Muong Thanh Bridge relic on Nam Rom River

I, a son of Thanh Hoa, visited Dien Bien when the Ban flowers were blooming all over the streets and alleys of Dien Bien Phu city. How touching, the land that was once rained down by bombs and bullets is now changing day by day. The Muong Thanh bridge across the Nam Rom river is not only a historical “witness” of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, standing tall in the Northwest, but also witnessing many changes in the homeland and the country.

The Dien Bien Phu battlefield national special relic site is a complex of historical relics recording the feats of arms of the Vietnamese army and people in the heroic resistance war against the French colonialists. The prominent relics of the Dien Bien battlefield in the past are hills A1, C1, C2, D1, Hong Cum stronghold, Him Lam, Doc Lap hill, Muong Thanh bridge and airport, command bunker of General De Castries (Dien Bien Phu city); Dien Bien Phu campaign headquarters (Muong Phang)...

Muong Thanh Bridge relic across Nam Rom River belongs to Muong Thanh and Thanh Truong wards (Dien Bien Phu City). According to documents of Dien Bien Provincial Relic Management Board, at the beginning of Dien Bien Phu Campaign, to facilitate the movement, the French army built an iron bridge across Nam Rom River. The bridge is 40m long, 5m wide, with simple iron bars on both sides of the bridge without a central axis. The bridge floor is paved with wood, and underneath are iron beams firmly connected together to ensure a load capacity of 15 to 18 tons.

In 1954, Muong Thanh Bridge was the only iron bridge connecting the important arterial road between the bases in the West of Nam Rom River with the high points in the East of Dien Bien Phu Base Group, the route for transporting food, weapons, ammunition,... raw materials for the construction of defensive bases in the Eastern region. Here, an extremely fierce battle took place between the Vietnam People's Army and the French Expeditionary Army.

70 years ago, at 2:00 p.m. on May 7, 1954, Company 360, Battalion 130, Regiment 209, Division 312 attacked across Muong Thanh bridge, destroyed the enemy's 4-barreled heavy machine gun nest, and attacked directly the Command Headquarters of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold.

Next to Muong Thanh bridge, there is still a 4-barreled heavy machine gun – protecting the Command Headquarters of Dien Bien Phu stronghold. The 4-barreled heavy machine gun was destroyed by gunners of Company 360, Battalion 130, Regiment 209, Division 312 and artillery shells of Artillery Division 351 at 4:00 p.m. on May 7, 1954.

A Dien Bien child next to a historical artifact - a 4-barreled machine gun of the French colonialists on display near the Muong Thanh bridge relic.

In the area of ​​the 4-barreled machine gun and Muong Thanh bridge relic, local authorities have erected signs prohibiting markets to protect the landscape of the relic area.

Over the past 70 years, Muong Thanh Bridge has been restored many times, replacing the floorboards and repainting the exterior, so the appearance of the historic bridge remains intact.

In order to ensure the safety of people and vehicles passing through the bridge and at the same time preserve and maintain the bridge for visitors and tourists, the Dien Bien Provincial Monument Management Board has restricted heavy vehicles and cars from crossing the bridge. Currently, only motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians remain. Recently, Dien Bien province has been implementing the project "Multi-disaster management of the Nam Rom river basin to protect people's lives, adapt to climate change and develop the economy and society of Dien Bien province".

Currently, the local authorities have temporarily banned vehicles from passing through Muong Thanh Bridge to deploy the installation of the Muong Thanh Bridge lighting system and the sightseeing tour project in time to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 - May 7, 2024). Photo: Duc Huy (Dien Bien Phu Newspaper).

Ngoc Huan

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/di-tich-cau-muong-thanh-tren-song-nam-rom-213070.htm