The 308th Division , also known as the "Vanguard" Division, codenamed Viet Bac, included: Regiment 102 (Capital Regiment), codenamed Ba Vi; Regiment 88, codenamed Tam Dao; Regiment 36, codenamed Sapa.
The 308th Division (today's 308th Division), the first main division of the Vietnam People's Army, was established on August 28, 1949, in Du town, Phu Luong district, Thai Nguyen province.
Regiment 36, Division 308 receives soldiers surrendering at Ban Keo post, March 1954. Photo: Vov.vn
The title “Vanguard” comes from the Japanese order that General Vo Nguyen Giap read on the day the Corps was founded: “The Corps has the mission, together with other main force corps, to be the vanguard on the path of destroying enemy forces and on the path of regularization. The Corps must:
Win every fight;
To fight is to destroy the enemy's vitality;
Growing stronger;
Battlefield decision”.
During the resistance war against French colonialism, the Regiment was one of the main mobile units, often assigned to fight key battles in major campaigns. In particular, in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the cadres and soldiers of the Regiment upheld revolutionary heroism, coordinated with friendly units to completely destroy the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, creating the "famous Dien Bien, earth-shaking" victory, forcing the French colonialists to sign the Geneva Agreement, ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam.
On September 19, 1954, at the Hung Kings Temple, before returning to take over the capital Hanoi, President Ho Chi Minh praised the cadres and soldiers of the Hung Kings. The 308th Division contributed to the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu. Also here, he advised the officers and soldiers of the unit: "The Hung Kings had the merit of building the country, we must work together to protect the country."
General Vo Nguyen Giap presented the "Determined to Fight, Determined to Win" flag to Mr. Le Trong Tan - Commander of Division 312 in May 1954. Photo: vov.vn
Division 312 , also known as the “Victory” Division, code name Ben Tre, included: Regiment 209 (Song Lo Regiment), code name Hong Gai; Regiment 165 (Lao Ha Regiment), code name Dong Trieu; Regiment 141 (Phu Thong Regiment), code name Dam Ha.
The 312th Division (today's 312th Infantry Division) is the main, mobile division of the Vietnam People's Army, established during the resistance war against the French colonialists (December 27, 1950).
Immediately after its establishment, the Division won its first resounding victory in Xuan Trach during the Midland Campaign. From then on, the Division continuously participated in many major campaigns: Hoang Hoa Tham, Ly Thuong Kiet, Hoa Binh, Tay Bac, Thuong Lao... During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the Division attacked and destroyed the Him Lam stronghold to open the campaign, attacked the center of Muong Thanh, captured General De Castries and the entire General Staff of the stronghold... with this great achievement, the Division was honored to receive the "Determined to Fight, Determined to Win" flag from Uncle Ho.
Through difficult and arduous revolutionary periods, regardless of the circumstances, generations of cadres and soldiers of the Division have always upheld the spirit of solidarity and unity; remained absolutely loyal to the goals and ideals of the Party and the tasks of the Army; constantly strived and trained; proactively overcame difficulties, were ready to fight, sacrifice, and excellently complete the tasks assigned by the Party, State and people.
Soldiers of Regiment 98, Division 316 attacked and destroyed the enemy at Hill C1 base on May 1, 1954. Photo: vov.vn
Division 316 , code name Bien Hoa, included: Regiment 98 (Northwest Regiment), code name Ba Don; Regiment 174 (Cao - Bac - Lang Regiment), code name Soc Trang; Regiment 176, code name Lang Son (only 1 battalion participated in the campaign).
The 316th Division (currently the 316th Division) was established on May 1, 1951 in Coc Lung village, Binh Trung commune, Cao Loc district, Lang Son province, on the basis of merging Regiments 98, 174, 176 and a number of military units.
Immediately after its founding, the units in the Regiment entered a climax of political and military study. Officers and soldiers diligently trained on the training ground and on the training grounds. As a result, all units had progressive changes in their political and ideological awareness and fighting spirit. The strength of the Regiment was increasingly affirmed, promptly responding to the increasingly high demands of the resistance war.
In the historic Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the 316th Division, together with allied units, fought steadfastly and bravely for 56 days and nights, overcoming all difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices, turning the Dien Bien Phu stronghold that the French boasted of as an "Imperishable Fortress" into a "fire pan" that burned all the ambitions and last efforts of the invading army, establishing a "Dien Bien Phu that shook the world".
