The national flag flies on the roof of French Colonel de Castries’s Bunker on May 7, 1954, marking the victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. File photo.

Dien Bien Phu at that time was the strongest complex of fortresses of France in Indochina. The complex included 49 fortresses which were divided into northern, central and southern sub-regions. France considered Dien Bien Phu as a fortress impossible to be broken, with up to 16,000 French soldiers stationing there.

With a broad, profound, resolute and creative vision, the Party was determined to launch the Dien Bien Phu campaign. The entire army and people mobilized the maximum material and spiritual strengths with the motto “All for Dien Bien Phu, all to triumph”.

In the Spring of 1954, when the campaign opened, Bac Giang armed forces and people actively contributed manpower and assets to the front. In temporarily occupied areas, locals fought to prevent the enemy from seizing workers and soldiers and encouraged puppet authorities and soldiers to return to justice. The guerilla force attacked the enemy, destroyed roads that they used to reinforce themselves, and at the same time protected the Vietnamese army’s transportation routes. Meanwhile, the provincial armed forces attacked the enemy, using different kinds of tactics, including ambush, surprise attacks and blockage.

When the Vietnamese army started firing in Dien Bien Phu, in Bac Giang battlefield, the enemy deployed a battalion to Dien Bien Phu. The enemy’s remaining was in the mood of anxiety. Acknowledging this, the Bac Giang provincial Party Committee required armed forces to promptly make an attack against the enemy, besiege strategic positions and stop the firing of artillery from Lang Thuong county to Ca pass (Yen The). 

On the following days, a troop of Battalion 61 and soldiers in Luc Ngan district coordinated in combating enemy troops in Tu Xuyen. The provincial armed forces also made ambushes on national highways 1A and 13B to prevent the enemy’s ways to the positions blocked by the Vietnamese army.

To protect smooth transportation on routes from the rear to the front, committees for bridges, roads, ferries were established at from communal to provincial levels. The route connecting Ca and Pha Din Passes and Dien Bien Phu, one of the key routes to transport supplies for Dien Bien Phu Battle, always suffered intensive bombing by the enemy during the campaign.

Bac Giang armed forces and people pulled together in a display of resilience against the massive bombardment. They bravely disarmed delay-action bombs and promptly repaired affected roads, bridges and ferries to ensure traffic. The local conscript laborers and youth volunteers were tasked by Viet Bac Inter-zone to construct three bypass sections with a total length of 25 kilometers, that went around Ca Pass.

Despite the areas were heavily bombarded, the roads were completed after only one month thanks to the people’s hard work day and night. After the roads finished, the youth volunteer force successfully directed hundreds of trucks and artilleries to go to Dien Bien Phu safely.

Vietnamese troops pull artilleries up to the battlefield. File photo.

In addition, people of Bac Giang together with those from Bac Ninh transported 117 tonnes of rice, 70,000 pieces of “banh day kho” (Vietnamese dried round sticky rice cake), 4.6 tonnes of meat, 55 tonnes of vegetables and beans and 16 tonnes of sugar to support the army.

In the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, many soldiers who served in regular military units were from Bac Giang; some of who made great combat achievements and honored with the Hero of the People’s Armed Force title, such as Nguyen Van Ty and Chu Van Mui.

Over 56 days and nights with a strong mind, bravery, selfless sacrifice, cleverness and creativity, the entire Party, army and people made the historic victory – Dien Bien Phu, completely crushing the strongest complex of fortresses of French troops in Indochina. Dien Bien Phu Victory is forever a pride of Vietnamese people in the cause of national building, safeguarding and development.

Viet Anh