81 fierce days and nights in Quang Tri ancient citadel in 1972 (Part 3)

Part 3: Resounding Vinh Dinh
PANO - Since its establishment on January 22^nd, 1946, Regiment 64 under Division 320 had recorded various glorious feats of arms in the resistance war against French colonists. Moreover, it was twice commended by Uncle Ho and presented the title, “Determination to Win Regiment” and “Brave and Strong Combat Regiment”.

Later on, in the resistance war against American imperialists for national salvation, Division 320 was divided into two small divisions, namely Division 320A and Division 320B. Regiment 64 was under Division 320B and its mission was to train soldiers for battlefields in the South.

After receiving and training soldiers in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, the Regiment marched to Quang Tri battlefield since January 1972. Hard and hazardous days with glorious feats of arms were ahead of them.

On May 1st, 1972, entire Quang Tri province, a strategic bridgehead position, was liberated. Unable to admit their bitter failure and trying to turn the tide at the Paris Conference, Saigon puppet troops gathered their forces with an attempt to re-occupy Quang Tri with modern weapons and American advisors’ support.

The 81 days and nights fierce battle to seize each meter of land occurred not only in Quang Tri ancient citadel, but also in the whole Quang Tri Province, along the coast from the east to mountain and forest in the west.

Regiment 64 stationed in plain north of Hai Lang district and in the southeast of Trieu Phong district, belonging to the East Direction Front. Its operation terrain was mainly along Vinh Dinh river, a branch of Thach Han river. Thus, Regiment 64 was also called Vinh Dinh Regiment.

At night on June 27th, 1972, Battalion 9 was reinforced with two Companies. As the key unit of the Regiment, the Battalion, headed by comrade Le Trieu, crossed over the “firewall” created by B52 bombers, battleships and artillery to set up commanding post in Dong Duong and Dien Khanh villages.

In the early morning of June 28th, three Marine Battalions and three Armoured units of the enemy, in support of aircrafts, mortars and choppers, launched attacks at the two above-mentioned villages. At 8.am on the same day, reinforced Battalion 9 opened fire to kick off Regiment 64’s war.

At the front direction, our troops confronted two marine Battalions and two tank units of the enemy. As the enemy was 300m away from them, Company 11 opened DKZ (a recoil gun), setting an enemy’s tank on fire. After that, B40 (RPG-2), B41 (RGP-7) and AK rifle shelled on the enemy killing many of them. At the same time, Company 12’s 12.7mm machine gun unit, led by fire commander Vu Thanh Binh, shot down a helicopter.

At the second direction, the enemy’s Marine Battalion, armed with tanks teamed with forces coming from the coast to attack the east of our battlefield. Very foxy and vile, the enemy used hundreds of women, children and elderly people as cannon-fodders. It was very hard for the revolutionary soldiers to wipe out the enemy while ensuring the local people’s lives. Finally, comrade Nguyen Van Binh was assigned to command a team to save the local people.

Despite of heavy shells, the team kept crossing the empty sand-bank to approach the local people. As getting closer, Binh fired into the air and asked the local people to lie down. As a result, the enemy was not shielded any more. While firing on them, the team moved back, forcing the enemy to run after, leaving the civilians behind and luring the enemy to our ambushed battlefield.

Commander of the Company Nguyen Van Bon ordered to open fire. From fortifications, AK rifle, heavy and light machine guns, B40, B41 fired to tear the enemies apart. Hundreds of the enemies, including the commander, were killed. The remainders retreated in panic.

Being attacked from both of directions, the enemy called for help from aircrafts and artillery. In a single day, with three Marine Battalions, 2 Armored units, 20 choppers and maximum reinforcement from air and artillery forces, the enemy launched 6 attacks. However, their efforts were failed. Dong Duong and Dien Khanh remained in the hands of the liberation fighters. 

Right at the first combat, troops under Regiment 64 brought their tradition of “Determination to Win Regiment”, “Brave and Strong Combat Regiment” into full play and excellently fulfilled their assigned tasks. 

On July 18th, 1972, they launched an attack on Tri Buu church behind Thach Han river and around 1km from Quang Tri Ancient Citadel. Again they had to wipe out the enemy while protecting civilians in the church.

To protect civilians, we appealed the enemy’s surrender but they still fought back resolutely.

On the evening of July 18th, 1972, Battalion 9 was in action. Nigh felt. Our troops were arranged carefully. Soldier Bui Duy Dan who carried B40 under Company 10 followed the deputy commander of the Battalion Kieu Ngoc Luan.

Quang Tri Ancient Citadel martyrs' cemetery

This time, the enemy dropped flares while their fighters were flying over the sky despite our troops continuous fires on them.

While the enemy’s light machine-guns opened fire on our troops, Dan tried to shelter in a bomb crater and opened fire on the enemy. He was seriously wounded and had to be taken to the rear. In recognition of Dan’s contributions to the occupation Tri Buu church, Dan was presented a Feats of Arms Order, third class.

Following Battalion 9, troops from Battalion 7 and Battalion 8 made every effort to fight against the enemy to achieve feats. While Regiment 64 opened fire, the enemy started their “Lam Son 72” operation with an attempt to re-occupy Quang Tri. Resilient and determined to win, our Battalions conducted 230 battles, wiped out more than 5,000 enemy’s troops, set on fire 70 tanks, armored and military vehicles as well as shot down 49 aircrafts.

The Regiment’s battles, such as Dong Duong, Dien Khanh, Tri Bu church, Bich La Dong, ancient citadel, Phuong Lang Dong, Long Quang position and Cua Viet port, contributed to the national glorious history in the fight for independence and freedom. 

Among units and individuals conferred the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Force” in the resistance war against American imperialists for national salvation by the State, Regiment 64-Vinh Dinh Regiment and Hero-Martyr Kieu Ngoc Luan were included.

Comrade Luan was the assistant in charge of operation of the Battalion. In the fight to defend the post in Linh Chieu village, our troops from Company 10 were attacked by the enemy from three sides. Kieu Ngoc Luan bravely used AK rifle to confront the enemy. Spotting an enemy using a heavy machine gun at the foot of the height 16, Luan approached to wipe out him. Luan had surprised the enemy by his braveness. After two days of fierce combat, the Company annihilated nearly 300 troops of the enemy and maintained our position and strength in the battlefield. In this battle, Battalion 9 won biggest victory. Kieu Ngoc Luan was promoted to the deputy commander of the Battalion. He had 13 times bagged the title “Brave soldier in the fight against American imperialists”.

In mid-August 1972, Kieu Ngoc Luan was ordered to meet with reporters in Cua Tung to report on his feats of arms but he could not leave due to the attack on Tri Buu church. After the signal fired, companies in support of DKZ, led by Kieu Ngoc Luan, opened fire on set targets. The enemy returned fire fiercely and Kieu Ngoc Luan had bravely sacrificed his life.

In short, while operating to Quang Tri battlefield, Regiment 64 had more than 2,000 troops. After the combat, the Regiment had 1,700 wounded soldiers. 600 troops had passed away.

The epic song of Quang Tri was written by the sacrifice of a young generation who had devoted their lives for national salvation. That sacrifice also included the sacrifice of many soldiers from Regiment 64-Vinh Dinh Regiment. Their resounding feats of arms and their heroic sacrifices will forever remain in the hearts of Vietnamese people.

Written by Chi Phan