(VOVworld)- Pha Din pass, which is 32 km long, is the gateway to Dien Bien province. Its highest peak is 1,648 meters above sea level. 60 years ago, Pha Din pass was the place from which soldiers pulled the artillery up the mountain to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield.

The terrain of Pha Din pass now is not as difficult as before though there are still 8 sharp zigzag bends along the road. Works has been done to lower the altitude of the pass and the width of the road has been expanded making it easier to go through it. Pha Din pass becomes picturesque with green scenery dotted with the bamboo houses of the Thai ethnic minority people.

60 years ago, Pha Din pass was part of the pipeline supplying ammunitions and food to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. It was where 8,000 young volunteers, militia and workers carried ammunition and rice up the mountain everyday.  It was the place where ground forces and artillerymen marched through to Dien Bien Phu, whose secret name then was Tran Dinh. Composer Hoang Van, who composed the song “Artillery pulling chant”, still remembers the marches through Pha Din pass 60 years ago: “Before entering Muong Thanh field, we had to go through a long zigzag pass on which some soldiers drove cars while other soldiers and laborers carried or pushed bicycles carrying supplies to the front. The supply line began in late 1953. The pass was dozens of kilometers and winding while French planes continuously dropped bombs destroying cars, trucks and bicycles carrying rice. At that time, we had to be careful to avoid enemy bombings. After that, we had to pull artillery up the mountain. All these experiences inspired me to compose the song “Artillery pulling chant”.

Pha Din pass was the most difficult section in the journey of moving the artillery. After Pha Din pass, the soldiers had to pull their weapons over many slopes, abysses and high peaks to move toward Him Lam base, Doc Lap hill, A1 hill and the De Castries tunnel. The Dien Bien soldiers’ efforts to haul their weaponry are unimaginable. Composer Hoang Van again: “As we hauled our ammunitions, dozens of people were arranged at each end of it. At one end, some people pulled the artillery and at the other end, some people pushed it. We used a winch and put a roller inside to pull the artillery. Every time we heaved, we elevated the artillery on the roller, so that it could a step. Once the enemy dropped a bomb and broke the winch, and our supplies rolled down the abyss. Our hero To Vinh Dien then plunged under the artillery to save it”.

It is now about dozens of kilometers from Pha Din pass to Dien Bien city. But during the Dien Bien Phu campaign, the length of the road was not calculated by kilometers but by the hardship that the soldiers suffered.There were different roads for carrying supplies to carry artilleries to the battlefield. Some roads were used for just a few hours for artilleries to go through and then hidden by the forest as if they had never existed. There was a special section of the road that was 15 km long and built within 20 hours running distance from Na Nham forest to Ngheu hamlet. On that road, Vietnamese soldiers manually pulled 2.4-ton artilleries, 75 mm canons and 120 mm mortars through difficult mountains, deep abysses and enemy bombs to join the opening battle of the Dien Bien Phu campaign on March 13, 1954. Pham Duc Cu was a former artilleryman at Dien Bien Phu: “Our condition was very harsh. When we were 15 to 18 km from Dien Bien Phu, we had to pull the artillery manually. It was the most difficult section of the road. The Dien Bien artillerymen must have been made of bronze bodies and iron feet. We will never forget the winding roads and slopes in Bay Toi, U Mau, Suoi Ngua and Voi Phuc, where we pulled 2.4-ton artilleries up to the battlefield”.

A monument to the memory of hero To Vinh Dien and his artillery platoon was erected 20 km from Dien Bien. The monument reminds younger generations of Vietnam’s glorious history and the heroic soldiers of Dien Bien Phu.