In this historic Campaign, the 316th Division made many great contributions and sacrifices. The fierce battles at A1 and C1 still vividly and forever echo the feats of the 98th and 174th Regiments and are recorded in the combat history of our army as a model of courage, sacrifice and creative spirit to overcome all difficulties to gain victory.
Soldiers of the 304th Division used DKZ guns to destroy enemy tanks and infantry in the Hong Cum sub-region in April 1954. Photo: Vov.vn
Division 304 , also known as the "Glory" Division, code name Nam Dinh, included: Regiment 57, code name Nho Quan; Regiment 9, code name Ninh Binh; Regiment 66.
The 304th Division (today's 304th Division) was established on March 10, 1950, consisting of 3 Regiments (during the resistance war against France), of which only 2 regiments participated in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign: Regiment 9 and Regiment 57.
Participating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, while Divisions 308, 312, and 316 marched with relatively full forces, Division 304 was the only unit to simultaneously carry out three missions: International missions in Central Laos; fighting the enemy on the Northwestern battlefield and protecting the Central region at the base area.
The 304th Division was assigned the task of surrounding the Southern sector, controlling the airport and enemy artillery positions, and moving to separate the Hong Cum sector from the central Muong Thanh sector. This was one of three sectors of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, with more than 2,000 enemy troops, including a 105mm howitzer battalion, a 120mm mortar company, and two tank regiments.
In the preliminary summary of the attack in the Southern sub-sector, we captured many weapons, equipment, food, medicine, and killed and captured over 2,000 enemies. The feats of the 304th Division completely paralyzed the Southern sub-sector, preventing support for the Muong Thanh center, which was a remarkable achievement that contributed, together with our army and people, to the Dien Bien Phu Victory, creating the greatest victory, ending the resistance war against the French invaders, bringing the North to socialism, and being a solid rear for the long-term resistance war that followed.
In recognition of the achievements of the soldiers of Division 304, in 1954, Uncle Ho awarded the Division the "Determined to Fight, Determined to Win" flag. The Party and State honored Division 304 as a Heroic Unit of the People's Armed Forces.
General Vo Nguyen Giap inspects artillery before the opening battle at the Him Lam resistance center in March 1954. Photo: Vov.vn
The 351st Division , also known as the Artillery Division, codenamed Long Chau, included: the 151st Engineer Regiment; the 45th Howitzer Regiment, codenamed Tat Thang; the 675th Mountain Artillery Regiment; the 367th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, codenamed Huong Thuy; in addition, there were: 3 Mortar Battalions, 1 6-barreled Rocket Battalion.
On June 29, 1946, at the Central National Guard yard, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam National Army (later the Vietnam People's Army) Hoang Van Thai read the Decision to establish the Capital Artillery Corps consisting of 3 platoons: Lang Fort, Xuan Tao Fort and Xuan Canh Fort, and this day became the traditional day of the heroic Artillery Corps.
In the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring Campaign, after the French colonialists parachuted into Dien Bien Phu to build a military base here to challenge the Vietnam People's Army to come and destroy it, the Party Central Committee and Uncle Ho decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, determined to destroy the enemy and win this important victory in order to change the situation of the war. All support from across the country was focused on Dien Bien Phu. Also in this battle, for the first time, we advocated a coordinated attack between the Artillery and Infantry Arms. The Artillery was mobilized at the highest level to provide maximum firepower support to the Infantry units, including 1 75mm Mountain Artillery Regiment (24 guns), 2 105mm Howitzer Battalions (24 guns), 4 120mm Mortar Companies (16 guns), 1 37mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment (24 guns) and 2 Engineer Battalions.
During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the 806th Artillery Company of the 351st Artillery Division was the unit that fired the first artillery rounds to start the fierce attack on the powerful French colonial stronghold in the Dien Bien Phu basin. With discreet camouflage and precise and fierce artillery command, we quickly captured the Him Lam stronghold, breaking the northeastern defense line of the French colonialists.
According to some documents, in the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French army fired more than 110,000 105mm artillery shells. Meanwhile, our army only fired about 20,000 105mm artillery shells. A number much lower, but the effectiveness achieved was very high. Thus, the role of Artillery in this battle was extremely important, we succeeded in organizing a coordinated attack between the Infantry and Artillery branches, which had never been applied before.
Later, the Artillery Corps continued to participate in the resistance war against the US to save the country and was awarded the 8 words "Brass feet, iron shoulders, good fighting, accurate shooting" by President Ho Chi Minh.
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