From the battlefield of Quang Tri Citadel to… the lime kiln of the century

(QBĐT) - The person sitting in front of us is an army colonel, former Division Commander of Division 314, Military Region 2, who went from the battlefield of Quang Tri Citadel to... "the lime kiln of the century". Behind his simple appearance and tall stature is an unusual calmness...

In detail and with great care, he told and explained to us the story of a soldier's life. One summer day in June 1965, the young man Ho Quang Van (born in 1946, in Thuong Thon village, Quang Trung commune, Ba Don town), only 19 years old, had just graduated from high school when he received the call to join the army. He was assigned to Company 2, Battalion 45 ( Quang Binh Provincial Military Command at that time).

From then until 1969, new recruits like him trained and fought, which he called the time of “Northern rice, Southern enemy”. Occasionally, the unit secretly marched across the Ben Hai River to fight the enemy in Quang Tri, then secretly withdrew. Each battle lasted about 2-3 months.

To this day, Mr. Van still remembers his first battle on the Quang Tri battlefield. It was July 7, 1967. Before crossing the Ben Hai River to fight the enemy, he received news from his family that his younger sister, a medic who was evacuating to Hung Trach commune (Bo Trach), was killed by an American bomb. Holding back his pain, he and his comrades continued to cross the river to fight.

Colonel Ho Quang Van tells wartime stories.

In that battle, his squad had only 15 people but fought independently against a company of more than 100 enemy soldiers. After about 2 hours of fighting, his unit destroyed more than half of the enemy troops and burned 2 tanks. His squad sacrificed 12 people. After that battle, he was assigned to be squad leader, then deputy battalion commander and was honored to join the Party ranks right on the battlefield.

To many soldiers of the 48th Regiment (in 1972, Mr. Ho Quang Van's company was assigned to the 48th Regiment, Division 320B, Quang Tri), who participated in the battle at the Quang Tri Citadel battlefield, Mr. Ho Quang Van was known by many as a brave, courageous and intelligent commander.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Lai, Head of the Liaison Committee of the Quang Tri Citadel Soldiers in Quang Binh Province, said that July 1972 was the most fierce time of the battle to defend the citadel. He was transferred from Regiment 45 to Regiment 48, Division 320B to guard the center of the Citadel. Until now, Mr. Lai still remembers the battle at Tri Buu Church stronghold, led by Mr. Ho Quang Van, then Deputy Battalion Commander, Battalion 2, Regiment 48, who commanded the main assault of the battle. After several days and nights of fighting, the assault force completely destroyed the enemy stronghold, forcing them to retreat. Comrade Ho Quang Van was the last person in the 48th Regiment to withdraw from Quang Tri Citadel after 81 days and nights of fire and smoke.

Colonel Ho Quang Van recalled that when entering the Citadel, he personally went to scout the terrain and terrain to outline a plan and arrange combat forces, because this was a strong base and the enemy forces were very large. After careful preparation, he reported to the unit commander and directly commanded the frontal attack, proactively advancing straight into the enemy base.

The battle lasted from August 5 to September 12, 1972 in a fierce stalemate. Sometimes we had the upper hand, sometimes the enemy counterattacked and recaptured. It was not until September 12 that, faced with our heroic and tenacious fighting, the enemy finally had to withdraw and flee. The fierce battle ended, but on September 13, the unit commander still had not seen him return, because they thought he had sacrificed himself and sent people to look for him. A few days later, he returned to the unit's base amid the emotion and joy of his comrades. Therefore, Mr. Ho Quang Van became the last person of the 48th Regiment to withdraw from Quang Tri Citadel.

Recognizing his commanding ability, in October 1972, the unit commander decided to send him to Hanoi to study at the regimental command class. After the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam was signed, in September 1973-1977, he was sent to the Soviet Union for military training.

Colonel Ho Quang Van (third from left), is currently the Commander of Division 314.

Returning to Vietnam, he was assigned to teach at the Dalat Military Academy. From 1982-1984, he continued to go to the Soviet Union to study campaign and strategic level cadre training. After completing the training program and returning to Vietnam, he was assigned to the duties of Chief of Staff, Deputy Division Commander, and then Division Commander of Division 314 (Military Region 2), fighting at the Vi Xuyen front (Ha Giang province).

Colonel Ho Quang Van recalled that this was also the time when the war to protect the northern border was the most fierce and large-scale. From 1984 to 1989, the enemy mobilized more than 500,000 troops and dozens of infantry and artillery divisions and regiments to fight us. This was also the strangest war because we and the enemy alternated, stuck together to fight, sometimes up to 2-3 battles a day. However, during the 5 years, the enemy could not penetrate deeper than 2km into our border.

During those years, the Vi Xuyen battlefield was called “meat grinder” and “lime kiln of the century”. In 1990, after the war to protect the northern border ended, Division 314 was disbanded, and Colonel Ho Quang Van also applied for retirement according to the regime, at the age of only 44.

With 25 years of military career, but when I curiously asked him about the souvenirs of his time in the army? He calmly said, there was nothing and he did not bring anything back, except for the old military uniform. Because for him, being able to return with a healthy and intact body was a very lucky thing. Perhaps, for soldiers in wartime, stepping out of the fragile boundary of life and death, more than anyone else, they just want to live simply like a normal person. And if they are "Uncle Ho's soldiers", do they ever keep anything for themselves?

Colonel Van also shared that if the country had not been at war and he had not had to take up arms to defend the country, he would have become a bridge and road construction engineer by now, because that was his dream since childhood...

Head of the Veterans Liaison Committee of Battalion 45 (formerly Quang Binh Provincial Military Command) Doan Thi said that in the early years of his military service, he was in the same unit as Colonel Ho Quang Van. As comrades who fought side by side on the battlefield, he knew Mr. Van to be a very brave soldier and later, a wise commander.

Duong Cong Hop

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/xa-hoi/202412/tu-chien-truong-thanh-co-quang-tri-den-lo-voi-the-ky-2223190/