Political struggle movement of youth, students and pupils in Da Lat city 1969 - 1975 (part 3)

(LĐ online) - After the anti-monopoly struggle on October 3, 1971, many new elements appeared and were built into core elements, revolutionary sympathisers, and secret bases in the inner city to prepare for the next battles.

Some key members were welcomed into the resistance base to study politics, discuss urban operation methods, recruit the Youth Union and form the Vietnam People's Revolutionary Youth Union (VYNU) of the inner-city TNSVHS. The situation had calmed down, and the brothers returned to Da Lat one by one. At this time, Ngo The Ly appeared to compete for leadership in order to eliminate those who had participated in the struggle in the past from the Da Lat Buddhist Student Union. The City Party Committee directed us to take and maintain the leadership of this important organization because this was a safe place for the secret inner-city VYNU to stand, and also the place where we could best mobilize forces. Some key figures had to withdraw from the Executive Committee to maintain a secret role, and Truong Tro was elected to publicly run for the position of President of the Da Lat Buddhist Student Union. In the 1972 Dalat Buddhist Student Congress, although Ly and a group of people had won the position of representative Master Chanh to sit in the Presidium with Ly, and he deliberately organized a fraudulent election to eliminate Truong Tro's ticket, we still won the leadership of the Buddhist Students, in which we must mention the determination and intelligence of Nguyen Hoa who broke their fraudulent tricks. In the 1972 Lunar New Year (the Year of the Rat), Ngo The Ly (still trying to occupy the Union Office) in the name of the Buddhist Students published the Nham Ty Spring issue of Tin Tuong with a bright red theme on the first cover page: "OUR COUNTRYMEN ARE ONE-HEARTED TO DRIVE AMERICA - SPRING TO FIGHT AMERICA TO SAVE THE COUNTRY", after that he disappeared! We determined that Ly created an excuse for the police to attack the movement and they would arrest some key members.

Indeed, in April 1972, Truong Tro was arrested and imprisoned by the police for two months. They asked: "Are you a Communist?", he replied: "I am not a Communist, I am just a patriot." They argued: "If you are not a Communist, how can you fight the Americans?", he replied: "In the South, I am not the only one who fights the Americans. Mrs. Ngo Ba Thanh, Mr. Ngo Cong Duc and many congressmen also fight the Americans. Monks and priests also fight the Americans and the American people also fight the American government that spreads war in Vietnam." No matter how many psychological attacks he received, they could not subdue him. In the end, they had to release him with a sentence that the police forced him to write and sign: "If I meet a Communist, I will report to the National Government" and kept it in the police's secret file. Interestingly, he wrote to the police while he himself was a Communist. Later, his contemporaries had to defend the purity of his background before the investigating agencies.

On January 27, 1973, the Paris Agreement was signed, which was a victory for us at the negotiating table. While the Southern government tried to cover up information about the Paris Agreement, Nguyen Van Thieu continuously shouted to flood the territory, not to stop firing, "Do not let any Viet Cong enter the city to eat pho!"... then the Dalat Buddhist Student Union broke out, publicly propagandizing the Paris Agreement on Vietnam among the TNSVHS and the people of Dalat. The content of the agreement and news from around the world were partly sent back from the Buddhist Student group in Canada. The monthly magazine Tin Tuong of the Dalat Buddhist Student Union was renamed Hoa Hop to match the spirit of the Paris Agreement on Vietnam. Through the friendship groups and faculties, the inner-city brothers promoted the movement “Sing for my people” with songs such as “Get up and go”, “Volunteer”, “Sing on the fighting road”, “My boat goes in the night”, “Love between North and South”, “Singing of sleepless nights”… and many songs composed by students. On weekend nights, the Buddhist Student Union often organized sleepless nights with the theme “Lighting torches to illuminate the enemy’s faces”. Such activities gently but deeply touched people’s hearts, further fostering the revolutionary spirit of many young Buddhist students…

