71ST ANNIVERSARY OF DIEN BIEN PHU VICTORY: 56 days and nights that shook the world

In the history of the Vietnam War, the Dien Bien Phu campaign was a top important event, taking place from December 1953 to May 1954. With 56 days and nights of resilient, brave, and creative fighting, our army and people achieved the Dien Bien Phu victory that 'resounded throughout the five continents and shook the world', successfully ending the resistance war against the French colonialists, marking a great turning point in the history of our nation's struggle to build and defend the country.

The flag of determination to fight and win flew on the roof of the French Command Headquarters bunker in Dien Bien Phu.

The Dien Bien Phu victory is a brilliant symbol of the power of revolutionary heroism, deeply demonstrating the bravery and tradition of our nation in fighting against foreign invaders. In an article commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “Dien Bien Phu is like a golden milestone in history. It clearly shows where colonialism rolled downhill and disintegrated, while the national liberation movement around the world was rising to complete victory”. That victory demonstrated the Party's correct leadership, ingenious military strategy, and unique military art; at the same time, it was the result of combining national strength with the strength of the times, material strength with the political and spiritual strength of our army and people.

Faced with the risk of the Nava Plan going bankrupt, France quickly mobilized its forces to occupy Dien Bien Phu, building it into the strongest stronghold group in Indochina, creating a strategic springboard to control the Northwest and Upper Laos regions, attracting and "crushing" our main forces. In that context, in early December 1953, the Politburo decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu campaign, "Concentrating the majority of our combat-ready main forces on the Dien Bien Phu front, launching an offensive campaign to destroy the enemy's most elite forces in their strongest stronghold group on the Indochina battlefield". On January 25, 1954, our army units were in their assembly positions ready to open fire according to the operational motto of "fighting quickly, resolving quickly". Realizing that the enemy had strengthened their defenses in Dien Bien Phu, the Command and Party Committee of the campaign changed the operational motto to "fighting firmly, advancing firmly". This was the right decision, but we also encountered many difficulties: the combat time was longer, the fighting style changed, so there were things we had to prepare from the beginning, especially the organization and arrangement of the campaign's firepower system. With the rugged terrain, it was extremely difficult to pull the artillery into the battlefield, now we had to pull the artillery to disperse to new battlefields on high points to form an arc to surround the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, and fire directly at the targets in the basin, which was even more difficult. However, with a courageous spirit, not afraid of hardship and sacrifice, our army and people found every way to overcome the challenges, completing the mission excellently. After the preparation work was completed, on March 13, 1954, our army opened fire to attack Dien Bien Phu. The campaign took place in three phases over nearly two months:

Phase 1: From March 13 to March 17, 1954, our army cleverly and bravely destroyed the Him Lam and Doc Lap strongholds, forced the Ban Keo stronghold to surrender, broke the defense system in the North and Northeast of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold; opened the door for our army to advance to the basin and the central area. The enemy's two most elite battalions were completely destroyed, another battalion and three puppet Thai companies disintegrated. A large number of enemy 105mm artillery and 120mm mortars were completely destroyed, and most of the enemy's fighter planes in the basin were destroyed.

Phase 2: From March 30 to April 26, 1954, our troops simultaneously attacked the strongholds in the East of the central sub-region. We destroyed about 5,000 enemies, including 4 battalions and 9 companies (accounting for about half of the total enemy troops in the North and Central sub-regions); controlled most of the high points in the East, developed the battlefield close to the airport, tightened the siege, divided, controlled the remaining areas in the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, controlled Muong Thanh airport, and limited enemy reinforcements to the stronghold.

Phase 3: From May 1 to May 7, 1954, our army captured the remaining bases in the East, destroyed some bases in the West and launched a general attack to destroy the entire Dien Bien Phu base. At 5:00 p.m. on May 6, 1954, our artillery and rockets fired fiercely at enemy bases, opening the way for infantry to attack. At Hill A1, after detonating 1 ton of explosives to destroy the enemy's underground bunker, our troops divided into many groups, following the trenches to attack the top of the hill. At 5:30 p.m. on May 7, 1954, General De Castries and the entire General Staff of the Dien Bien Phu base were captured alive. That same night, our army continued to attack the Southern sub-sector, forcing the enemy to flee to Upper Laos. By 10:00 p.m., all enemy troops had been taken prisoner.

After 56 days and nights of “digging mountains, sleeping in tunnels, enduring rain, eating rice balls”, fighting bravely, intelligently and creatively, our army and people crushed the entire Dien Bien Phu stronghold, destroyed and captured all enemy troops, shot down 62 planes, seized 64 vehicles and all of the enemy’s weapons, warehouses, and military equipment. It was in those fierce difficulties that the heroic qualities of our army and people shone even brighter, creating an absolute advantage over the invading enemy and reactionary forces. That was the will to fight and win, intelligence, creativity and bravery, not afraid of hardship and sacrifice, in combat and serving combat. Political and spiritual strength became the driving force to promote the emulation movement to kill the enemy and gain achievements, taking place vigorously on all fronts. Despite the hardships and fierceness, our army was determined to maintain the offensive, not wavering; wholeheartedly loyal to the Party and the People; Resolutely fight for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland. That can only be achieved by patriotism and the determination to fight and defeat the invaders of every citizen, every officer and soldier.

71 years have passed, but the heroic echoes of the Dien Bien Phu victory still resound for thousands of years along with the nation's history. The Dien Bien Phu victory will forever be a source of pride and motivation for our entire Party, people and army to continue to strive to successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, bringing the country into a new era, an era of national growth.

(According to baomoi.com)

Source: http://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/127838/KY-NIEM-71-NAM-CHIEN-THANG-DIEN-BIEN-PHU-56-ngay-dem-chan-dong-dia-cau