Folklore often says: "From grandfather's generation to father's generation / When the rainbow appears over Son Cha, it will either be windy or rainy," or "Every evening, clouds cover Son Cha / Waves roar over Non Nuoc, rain falls on Vung Thung."
The majestic Son Cha
Sơn Chà stands tall and majestic, connecting a long sandbar formed by waves and wind, sheltering Vũng Thùng. “I heard a gunshot / It’s over, the French occupied Vũng Thùng yesterday.”
On the morning of May 1, 1858, R. de Genouilly commanded the Franco-Spanish fleet to land on the Son Cha peninsula and establish a headquarters. On September 1, 1858, De Genouilly sent an ultimatum demanding that the governor of Da Nang surrender the city within two hours. But without waiting for a reply, the allied forces concentrated their artillery fire, unleashing hundreds of shells on the Han River estuary and the forts on the Son Cha peninsula.
According to Professor Tran Van Giau, after five months of fighting, the French-Spanish coalition only managed to capture an uninhabited mountain and a few coastal villages. They did not dare to advance further...
They awaited a popular uprising in Nam-Ngai as promised by the French missionaries, but it never happened. In this dilemma, the invading army suffered considerable illness and death, not primarily from bullets, but from the harsh climate. Food was scarce, medicine was insufficient, and they were occasionally ambushed and sniped by Vietnamese troops...
Beaten, starved, and in pain, two years later, on March 23, 1860, R. de Genouilly packed up his belongings, boarded a ship, and burned everything down, leaving behind at the foot of Son Cha mountain a church and a "hill of skeletons" where 1,500 soldiers' bodies were buried – the souls of those who suffered humiliation and injustice. The real culprits were those who conspired and ordered the attack – they would face retribution. The ghostly graves and the unburnt corpses serve as a warning to anyone who dares to violate or desecrate the sacred mountain!
Sacred echoes from the mountains
On January 7, 1947, the French launched an attack on western Da Nang. On April 8, 1947, the Da Nang Cadre Committee was established with Nguyen Ngoc Chan as Secretary. The Committee's headquarters were located on Son Cha Mountain, comprising three sections: the Standing Section on the mountain – the Dien An stronghold, where daily operations took place; the Reserve Section located on the mountaintop – Mot Cu – Moscow; and the Section at the foot of the mountain.
A unit of the Special Task Force, consisting of 15 soldiers commanded by Nguyen Huu Khoan (Da), directly monitored the inner city. Due to the large number of people evacuating, the city was deserted at this time. To strengthen the leadership of the resistance, on August 5, 1947, the Da Nang Cadre Committee organized a conference in Dien An.
The conference analyzed the situation and pointed out that the enemy not only intended to build Da Nang into a large military base, but also wanted to transform Da Nang into a strategic stronghold for the entire Central and Indochina region… The conference decided to move the City Party Committee from Son Cha down to the Han River.
After the Lunar New Year of 1955, from Hanoi , Tu Thuan (Truong Chi Cuong), then Deputy Head of the North-South Relations Department, assigned Nguyen Tri Quang the task of researching and establishing a sea route to transport people, documents, and goods from Vinh Linh across the 17th parallel to Trung Man - Hoa Vang and vice versa.
In early 1957, following the Provincial Party Committee's directive, the fleet of boats named "Song Da Fishing Group" was tasked with transporting cadres who remained after 1954 but were ill, exhausted, or unable to stay long-term, along with many other cadres, party members, and grassroots figures who no longer had legal means to do so, across the sea to the North for medical treatment and further education. Simultaneously transporting goods, C2 – the transport unit in Vinh Moc – transported Tran Nhanh and Nguyen Duy Hung (Six Hung) from the Bom No cave on the slopes of Son Cha mountain, onto boats heading to Vinh Linh.
On March 8, 1965, American landing craft entered Vung Thung, docking at Xuan Thieu. American Marines disembarked in Nam O, flew helicopters to occupy Son Cha peak, and erected a radar station – which the locals called the "all-seeing eye" capable of seeing 300km away – an anti-aircraft radar...
Fragments of history drift to Son Cha, amidst the verdant mountains and sky, overlooking the vast ocean from its summit. Listening to the sacred echoes from the mountains, from the spirits, I suddenly remember someone's words: "The great men of old only remain in the earth if their heroic deeds are not recorded by their descendants..."
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/nui-thieng-3142760.html
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