The police were still secretly monitoring Truong Tro. In early 1974, the inner-city Party Cell received a letter from H18 (Mr. Nguyen Phan Luy - Acting Captain of the Youth Union Working Group) delivered directly from the base by a liaison. H18 conveyed that the City Party Committee directed the inner-city Party Cell and Youth Union to take P10 to escape into the forest through the route to the South of the City, because P10 had been exposed and the route to the Northwest was no longer convenient. All were written in code and hidden letters between two lines of the Tin Sang newspaper. After using chemicals and a code to translate the letter (this code was from the Vietnamese-French dictionary researched by Mr. Luy, easy to implement but difficult to unlock, this dictionary could be carried with you like carrying a public code without fear of being exposed), the Party Cell agreed on a plan to approach and organize the transfer of Tro (P10) into the forest. Mr. Nguyen Hoa, alias Tran Han, code C1, was assigned to carry out this plan. There was a slight mistake when Mr. Luy wrote the code, so the two brothers Hoang and Hoa had to spend a lot of time translating back and forth before finally agreeing that it was Truong Tro, and then it took many days to approach and convey the City Party Committee's instructions to make Mr. Tro believe, even though they studied and worked together at the Dalat Buddhist Student Union and were very familiar with each other. In the situation where the enemy had dense defenses, secret agents, undercover police everywhere, the truth and lies were mixed up... The plan to bring P10 to the resistance base was really not simple, but the Party Committee trusted Mr. Hoa, a daring, intelligent party member, a very charming humorous person, he often turned big things into small things easily and everyone had to accept him.

One night in early summer 1974, C1 took P10 away. The next morning, he returned from the pedal station and reported that he had completed the mission. The brothers were so happy that they invited each other to the Nam cafe on Phan Boi Chau street to enjoy a cup of kho coffee with a Basto Luxe cigarette to celebrate the victory. Suddenly missing, the police tried their best to search for Truong Tro. An ninh Thi had a spectacular diversion (Truong Tro wrote a letter to his family, the City Party Committee sent someone to take the letter to Saigon to send it up to have a postmark from Saigon) which made the police head towards Saigon to search, while Truong Tro was already in the resistance base, keeping the remaining brothers outside the city and his family safe.

At the end of December 1974 and the beginning of January 1975, our army liberated Phuoc Long, opening up new hopes for the approaching liberation day. The Youth Union Working Team summoned B1 (Nguyen Trong Hoang - alias: Nguyen) to the base to learn about the new mission situation. Actually, up to this point, there was no basis to say that we could liberate the South next year, and no one from the higher-ups had mentioned this, but perhaps because of the desire to end the war soon, when hearing the news of the victory in Phuoc Long, everyone was excited and happy, thinking that victory would soon be achieved. The atmosphere in the Team's base was bustling with joy and hope, even in the work exchange, the brothers themselves mentioned a number of things that needed to be done when the situation was favorable to liberate Da Lat. After nearly a month of working with the Working Team, working with the leaders of the City Party Committee, B1 returned to the city. The farewell party for B1 included a delicious meal of white rice with dried fish and giang leaf soup cooked with canned fish! In the funny story, dreaming of the day of victory, Mr. Luy (H18) squeezed B1 (Nguyen)'s shoulder and said with a bright and emotional laugh, "See you in Da Lat." The spirit was like that, but the training content still had nothing new, the general situation was still that we won and the enemy lost. This time, the young soldiers seemed really excited, but in the previous times, every time they sat and listened to their superiors explain about our victory and the enemy's defeat, no one dared to argue, but when they hung hammocks on the cliff, in the middle of the forest, they hummed: "Last year we celebrated Tet in the green forest / This year we celebrate Tet around the old forest"! Discussing the approach to grasp the enemy's developments in Da Lat; mastering the 5 steps of work, continuing to discover new factors, actively building secret organizations, infiltrating the People's Self-Defense Forces, being ready when the opportunity comes, to have the force to act...

The marching formation moved silently, reaching the edge of the forest in Quang Hiep village around 11 pm, the entire formation deployed thinly next to old pine trees and rows of sweet potatoes on the newly cleared land, waiting for the scouts to stick to the foothold. A moment later, the scouts came out, including Nguyen Hoa, a student of MPC (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry), alias Tran Han, code C1, a member of the Southern People's Revolutionary Party, in the inner-city Party cell. We met unexpectedly at night on the way back to the city, the other to the area. We were so happy that we hugged each other and fell down on the sweet potatoes. I said: "The plan to welcome you out was something I didn't know! They kept it a secret!". Hoa said: "I didn't know you were coming back either! I thought I would meet you at Thi (the City Party Committee base), after school we would both go back together!". After that, we agreed with Luy to return to the city on the 4th day of Tet C1 to work together to keep up with the rapidly changing situation. So Mr. Hoa went to attend the second training session, but after finishing the course, Hoa got malaria, then the enemy raided, the agency had to move... so he could only return after more than a month! In the third training session, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung - a 12th grade student at Bo De School, a member of the Vietnam People's Revolutionary Youth Union, went to attend the training session around the end of March and she returned to the city on the night the enemy was on the run, she immediately participated in the uprising activities. It can be said that the Da Lat City Party Committee and the Youth Union Working Group proactively organized 3 training sessions for inner-city cadres to prepare for the liberation of Da Lat.

