Legendary female spy and 500 untraceable courier trips

The person mentioned is Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ba (1917-2016), the youngest child in a patriotic farmer family, in Huu Thanh commune, Duc Hoa district, Tan An province (now Long An province).

With the determination to drive out colonialists and feudalists to free the people from slavery and misery, in 1935, when she was just 18 years old, Nguyen Thi Ba began following her two older brothers to join the revolution, working in a "secret society" with the task of guarding, protecting, and detecting the enemy to alert meetings and rallies.

In May 1936, she was admitted to the Communist Party and enthusiastically participated in revolutionary activities.

Hero of the People's Armed Forces Nguyen Thi Ba. (Photo: Vietnam Women's Museum)

In 1940, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ba actively participated in the preparation for the Southern Uprising. Afterwards, she and the guerrilla team retreated to a remote area in Duc Hue district, Tan An province (now Long An province) to open an engineering workshop to produce weapons and ammunition.

Her task was to go to different places to buy sulfur to make explosives. A few months later, the enemy increased their terror, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Ba moved to Van Coi commune, An Bien district, Rach Gia province (now Kien Giang province) to work in communications.

In mid-1943, Nguyen Thi Ba was able to contact Professor Tran Van Giau, Secretary of the Southern Regional Party Committee, and then worked as a liaison for the Southern Regional Party Committee under the direct direction of Secretary Tran Van Giau.

After the success of the August Revolution in 1945, she switched to women's work and held many positions such as: Financial member of the Executive Committee of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Women's Union, officer of the Executive Committee of the Tan An Provincial Women's Union, Standing Member of the Executive Committee of the Moc Hoa District Women's Union, Long An Province... In every position, she completed her tasks excellently.

During 14 years (1961-1975), Nguyen Thi Ba ensured the safety of nearly 500 communications trips with comrade Hai Trung (Intelligence Major General Pham Xuan An), even during times of intense war.

Operating in extremely difficult circumstances, but together with intelligence officer Pham Xuan An, Mrs. Ba firmly grasped the enemy's rules of terror and arrest, organized communication and delivered documents at times when the enemy was vulnerable, and had many clever ways to deceive and hide documents.

One of those ways was that she often used a knife to hollow out the inside of banh chung, stuffed documents in there, and carried them with her. She was so clever at hiding documents that even though she was searched many times by the police and secret service, she still calmly handled the situation, determined to complete the mission. During her time as an intelligence agent, she never once made a mistake.

Major General Pham Xuan An once praised: "Sister Ba has a good memory, is familiar with the Saigon area, strictly follows the principles and discipline of operations, has a high sense of vigilance, carefully camouflages documents, follows exact schedules, and does not neglect her duties despite rain, wind, or illness. She is older than me, and has frankly given me advice andeducated me. She has sacrificed her family's affection, living alone to work for the intelligence industry. I admire her very much."

During decades of revolutionary activities, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ba was clever and clever, blinding the enemy, ensuring communication with dozens of contacts was safe, on time, and according to plan. In addition to the above tasks, she also took cadres to and from Saigon to work, a job that required her to be familiar with the streets, agile, and calm to complete the task.

During the Ho Chi Minh campaign, despite her old age, she still undertook all intelligence work and excellently completed her mission, contributing to the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country.

After more than 40 years of working in intelligence, in 1976, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ba was awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces.

Libra

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nu-tinh-bao-huyen-thoai-va-500-chuyen-giao-lien-khong-dau-vet-ar946594.html