Back to the place where "the forest covers the troops..."

Pure and innocent, poetic and sacred, along the way to Muong Phang, the birds chirped in the bauhinia flowers, the bauhinia flowers mixed in the clouds and the clouds drifted in the sky of the old war zone - where his father had lived the days of "blood mixed with mud" to create a miracle of Dien Bien Phu...

In administrative language, “Muong” is a village unit consisting of hamlets gathered within an unspecified geographical area. What about “Phang”? There are two explanations for the origin of “Phang”, the local elders tend to the second meaning which is “to stab and slash”. Legend has it that here, under the command of the peasant hero Hoang Cong Chat (1706 - 1769), the insurgents fought a life-and-death battle against the royal army led by Doan Nguyen Thuc, under the reign of King Le and Lord Trinh (?). The battle started from Nam Co cave (now Tuan Giao district), Hoang Cong Chat fought and retreated, luring the enemy into the dangerous place of Muong Phang and ended with a bloody battle of swords and sabers. Exactly 2 centuries later, Muong Phang became the headquarters, the place where the Dien Bien Phu Campaign Command was stationed.

Muong Phang relic is located in the national relic complex "Dien Bien Phu battlefield area". For the past 7 decades, Muong Phang has been a place to return to, a source of pride in the minds of every generation of Vietnamese people. However, for foreigners and especially for Western visitors, the two words Muong Phang contain a mystery that is "incomprehensible", as Western newspapers have written. People "cannot understand" why an army equipped with primitive weapons and poor means of transport dared to fight, and even win, against a group of strongholds equipped with the most powerful equipment in Indochina at that time?

Today, in the Muong Phang primeval forest, I met groups of foreign tourists standing hesitantly at the entrance of General Vo Nguyen Giap's tunnel. Some people crawled in, crawled out, then crawled back into the tunnel as if trying to take a closer look because it was not always possible to come here. A few people sat on the restored bed, discreetly using their fingernails to try to scratch what material it was made of. I did not know a foreign language, but was introduced by a translator from the Hanoi Travel Company that they were a mixed group of tourists from 3 European countries, on a business trip to Hanoi. I asked: "So what were they whispering to each other about?". My new friend happily explained: "They said they admired it. With just a bamboo bed and a tunnel like this, they crushed the enemy's heavy weapons." Suddenly, I felt very proud because I was Vietnamese - a nation that, despite thousands of hardships, still knew how to move forward to achieve victory!

With a natural area of ​​over 3,456 hectares, Muong Phang is a commune on the outskirts of Dien Bien Phu City. Now, 70 years after liberation, Muong Phang is gradually moving forward on the path of construction and development. More than 20 years ago, most of the commune's forest, forest land and rice field potentials had not been fully exploited. From the foot of Phang hill, the terraced fields of over 100 hectares running to Xom and Keo villages, could only grow one rice crop per year. That was the fundamental reason why many families fell into difficulty. What should be done and how to improve the living standards of the people? That question became an urge in the minds of party members in the entire Party Committee, becoming a challenge for the government and leaders of departments and branches in the commune.

Luckily, the opportunity to get rich has come to Muong Phang, helping Muong Phang to develop by its own strength. Over the past few decades, Muong Phang has received attention from the State for investing in infrastructure construction. Electricity, roads, schools, and stations were built almost at the same time, especially the two roads from National Highway 279 into the commune have been paved, helping tourists to Muong Phang from both upstream and downstream. During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, about 1/3 of this route was the lifeline for our "elephants" into battle and of course, at that time it was a primitive road, not like it is now. There are still rustic but immortal place names here, such as "Seven-toed Slope", "Banana Hill"... where the army hero To Vinh Dien sacrificed himself to save a cannon from falling into the abyss.

During the working session, Chairman of the People's Committee of Lo Van Hop commune happily said: Promoting the spirit of Dien Bien Phu, today the people of Muong Phang ethnic groups have been and are strongly advancing in science and technology, gradually eliminating bad customs, gradually eliminating hunger and reducing poverty, bringing the village to prosperity. In the villages of Che Can, Dong Met, Cang, Yen, Phang..., the fields are sown with completely new varieties. Every year during the planting season, the agricultural sector of Dien Bien district has sent here the best and most dedicated engineers to guide the people on sowing methods, spraying herbicides and using organic fertilizers properly. Thanks to that, the rice yield of these villages has reached nearly 50 quintals/ha, which was a "dream" yield before. The good news spread far and wide, the Kho Mu, Mong, Thai people in the villages of Vang, Keo, Khom, Xom invited each other to come and study. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the agricultural extension agency of Dien Bien district proactively organized field conferences. On that basis, the Party Committee of the commune issued resolutions on agriculture to increase the rice productivity of the commune, with an average food intake per capita of not less than 400 kg/year.

With the help of the office staff of the Commune People's Committee, we visited Banh village, which has just achieved new rural standards. As a son born and raised in the homeland of Muong Phang, Mr. Ca Van Ngoc, Secretary of Banh village Party Cell shared: Banh village was formed nearly 100 years ago, all residents are Thai black people. With the terrain of living next to the stream, Banh village has the conditions to preserve and promote Thai cultural capital with the folklore nature of the typical residents of the low valley. In the village, the roads are clean, the moss-covered stilt houses with traditional khau cut sets pointing straight up to the sky remind the descendants of the migration story of their clan and ancestors... In recent years, in addition to rice as the main food crop, aquaculture and growing and processing arrowroot powder are a new and sustainable way to get rich for more than 60 farming households in Banh village.

On the afternoon of April 16, during the visit and inspection of the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory, right after landing at Muong Thanh airport, the first place that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his delegation visited and inspected was the Dien Bien Phu Campaign Command Headquarters in Muong Phang forest. Speaking to the cadres and people of Muong Phang commune, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed the important role of the Command Headquarters relic in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign as well as the great historical and humanistic values ​​of the relic for today and forever. According to the Prime Minister, in addition to the responsibility of civil servants and citizens, preserving and promoting the value of the relic is a great honor for the Party Committee, government and people of the Muong Phang ethnic groups.