Firstly, President Ho Chi Minh was the one who issued the call for national resistance and found a way to change the balance of forces to move towards a general counterattack.
After the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh persistently negotiated with France, even accepting to give France some economic and cultural benefits to push back the war. However, his efforts until the last moment could not stop the enemy's evil hands. President Ho Chi Minh had no other choice but to lead the people to wage a war to defend the country. The law of war is very cruel, "the strong wins, the weak loses". In the context of "apart from 25 million patriotic people, and 2.4-2.7 million tons of rice per year, Vietnam had nothing to compare with the opposing side in terms of material and technical forces of war", the will to "dare to fight" and make the whole nation "determined to fight" with the spirit of "rather sacrifice everything, but definitely not lose the country, definitely not be slaves" is the great merit of President Ho Chi Minh.
Forced to “fight in a siege”, President Ho Chi Minh, together with the Party Central Committee, proposed the correct resistance line of “all-people, comprehensive, long-term and self-reliant” and made that line permeate the thoughts and actions of all the people. He proved the truth of C. Marx: “Theory will also become a material force, once it penetrates the masses”. Along with mobilizing the entire people to fight for resistance, President Ho Chi Minh paid special attention to the core role of the armed forces. He called on them to have the spirit of “determination to die for the survival of the Fatherland”. Throughout the process of leading the resistance, President Ho Chi Minh, together with the Party Central Committee, proposed correct policies to enhance our strength in all aspects.
President Ho Chi Minh directly assigned General Vo Nguyen Giap to study the battle plan and launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. Photo: Archive
Second, President Ho Chi Minh was the supreme commander of all directions of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.
President Ho Chi Minh's role was first and foremost in his ability to break all the enemy's plots and calculations with flexible and appropriate combat plans. War is not only a battle of strength but also a battle of wits between commanders. Knowing the Navarre Plan, at the end of September 1953, in Tin Keo (Dinh Hoa, Thai Nguyen), Ho Chi Minh chaired a meeting of the Politburo to discuss a response plan. President Ho Chi Minh calmly analyzed: "The enemy is concentrating mobile troops to create strength... Don't be afraid! If we force them to disperse their troops, that strength will no longer exist."
Faced with Navarre's attack plan, President Ho Chi Minh did not passively defend but proposed a proactive attack. He expressed the attack plan in a unique, vivid, and easy-to-understand way by spreading his hand so that each finger pointed in a direction and emphasizing the Northwest as the main direction. Accordingly, on November 19, 1953, the 316th Division advanced to the Northwest. Our army also attacked in Central Laos, Lower Laos, Northern Central Highlands, and Upper Laos to tear apart Navarre's forces. Discovering our main force advancing to the Northwest, on November 20, 1953, Navarre parachuted troops into Dien Bien Phu and built there the strongest stronghold group in Indochina. Navarre's purpose in building this stronghold was to control the Northwest region, protect Upper Laos and turn Dien Bien Phu into a "trap" to hold back and "crush" the main Viet Minh army, thereby creating a balance on the entire Indochina battlefield.
Faced with the enemy’s new “move”, on December 6, 1953, the Politburo met and decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu attack campaign under the code name “Tran Dinh”. President Ho Chi Minh emphasized: “This campaign is a very important campaign not only militarily but also politically, not only domestically but also internationally. Therefore, the entire people, the entire army, and the entire Party must concentrate on completing it successfully”.
With the prudence of a military man who understood the country's strength, President Ho Chi Minh was consistent in implementing the combat motto of "fighting to win for sure". From the beginning of 1953, he told General Vo Nguyen Giap: "Our battlefield is narrow, our people are not many, so we can only win, not lose, if we lose, we will lose all our capital". In early January 1954, when seeing General Vo Nguyen Giap off to the Front, he emphasized: "This battle is very important, we must fight to win; only fight if we are sure of victory, not fight if we are not sure of victory".
