The months spent in the land of Champa

During these scorching hot days, I feel a pang of nostalgia for the June heat in the western part of Thanh Hoa province 61 years ago. The heat was truly terrible, scorching the young soldiers on their march to the battlefield in neighboring Laos. Recalling those arduous yet heroic days now fills me with pride and emotion.

CCB Luu Vinh Xiem.

After the victory at Ham Rong (April 3, 1965), I and several comrades were transferred to Ninh Binh to form a new unit to prepare for deployment to the C battlefield. The unit was designated Company 5, Battalion 3, Regiment 213 of the Military Region. We young soldiers were very excited because, after only three months of military service, we were already going abroad, even though we knew that the mission in a foreign country would be extremely arduous and dangerous.

As a newly established unit, both officers and soldiers were recruited from various other units. My platoon was led by Lieutenant Dau, a recent graduate. In 1966, he served as Deputy Company Commander for a few days before being killed in action while defending the Non Nuoc Bridge in Ninh Binh. The squad leader was Sy, a former soldier in his 30s, a kind and gentle man whom I greatly admired. Bach Dong Sinh, from Dong Van, Ha Nam (formerly), a soldier from 1964, was the number 1 gunner. Pham Van Khieu, a Party member, was the number 2 gunner. Duong Van Dang, a short, stocky young man, was the number 3 gunner. I was tall and slender, so I was the number 4 gunner, constantly looking up at the sky, monitoring enemy aircraft to determine their flight paths and dive angles. Vuot, from Ba Dinh, Hanoi , was short but strong and robust, so he was assigned the number 5 position, responsible for loading ammunition into the gun barrel. The youngest brother, Nguyen Dinh Thanh, had just enlisted from Ha Nam province and was assigned to duty unit number 6 (later, Thanh also died in the Ninh Binh battle).

The vehicles transported us to Thien Ton Cave (Ninh Binh) to receive our weapons. These were brand-new, oil-stained Chinese 37mm cannons, along with heavy ammunition boxes. After receiving the weapons, the vehicles towed the cannons and took us to Gian Bridge (Ninh Binh). There, our unit simultaneously trained and directly participated in combat to defend the bridge. From being unfamiliar with aiming and directional controls, after just a few days of dedicated instruction, we new recruits became proficient and confident on the artillery platform, facing the enemy. Besides military training, we also studied politics and prepared for our mission to go to the C battlefield and perform international duties.

Before departing for Laos, we were ordered to pack up all letters and documents written in Vietnamese and send them to our families via post office; we were not allowed to bring them along because our mission to Laos was still highly secret at that time.

One afternoon in June 1965, the unit quietly left the Cau Gian battlefield. Vehicles and artillery passed through key points on Highway 1, crossed the familiar Ham Rong Bridge, then passed the Ho Dynasty Citadel, and continued westward... They marched at night, stopping in the morning to repair fortifications, then stood guard all day. Those not yet on duty would crawl under the artillery pieces, trying to get as much sleep as possible to regain their strength. The gun mounts absorbed the sunlight, making them as hot as a frying pan, causing the underside to be stifling. Despite the heat, our soldiers would snore loudly as soon as they crawled under the gun mounts. But they couldn't sleep much, because enemy aircraft constantly harassed them, and the unit was repeatedly put on Level 1 alert. And when it was Level 1, all the artillerymen had to be ready to fight on the gun mounts. Night marches, day guard duty – after a few days, everyone looked haggard and exhausted. Despite the hardships, the young soldiers still played mischievous pranks, such as mixing shrimp paste with artillery grease (both readily available in every artillery unit) and smearing it on the noses of the boys sleeping under the cannons, causing them to wrinkle their noses and grimace... while the soldiers on duty burst into laughter.

After about a month of arduous marching, that night we arrived in Na Meo. There was a large martyrs' cemetery there, mainly for Vietnamese soldiers who died in Sam Neua and northern Laos. Our soldiers named the cemetery the Na Meo Regiment Cemetery, joking among themselves: "Who knows which one of us will be lucky enough to be assigned to this regiment?"

Upon reaching the Vietnam-Laos border, the barrier was lifted to allow each vehicle to pass through. Sitting in the car, we couldn't help but feel excited, craning our necks to look ahead as if awaiting something sacred. But all we saw was gloomy mountains and forests, without a single light.

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Upon entering Laos, we were ordered to remain vigilant while in the vehicle, with our AK rifles loaded in case Vang Pao's bandits ambushed us. After receiving the order, none of us felt sleepy anymore; our eyes were fixed on the still pitch-black night...

The convoy trudged across the towering Pa Pong Pass. The headlights of the vehicles ahead reflected off the ground, making the vehicles behind look as if they were seeing flares dropped by enemy aircraft. It was a series of uphill and downhill climbs. Thanks to the unit's skilled drivers, our vehicles safely crossed the pass. A short distance further, we reached our encampment in Sam Neua province, a liberated zone in Laos. The entire unit moved the artillery into position, and the gun crews proceeded to repair and camouflage the fortifications, preparing for battle.

