Revealing two top secret tunnels in Thang Long Imperial Citadel

A corner of the tunnel is awaiting restoration. Photo: Nguyen Khanh

TP - Two basements in the Imperial Citadel, which were once used to translate codes and transmit orders from the General Staff during many years of the anti-American resistance war, will soon be put into operation and serve tourists.

Two top secret bunkers

The Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center invited a number of scientists , military representatives and especially witnesses who worked in the two tunnels to discuss about tunnels 59 and 66 in the Central Area of ​​the Thang Long Imperial Citadel. The tunnels were temporarily named by the Center based on the year of construction. Colonel Dang Phan Thai, an engineer who designed tunnel T1, confirmed that in the Imperial Citadel heritage area, there are three main tunnels: tunnel D67, which currently receives visitors, the platform of tunnel T1 and tunnel 69A, in addition to many other smaller tunnels as well as individual bomb shelters densely packed in the citadel.

Basement 59 is the office of the General Staff, Basement 66: where the cryptography department translates and transcodes thousands of telegrams sent from the General Command to all battlefields.

Witness revisits the old cellar. Photo: Nguyen Khanh

Colonel Dao Cong Manh, Deputy Director of the Cipher Department of the General Staff, when reviewing the role and activities of the Cipher Department at the General Headquarters during the resistance war against the US to save the country, did not forget to mention the cipher bunker used when US planes bombed Hanoi . The bunker was 4-5m deep, with two compartments of about 5m2 each, equipped with a lighting system and underground electricity to serve the code translation activities. 1972 was the peak of the battle of wits with the US, the number of telegrams increased dramatically, before that, the shift was allowed to sleep for about an hour with a mosquito net at the table, but at this time, there was almost no rest.

Lieutenant Colonel Bui Thi Nghien recalled: During the 12 days and nights of "Dien Bien Phu in the air", she was assigned to work in the basement of the Ministry of National Defense Office (Bunker 59). This was the workplace of the typing and printing department of the Ministry of National Defense - General Staff, typing official dispatches, directives, orders, and decisions of the Ministries sent to the battlefield. During this campaign, Ms. Nghien was the only typist, so it was very difficult. Sometimes she fell asleep on the table, and in her dream, she heard her superiors say "let her sleep for a while". The bunker had three exits, and the staff mainly went down through the Dragon Courtyard.

Major Nguyen Van Khoi, former officer of the Cipher Department, General Staff, said that during the 12-day and night campaign in 1972, the code room was moved to the bunker because the B52s roared all day. The bunker was less than 20 square meters, and at night there were usually 12-15 people in the bunker, living on the spot. The electricity situation increased so much that each shift was almost 12 hours long, as tense as a bowstring. "I remember one night, Ms. Ly lay under the table and cursed: Hieu, you're sticking your legs into my face. In the other bunker, the three of us were lying upside down on a small wooden bed," Mr. Khoi recalled.

How to "declassify"

Chairing the discussion with Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Manh Ha, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Duc Cuong, President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, suggested a series of things to do: Reconstruct the original design, carefully evaluate the documents from the original name, and return the original layout of each cellar. "The principle of the museum is to display only real artifacts, the Center needs to pay attention to collecting original artifacts to put in," Associate Professor Dr. Cuong said. Sharing the same opinion, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Manh Ha, former Director of the Institute of Party History, said that when the relic is already there, attention should be paid to vivid personal stories to attract viewers.

Mr. Nguyen Chien, former head of the Central Cipher Committee (Government Cipher Committee) was a bit sad when he revisited the old bunker because "the soul is gone". "With current technology, especially 3D technology, we can recreate and simulate the entire bunker", he said. A witness who used to work at the General Headquarters also shared the same sentiment, according to him, the citadel should have been crowded. Putting these secret bunkers into operation is also a way to attract tourists. He said that it is completely possible to restore the original state, so that visitors can visualize how information "flowed" in the past. Witness Nguyen Van Song, former officer of the Cipher Department, proposed to re-study the function of bunker 66, while paying attention to the personal bunkers with the role of protecting people in difficult times.

Master Pham Kim Ngan and Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Huy (Center for Research and Promotion of Cultural Heritage Values) dissected four outstanding values ​​of the underground tunnels in the Imperial Citadel: Important historical evidence, containing a lot of information, especially the value of memory heritage and intangible heritage, the tunnel has the value of arousing curiosity and the tunnel is an interesting experience environment. Comparing with a series of famous tunnels such as Hitler's tunnel in Berlin, Stalin's in Moscow, Churchill's in London and the famous tunnel system of Vietnam such as General Vo Nguyen Giap's tunnel, De Castries tunnel, Cu Chi tunnels, Ms. Ngan said that the two new tunnels in the Imperial Citadel can completely become attractive tourist attractions.

The solution to turn the two degraded basements into tourist attractions is now within reach: The Center needs to restore the basements in the most faithful way, display the interior vividly with accompanying artifacts, combined with recorded stories from historical witnesses. Some historical witnesses affirm that there are many valuable telegrams that can become exhibits, relying on the help of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff.

Mr. Tran Viet Anh, Director of the Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center, said that when they were first discovered, the two basements were flooded, full of snakes and insects, and artifacts related to the code translation work were no longer available. The Center hopes to complete the records and documents to have a basis for restoring the original state of the two basements. The infrastructure system of the Ho Chi Minh era is closely linked to the world heritage site of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, so the value of these works cannot be ignored, Dr. Tran Viet Anh said. The Center's leaders determined to continue to collect opinions and documents to clarify the value of the system of works built from 1955 onwards.