70 years of Dien Bien Phu victory: The only person who suggested the General review the plan for a quick attack

Before opening the Dien Bien Phu campaign, from reconnaissance and understanding the situation of both the enemy and us, General Pham Kiet promptly asked General, Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap to review the plan to fight quickly and win quickly.

"Only Kiet dares to say that!"

On January 26, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap made his historic decision. That was to switch from the plan of fighting quickly and winning quickly to fighting steadily and advancing steadily: "Now we decide to postpone the attack. Order the troops on the entire front to retreat to the assembly point and pull out the artillery. Political work ensures that the order to retreat is strictly followed as a combat order. Logistics switches to preparing according to the new motto."

Các cánh quân tiến vào cứ điểm Điện Biên Phủ — *The troops entered the Dien Bien Phu stronghold.*

In his memoirs about Dien Bien Phu, the General emphasized the decision on January 26, 1954: "On that day, I made the most difficult decision in my commanding career." He made that historic decision after much thought and concern: "From the Tham Pua conference (the conference of the Front Party Committee, held on the afternoon of January 12, 1954, to propose a plan for a quick victory - NV) to the time of bringing artillery into the battlefield was a very long time for me. Many sleepless nights. Thinking and weighing many times, still only found very few factors of victory. I instructed the envoys to go and grasp the situation, and to report promptly anything noteworthy. Everyone reflected the very high spirit of combat preparation of the cadres and soldiers. The 312th Regiment Commander Le Trong Tan told me that during the battle, we would have to break through three times in a row to reach the center...". Documents show that the 105mm artillery pieces were pulled by cars to a distance of 9 to 12 km from the field battlefield. The date for starting to pull the artillery pieces by hand was January 15, 1954, with the initial plan being that the artillery pieces would reach the battlefield after only 4-5 days. However, the speed of pulling the artillery pieces was very slow because the road was newly opened temporarily, there were many steep passes, and the troops had no experience in pulling artillery pieces weighing over 2 tons while French aircraft continuously scouted and bombarded. Before the scheduled opening fire date (January 20), the artillery pieces had not yet reached their positions, forcing the Campaign Command to postpone the opening fire for 5 days. On January 24, through technical reconnaissance, the Campaign Command learned that the French side had learned the time when the Viet Minh troops opened fire and informed each other. The opening fire time was then postponed by 24 hours. Faced with the rapidly changing situation, the French army was urgently increasing its forces and building more solid fortifications, especially at the high points east of the stronghold. General Vo Nguyen Giap wrote: "On the ninth day, two days before the opening fire, comrade Pham Kiet, Deputy Director of the Protection Department, who was monitoring the artillery pulling in the West, asked to meet me by phone. Kiet commented: "Our artillery is all placed on field positions, the terrain is very open, if there is counter-fire or air attack, it will be difficult to avoid losses. Some artillery has not yet been pulled to the battlefield." These frank opinions came very timely.

At that time, all the cadres and soldiers were enthusiastically implementing the plan for a quick attack. I myself was urgently following the enemy's consolidation situation and thinking about the decision to change the strategy. It was at that moment that I received the opinion of Mr. Pham Kiet speaking over the phone. He briefly presented the situation and was the only person at that time who suggested that I reconsider the plan for a quick attack.

Excerpt from General Vo Nguyen Giap's letter to the Vietnam Historical Science Association on January 19, 1995

Later, in a letter sent to the Vietnam Historical Science Association on January 19, 1995, the General emphasized the role of General Pham Kiet: "In particular, at the Dien Bien Phu front, along with the task of being in charge of protection work, I sent him to inspect the battlefield preparation work in the Northeast. He went there in person, inspected the artillery positions, and discovered the danger of deploying field artillery in a relatively flat area. At that time, all officers and soldiers were enthusiastically implementing the plan for a quick attack. I myself was urgently following the enemy's consolidation situation and thinking about the decision to change the strategy. It was at that time that I received Pham Kiet's opinion over the phone. He briefly presented the situation and was the only person at that time who suggested that I reconsider the plan for a quick attack".

Trung tâm Mường Thanh rung chuyển vì đại bác của quân ta — *Muong Thanh Center shook because of our army's cannons*

The General said: "Later, I learned that some cadres were concerned, but at that time, no one spoke their true thoughts because they were afraid of being considered wavering. I highly appreciated Mr. Kiet's opinion...". The General added: "Only Kiet would dare to say that!".

"A mirror clear to infinity"

Lieutenant General Pham Kiet (real name Pham Quang Khanh) was born on January 10, 1910 in An Phu village (now Minh Thanh hamlet, Tinh Minh commune, Son Tinh district, Quang Ngai). Pham Kiet's name is associated with many achievements on all revolutionary battlefields: Captain of the Ba To guerrilla team (March 1945), 101 days of defending Nha Trang (1945), Deputy Director of the Security Department in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign...

Trung tướng Phạm Kiệt — *Lieutenant General Pham Kiet*

He was also the Commander and Political Commissar of the Armed Police Force (now the Border Guard), Deputy Minister of Public Security, commanded hundreds of battles and special operations, eliminating hundreds of spies and commandos, shooting down many planes, capturing many weapons, equipment, and documents of the enemy, firmly protecting the North. In the 1960s, in the battle to protect the Vinh Linh border area, he directed the construction of Vinh Moc tunnel, then expanded it to many other communes, resolutely holding on, and fighting steadfastly. Today, Vinh Moc tunnel is still a stele engraved with the heroic history of Vinh Linh in the time of war, bearing the mark of Commander Pham Kiet. In daily life, General Pham Kiet was simple, loyal, attentive, and cared about the people and soldiers from the smallest things. He traveled to many difficult and arduous areas, grasped the situation and directed the overcoming of difficulties. Prime Minister Pham Van Dong - who was from the same hometown and accompanied him on many revolutionary journeys, commented: "He devoted his whole life to his compatriots and country, never asking for or taking care of his family. He lived simply and honestly, always taking care of his subordinates and everyone with all he could. Anyone who worked, interacted with, or was a subordinate respected, admired, admired and loved Mr. Pham Kiet... Mr. Kiet was an extremely pure example". At 1:00 p.m. on January 23, 1975, the kind heart of the hero - Lieutenant General Pham Kiet stopped beating. His personality and bravery left behind a legend of a man loyal to the country and filial to the people.

Thanhnien.vn

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