The work was temporarily finished just as dawn broke. A new day began in Laos. The weather here at this time of year is very unpredictable; the sky could be clear and blue one moment, then suddenly a torrential downpour would begin. Then, ten minutes later, the sun would shine again.

To ensure secrecy, in the early days here, we weren't allowed to build shelters. During the day, we were on duty and studied right next to the artillery emplacements. At night, those not on duty would spread out tarpaulins and sleep inside the fortifications. When we woke up in the morning, everyone's pants were stained red with blood. Inside the tarpaulins were leeches, some crushed, others plump and round, lying around. If it rained at night, the only option was to cover ourselves with raincoats and wait for dawn. Later, we were allowed to build shelters to sleep in, but we couldn't set them up until 6 PM and had to dismantle them by 4:30 AM the next morning to maintain secrecy. It was more busy and arduous, but at least it was better than sleeping outdoors.

Here, besides military equipment, each person only had a small amount of parchment paper to write letters to their families. After writing a letter, it had to be submitted to the political officer for approval. If it was deemed safe and did not reveal military secrets (that they were in Laos), the company would send a transport driver to deliver it back to Vietnam via post. Notably, each person carried a small piece of sheet metal, about three fingers wide, cut from an empty ammunition box. Engraved on it were rows of numbers guided by the company officer: the first row was the date of birth; the second row was the date of joining the Youth Union or the Party; the third row was the unit designation or the serial number according to the company's soldier list kept at the regiment in Vietnam... This series of numbers on the sheet metal would be used to compare with the documents to determine identity and hometown in case of death.

The unit's main mission here was to protect the Lao Party and Government base located in the liberated zone. Enemy planes circled the area all day, flying very low along the mountain slopes, sometimes taking advantage of the sunlight to dive and drop bombs. Sometimes they attacked directly at the battlefield, sometimes at targets. Along with the Vietnamese anti-aircraft units, there were also several anti-aircraft units of the Lao Pathet Lao troops cooperating in combat. My unit took advantage of any time when there were no enemy aircraft to intensify training. When American planes arrived, we fought according to the plans we had practiced. We only opened fire when the enemy planes came within a suitable range or when they dived, which made them very afraid to drop bombs, missiles, or rockets; they often missed their targets and battlefields.

Back home, we ate rations of 7.8 hào; reconnaissance soldiers got an extra 1.2 hào; and rangefinder soldiers got an extra 2.4 hào. But here, it's all the same. Rice is plentiful, but the only food is shrimp paste, dried fish that's already rotten, and mung beans. Occasionally, a supply truck arrives, and the whole unit gets a few kilograms of salty, pickled pork, which is a great treat.

One afternoon, I went into the forest to gather camouflage leaves. I didn't bring them back until almost evening, by which time the platoon had already finished their meal. I was surprised to see so much soup in my portion. But I was hungry, so I didn't think much of it and just slurped it up. As soon as I finished eating, the whole platoon burst out laughing, saying, "Today we're giving Siam (the dog) leech soup!" It turned out that the cook had somehow managed to get a lot of leeches into the soup. Everyone else had thrown it away, so they gave me a large portion. Now that I'd swallowed it, I could only mumble a little something and force a smile...

The food was meager, and the battlefield had to be constantly on the move. If the unit fired even just a few rounds during the day, they had to immediately move to another position that night.

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I vividly remember the night we marched from the Pa Pong battlefield to the Na Kay battlefield. As the vehicles started moving, it began to rain heavily. Even with raincoats on, everyone was soaked and shivering. We huddled together to share warmth. The road was slippery, muddy, and bumpy. Anh Hoa, the platoon deputy, was thrown off the road, whether by a tree falling on him or the bumpy ride, but luckily he was only injured and had to be transported back to Vietnam for treatment. Occasionally, the vehicles would stall, and our soldiers would have to get out and push both the vehicles and the artillery. It wasn't until 8 a.m. that the vehicles and artillery finally moved into their new positions. Fortunately, the sky was cloudy and it was still raining, so no American planes had spotted us since morning. The new position at Na Kay was situated on a relatively flat patch of forest. There, only one type of tree, lemongrass, grew profusely, its fragrant scent permeating the entire battlefield.

Then, I don't know where or who started it, but from company to platoon, everyone started shaving their heads bald. When everyone's heads were completely bald and white, we realized how foolish we'd been. Because now that we had no hair, the sun was shining directly on us. Wearing our steel helmets all the time made it even hotter. We'd try dampening our heads with a towel before putting on our helmets, but the towel would dry up quickly...

After more than six months on international duty, in early December 1965 we received orders to return home, filled with overwhelming joy. Goodbye Pa Pong, goodbye Na Kay, goodbye the beautiful girls of Sam Neua, we returned to our Motherland, Vietnam. There, the key positions, the train stations, the bridges along Highway 1 and Highway 5 awaited us. After 11 months as privates, in January 1966, all of us new recruits were promoted to corporal first class. From then on, we became seasoned veterans, hardened by bombs and bullets, ready for new battles.

Source: https://cuuchienbinh.vn/nhung-thang-ngay-tren-dat-nuoc-cham-pa-d43335.html