Our Viet Bac roads

During the French resistance period (1945 - 1954), Viet Bac was once called the "capital of resistance", or more poetically, "capital of thousand winds" (as in the poem "May Morning" by poet To Huu).

It is called so because Viet Bac, a large area north of the capital Hanoi, was the capital of the Viet Minh Government, where the leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam outlined the guidelines and led the entire army and people to resist the French.

From Lang Son, Highway 4 winds through the rolling hills of the Northeast up to Cao Bang . Familiar places in history books appear one after another: That Khe, Dong Khe, Bong Lau Pass... Behind the trees, beside the stream are villages with many stilt houses with wooden stairs shining in the early morning sun. I close my eyes, trying to imagine that exactly three-quarters of a century ago, this road was synonymous with the resounding victory of the French resistance, the result of the Border Campaign in 1950...

From Cao Bang, we headed down to Bac Kan , Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang. The mountains were still undulating with endless tea hills. If the entire Viet Bac region was the resistance capital, then this place was the center of the capital. Documents recorded that after the call for national resistance (December 19, 1946), the Party Central Committee sent people here to choose a place for the Party Central Committee and the Government to stay. The border area of three provinces including Dinh Hoa, Dai Tu, Phu Luong (Thai Nguyen), Cho Don, Cho Ra, Cho Moi (Bac Can), Chiem Hoa, Son Duong, Yen Son was the chosen place. During the 9-year period (1945 - 1954), President Ho Chi Minh and comrades Truong Chinh, Pham Van Dong, Vo Nguyen Giap... worked and directed the revolution here.

Bong Lau Pass Victory Monument on Highway 4.

Khuon Tat historical site is where President Ho Chi Minh spent many years, and is one of 13 sites in the ATK Dinh Hoa National Special Relic Site. Khuon Tat relic site includes 3 locations: Uncle Ho's hut at Na Dinh hill, Khuon Tat banyan tree and Khuon Tat stream. The hut at Na Dinh hill is where President Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from November 20, 1947 to November 28, 1947, from January 1, 1948 to March 7, 1948, from April 5, 1948 to May 25, 1948 and the beginning of 1954. Looking through the timelines, we can see the difficulty in maintaining the lifestyle of the revolutionary predecessors, in the place considered the brain of the resistance, both moving to avoid the enemy and researching the field, outlining the direction for the young revolutionary forces. Yet here, President Ho signed many important documents contributing to the victory of the resistance war and nation building of the Vietnamese people.

I wandered along the trails of the relic site. There was still a shady banyan tree, a volleyball court and a large lawn. Every afternoon after finishing a working day, President Ho and his guards and servants practiced sports and martial arts. About a hundred steps away was the clear Khuon Tat stream with undulating rocks on both banks, where President Ho bathed, rested and fished after stressful working hours.

Sipping a cup of famous green tea from Thai Nguyen, the tea flavor imbued with the aroma of the Northeast mountains, I looked out at the vast green hills of tea, suddenly remembering the verses in the poem Viet Bac by revolutionary poet To Huu: Remember when the enemy came, the enemy searched / The forests and rocky mountains, we fought together against the French / The mountains spread out into thick iron ramparts / The forests covered the troops, the forests surrounded the enemy / Immense fog on all four sides / Our land and sky, the whole war zone, were of one heart...

In just one day wandering around ATK Dinh Hoa (Thai Nguyen), I was able to recognize a capital city with thousands of echoes from the past. The winds of patriotic traditions from thousands of years ago are blowing back, the winds of freedom and democracy are blowing away a century of a country immersed in the darkness of colonialism, so that the people are no longer slaves...

Pham Xuan Hung

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202509/nhung-duong-viet-bac-cua-ta-ed0129f/