Historic decision

The Dien Bien Phu stronghold was an “impregnable fortress”. Therefore, the Dien Bien Phu campaign was “the largest-scale siege campaign in the history of our army to date” - an extremely arduous but also extremely glorious task.

Historic decision

General Vo Nguyen Giap's working and resting hut in Muong Phang (Dien Bien Phu City).

In fact, at first Dien Bien Phu was not the strategic battle point in the Navarre Plan, the Commander-in-Chief of the French expeditionary forces in Indochina (from May 1953). However, when he learned the direction of our main force moving to the Northwest, Navarre decided to choose Dien Bien Phu to build an “impregnable fortress”, ready to attract and crush our main force if we “risked an attack”. However, it was “a gamble of winning or losing”, as author Bernard B. Fall called it.

Because, right after the enemy parachuted into Dien Bien Phu, the Party Central Committee and President Ho Chi Minh assessed: The enemy's organization of Dien Bien Phu as a stronghold group was a good opportunity for us to destroy their elite forces. Therefore, along with attacks on many fronts to disperse, hold back and wear down the enemy's forces; we also closely followed and surrounded the enemy in Dien Bien Phu and prepared for this important battlefield. The Party Central Committee decided to establish the Party Committee and the Dien Bien Phu Front Command, with comrade Vo Nguyen Giap, member of the Party Central Committee's Politburo, directly serving as Party Committee Secretary and Front Commander.

Originally, through campaigns and attacks on all fronts, especially in the Winter-Spring campaign of 1953-1954, our troops had been exposed to the way of fighting strongholds. However, to deal with the stronghold group that the French were very confident was “inviolable”, it required a suitable way of fighting within our army’s limited combat capabilities in terms of campaigns and tactics.

With the Dien Bien Phu front, if we choose the option of “fighting quickly, resolving quickly” there will be many advantages. That is, our troops are in good shape; the battle will not last long, so there is little fear of attrition and fatigue. The duration of the campaign is not long, so the issue of food and ammunition supply can be guaranteed, without encountering major obstacles. However, “fighting quickly, resolving quickly” has a huge disadvantage: our troops, although having been prepared in terms of ideology and tactics to attack the stronghold; have no practical experience. Fighting Dien Bien Phu is also the first time we have fought a stronghold, and we have encountered a very strong stronghold.

Entrusted by the Party and President Ho Chi Minh with a difficult but noble task, before going to the front, Uncle Ho advised the General: “This battle is important, we must fight to win. Only fight if we are sure of victory, if we are not sure of victory, we do not fight”. Thoroughly understanding his thoughts, after continuously monitoring and analyzing the enemy situation and our capabilities, the General concluded: “Having firmly grasped the principle of fighting to win, we have determined that, in the situation where the enemy's stronghold has been consolidated, no longer in a state of temporarily occupying the battlefield, if we “fight quickly, resolve quickly”, then victory is not guaranteed. Therefore, we have firmly determined the motto of the campaign to be “fight firmly, advance firmly”.

Switching from “fighting fast, solving fast” to “fighting steadily, advancing steadily” was the “most difficult decision in the General’s military career”. To make that decision, the General spent 11 days and nights “losing sleep and appetite” and 1 sleepless night; as well as persuading and creating consensus from the Advisory Group, the Party Committee and the Front Command. It was a historic decision, ensuring the “certain victory” of the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

According to the motto of “fight firmly, advance firmly”, the Dien Bien Phu campaign was not a battle against the enemy in solid fortifications, on a very large scale and continuing continuously for a short period of time. It was a campaign to attack the battlefield, on a very large scale, but consisting of a series of many battles against the enemy in solid fortifications, continuing for a long time, concentrating superior forces to destroy each part of the enemy, and then destroying the entire stronghold. However, conducting the campaign according to the motto of “fight firmly, advance firmly” would also lead to many new difficulties and obstacles. That is, the longer the campaign lasted, the more the enemy would strengthen their fortifications, and could send in more reinforcements. On our side, if the operation lasted longer, our troops could be worn out and tired, but the biggest difficulty was still supply and supply.

However, “fighting firmly, advancing firmly” ensures a sure victory, because it is suitable for the level of our troops. Moreover, by “fighting firmly, advancing firmly”, we can maintain complete control over the time and place of attack. At the same time, we can exploit the enemy’s weakness in terms of supply if we can control the airport. In addition, this motto also creates conditions for other battlefields to destroy more enemy forces, expand the liberated areas and coordinate better with the main battlefield of Dien Bien Phu.

“Here, I want to clearly distinguish between a correct operational decision and the resolute fighting spirit of the army. A correct operational decision is an operational policy that fully demonstrates revolutionary and scientific nature, originating from a correct and comprehensive assessment of ourselves and the enemy. The resolute fighting spirit is the army's determination to fight heroically, determined to complete all assigned tasks. It must be said that the spirit of determination to fight is one of the decisive factors for victory in war. But the spirit of determination to fight alone is not enough. The spirit of determination to fight can only fully exert its effect on the basis of a correct operational plan, a correct determination of the campaign, tactics and realistic capabilities of organization and command. When there is a correct revolutionary line, the revolutionary method is the decisive issue. When there is a correct operational policy, the combat method is the decisive issue. That is one of the main contents of the art of command” – Dai General Vo Nguyen Giap.

When recalling this decision, in the work “Dien Bien Phu”, the General said: “We firmly determined the motto of the campaign to be “fight firmly, advance firmly”. That decision required great determination, determination to firmly grasp the principle of fighting firmly to win in commanding operations; determination to mobilize all forces to overcome thousands of difficulties and obstacles to ensure the sure victory of the campaign”.

Grasping the motto of “fighting firmly, advancing firmly”, in directing the preparation work, we focused on both aspects: full preparation and taking advantage of time. In particular, we paid special attention to the preparation work on all aspects, especially the preparation of new roads for artillery and the preparation of the battlefield and artillery firing techniques; further preparation of material and spirit, techniques and tactics for the troops; at the same time, continuing to monitor and study the enemy situation, especially changes in their troops and their deployment in the center... From there, we overcame disadvantages or concerns about the attrition and fatigue of the troops; the provision and supply of food and ammunition; the problem of unfavorable weather...

And reality has proven that changing direction and mastering and effectively applying the motto "fighting firmly, advancing firmly" is the basis and premise for bringing the Dien Bien Phu campaign to complete victory.

Article and photos: Kh.Nguyen

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