In the early days of March 1975, the war in the Central Highlands was fierce, Saigon and international press focused almost all their attention on the situation on the Central Highlands battlefield. Saigon radio still stressed: "The Army of the Republic of Vietnam, supported by the air force, is retaking Ban Me Thuot". Meanwhile, independent newspapers published big headlines "Ban Me Thuot has fallen". Along with news from people who escaped from the fire zone to Da Lat and information from families with relatives or children studying in Da Lat calling back, the reoccupation force had been repelled or largely destroyed. The authorities and the powerful people in Da Lat clearly showed confusion and agitation. On March 19 and 20, 1975, newspapers in Saigon and abroad simultaneously reported on the disastrous escape of the II Corps from the Central Highlands on Route 7, with the beautiful name of President Thieu as the “Tactical Evacuation”, which had a strong impact on the political atmosphere in Dalat. The city became quiet, mysterious, and difficult to understand!

The belief in victory among the inner city brothers was greater than ever, the rumors that the revolution had reached Trai Mat, Da Thien, Cam Ly... were spread by the inner city brothers and spread quickly, affecting the activities in the city. First was Bui Thi Xuan High School for Girls, where students were camping to celebrate the end of the first semester and the anniversary of Hai Ba Trung (6/2 lunar month, ie March 18, 1975) but organized one day earlier, on February 5 lunar month, ie March 17, 1975. Hearing word of mouth that the Viet Cong had reached kilometer Four, Da Thien... preparing for a big attack, the whole school immediately pulled up camp and rushed home, like a wave with strong spreading power, then other schools in the city fled in fear, university students skipped classes, markets went on strike, the city was in chaos for many days. The police and secret service no longer patrolled and raided as harshly as before.

On March 20, 1975, Nhan - a direct liaison from the base to the city brought the directive letter from the City Party Committee and the Working Team conveyed by H18 and 2 leaflets from the Provisional People's Revolutionary Committee of Da Lat Town. The directive letter from the City Party Committee assessed that the situation was very favorable, the enemy was suffering heavy defeats in the Central Highlands and was fleeing in many provinces, if the situation developed favorably, we could soon liberate Da Lat. The directive letter directed the Party Cell and the Youth Union inside to do several things:

- Re-determine the locations of enemy military and government agencies to guide troops when attacking the city;

- Pay attention to arranging protection for several important points in the city: Provincial Administration Building, Geographic Office, Atomic Energy, Post and Telecommunications, Treasury, Pasteur Institute, Power Plant, Water Plant and rice warehouses to prevent famine, send people to the Hospital to persuade doctors and nurses not to evacuate, stay to take care of wounded soldiers and people;

- Mobilize people to sew and hang flags when the situation allows. What must be done immediately is to print two leaflets sent by the City Party Committee and distribute the leaflets in the city to create momentum for the people and cause confusion for the ruling apparatus as well as the soldiers and officers of the Saigon regime.

After discussion, it was impossible to use the typewriter in Da Lat because the police would find it immediately, so the brothers decided to use the old typewriter that Uncle Quang Nhan had brought from Saigon to make stencils. Quang Nhan, aka Nguyen Ngoc Kha, from Phu Yen, was a Buddhist monk studying at Bo De High School, and was also a member of the Da Lat Inner City Working Group. At the same time, Nguyen Tri Dien had also convinced his adoptive father, Le Van Lang, to agree to let him use the typewriter that he had just bought from Nha Trang and brought up without registering it, which was at home in Tam Bo. Dien rode his Honda down to Tam Bo, put the machine in a bag of sweet potato leaves and brought it back to Da Lat, so at one time there were two typewriters, one of which was given to the Provincial Museum after liberation. Mr. Tran Van Co was assigned to build a manual printing table using a wooden frame stretched with soft fabric, spread typed stencil paper on the fabric frame, apply ink and then place white paper on top to smooth each sheet. With this type of printing factory model, the Youth Union assigned two brothers, Tran Dinh Tai (B7 - alias: Phuong) and Nguyen Tri Dien (B71), to be in charge of printing right in Tri Dien's boarding house. The two brothers worked hard for 3 days to print about a thousand leaflets with 2 contents: One, the People's Revolutionary Committee of Da Lat Town called on the people not to evacuate with the enemy, to stay and coordinate with the revolutionary forces to liberate the Town, together to protect the property and lives of the people. Two, called on the officers and soldiers of the Saigon regime not to obey the command to drown with them, but to turn their guns and rise up to mutiny, return to the revolution, to the people. Tri Dien's foster mother, the owner of the house where the printing press was located, did not know what the children were doing, but she guessed that this was an important and secret matter, so for three days, she kept watch by sweeping the yard and trimming the hedges. Whenever anyone entered the house, she greeted them loudly. When the guests left, she also greeted them loudly so that the people inside could hear. Outside, two people walked along Cong Hoa Street (Ly Tu Trong) up to Thanh Nien Inn (Lam Dong Youth Center). Sometimes they sat reading books under a tree and talking to each other, but they always kept an eye on the surroundings to keep an eye on the outer perimeter for the "secret printing plant" to operate.

