Back to Le war zone!

“O Ro Forest has become a historical site; Bau Thieu Water is mixed with red blood fighting against the enemy”. In the historic April, we returned to Hong Phong Commune, one of the revolutionary bases of Binh Thuan during the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism. Although the terrain here is rugged, with only wind and sand, lacking water, the people and soldiers still stick to fighting. After many hardships and challenges, the sandy, dry land is rising strongly with its potential and advantages gradually awakened.

New day Le area

The brilliant April sunshine brightens up the entire Le area. From Phan Thiet City, in less than an hour, we arrived in Le area (Bac Binh district) on a spacious asphalt road. The April wind blew strongly, the sand dunes were hazy on the roads, but in the distance, giant wind turbines stood tall, solar panels were continuously spread out on the undulating hills. It can be seen that in recent years, Le area has attracted many solar and wind power projects, which are considered a lucky opportunity for the land that is inherently poor, depending mainly on traditional agriculture with rainwater. It is the renewable energy projects that have "landed" here that have directly and indirectly helped the majority of people in Le area change their lives. Many households have a large amount of money from land compensation, from land transfers at high prices. In just a short time, spacious Thai-roofed houses have sprung up, cars are no longer something far away in Hong Phong and Hoa Thang areas. Many households that used to depend on farming, which requires “one sun and two dews”, have now switched to service work, “following” the rising industry here. All of this has created a dynamic, modern Le area and the people’s lives are surprisingly prosperous.

A spacious asphalt road in Hong Phong commune. Photo: N.Lan

The two central communes of Le area are on the way to building an advanced new countryside. The efforts of the entire political system and the people have shown a completely new appearance. Especially the infrastructure has been invested in and built well, the average income per capita has reached over 50 million VND/year, new vitality is present every day in the heroic land. The unique potentials and advantages are also well exploited. Sunlight and wind have become ideal conditions for industrial development, especially renewable energy, tourism with its own unique characteristics, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.

Solar panels are lined up one after another on the barren hills. (Photo: N. Lan)

This time, we had the opportunity to meet some veterans who had witnessed the changing face of that resistance land. Mr. Tran Thanh Binh (50 years of Party membership), in Thanh Thinh village, Hong Phong commune, former Chairman of the People's Committee of Hong Phong commune in 1987, was also one of those who participated in the resistance at the Le Hong Phong base. Now, in his old age, he lives with his children and grandchildren in a spacious, clean house.

Sipping a cup of strong tea, looking out at the cool green space around, Mr. Binh pondered, searching for memories. In early April 1975, the Le Hong Phong Revolutionary Base had completely reduced the sound of bombs and bullets, the people in the base area, with their sharp ears, followed the good news of victory continuously. On April 19, 1975, Binh Thuan was liberated, on April 30, 1975, Saigon was liberated, the South was liberated. Here and there, cheers were heard, real liberation, real independence and freedom, my people. They held hands tightly, hugged each other, and cried with joy at the victory. Along with the joy of liberation was the work of joining hands to rebuild life after the war. Mr. Binh said: “How can we not worry and be anxious because the front is a series of zeros. There is no food, no food, no essential supplies; no clean water, no housing; no roads, no schools, no stations, no electricity… The great victory in the spring of 1975 created a historical turning point, opening a new era of independence and freedom. Many years of hardship, fierceness, and sacrifice of the extremely cruel war. After the liberation, the center of Le area, now Hong Phong commune and Hoa Thang commune, had strong developments.”

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Khoi (middle) talks about the past war.

Land of Heroes

The change over the course of history was also shared by Mr. Nguyen Xuan Khoi (Thanh Thinh village, Hong Phong commune), who is over 80 years old this year: "I am a witness to the strong development of my hometown since it was plowed by bombs and bullets. From a land that only had agricultural land growing beans, corn, melons, etc., when industrial projects came to the locality, people here had more stable jobs and their lives became more and more prosperous."

Khu Le Water Plant. (Photo: N. Lan)

In December 2001, Hong Phong was invested by Bac Binh district to start the construction of a water pipeline from Hong Chinh village, Hoa Thang commune to Hong Phong commune with a length of about 10 km. By December 2004, the installation was completed, and the clean water pipeline had reached Hong Phong commune, making the people extremely happy and excited. In April 2004, the commune considered installing water pipes in homes for use... Since then, the urgent need in daily life, which has lasted for generations, in the arid commune of Hong Phong has been resolved. More excitingly, in April 2012, the Le area water supply project was started, with a total cost of nearly 400 billion VND, which is considered to be the basic solution to the problem of water shortage. The project put into use not only serves agricultural production but also contributes significantly to tourism development.

Looking back at the Le area in general and Hong Phong in particular, from a land of scorching sun, dry sand dunes, and lack of water, in the past 10 years, many agricultural farms have successfully grown many crops with high economic value such as dragon fruit, foreign grapes and especially melon.

The heroic land is wearing a new coat.

Mr. Bui Tan Vinh - Standing Deputy Secretary of Bac Binh District Party Committee shared that the locality hopes that the superiors will continue to pay attention to perfecting the planning system. This includes planning for tourism development, planning for more flexible titanium mineral reserves and exploitation, as well as further investment in infrastructure to develop high-tech agriculture. "The people of Hoa Thang and Hong Phong are also continuing to wait for the attention of the Party and the State. And the people of Hoa Thang and Hong Phong themselves will continue to promote the tradition of heroic struggle in the resistance war for national independence and unification, and have the aspiration to rise up and get rich. We believe that the people of Hoa Thang and Hong Phong will continue to make more changes in the coming time" - he affirmed.

The Le area is changing day by day. That vitality comes not only from the resilient tradition of the local people, but more importantly from the support of all levels and sectors, taking advantage of resources from the Central and the province in completing infrastructure. At the same time, we continue to attract large projects with long-term strategic significance, in which priority is given to service and tourism projects combined with high-tech agricultural production, renewable energy projects... to be able to write another page of history in peacetime.

When the previous history page showed that the Le Hong Phong Base had fulfilled its mission as a solid rear base, both ensuring on-site logistics and serving as a springboard for our army to attack and destroy the enemy, contributing to the cause of liberating the homeland and unifying the country. Now, after 50 years of liberation, the Le area has figuratively lit up, as felt by many who have come here.

Le Hong Phong Base (Le Zone) was one of the revolutionary bases of Binh Thuan province in the resistance war against the French colonialists and the American imperialists. The base was about 600 km wide, running along the coast and National Highway 1A, from the Gieng Nuoc area (Hoa Phu, Tuy Phong) to the Ong Dia rock area (Phu Hai, Phan Thiet). From the day the base was established until the victory of the resistance war (1950 - 1975), although it was always surrounded and fiercely attacked by the enemy, the army and people of Le Zone still followed the Party with all their heart, steadfastly held their ground, fought bravely, and crushed the enemy's sweeps.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/ve-lai-chien-khu-le-129106.html