Legendary General

“The challenges that General Giap had to overcome made him a master of strategy, tactics and military art... General Giap is the greatest living expert on People's War” (Cecil B. Currey, author of “Victory at All Costs - Vietnam's Military Genius: General Vo Nguyen Giap”).

At 5:30 p.m. on March 13, 1954, General and Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap ordered the attack on the Dien Bien Phu stronghold. Photo: VNA

According to many scholars, there is no doubt that the Dien Bien Phu victory was one of the great victories, which demonstrated the highest military talent of General Vo Nguyen Giap. The Dien Bien Phu campaign - a battle that must be won to destroy the Navarre Plan, deal a fatal blow to the plot to expand the war of the French - American empire; at the same time, create influence and make worthy contributions to the world peace movement. This was a huge challenge for the General. So the General, Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People's Army, threw himself into the battle, "focused on analyzing the whole situation, but also focused on analyzing important factors, to find the best solution, the best way to fight, gradually transform forces and positions, win step by step, move forward to win decisive victory".

Of course, with the role of a strategic confrontation, the Dien Bien Phu front was more difficult, arduous and fierce than any other battlefield. In the work “Dien Bien Phu - A corner of hell”, author Bernard B. Fall wrote: “Their army (our side - PV), they knew this very well, knew nothing about the methods of destroying the firmly defended resistance centers, which supported each other. A series of head-on attacks on that stronghold could lead to extremely heavy losses, and could even cause an irreparable decline in the soldiers’ morale. A failure could delay a year the implementation of the Viet Minh’s general counterattack plan. However, from now until then, massive aid from the US could allow the French to significantly strengthen the Indochina army. Dien Bien Phu became a headache for the Viet Minh as well. It was not easy for General Giap to make up his mind.”

But then this same author, at the end of his work, cited a report showing the reason for the defeat of the French army on the Dien Bien Phu front: “In the document on the action program in directing the war in Vietnam dated March 19, 1953, General Sman wrote the following in the chapter “Military action program in the years 1953 - 1954”: The only victory that can lead to the restoration of a lasting peace in Indochina is the victory to destroy the main force of the Viet Minh, mainly consisting of 5 regular divisions operating in North Vietnam. In the dangerous puzzle called strategy, the little history professor with his self-taught military background will beat the generals who graduated from the War School to the point of losing all their armor. When his divisions surrounded Dien Bien Phu and the French made no move to withdraw, Giap realized that he had victory in his hands. A few months after the battle, he summarized the views of He said: “The expeditionary force was thus caught by a strategic surprise: it thought we would not fight, but we did; and a tactical surprise: we had solved the problems of access, artillery, and supplies.” It was in the half-month period, from November 25 to December 7, that the battle and the defeat of Dien Bien Phu were decided. And that defeat did not take place in a small valley in the mountains, but in the air-conditioned offices of the French General Staff in Saigon. Once Giap had decided to accept the challenge and engage in battle, the 12,000 French Union troops and 50,000 people of the People's Army had only to play their part in the tragedy.

Indeed, the battle at Dien Bien Phu was an unprecedented challenge. However, the difficulties could not stop the spirit of the whole country going into battle, could not stop the progress of the main forces to the front line. What was the reason? The General himself pointed out: “Looking back at the enemy's plots, one thing that emerges is that they are always subjective, always make mistakes... Of course, that is not because the French and American generals are uneducated or lack military knowledge, nor is it because they lack understanding of the features and effects of the military branches, arms, weapons and means of war that they send to the battlefield. They are always subjective precisely because they do not grasp the laws of war, therefore they cannot correctly assess their own forces, and even less can they fully measure the great strength of an entire nation that is rising up to fight for independence and freedom. They do not grasp and cannot grasp the laws of war. Because the war they wage is a war of aggression, an unjust war. Because the laws of war in particular and the laws of history in general go against their political, economic and military goals, and go against the very reason for their existence. They mercilessly deny that existence.

“The great strength of an entire nation rising up to fight for independence and freedom” is the root cause of the glorious Dien Bien Phu victory. It was a People's War that was “practiced” in the most complete and effective way. And there, “General Giap is the greatest existing expert on People's War”, as affirmed by Cecil B. Currey. Or according to American writer, journalist, and photographer Lady Borton, “The General of Vietnam is a man born from the People. He always thinks for the People with the truth: Having the People is having everything. The historical feats associated with his name could not have been achieved without the People, his compatriots, and his comrades”. As for Professor William Duiker, a scholar of East Asian studies at Penn State University, USA, affirmed: “The greatest legacy that General Giap left behind is his role in the resistance war against France and the People's War strategy. It is a symbol of the weak force fighting against the strong force through politics and military force”...

Indeed, through the resistance wars against France and the US, the General promoted the Vietnamese People's War to a new height, becoming a unique feature in the Vietnamese military art. "That is an excellent quality, creating the stature of a truly talented military man. His strategy, courage, intelligence, behavior and resounding achievements have brought him to the high rank of talented generals, exemplary virtue, becoming a great man, a legend of the nation, leaving special marks in the history of Vietnam as well as the history of the world in the 20th century" (Major General, Dr. Nguyen Hoang Nhien).

Throughout his life, the General always promoted the noble human qualities, which are “Wisdom”, “Courage”, “Humanity”, “Trust”, “Integrity”, “Loyalty” and “Putting work first” to train and practice. At the same time, he always vowed “Every day I live, is for the country”! So, even though he has returned to the “world of the wise”, the image of the legendary general - the “historian” of Dien Bien Phu, will forever live in the hearts and be the pride of the Vietnamese people; a source of inspiration and praise for progressive, peace-loving forces in the world.

Hoang Xuan

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/70-nam-chien-thang-dien-bien-phu/vi-tuong-huyen-thoai/210926.htm