Referring to Cao Bang tourism, many tourists often think of Pac Bo Special National Historic Site, Ban Gioc Waterfall – Nguom Ngao Cave… but for those who love to learn about culture, heroic history of the nation associated with the revolutionary activities of President Ho Chi Minh and of the Vietnamese people’s army, it is advisable to spend more time in Cao Bang to visit and learn about the special national relic, the Battle Site. won the Border in 1950.
President Ho Chi Minh Memorial House was built according to modern stilt house architecture and put into use on May 19, 2004.
The sites of the 1950 Border Victory, about 40 km from Cao Bang city ( in the direction of National Highway 4A from Cao Bang to Lang Son ), there are 19 relic sites distributed into 4 clusters of relics located in 3 communes and 3 communes. 1 town of Thach An district includes: The cluster of relics of President Ho Chi Minh with the border victory in 1950 (Duc Long commune); The cluster of relics of Dong Khe fortress (Dong Khe town); Khau Luong relic cluster (Duc Xuan commune); Coc Xa relic cluster – high point 477 ( Trong Con commune). In particular, the points related to the 1950 Border Campaign are mainly distributed in the cluster of relics of President Ho Chi Minh with the Border victory in 1950 and the cluster of relics of Dong Khe fortress.
The special national relic site of the 1950 Border Victory has particularly important value associated with the revolutionary activities of President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap and the growth and development of Vietnam People’s Army.
With the important position, role and historical significance of the relic, and at the same time meeting the aspirations of the army and people of Cao Bang as well as the army and people of the whole country in preserving and effectively promoting the value of the relic, On December 25, 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 2082/QD-TTg ranking the Special National Monument of the 1950 Border Victory Site.
The Special Importance of the 1950 Border Victory
After the victory over Viet Bac Autumn-Winter in 1947, our army and people smashed the French colonialists’ strategy of “Fighting quickly and winning quickly”, making the battlefield situation between us and the enemy turn into a position of “struggle and struggle”. , we have gradually turned to counterattack.
In Indochina, the French army became increasingly mired in the war and fell into a passive defense position. In order to save the situation, the French government set up a plan of Rove to blockade the border, use puppet troops as occupation, and concentrate European – African troops into a mobile force to carry out the policy of “using the Vietnamese to fight against the Vietnamese.” Vietnamese”, “bringing war to raise war”. In Cao Bang, the French focused on consolidating the system of military bases and posts on National Highway 4 from Cao Bang town to Dong Khe, That Khe, Na Sam and Lang Son; in which Dong Khe is an important sub-zone, the shield of Cao Bang.
On our side, along with strengthening our military forces and expanding the liberated areas, in order to enlist the support of people’s democratic countries in the world, our Party and President Ho Chi Minh advocated to promote public diplomatic relations with the motto “more friends, less enemies”.
Facing the situation in the world and in the country with many favorable changes, in order to bring the resistance war to a new step, in June 1950, the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee decided to open the Border Campaign, named “War” epidemic Le Hong Phong II” aimed at destroying an important part of the enemy’s vitality and liberating part of the border; open borders with socialist countries to break the siege of France, expand and strengthen the Viet Bac base.
The Standing Committee of the Central Committee decided to establish the Party Committee of the Front with 05 comrades: General Vo Nguyen Giap – Standing Member of the Party Central Committee, the Minister of National Defense as Secretary of the Party Committee of the Front; Mr. Tran Dang Ninh – Member of the Party Central Committee as the Chairman of the General Department of Supply; Mr. Hoang Van Thai as Chief of the General Staff; Mr. Le Liem, Vice Chairman of the General Department of Politics; Mr. Bui Quang Tao, Deputy Secretary of the Interregional Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Viet Bac Interregional Administrative Resistance Committee as a member.
Cao Bang was chosen as the main battlefield of the Border campaign, because Cao Bang shares a common border with Guangxi province – China, convenient international trade routes, is the focal point of important strategic roads, Road No. 4 runs along the Northeast border to the Gulf of Tonkin Coast. Road No. 3 connects Cao Bang – Bac Kan – Thai Nguyen. Moreover, the people of Cao Bang were tested and tempered during the revolutionary period. By the end of 1949, the localities around National Highway 3 from Ngan Son to Bac Kan and most of the districts in Cao Bang province were liberated.
With the importance of the Campaign, from the end of August 1950, despite being busy with many important things, President Ho Chi Minh – the supreme leader went to the front with the Operation Command to directly direct the War. translate, mobilize troops and people to fight.
The monument cluster of President Ho Chi Minh is observing and directing the Dong Khe front on the top of Bao Dong mountain
The first and only campaign, President Ho Chi Minh directly went to the front to direct and mobilize troops and people to fight.
