“The sound of gunfire” - Special weapon of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army

Under the leadership of the Party, when it was first established, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army - the first national main force - operated closely following the principle of taking political building as the root, taking propaganda as the basic method to fight the enemy, at the same time, "propaganda and mobilization" was also the way to build and develop the army from the beginning.

On December 27, 1944, just 5 days after the establishment of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, the Team launched a special weapon - the newspaper Tieng Gun Roi . The birth of the newspaper promptly served the propaganda,education and training of soldiers, contributing to enhancing the prestige and position of the Team, creating trust among the people in the strong development of the revolutionary army.

Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team. (Photo: Document)

Ms. To Thi Trang, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Cao Bang province, said that the newspaper was born right after the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army was established, playing an important role in the propaganda work of the Team.

“I was fortunate to grow up with my grandfather To Vu Dau, one of the first 34 soldiers of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army. When my grandfather was still alive, my house was where his friends and comrades came to chat and recount their arduous revolutionary activities. At the end of December 1944, about a week after the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army won the two battles at Phai Khat and Na Ngan forts, the team published the newspaper Tieng gun reo to further promote the team's prestige and expand revolutionary propaganda among the people of Cao - Bac - Lang provinces. In addition to the official newspaper in Vietnamese, Tieng gun reo was also translated into other languages ​​such as Tay, Nung, Dao to distribute to other organizations and masses such as youth and women" - Ms. To Thi Trang shared.

After the victory at Phai Khat and Na Ngan, the Command Board of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army decided to reorganize, consolidate its forces and provide additional training. After only one week, the reinforcement was completed and the team developed into a company of 4 platoons. The team also established a company Political Work Committee, organized for team members to study more about the program and regulations of the Viet Minh, learn 10 oaths of honor, 12 disciplines, 5 propaganda training lessons...

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ngoc Long, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Military History Institute, in order to further promote the effectiveness of the first victories and expand revolutionary propaganda among the people, at the end of December 1944, the team published the newspaper Tieng gun reo. This was the first newspaper of the Armed Forces and a newspaper in the revolutionary press system.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ngoc Long, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Military History Institute

"Through some members of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, we learned that the Tieng Gun Roi newspaper published and analyzed the Directive of leader Ho Chi Minh on the mission and future of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, or published 10 oaths of honor. The Tieng Gun Roi newspaper also reflected the domestic and international situation at a simple level. In particular, the first issue also devoted a number of articles to detailed reports on the first two victories of Phai Khat and Na Ngan, also presenting detailed experiences of those two victories." - Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ngoc Long said.

Documents from the Vietnam Military History Institute also confirm: "About a week after the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team went to war and won the first two battles, the Team published the newspaper Tieng Gun Roi... The organizers of the newspaper selected team members with beautiful handwriting, copied them into many copies, with many different formats on the types of paper that the Team could have at that time...".

“Although written by hand and printed and published in a rudimentary manner, the Tieng gun reo newspaper promptly met the needs of propaganda, education and training for revolutionary armed organizations at that time. It also met the needs of propaganda and education for the masses. That was the premise for the birth of the armed forces newspaper later. Although it was born and existed for a short time, in a special historical context, the Tieng gun reo newspaper played an important role in serving to concretize the establishment of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army at that time, which was more political than military” - Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ngoc Long assessed.

President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap discussed combat plans. (Photo: VNA)

80 years ago, there were many revolutionary newspapers in circulation in the country such as "Liberation Flag" - the propaganda and agitation agency of Indochina directly directed by comrade Truong Chinh; Cuu Quoc Newspaper - the agency of the Viet Minh General Department; Giai Phong Newspaper - the propaganda and agitation agency of the Viet Minh in the South... However, the birth of the newspaper Tieng Gun Roi had an extremely important meaning for the Vietnam Propaganda and Liberation Army, the first main force army in particular, as well as the Vietnamese revolution at that time.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ngoc Long, the influence of General Vo Nguyen Giap on the birth of the newspaper Tieng gun reo was very important: "The General was a person who deeply understood, almost grasped the entire spirit and direction of President Ho Chi Minh, so the General understood well the armed propaganda work. One of the sharp weapons of armed propaganda work is the press work. Besides the military mission, training and stabilizing the team's organization, the General especially valued political work. One of the main contents was to quickly have a newspaper for the team, on the one hand to promote the team's first victory, and on the other hand to contribute to educating the revolutionary masses of Cao - Bac - Lang at that time. It must be said that from the decision to publish the newspaper Tieng gun reo to the selection of the newspaper organizer, General Vo Nguyen Giap was the soul of the newspaper Tieng gun reo, one of the predecessor organizations of the People's Army Newspaper later on".

Perhaps, in the history of the world's military, no army has ever launched a newspaper, its own mouthpiece so early. The newspaper "Tieng Gun reo" was born to implement Ho Chi Minh's ideology on building the revolutionary armed forces: "Politics is more important than military", "it is a propaganda army", "military without politics is like a tree without roots"... The birth of the newspaper "Tieng Gun reo" - a special weapon of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team has promptly served the propaganda, education and training of soldiers, contributing to enhancing the prestige, position and strong development of the revolutionary army 80 years ago.

Source: https://vov.vn/chinh-tri/tieng-sung-reo-vu-khi-dac-biet-cua-doi-viet-nam-tuyen-truyen-giai-phong-quan-post1122555.vov