He also showed his talent in selecting the highest commanding officers of the campaign. The correct combat strategy can only be effective when implemented by outstanding commanders. At the meeting on December 6, 1953, along with the approval of the decision to launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, President Ho Chi Minh and the Politburo decided to appoint General Vo Nguyen Giap - Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People's Army - to directly serve as Party Secretary and Commander of the Dien Bien Phu Front. All of this demonstrated President Ho Chi Minh's special trust in comrade Vo Nguyen Giap. The talent and leadership of General Vo Nguyen Giap in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign have been honored by history and the world, but deep down there is President Ho Chi Minh's ability to use people.
President Ho Chi Minh promptly encouraged the soldiers participating in the battle at Dien Bien Phu to overcome numerous difficulties and complete their mission. With the young revolutionary army, there was a huge shortage of weapons, military qualifications and combat experience, so the spirit factor was even more important. Therefore, when speaking to the Army commanders, he emphasized: "The Central Committee and you are not determined enough, but we must make that determination reach every soldier... That determination must become a unified block from top to bottom and from bottom to top".
President Ho Chi Minh succeeded in mobilizing the strength of the entire people to support Dien Bien Phu. With a far-sighted vision, President Ho Chi Minh paid great attention to logistics and support work. From July 1953, the Government Council headed by him decided to establish the Front Supply Council chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. In December 1953, before the Dien Bien Phu Campaign began, President Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter “To the supply cadres and the laborers”. When we chose the option of “fighting firmly, advancing firmly”, to overcome difficulties and ensure the supply for the frontline, on April 19, 1954, the Politburo under the direction of President Ho issued a resolution: “The entire people, the entire Party, and the Government will definitely use all their strength to support Dien Bien Phu and will definitely do everything necessary to achieve total victory for this campaign”.
Third, President Ho Chi Minh had an accurate premonition of victory at Dien Bien Phu and of new battles, new Dien Bien Phus that would take place in Vietnam.
President Ho Chi Minh was a genius strategic forecaster. His ability to forecast was not just a one-time “epic moment”, but was demonstrated throughout his life. He had a very early premonition of our victory in the final battle of the resistance war against French colonialism. In April 1954, when there was a fierce struggle between us and the enemy on the battlefield, in a conversation with Australian journalist W. Burchett, President Ho Chi Minh described the battle situation at Dien Bien Phu in a unique way: He turned his sand hat upside down on a bamboo table, circled his fingers around the hat, and explained: "This is the forest and mountains, where our forces are". Then he clenched his fist, punched the inside of the hat and continued: "And here are the French troops. They cannot escape from this place".
Having been tempered through the ups and downs of the Vietnamese and world revolutions, President Ho Chi Minh was always “Not arrogant in victory, not discouraged in defeat”; his style was leisurely and calm. He was always cautious and never revealed any frivolous joy or excessive anxiety. Therefore, in his letter of praise for the soldiers, laborers, youth volunteers and people of the Northwest on May 8, 1954, he advised: “Although the victory is great, it is only the beginning. We should not be arrogant because of victory, nor should we be subjective and underestimate the enemy”. The path to independence and freedom for a small nation is not a straight path.
He told the cadres and people: “Many other Dien Bien Phus are waiting for us”. At the 6th Central Conference, Session II (July 1954), he said more clearly: “The US imperialists are becoming the main and direct enemy, our spearhead must be aimed at the US imperialists”. It must be emphasized that, at this time, the US imperialists had just suffered heavy losses in the Korean War; few people thought that the US would immediately launch a war of aggression against Vietnam. However, history happened as he predicted.
70 years have passed, but the spirit of Dien Bien Phu still shines brightly, awakening in every Vietnamese person pride, faith and responsibility for the destiny of the Fatherland. Therefore, President Ho Chi Minh's contribution to the nation and humanity does not stop at the miracles he created in the 20th century but also in his vitality, ability to illuminate and lead Vietnam and other peoples in the world to the goal of peace, unity, independence, democracy and prosperity as he wished.
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