The man who drew the Xuan Loc battle map, opened the eastern door for our army to enter Saigon in the spring of 1975.

The man who drew the Xuan Loc battle map, opened the eastern door for our army to enter Saigon in the spring of 1975 - Photo 1.

Dr. Dam Duy Thien tells the story of drawing the Xuan Loc battle map in the past - Photo: T.DIEU

The talk show with the theme " The Great Victory of Spring 1975 - The Power of Will and Belief in Victory", organized by the Truth National Political Publishing House in collaboration with the Academy of Journalism and Propaganda, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of national reunification.

The only person who drew the Xuan Loc battle map

At the talk, Dr. Dam Duy Thien told the story of drawing a historical map in the past. At that time, he had just been in the battlefield for a few years, and was assigned to do cartographic work with Regiment 266, Division 341 - Song Lam.

In the spring of 1975, after losing many places, the Republic of Vietnam government retreated to Saigon to defend itself.

To achieve the goal of liberating Saigon - Gia Dinh before spring, we had to destroy the enemy's extremely solid defense line system, which was Xuan Loc town, from there we would have a large space to deploy forces from the North to attack.

And to enter the battle, a crucial task is to build a map of fighting determination.

At that time, young soldier Dam Duy Thien was trusted as the only person to draw the Xuan Loc battle map thanks to his drawing skills and good memory, and especially because he had to have strong political will and high determination, because he had to ensure the map was kept secret until the last minute.

Arriving in Xuan Loc, when receiving a lot of information about the enemy from scouts, Dam Duy Thien had to try to collect, observe and use his memory to connect all the data and display it accurately on the map.

At that time, whatever the commander said had to be recorded immediately. In addition, when units and departments went on reconnaissance and reported back, they also needed to grasp the information and display it on the map accurately.

Another difficulty was that Dam Duy Thien was a young soldier from the North, so determining the place names, terrain, and landmarks in Xuan Loc was not easy, and drawing a map would lead to "a mistake of one inch and you will be miles off".

Xuan Loc battle map - Photo 3.

Map of the battle of Xuan Loc drawn by soldier Dam Duy Thien

The map that helped break down the steel wall in Xuan Loc

Yet in just over a week, the scout, who was not yet 19 years old, had completed the map in difficult and deprived conditions. But it did not stop there, Dam Duy Thien had to continue to edit the map flexibly according to the battle plan changed by his superiors.

Every day, he regularly listens to the instructions of the commander to update the situation, using pencil lines to adjust the map promptly and accurately.

To ensure safety, Dam Duy Thien drew the map right in the basement. There were times when there was not enough light, or when he was drawing, the bomb smoke was so thick that he could not breathe. He had to crawl out of the basement, get some oxygen, then go back into the basement to continue drawing.

The map, hastily made by young soldier Dam Duy Thien, contributed significantly to the fact that after 12 days and nights of fierce attacks, our army broke the steel wall in Xuan Loc, opening wide the eastern door for our powerful force to enter and liberate Saigon - Gia Dinh in the spring of 1975.