Restoring the paths to victory

      On March 13, 1954, the Vietnamese army opened fire with 40 artillery pieces, beginning the first offence on Him Lam Hill (Beatrice), an outpost of the French fortified base in the Dien Bien Phu Valley in the northwest province of Lai Chau.
Two days later, French Col Charles Piroth, the artillery commander in Dien Bien Phu, committed suicide after the second entrenched fortification of Doc Lap Hill (Gabrielle) fell to the hands of the Vietnamese army, leaving behind immense bitterness, embarrassment and an anticipation of a certain defeat. The entire Western military circle was shocked to learn that the Vietnamese had been able to hide their operation and carry the artillery onto the hills around the valley.
The secret paths
The French military had not considered the possibility that the Vietnamese Army could manoeuvre the artillery onto the battlefield, until they started firing. They certainly were not aware that the Vietnamese Army had twice moved the big guns in and out of the field.
Choosing Dien Bien Phu as a strategic base to outdo the Vietnamese forces, Gen Navarre, the French commander in Indochina, had thought four factors would make it impossible for the Vietnamese army to win. Of these, the biggest one was the assumption that the Vietnamese would never be able to bring big guns into the battlefield, or into the hills surrounding the valley. In reality, however, this false assumption proved to be the biggest advantage for the Vietnamese side. It was incredibly challenging to haul the heavy pieces of artillery over steep slopes, but the usage of these weapons broke down the cocky attitude of the French artillery force from the very first barrage of fire and enabled the decisive victory. In the first night of the offence on Him Lam, Col Piroth was in shock, as he observed the accurate counter-fire by the Vietnamese artillery forces.
During their preparation for the great battle, the French legion had not detected the secret paths used by the Vietnamese to carry the big guns to their positions despite their advanced aerial photography technology, which was quite advanced for the time.
Those who created the secret artillery trails then went on to fight the battle in Dien Bien Phu. Many of these people gave up their lives to remain on the battlefield forever. At the end of the operation, with the country’s focus turned elsewhere, soldiers did not have a chance to revisit these artillery paths, which had made the defeat of the French. The former gun-carrying trails faced the real danger of being extinct forever, as they were built in the early half of the last century, and any remaining veterans have entered at least their late 70s.
Before being enlarged to allow for the transport of the heavy artillery into the battle field, the path from Tuan Giao to Dien Bien Phu was only wide enough for a single horse. Today, it has been further enlarged to a width of dozen metres and has become National Road 279 and is now well-travelled. When this former path was rediscovered, many locals were astonished to learn that they were living so near to this legendary part of their history.
The paths that allowed the movement of heavy guns from their gathering point in Na Nham Village to the various fields around the field of Muong Thanh were created underneath the thick jungle canopy to keep them a secret and well-hidden from the daily aerial surveillance of the enemy.
Every time he visits the former battlefield, Commander of the Vietnamese army Gen Vo Nguyen Giap always refers to the trails when he talks about the need for conservation and preservation of the historical monuments of Dien Bien Phu Victory. He considers the six trails that ran over 100km around the battlefield as a testament to the will, morale and strength of the army and Vietnamese people.
Former footsteps
In August 2003, Col Le Ma Luong (now Major General and Director of the Museum of Military History) led a team back to the area to search for and revisit the trails. He wanted to show his personal feelings for the place, where his father gave up his life for the country. Guiding the team was Tran Ngoc Chan, an 80-year-old veteran, who was once the commander of Platoon 2 of Division 367.
The rainy season in Dien Bien Phu quickly exhausted the team, especially Chan. His health was not what it once was, and he was liable to collapse at any moment during the search.
This led Col Luong to pause the search, and it was debated whether the search should be postponed until the dry season when Chan’s health could recover. But the old veteran did not want this, because he feared he might pass away at anytime leaving the team without someone who knew the location of the former trails.
The team found a new guide, 70-year-old Lo Van Hia, in order to continue their work. He knows every corner of the area and was able to lead the team to all the former military locations. As they approached Pu Ta Co Mountain, Chan suddenly felt as if he was being captured by the hands of the past. His memories rushed back, and he decided to stop on the western side of the mountain. It seemed to him that people from the past were reappearing before his eyes. Hia immediately used his blade to clear the bushes away to slowly reveal the traces of an old pathway, with all its marks of the big guns’ wheels and soldiers’ footprints.
The artillery wheels
The team continued on and discovered two banana fields. Chan recognised them as the former Doc Chuoi (Banana Slope). The rain suddenly stopped, and the sun came out. The veteran stopped and cried, "It’s here, Dien!" With all the evidence later gathered, it has been confirmed that this spot was the very place where To Vinh Dien used his body to brace wheels of an artillery piece to prevent it from tumbling down the hill. The story later became a part of the history of the nation as a great example of the heroic spirit of Vietnamese soldiers during the war.
History’s footprint
Many would label the project, Restoration and Conservation of the Artillery Transportation of Vietnamese Soldiers during the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, in Na Nhan of Dien Bien as a process to carve out the "spirit" of a time. The project has been entrusted to the Ha Noi Construction and Consultation Joint-stock Company. The company will restore 3.9km of the former artillery trail which goes over several steep slopes and around dangerous bends. To create authentic looking marks on the surface of the trail, the company is going to borrow a 37mm gun and shoot into the trail, and is also borrowing the rubber sandals of the former soldiers to make marks for the same purpose.
Sculptor Ta Quang Bao is also creating a statue depicting 29 soldiers pulling a piece of artillery across the hills. The statue will be 21m wide and 12m in height. It is hoped that the statue, combined with a trek along the former path, will help give visitors the feeling of this important piece of history.