Chac Bang River tells the story of 200 days and nights of gathering

Chac Bang canal . Photo: VAN DUONG

The Chac Bang canal connects the Trem River junction in Thoi Binh town, Thoi Binh district ( Ca Mau ) to the Cai Lon River junction in Vinh Thuan district (Kien Giang). This canal is over 40km long. For over a hundred years, the canal has quietly flowed through the reed and grass banks. The water in the canal has changed over the years, but cannot erase the traces of a difficult but very heroic period of the nation. Seventy years ago, this place was the largest gathering point for the army and people of the South before the journey to the North, leaving behind smiles and tears, sacrifices for peace and national unity.

When the guns of Dien Bien Phu gradually fell silent in May 1954, the Geneva Agreement was signed, opening a new turning point for the country's destiny. Vietnam was temporarily divided into two regions, the 17th parallel became the demarcation line, but the common desire of the entire people was still to unify the country.

However, although the Agreement stipulated that a general election must be held within two years to bring the country back together, the people of the South did not easily believe in the commitment of the colonial forces and their lackeys. As soon as the ink dried on the Agreement, the calculations and lies of the enemy were revealed.

Therefore, the decision to gather soldiers, cadres, and students from the South to the North was not simply a troop transfer but also carried a long-term strategy of the revolution: preparing forces, supporting the North in building socialism, and being the key resource to one day return to liberate the homeland and build the South.

Vam Chac Bang became a witness to that historic event. Here, thousands of soldiers, cadres and people experienced 200 emotional days and nights. The days of regrouping, which seemed to be just a temporary troop transfer, turned into a separation that lasted more than two decades.

But for those who stayed and those who left, every sacrifice had a profound meaning: staying to fight the enemy, leaving to prepare for the day of victory. Vam Chac Bang had engraved countless vows, kept every gaze following the ships leaving the dock with a burning hope: two years later, they would meet again on a day of national joy. But the harsh reality was that time lasted ten times longer. The country had to wait nearly 21 years before the North and South could truly be united.

The days of regrouping at Chac Bang were not only military or political events but also a symbol of the trust and devotion of the people of the South. The revolutionary government in the regrouping area built a model of leadership for the people. Cadres and soldiers stood side by side with the people every day, building houses, repairing villages, organizing culture and education to create a healthy and united living environment.

Film screenings about Uncle Ho and the socialist North have brightened dreams of peace and strongly inspired the people's desire to fight. From farmers who only knew about canals and rice fields, they now join together to search for the 17th parallel, hoping that one day this boundary will be erased.

Surely Bang still bears the deep impressions of those tearful farewells. The farewell songs, the banh tet cakes, the boats loaded with pineapples and bananas sent to those who left, are all proof of the close bond between the army and the people, like “fish and water”. Every inch of land, every blade of grass, every bank of the canal of this estuary has witnessed the steadfastness and hope for the day of reunion, so that later, despite the brutal repression, the people of Vinh Thuan remained steadfast in following the Party, following the revolution, and holding on until the day of total victory.

Seventy years have passed, the Chac Bang River still flows like the endless flow of time. But each wave, each ripple of this canal retains memories of a painful and heroic period. Vam Chac Bang is more peaceful today, but the stories and images of the farewell of the past still linger in the heart of the river. The people who left have returned, the country has been reunited and all the children of the North and South are the victors.

Dignity

Source: https://www.baokiengiang.vn/van-hoa-the-thao/dong-chac-bang-ke-cau-chuyen-200-ngay-dem-tap-ket-23169.html