Forever the heroic feat of the H63 Strategic Intelligence Cluster

Hero of the People's Armed Forces, Colonel, Head of Intelligence Group H63 Nguyen Van Tau said that from the practical requirements of the revolution, in April 1962, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense established the A18 intelligence network - the predecessor of Intelligence Group H63. A18 gathered good intelligence agents, knowledgeable about the area, and ready to sacrifice when performing their duties.

Colonel, Head of Intelligence Group H63 Nguyen Van Tau (Tu Cang) at his private home in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo courtesy)

Special feats

On October 10, 1959, journalist Pham Xuan An (Hai Trung) returned after studying journalism in the US. In those early days, female intelligence liaison Nguyen Thi My Nhung (Tam Thao) was assigned by H63 to be the first contact with intelligence officer Pham Xuan An, transferring top secret documents and information to the organization.

Colonel, Head of Intelligence Group H63 Nguyen Van Tau (Tu Cang) said: Mrs. Tam Thao, playing the role of a wealthy female petty bourgeois silk trader in Saigon, was a shrewd person, knowledgeable about the inner city area. She joined the Party in 1953, her family was a revolutionary base, and the Head of Intelligence Group H63 often came and went to live in Cu Chi district. Later, she became an effective inner city liaison, operating very effectively for many years.

In a recent meeting of the Regional Intelligence Department (B2), Ms. Tam Thao (Hero of the People's Armed Forces) said: "Mr. Hai Trung gave me 21 'batteries' (disguise documents), numbered in order. When Mr. Hai Trung gave them, he did not say anything about numbering them, because the code of archived documents needs to be specific. Later, when I gave them to the organization, I understood that those documents were top secret, very important to superiors and had to be transferred to the Ministry of National Defense ."

Colonel Nguyen Van Manh (Muoi Nho), in charge of strategic intelligence of the Southern Party Committee, monitoring the Cho Lon area, said: "Those were the first documents that Pham Xuan An (Hai Trung) gave to the organization. Among them were documents from American General Westmoreland, when he directed the Saigon government to carry out American campaigns in the south. Even the Saigon government did not know about this intelligence news about the specific implementation of those campaigns," Colonel Muoi Nho affirmed.

It was from these documents that the Central Committee had very specific instructions, issued operational plans, and helped the liberation army have the earliest instructions to fight against the pacification and encroachment of the US-puppet. These were the specific plans of the US General Westmoreland, in the "Joint Military Plan", "Plan AB 140"... all very top secret that the Ministry of Defense and the Politburo were in great need of, which intelligence officer Hai Trung had obtained, including maps of strongholds, military stations, and military deployments of the US-puppet at the southern battlefields.

During the period 1961-1965, intelligence officer Pham Xuan An (Hai Trung) brought secret documents to Intelligence Group H63, to transfer to the Central Committee most of the plans for battles and plans for deploying troops on the Southern battlefield.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ba (from Long An), Hero of the People's Armed Forces, was also the intelligence liaison for Mr. Hai Trung very safely, through secret signals that she and the intelligence officer had agreed upon in advance.

She said that when giving and receiving documents from Mr. Hai Trung, a separate code had to be used. The documents were wrapped in spring rolls, or arranged to meet at a certain point in the city without prior notice.

During nearly 15 years as a liaison for intelligence officer Pham Xuan An, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ba never let any documents fall into the hands of the CIA or the Saigon puppet army, always ensuring safety when sending documents to the Central Government.

The success of strategic intelligence officer Pham Xuan An (Hai Trung) was that he exploited and released nearly 500 secret and top secret documents, including originals and copies, to the H63 Intelligence Group and Hanoi. These documents were evaluated by the Central Military Commission and the Politburo as extremely valuable, especially the operational plans and campaigns that the US-puppet would deploy, including CIA intelligence documents.

It was also an outstanding achievement of the H63 Intelligence Group when it obtained a secret telegram from US President G. Ford sent to President Nguyen Van Thieu with only a few words: "The US war in Vietnam is over!" to answer the Central Committee's question: Will the US return to Vietnam or not? Obtaining this secret telegram was the work of an intelligence officer, playing the role of a sergeant major of the Saigon army, who was at that time the secretary of the office of General, Chief of the General Staff of the puppet regime, Cao Van Vien.

This person was a spy of the H63 Intelligence Group, who was placed to work at the Puppet General Staff. This secret telegram was obtained by spy Nguyen Van Minh (Colonel, Hero of the People's Armed Forces) and transferred to the H63 Group, to report to the Politburo and the Central Military Commission during the decisive moments of the southern revolution.

Head of the H63 Strategic Intelligence Cluster

Talking about the H63 Intelligence Group and the achievements of its spies, Colonel Ha Ngoc Quynh, former Director of the Institute of Intelligence Science, General Department II - Ministry of National Defense, commented: The H63 Intelligence Group consists of brave spies, ready to sacrifice themselves if captured by the enemy, always maintaining a relentless offensive position for the noble mission assigned by the Central Government and the Ministry of National Defense.

Colonel Nguyen Van Tau reads books about his comrades.

The role of the H63 Cluster Leader, Nguyen Van Tau (Tu Cang), was very important in directing the Cluster to successfully complete its mission. Although he was 97 years old, Colonel Nguyen Van Tau still clearly remembered every detail of the great spring victory events 50 years ago, about the great sacrifices and silent achievements of the H63 intelligence officers under his command as Cluster Leader.

After the country's reunification, the H63 Strategic Intelligence Cluster and many H63 intelligence officers were awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the Party and State (including Major General Pham Xuan An).

Colonel Nguyen Van Tau shared: "After nearly 15 years of operation, 28 H63 intelligence soldiers have sacrificed their lives, many soldiers have been seriously injured, some had their legs amputated by the enemy up to 6 times, such as intelligence liaison Major Nguyen Van Thuong (Hai Thuong); but their lives still shine, because they are all for the revolutionary mission, all for the lifelong sacrifice for the Party, for the Vietnamese revolution".

The resounding achievements of the H63 Strategic Intelligence Group were extremely important contributions to the historical moments of the Vietnamese revolution, contributing to the festival of national reunification.

BA NHIEU - ANH TUAN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vang-mai-chien-cong-cum-tinh-bao-chien-luoc-h63-anh-hung-post923285.html