It is also necessary to talk about the characters: Tran Van Co, a native of Hue, born and raised in Da Lat, he had many relationships and acquaintances in this city, was a fourth-year student of the biology department, from the troubadour movement, from the "Dong lua reo" art group he moved to fighting music, singing for my people with a unique voice that stirred up the streets at that time. He was admitted to the secret organization right at Da Lat University, on the bench of the small park near the school's soccer field, with the alias Tran Dong Khoi and code number B6. Tran Dinh Tai, from Binh Dinh, was a student of literature - history - geography and a student of pedagogy, known to many people because he was quite handsome, the one who won many votes from female students of the pedagogy school in the election of the school's Representative Board, he participated in secret revolutionary work with the code number B7, code name Phuong. Nguyen Tri Dien from Quang Ngai, a second-year MPC student (math, physics, chemistry), President of the Quang Ngai Group Alumni Association, code name B71, a diligent, hard-working member, willing to help others, a lovable younger brother in the group. They carried out the preparations for the uprising day in an excited spirit, voluntarily and seriously carrying out the assigned tasks.

After the leaflets were printed, the Party Cell and the inner-city Youth Union recognized that the situation was more favorable, so there was no need to direct in a chain-like, separate manner to keep it secret as before, but decided to meet all the leaders of the systems and wings at house number 2A Cong Hoa (today's Ly Tu Trong) to disseminate the plan to quickly distribute leaflets, responding to the urgent situation. At exactly 5:00 a.m. on March 27, 1975, after the siren to release the curfew on the roof of Hoa Binh Cinema had just ended, the city was still covered in thick fog, all members of the inner-city secret Youth Volunteers Working Team set out from the pre-selected alleys onto the streets, joining groups of people going to the market early to skillfully carry out their tasks. In just 15 minutes as prescribed, leaflets were distributed on many streets of Da Lat, including some leaflets distributed in the Field Police Center by Mr. Tam, a unit of Ms. Le Thi Quyen (A2). (Ms. Le Thi Quyen, code A1, alias Viet Bao or Sau, from Nha Trang, a chemistry student, a beautiful, intelligent and brave female student, was assigned to build a base among teachers, writers, some civil servants and lead the Women's Right to Live movement). Mr. Co (B6) also had a unique trick of not spreading all the leaflets but smearing some dirt on them and handing them out to acquaintances with the explanation: "Last night the Viet Cong spread leaflets all over the city, I just picked them up, read what they said". The leaflets reached many citizens, civil servants and soldiers. Rumors that the Viet Cong were present in the city spread very quickly, some civil servants fled their posts, some soldiers hid their guns, deserted and went home. Families with influence evacuated en masse... The government had almost no control over the situation. On March 28, we liberated Bao Loc, advanced to liberate Di Linh, the armed siege was tightening around Da Lat, inside it seemed ready to revolt. On the afternoon of March 30, 1975, Tran Van Co hung out at a coffee shop with his old classmates who were officers studying at the Political Warfare School, and they leaked information that there would be an evacuation but the time was not yet clear. After receiving the news from Co, on one hand the Youth Union reported the news to the Working Team through the mailbox at the pedal, on the other hand they frantically prepared a plan for the uprising according to the directive letter from the City Party Committee.

The atmosphere in Dalat at this time was extremely tense! We were happy, urgently preparing for an uprising! The enemy was worried, urgently preparing to flee! The people were excited, urgently preparing to welcome a big change.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/chinh-tri/202503/phong-trao-dau-tranh-chinh-tri-cua-thanh-nien-sinh-vien-hoc-sinh-noi-thanh-da-lat-1969-1975-bai-3-ce864b9/