The meaning of our great victory at Dien Bien Phu

After nearly 4 months of siege and three extremely heroic attacks, our army annihilated the entire enemy force at the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, including more than 16,000 enemy soldiers and officers. Dien Bien Phu as well as the entire Northwest region was completely liberated. Our historic Dien Bien Phu campaign ended gloriously. We have achieved the greatest military victory since the beginning of the resistance war.

The enemy's plot when occupying Dien Bien Phu was to regain the Northwest region, re-establish a false autonomous Thai state, divide the ethnic groups in Vietnam, and at the same time try to maintain the temporarily occupied Upper Laos, controlling a large area in the Vietnam-China and Vietnam-Laos border areas. That was a plot of the Nava plan set up by American intervention and the aggressive French colonialists.

Since parachuting into Dien Bien Phu, the enemy built this strategic position into the strongest stronghold in Indochina, including 49 strongholds, 2 large airports and a system of solid and complex defensive fortifications. They used the strongest mobile force to hold this stronghold. Their occupying force from 12 battalions, destroyed in several attacks by our army, gradually increased to 21 elite battalions (mostly European and African soldiers) and 10 puppet army companies.

The enemy thought they could hold the Dien Bien Phu stronghold and then gradually spread out their attacks. They believed that our army did not have the strength and experience to attack such a large stronghold, could not overcome the difficulty of supply, could not besiege for long and could not fight for long. As for them, in addition to relying on their strong forces and solid fortifications, they also placed a lot of hope on their superiority in air force and mechanization. Therefore, they still challenged our army to attack Dien Bien Phu.

Our troops crossed Muong Thanh bridge and attacked the Dien Bien Phu stronghold headquarters on the afternoon of May 7, 1954. (Photo: VNA)

We must destroy all the enemy troops at Dien Bien Phu and completely liberate the Northwest region. That was the directive of President Ho, the Party Central Committee and our Government. Our entire army and people strictly followed that directive and achieved complete victory.

We won a great victory at Dien Bien Phu because after the political and military reorganization, our cadres and soldiers had their ideological, tactical, and technical levels raised to a new level. When fighting the enemy, everyone was of one mind, fought bravely, endured hardships, and was determined to destroy the enemy. Other battlefields throughout the country fought continuously to closely coordinate with the Dien Bien Phu front.

We won a great victory at Dien Bien Phu because our people, most of whom were farmers, in the movement to mobilize the masses to implement the land policy, showed great enthusiasm in serving the front line, working as laborers, and supporting the army in fighting the enemy.

We won Dien Bien Phu as well as other battlefields in the country thanks to the wise leadership of President Ho and the Party, and the resolute, precise and strong command of the General Command.

We won a great victory at Dien Bien Phu thanks to the Vietnamese, Khmer and Lao people's solidarity in the resistance war, determined to gain freedom and independence, and thanks to our people's patriotic struggle, which was enthusiastically supported by the French people and peace-loving people of the world.

Our victory at Dien Bien Phu was a victory of justice, freedom and peace. The victory at Dien Bien Phu marked an important step forward for our army and people in the long and arduous resistance war against the imperialist invaders. That victory came at a time when the Geneva conference was about to discuss the issue of restoring peace in Indochina, so it had a great impact on attacking the warmongers and supporting peace. Indeed, the victory at Dien Bien Phu was a heavy blow to the warmongers of French colonialism and American interventionism who were plotting to prolong and expand the Indochina war and were trying to sabotage all negotiations aimed at easing the world situation. Our victory at Dien Bien Phu was an irreparable failure of the Navarre plan and of the imperialist policy of dividing the Kinh people and the mountainous peoples in Vietnam. It clearly showed that the imperialists, despite their sophisticated weapons, were brutal and tyrannical, and without the support of the people, would certainly fail. On the contrary, no force can defeat a united nation, fighting to win national independence and the right to live freely in peace.

Our artillery soldiers bravely overcame all difficulties and hardships, using their two hands to pull dozens of tons of artillery pieces into the battlefield, contributing significantly to the victory of the campaign. Photo: VNA

The Dien Bien Phu victory, as well as our successive victories on all fronts and in mobilizing the masses, are encouraging our people to overcome all difficulties to gain independence, unity, democracy and true peace. It is a momentum to push our army and people to compete in patriotism and create more conditions for us to gain greater victories.

We have just won a great victory. But we should not be arrogant, complacent and subjective. Victory that is arrogant is like tying a weight around your own feet, preventing you from moving forward, making yourself blind, losing your vigilance and paralyzed.

We need to remember that: The plot of the American interventionists and the warmongering French colonialists is extremely vicious. They are trying to prolong and expand the Indochina war, using every trick to prevent the Geneva conference from reaching a good result. The American imperialists are taking advantage of the failure of the French Expeditionary Army to prepare for deeper intervention in the Indochina war and to increase French interests. The warmongering French colonialists are using their failure at Dien Bien Phu to demand more French reinforcements, beg for more American aid and prepare to make more concessions to the Americans.

Therefore, our cadres and people must always be vigilant, using the Dien Bien Phu victory to encourage each other to promote all sectors of work, and fulfill the central tasks ahead: resistance and land reform. That is also the best way to practically support the stance of our delegation and our side at the Geneva conference.

While firmly holding high the flag of President Ho Chi Minh for determination to fight and win, our heroic soldiers in Dien Bien Phu simultaneously held high the flag of national independence and true peace. Let us be grateful to those soldiers and promote patriotic emulation, overcome all difficulties, defeat all evil plots of the invaders, and gain even greater victories.

Although our resistance war still has to go through many hardships and difficulties, a heroic nation like ours, a heroic army like ours, with President Ho and our Party as leaders, and encouraged and supported by the world's peace forces, will certainly gain independence, unity, democracy, and peace, and realize the fair and reasonable proposals of our Government proposed by comrade Pham Van Dong before the recent Geneva conference on May 10, 1954.

On May 7, 1954, the entire enemy stronghold in Dien Bien Phu was destroyed by our army, the "Determination to fight, determination to win" flag was flying on the roof of the bunker of the defeated French colonial general De Castries. Photo: VNA