Vo Nguyen Giap - the man chosen by history and 'given full power' by President Ho Chi Minh
Báo Thanh niên•01/05/2024
In May, there was a name often mentioned - Vo Nguyen Giap, there was a place often mentioned - Dien Bien Phu. Chosen by history, 'given full authority' by President Ho Chi Minh, General Giap made Dien Bien Phu and his name engraved in history.
Give full authority to the "General on bail"
Looking back at the 70 years of Dien Bien Phu victory, we can see that General Vo Nguyen Giap was a loyal student and the most excellent person to implement Ho Chi Minh's ideology on building the people's army and people's war. He was also the person who directly realized Ho Chi Minh's military ideology, promoted the nation's military strategy and fighting style in the new era, and made an important contribution to the development and perfection of a Vietnamese military doctrine. The tradition of strategy and humanity of his fathers and grandfathers was made to shine by General Vo Nguyen Giap, creating great strength, leading the Vietnamese army and people to fight and win.
Image of Uncle Ho and General Vo Nguyen Giap on propaganda poster about the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory
MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM
On January 5, 1954, General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap left Viet Bac for the Dien Bien Phu front. When saying goodbye, President Ho Chi Minh told him: "Commander-in-Chief of the front, "General on leave"! Give me full authority. If there are any difficulties, discuss and reach a consensus within the Party Committee, reach a consensus with the advisor, then decide, and report later...". "This battle is very important, we must fight to win. Only fight if we are sure of victory, and only fight if we are not sure of victory." Not letting down that trust, General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap excellently completed the assigned task. There is a story that when a foreign scholar asked the question: "Why is a teacher of history and law, trained by the French, without going to any military school, the Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnamese People's Armed Forces, defeating many invaders?", General Vo Nguyen Giap answered: "I would like to ask this question to President Ho Chi Minh." That answer says a lot, but it raises another question: Why did President Ho Chi Minh, when he needed to choose a "military general", assign the responsibility of "commanding the army" to a historian, a culturalist? The answer remains open, but history has shown that President Ho Chi Minh's choice was completely correct.
People of ethnic groups in the Northwest cross rapids to transport food to the Dien Bien Phu front, 1954
TL NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY
The book General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap, General of the People's Peace, tells how Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar spoke about General Vo Nguyen Giap. Accordingly, he said: "As a student and comrade-in-arms of Ho Chi Minh, the General demonstrated great tactical talent, boldness and creativity. The campaigns he commanded have become classics, studied by military men and scholars." Also according to Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar: "The victory he won at Dien Bien Phu against forces many times stronger than himself created a turning point in the struggle against colonialism. Whenever people praise brave actions and heroism, Dien Bien Phu and General Vo Nguyen Giap will be mentioned." In an interview in the long-running television documentary series about the 30-year war in Indochina Apokalyse Vietnam of the Central German Radio and Television (MDR), General Vo Nguyen Giap explained this: "In the end, we won, achieving what the world thought was impossible. We won because we stood on the side of truth, because our people kept in mind Ho Chi Minh's saying: "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom" and in the end, we won thanks to our unique military doctrine of people's war."
President Ho Chi Minh was knowledgeable and trusted
President Ho Chi Minh recognized his talent and entrusted him with a task based on his whole journey of dedication to the cause of national liberation. Vo Nguyen Giap did not immediately become the famous General Giap in history - he was only promoted to the rank of general in January 1948. Before becoming an outstanding military man, General Vo Nguyen Giap was a teacher and journalist. He became a professional revolutionary cadre from 1936 to 1939 when the Communist Party had not yet won power. He first met President Ho Chi Minh in June 1940 in Kunming (China), but before that he had long followed President Ho Chi Minh's path of national liberation. He became a student, a close comrade, and an important cadre of President Ho Chi Minh in the final years of the struggle for independence for the Vietnamese people (1941 - 1945).
The General Command discussed the 1953 - 1954 Winter-Spring campaign plan.
TL NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY
After independence, Vo Nguyen Giap was a politician in the provisional revolutionary government, holding the position of Minister of the Interior, fighting side by side with President Ho Chi Minh and his comrades against internal and external enemies, protecting the young people's government. Vo Nguyen Giap gradually moved to military leadership positions and commanded the unequal battle between the Vietnamese army and people against the powerful French expeditionary army when the second invasion of Indochina was ignited by aggressive colonial forces in France. Vo Nguyen Giap's military talents were increasingly affirmed and his role became irreplaceable. Vo Nguyen Giap was also a historian. He was a history professor at Thang Long School (Hanoi). He studied the history of many wars of his father and in the world, pondered many military works of great authors such as Sun Tzu and Carl von Claudewitz... According to General Vo Nguyen Giap's confession during his lifetime: historical thinking helped him a lot while commanding the resistance war. The meeting between history and military is to respect the truth even if it is a painful truth and to consider things from a historical perspective in the process of its dialectical movement. The understanding of history also provided the talented military leader with valuable knowledge from the tradition of fighting the enemy of his father, the lessons of experience in the cause of defending the country. He skillfully applied that knowledge and experience throughout the process of commanding the building of the people's army and his military art.
Comment (0)