Before retiring in 1991, Lieutenant Colonel Luong Van Muot worked at the 50th Regiment, Hai Phong City Military Command. During the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, he was part of the Special Forces Division's dispatch team, tasked with monitoring, advising, and directing the 15th Special Forces Battalion of the 115th Special Forces Regiment in fighting and defending the Binh Phuoc bridge, a key part of our army's eastern offensive.

On April 24, 1975, the 15th Special Forces Battalion captured the bridges: Binh Phuoc , Tan An, Rach Cat, Cho Moi, and Cau Sat; subsequently repelling numerous enemy counterattacks on April 29, 1975. On the morning of April 30, 1975, fierce battles took place at Binh Phuoc Bridge, and our soldiers continued to fall. At exactly 8:30 a.m., a mighty army marched across Binh Phuoc Bridge to liberate Saigon. Mr. Muot's unit also joined that army to capture targets...

Lieutenant Colonel, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Luong Van Muot and his wife.

The conversation between me and the old veteran went back to the difficult days in the Rừng Sác War Zone (Cần Giờ, Ho Chi Minh City today).

In 1965, young Luong Van Muot enlisted in the army, trained in Quang Yen (Quang Ninh province), and then crossed the Truong Son Mountains to the South. From July 1967, soldier Luong Van Muot served in the 10th Special Forces Unit of Rung Sac and fought on this special battlefield until near the day of liberation. According to records, during his years on the battlefield, Luong Van Muot directly fought and commanded 57 battles; sinking 9 enemy warships and military cargo ships (including 8 ships with a tonnage of 8,000 to 13,000 tons). He destroyed one Nha Be wharf, three 105mm cannons, one 120mm mortar, one heavy machine gun, and eliminated many enemy troops... Among the many victories in which Hero Luong Van Muot directly participated, I was particularly impressed by the attacks on the Nha Be fuel depot, especially those that took place in 1972 and 1973.

Veteran Luong Van Muot recalled that around the beginning of October 1972, the commander of the 10th Special Forces Regiment of Rung Sac assigned him as a squad leader, along with two comrades, Phuc and Khay, to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance. After many days of "eating and sleeping" on the Saigon River to study the enemy's operational patterns, his team accurately identified the target and found a suitable attack method. On the night of October 17, 1972, he and soldier Phuc received two mines, each weighing 18 kg, with anti-detonation fuses. The two swam upstream, dragging the mines past many enemy guard posts. Upon arrival, they used a pipe-dropping technique to quickly infiltrate Cat Lai port, attach the two mines to the target, set the timer, and secretly exited. Thirty minutes later, the mines exploded, completely destroying the 8,000-ton ship carrying a large amount of American weapons.

Ten days later, the two men were assigned another mission to attack a target at Cat Lai port. As before, they secretly swam to the target. On shore, the enemy frequently fired and threw grenades indiscriminately at the clusters of water hyacinths floating on the river. As Khay swam ahead, slightly to the right, about 5 meters from Muot, there were sudden shouts, yells, the savage roar of a speedboat, and the dry, harsh sound of gunfire. Muot thought they had been discovered, but seeing Khay remaining motionless, he quickly signaled them to dive deeper to the riverbed and disperse to other positions. After a while of circling and cursing, the speedboat sped towards the port and shut off its engine. The two special forces soldiers quickly approached the target and placed two timed mines at the bottom of the enemy ship's engine room. Thirty minutes later, a flash of light appeared, followed by a deafening explosion. The 10,000-ton ship, loaded with American weapons and war equipment, was destroyed.

