Songs of Dien Bien Phu: Dragging artillery across mountain ranges

Viet Nam is a nation of warriors. The Vietnamese culture is very rich with revolutionary poetry and songs. This way of affirming their cultural heritage made a key contribution to morale as they fought one of world history's most decisive contests, the battle that decisively ended centuries of European colonial dominance, the violent epic at Dien Bien Phu. Songs of Dien Bien Phu series Part 1: Dragging artillery across mountain ranges The Lunar New Year of the Horse (1954) was an exciting event for the people of Thai Nguyen province. This northeastern region was known as "Viet-Bac", with a multi-ethnic population. Thai Nguyen, the gateway to northwest Viet Nam with many mountain ranges running from north to south, became an ideal strategic location for the Viet Minh during the French War. The war had begun nine years earlier, and the Vietnamese had won most of the insurgent battles along the Sino-Vietnamese border. Viet Minh soldiers pulling a howitzer across a hill Before sunrise, the long and narrow earthen roads leading to the city centre were filled with people, bicycles, tricycles, horse carts, and mini-trucks. All were carrying goods for the holiday and appeared to be in a hurry. Foreigners would be surprised at how much a bicycle could transport – everything from dozens of live ducks and chickens to heavy bags of rice, to huge baskets of fresh produce, to bulky pieces of furniture… The residents of Viet Bac had just harvested their crops and were now celebrating the New Year and the victories. After a very cold night, the beautiful morning landscape was revealed in the valley under a clear sky. The dark green hills and the rich yellow saffron fields were visible from the city boundary. Young women, bundled up in dark clothes with baskets behind their backs, were moving among the saffron flowers, giggling and laughing. On the highland, all the cherry trees, mostly white, were blooming en masse against the misty mountains in the distant haze. The beauty of each blossom - pure white tinged with pale pink - was nature at its most exquisite. The stunning landscape resembled a gigantic outdoor painting, perhaps the symbol of a new era. The local people were organizing a river boat race and several large feasts to honor members of the Liberation Army before their departure for Dien Bien Phu, a remote valley surrounded by rings of mountains, near the Vietnamese-Laotian border. Hundreds of letters of support were pouring in for Vo Nguyen Giap and his troops, from the Vietnamese public at large and from overseas – Moscow, Beijing, North Korea, Hong Kong, and even France. Preparing for the great battle at Dien Bien Phu, thousands of soldiers and civilians had been working day and night for months. After this celebration, they would return to their committed duty. Among the most challenging tasks, moving the Viet Minh's artillery to Dien Bien Phu, up the hills, and across the mountain ranges manually was formidable. It would normally be done under cover of darkness. While the howitzers were being pulled through the forest paths by trucks, each machine was completely covered in thick leaves. Touching a gun, a young soldier was admiring it, "Wow! This elephant tusk is enormous!" Another one talked to it, "Dear elephant! When you cough, please cough at the enemy's garrison. Don't pound on the back of our brothers and sisters!" They all burst out laughing with excitement. At that moment, an airplane suddenly appeared in the night sky and went into a dive, almost touching the trees. One bomb was unleashed, exploding with a huge fireball 200 meters from the Viet Minh line. The strong burning smoke nearly suffocated some of the soldiers. Everyone lay flat along the sides of the gravel road, trying to be less visible. All lights were turned off. The accompanying horses were frightened, nervous and whinnying. The aircraft, fearful of the Viet Minh anti-aircraft guns, immediately flew away. It was a miracle that nobody was hurt that night. Colonel Tran Do, described the experience of moving each howitzer uphill: "Each night, at the hour when the freezing fog came down the hills into the valley, groups of men arrived on the roads… The track was so narrow that if a slight deviation of the wheels had taken place, the gun would have fallen into the deep ravine. The newly opened track was soon an ankle deep bog. With our sweat and muscles, we kept re-building the track to haul the artillery into position. We ate only rice – sometime uncooked or overdone…the kitchen had to be smokeless by day and without flames by night. To climb a slope, hundreds of men crept in front of the gun, tugging on long ropes, pulling up little by little. On the crest, the winch would be creaking, the gun below immensely heavy and likely to slip, the tracks full of twists and turns… Whole nights were spent toiling by torchlight to move a gun 500 to 1000 meters." Forex News Travel to Vietnam tour to vietnam Tour Ghep Mien Trung Tour Trang Mat yen sao hitech review hue tourism vietnam weight loss cute girl dac san hue how to solve rubik how to tie a tie how to be pregnant how to cv what is fashion trends visit vietnam
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