected to last 3 nights and 2 consecutive days), the opening fire was scheduled for January 20, 1954, then the opening fire was postponed to January 26, 1954. However, when grasping the great change of the enemy in the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, with the courage, intelligence and determination to fight and win, to ensure "definite victory", General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap made the most difficult decision in his command career, which was to change the motto of destroying the enemy from "fighting fast, resolving quickly" to "fighting firmly, advancing firmly" and urgently directed the completion of necessary tasks to ensure the new combat motto. After the motto of “fighting steadily, advancing steadily” was agreed upon by President Ho Chi Minh and the Politburo, considering it a completely correct decision, at 5:05 p.m. on March 13, 1954, our army opened fire to start the Dien Bien Phu campaign. After “Fifty-six days and nights of digging into mountains, sleeping in tunnels, pouring rain, and eating rice balls. Blood mixed with mud, unwavering courage, unwearied will”, through 3 phases (phase 1 from March 13 to 17, 1954, phase 2 from March 30 to April 30, 1954, phase 3 from May 1 to May 7, 1954), by 5:30 p.m. on May 7, 1954, our army and people had achieved complete victory. The total number of enemy troops killed and captured at Dien Bien Phu was 16,200; including Major General De Castries, 10 colonels and lieutenant colonels, 353 officers, 62 planes shot down and destroyed at the front, 64 cars and all weapons, ammunition, military equipment of the enemy were captured...
The Dien Bien Phu campaign was a long campaign, where the greatest efforts of both sides were concentrated. Therefore, it was an extremely arduous battle with many losses and sacrifices. However, under the leadership, education, organization and training of the Party, headed by President Ho Chi Minh, the invincible spiritual strength of the nation was aroused and transformed into material strength to defeat the enemy.
The resounding victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign proved that the strategic policy of destroying the Nava Plan and the decision to launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign were completely correct, so that our army and people could be proactive and clever, forcing the French to passively engage in combat on a battlefield of our choice. That not only demonstrated the profound vision and sharp military thinking of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, but also demonstrated the high promotion of the bravery, intelligence and heroism of the Vietnamese revolution.
The Dien Bien Phu victory is one of the brilliant peaks in the history of the nation, forever a great heroic epic about the spirit and determination to fight and win; about the intelligence and mettle of the Vietnamese people in the revolutionary struggle. It is the victory of the aspiration for independence, freedom, the tradition of patriotism, solidarity and the will to be self-reliant; the victory of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, the correct and creative revolutionary line of the Party; the victory of the national strength and Vietnamese revolutionary heroism closely combined with the strength of the times to create invincible strength. The Dien Bien Phu victory has eloquently demonstrated the truth: In today's era, a small country with a slow-growing economy, but with a correct and wise political and military line, knowing how to promote the strength of great national unity, and supported by progressive and peace-loving people in the world, will certainly defeat any invading enemy.
The Dien Bien Phu victory forced the French Government and the parties attending the Conference (except the US) to sign the Geneva Agreement, ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina on July 21, 1954; awakening and encouraging oppressed peoples around the world to rise up and fight for national independence and freedom, starting the process of collapse of old colonialism in the world. At the same time, it opened a new stage of the Vietnamese revolution, with the North being liberated and transitioning to socialism, becoming a large revolutionary base, a solid rear for the revolution in the South. It can be said that the Dien Bien Phu victory was the basis for our entire Party, people and army to have confidence, dare to fight, be determined to fight and defeat the American invaders, completely liberate the South, and unify the country.
Dien Bien Phu was a strategic decisive battle, of great historical significance and epochal stature, contributing to the decisive end of the resistance war against the French colonialists of our army and people. The victory left many valuable lessons that are still valuable today, need to be applied and promoted creatively and effectively in the cause of building and defending the Socialist Republic of Vietnam today. Especially the lessons on steadfastly pursuing the goal of national independence and socialism; promoting the strength of the great national unity bloc associated with the strength of the times, strongly arousing the spirit of patriotism, the will to be self-reliant and self-reliant in new conditions; building a comprehensive, self-reliant national defense, building a strong, compact, elite army, advancing straight to modernity, ...
The 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory is an opportunity for us to review the extremely brave and intelligent fight with countless sacrifices and losses of our people to create a brilliant golden history, thereby arousing and promoting patriotism, spirit, determination to fight and win, intelligence, creativity, military-civilian solidarity, and the aspiration for independence, freedom, and happiness of the Vietnamese people. At the same time, we continue to encourage and motivate our entire Party, people, and army to unite to overcome difficulties and challenges, and successfully achieve the goal of building a strong and prosperous Vietnam.
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