Early in the morning of September 16, 1950, from the observation position on Bao Dong mountain, Duc Long commune, Thach An district (11km from Dong Khe as the crow flies), President Ho Chi Minh monitored and directed the battle every day. Dong Khe point – The opening battle for the 1950 Border campaign. In the moment when President Ho Chi Minh was attentively observing the front from the top of Bao Dong mountain, photographer Vu Nang An promptly blinked the lens. recorded the historical photo “President Ho Chi Minh is observing the Dong Khe front” with the spirit of the supreme commander shining in the smoke and fire and the belief that victory has been retained for eternity. This is also the first and only campaign that President Ho Chi Minh – the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, dear father of the Vietnamese revolutionary armed forces, directly went to the front to direct the campaign, mobilize soldiers and combatants.
When observing the Dong Khe front on the top of Bao Dong mountain, President Ho Chi Minh immediately wrote the famous poem “Up the mountain”:
Leaning on the cane to watch the battlefield
Thousands of mountains help thousands of clouds
Our army is strong and swallows the ox
Vow to destroy the invasion of wolves and civets
The image of the supreme leader of the Party and the nation who is not afraid of difficulties and dangers coming to the front to join the Command in directing the fight is a great source of spiritual encouragement that has spread to the whole country. our army and people. Uncle Ho going to war is a manifestation of the Party and people’s highest determination to defeat the enemy. The whole front was eager to kill the enemy to achieve victory, bringing the campaign to victory.
The Historical Significance of the 1950 Border Victory
The victory of the Border Campaign has profound national and epochal significance. The Border Campaign of 1950 was the first major offensive campaign of the Vietnam People’s Army in the resistance war against the French colonialists, a campaign of special importance under the direct direction of the Party Central Committee. President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap.
The Border Campaign eliminated more than 8,300 enemy names from the battle ring, liberated the entire Vietnam-China border line from Cao Bang to Dinh Lap with 350,000 inhabitants, with an area of ​​4,500 km2 .; breaching the “East-West Corridor” of France. The enemy’s siege position both inside and outside the Viet Bac base was broken. The victory of the Border Campaign changed the war situation between us and France, created a new change in the strategy of attack and counter-attack, contributing to bringing the resistance war to victory, culminating in the campaign. Dien Bien Phu in 1954. When looking back on France’s defeat in the Indochina war, former Governor General of Indochina Catherine bitterly confirmed: “The defeat of the French army at the Vietnam-China border in October/October/ 1950 had a decisive influence on the fate of Indochina and Dien Bien Phu later suffered from that influence.
The victory of the Border victory in 1950 proved the correctness of the war line “all people, comprehensive, long-term, relying on their own strength” that the Party and President Ho Chi Minh proposed. Lessons on promoting internal resources, building resistance forces, and building an army to win the 1950 Border Campaign are still valid in today’s national construction and defense.
The cluster of relics of Dong Khe fortress is located right next to National Highway 4A in Dong Khe town
Promoting the value of the special National Monument of the 1950 Border Victory Site to develop tourism
Today, the special National Monument of the 1950 Border Victory Site is preserved and preserved as meaningful evidence for future generations about an important milestone in the nation’s history. Visiting the relic, tourists visit Dong Khe relic site cluster located right next to National Highway 4A in Dong Khe town, then continue to move about 17 km to visit Ho Chi Minh President relic cluster with Border victory in 1950 in Duc Long commune, Thach An district. There is a Memorial House for President Ho Chi Minh, which was jointly built by the Commands of Military Regions, Military Regions I, Military Region II and Cao Bang province according to modern architecture on stilts and put into use on May 19. /2004. In it, there are 63 pictures and documents related to President Ho Chi Minh’s activities in the 1950 Border campaign and a number of other artifacts such as guns, mortars, cooking pans, etc.
Next on the journey, visitors conquer Bao Dong mountain – where President Ho Chi Minh chose as an observatory to command the Border campaign in the past. To witness and take pictures with Uncle Ho’s monuments on Bao Dong mountain, visitors have to go through 846 stone steps, divided into 79 steps, symbolizing Uncle Ho’s 79 springs. On the way to experience, visitors can also immerse themselves in a peaceful space, zooming in to see the beautiful and majestic natural landscape here. And at the foot of the mountain are simple constructions of the Operation Command Department, the Operations Department, the Military Intelligence Department, meeting to discuss the battle, and the communication and logistics areas serving the Border campaign in 2019. 1950.
On the way from Dong Khe town to the cluster of relics of President Ho Chi Minh with the border victory in 1950, visitors can visit ethnic villages in Duc Xuan and Le Loi communes, exchange and experience. culture with the Tay and Nung people… discover the houses on stilts and houses that have the intersection between the two cultures of France and the native culture to create a separate architectural form of the house on stilts. The location of these houses, about 7km from Dong Khe town, has been marked in the tourist map of the French, so every year French tourists come here to learn a lot.
Preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the historic border victory in 1950 (1950-2020), the Management Board of Special National Monuments of Cao Bang Province will continue to invest in restoration and embellishment to promote historical values. history, science, culture and aesthetics of the monument to educate revolutionary traditions for generations, attract more and more domestic and foreign tourists to visit, study and research.
Source: Collected internet.