Having completed their mission, Mr. Muot and Mr. Khay swam back to their base in different directions. At the confluence of the Long Tau and Dong Tranh rivers, about 15 meters from the shore, a crocodile suddenly lunged and bit Mr. Muot's right leg. Mr. Muot immediately drew his dagger, turned, and stabbed the crocodile in the eye. Having suffered a fatal blow, the crocodile thrashed its tail violently, throwing him off. Mr. Muot quickly climbed ashore, blood gushing from the crocodile's teeth, causing excruciating pain. He endured the pain, chewing on wild leaves and using torn pieces of parachute fabric to bandage the wound. Because the crocodile bite was quite deep and directly on his right knee, Mr. Muot had to crawl for five days before reaching the outpost of a friendly unit...

Returning to the "ghostly" attack to destroy the Nha Be fuel depot in 1973. The Nha Be depot was 20km from the Rung Sac Special Forces' base and 8km from the sparse forest; the terrain was rugged with rivers, canals, and swamps, the widest being the Nha Be River, reaching 1,300m. After several unsuccessful infiltration attempts, by order of the commander of the 10th Rung Sac Special Forces Regiment, Team 21 handed over this "difficult" target to Team 5. Team 5 was reinforced with several skilled special forces soldiers, such as Ha Quang Voc and Nguyen Hong The.

For six months, enduring rice balls, roasted rice, soaking in water, and the scorching sun, the special forces soldiers could not overcome the enemy's 3.5-meter-high three-pronged barbed wire fence. On their 13th mission (November 18, 1973), they encountered the enemy using machetes to cut grass, nearly hitting them in the head. They had to retreat, but luckily they discovered a gap in this "unique" barbed wire fence. On their 14th mission, the special forces team infiltrated from the south, sneaking between the Shell depot and the port, the Caltex depot at the naval port, and the enemy's special zone command post.

After thoroughly understanding the inner workings of the fuel depot, Team 5 reported to the commander of the 10th Special Forces Regiment of Rừng Sác, formulating a plan and resolving to destroy 80% to 90% of the Shell depot by the night of December 3, 1973. Mr. Mướt recalled that the plan included 11 anticipated scenarios, but all were offensive assaults, with no possibility of retreating midway. On November 30, 1973, the unit held a departure ceremony with the slogan "Sacrifice for the survival of the Fatherland." Regiment Commander Lê Bá Ước read the combat orders, and Deputy Team Leader Hà Quang Vóc, on behalf of the entire team, swore: "We will not return until the Shell depot is completely burned!" Team Leader Cao Hồng Ngọt and Deputy Political Commissar Lương Văn Mướt saw the team off to the banks of the Nhà Bè River.

At 0:35 AM on December 3, 1973, flames shot up into the sky as the Nha Be depot exploded. Following this, the Shell fuel depot caught fire, the flames illuminating the sky and burning for nine days and nights. By December 11, the fire had spread to an 11 million liter fuel oil tank. Fearing the fire would spread to the Caltex depot, the enemy had to open the oil pipelines. Oil spilled into the Saigon River, Long Tau River, Soai Rap River... reaching as far as Vam Lang and Go Cong.

As a result of the battle, the Shell depot was destroyed by fire, along with 35 million gallons of gasoline (equivalent to 140 million liters), 12 butane tanks, a 12,000-ton Dutch oil tanker, an oil refinery, a lubricant blending facility, a food storage area, and a military barracks... the total damage amounted to approximately 20 million USD. In this historic battle, comrades Bao and Tiem were killed, while the rest retreated safely to the Rung Sac base.

Veteran Luong Van Muot recounted with a heavy heart that, later, information from local sources and the people indicated that seven enemy ships had surrounded the two soldiers, Bao and Tiem. The two men used grenades to fight to the death, taking down dozens of enemy soldiers on board with them...

Seeing the tears rolling down the face of veteran Luong Van Muot, I understood that even after half a century and amidst today's peaceful life, the emotional wounds still weigh heavily on the hearts of veterans fortunate enough to return home like him...

VIRTUE

* Please visit the section commemorating the 50th anniversary of the great victory of Spring 1975 to view related news and articles.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/ky-su/tu-rung-sac-den-sai-gon-826027