Artifacts related to the opening of Route 13A - one of the vital routes for transporting troops, weapons, and food to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. (Photo: VNA)Yen Bai (VNA) – More than 200precious artifacts, photos and documents related to the Dien Bien Phu Campaign have been announced in the northern province of Yen Bai, demonstratingactivities taken by the provincial Party Organisation, administration, army and people to serve the campaign 70 years ago.
Many artifacts were collected from historical places andwitnesses such as submachine guns, rifles, defensive shirts, rice sacks, andemulation flags.
Hoang Tien Long, Director of the Yen Bai Museum,said that documents created in the 1952 – 1954 period mentioned historicalcircumstances, policy decisions and the process of direction and leadership ofthe Yen Bai provincial Party Committee in preparing conditions and participating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.
He said that many photos and artifacts were made public for the first time, showing the great sacrifice, solidarity and highdetermination of the people of Yen Bai province for the campaign.
Meanwhile, nearly 100 photos that areintroduced to the public for the first time truly and vividly reflect thecontributions of the people of Yen Bai to the campaign, specifically insupplying food and weapons to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, oropening roads.
During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954,Lung Lo pass in Thuong Bang La commune, Van Chan district, Yen Bai province, wasone of the vital routes for transporting troops, weapons, and food to theDien Bien Phu battlefield.
For the campaign, the Party Central Committee decided to open route 13A from Hien ferry in Tuyen Quang province, running past Ben Au Lau to the Lung Lo pass to connect with Road41 (now Highway 6) at the Co Noi T-junction in Son La province.
The trail stretched 120 kilometres over high mountains and across three bigrivers – the Chay, the Red, and the Da. The Lung Lo pass, one of the mosttreacherous sections, had a steep mountain on one side and a deep abyss on theother.
More than 124,000 sappers and civil workers used millions of bamboo plantsand trees contributed by local people to build the route through the Lung Lo passin about 200 days. Tens of thousands of trucks, carts, and pack-bikes carriedweapons and food to the battlefield.
To obstruct the supply route to Dien Bien Phu, the French army dropped about12,000 tonnes of bombs on the Lung Lo pass. Some days they dropped as many as 200bombs. During the campaign, 16 to 18 enemy planes bombed the area five to sixtimes a day.
But tens of thousands of people bravely risked their lives under bombs andbullets to keep the road clear for undisrupted transport. Dozen thousandsof tonnes of military equipment, weapons, and food were stockpiled at Thuong BangLa and transported across the pass to the battlefield./.
