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.”

Path to General Vo Nguyen Giap’s headquarters

Moving such a heavy gun, soldiers at the front-end and rear-end held the ropes and dragged their burden, straining every muscle, up the side of the hill. Every night, the task would have to continue during a bombing raid, a life and death situation. To cheer themselves, they would laugh and sing, “ Two! Three! Azo ta! Now, pulling the gun across the hill!  Azo ta! Now, pulling the gun across the mountain”.

On one occasion, the ropes were cut by enemy artillery fire and the gun came loose and started sliding backwards. Every one was in great panic. A young soldier, To Vinh Dien, immediately jumped down, using his own body to block the sliding cannon. He died instantly, but saved the gun. To the Vietnamese, the few weapons that they had were precious. And the soldiers considered them as being more precious than their own lives. This was the spirit of Vo Nguyen Giap’s Liberation Army.

Witnessing such a sacrifice by a comrade, Hoang Van composed the heartfelt song, “Heave Away The Cannon” (Hò Kéo Pháo):

At the hilltop positions, the Viet Minh camouflaged their guns with forest leaves. All 40 howitzers - both 75mm and 120 mm - were now completely encircling the French garrison below them. A soldier expressed his emotion:

Cannons we wrapped up with clusters of leaves
Flocks of white butterflies are dancing with the dangling branches
How exciting that we are now in the Northwest terrain
Loved ones at home are waiting anxiously for our return   

General Giap’s headquarters at Muong Phang mountain site

The French had installed fortresses, underground bunkers, barbed-wire fences, tanks, artillery, warplanes, and landmines, clearly anticipating a war of forces opposed across open ground. The Commander of French forces in Indochina, Henri Navarre, never imagined the Viet Minh could move their artillery to the mountains. In his mind, even if they could get troops up there, they would suffer starvation due to the lack of means for transportation.