`The brothers were confused and asked why they pulled out the artillery? But the commander only had three things to say to the soldiers: Determined to destroy Tran Dinh (alias of Dien Bien Phu), absolutely trust his superiors and completely obey
The 96-year-old colonel returned to the old battlefield to attend the Dien Bien Phu Victory conference on the cause of building and protecting the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland, on April 11.
Song Lo Group received orders to pull 12 artillery pieces into the battlefield by hand. After 9 days and nights, the artillery arrived at the battlefield and received orders to pull them out again.
Colonel Nguyen Huu Tai returned from Hanoi to Dien Bien to attend the conference on April 11.
After arranging the battlefield, before launching on the afternoon of March 13, 1954, the soldiers listened to President Ho Chi Minh’s letter encouraging `big victories` and the orders of General Vo Nguyen Giap.
But the days of pulling artillery in and out, digging battlefields, lacking food and fighting for long days caused soldiers’ health to decline.
After two attacks, at the campaign summary conference held right on the battlefield on April 6, 1954, the atmosphere was `tense but very fair`.
General Vo Nguyen Giap analyzed the shortcomings of some units in the battles on the Eastern Peak, `not because the officers were inexperienced but because they did not thoroughly follow orders`.
Pulling artillery in and out and Dien Bien’s morale 70 years ago
The 96-year-old colonel tells about the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954. Video: Ngoc Thanh
In addition to adjusting ideology, commanders assigned tasks to each unit to strengthen the battlefield, fight encroachments, dig trenches and cut airports, and instructed to take care of their material and spiritual life so that the soldiers could fight for a long time.
After the conference, military adjustments and political activities took place regularly in the unit to help raise the morale of the entire army before the final major attack, until the day of complete victory on May 7, 1954.
Mr. Tai assessed that the lesson of combating rightist ideology on the front along with the decision to switch from quick fighting to steady fighting were two key factors to ensure victory on the battlefield.
Looking back 70 years, the victory of Dien Bien, Bach Dang, Chi Lang… carved milestones in the process of defending the Fatherland.
Dien Bien soldiers, all over 90 years old, attended a conference to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory.
General Luong Cuong, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, affirmed that the Dien Bien Phu victory was a milestone in the nation’s history, an important event in world political life in the 1950s.
Closing the conference, which lasted more than three hours with 7 presentations, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said that the Organizing Committee received more than 100 presentations with many relevant contents.
He hopes that after the conference, experts will continue to collect and provide more documents about the Dien Bien Phu campaign, contributing theoretical and practical lessons in the cause of building and protecting the country today.