from: The Hô
Chí Minh Trail; Hoàng Khôi and Thê Giói Publishers
2008; English translation; first edition 2001;
second edition 2008; printed in Viêt Nam; VN - TG
- 6.149-1
8 Epilogue - wrong
fantasies of stupid Western journalists
[Truòng Son Range = the base for Vietnam's
defense]
The Truòng Son Range and the Ho Chi Minh Trail
contain a great deal of mystery. There are immense
forests; abundant natural resources and over two
million people of various ethnic groups. The customs
and habits of the people are closely related to
their psychology, age-old religions, and constitute
an interesting subject for research. To try to
understand the mystery of Truòng Son is not only to
satisfy our curiosity but also to comprehend the
historical significance and the strategic importance
of the Truòng Son Range and the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
which have for generations been used by our people
for national defense. (p.101)
[First research before Ho Chi Minh Trail:
Dr. Yersin]
<When the Ho Chi Minh Trail was not yet in
existence, many people came to remote areas of harsh
climate to uncover the mystery of the region. This
was the case of Dr. Yersin, a French man, who first
explored [the mountain range of] Truòng Son in 1889
and discovered the region of Dà Lat.> (p.101)
<During the long wars against the French and US
invaders, the Truòng Son Range was a subject (p.101)
studied by our adversaries. From 1954-1964 during
the war, there was a short section of road close to
the Ho Chi Minh Trail which the French expeditionary
corps called "the route without joy" in memory of
the French defeat in a battle with the Viêt Minh
regiment Nº 95. This route was only 30 km long,
running along the coast of Thùa Thiên - [in the
central province of] Quang Tri. But along it, a
great number of French troops had been stopped in
spite of the support of tank, artillery, naval, and
air forces.> (p.102)
[French book about defeats "La route sans joie"
[Street without joy] - "US" advisors reading the
French book]
<The battle left such frightful impressions on
the French troops that a book title "La route sans
joie" was written later to describe it. An anti-war
officer of the Saigon army, Lt. Colonel Pham Van
Dính, related that his former adviser, a US major,
always had the book with him whenever he led an
operation in a base area of the Liberation Forces,
for comparison with reality. (p.102)
Undoubtedly, he was not the only man who read the
book to learn the experience of the French. Many
other US advisers, with their acumen and their
practical minds did the same. It was the US advisers
who had discovered that, besides the Ho Chi Minh
Trail, North Viêt Nam also had another route on the
Eastern Sea for the transport of food, arms, and
ammunitions to the South. So they spent a great deal
of effort to find out the mystery of the mountain
range and the trail on land and at sea.> (p.102)
[But "U.S." advisors don't believe the bad French
experiences]
<Americans have put on loin cloths, shouldered
dossers, gone barefoot, and forded streams with the
natives of Truòng Son. They had not believed what
the French had written about Truòng Son. A US
officer stationed in Tây Nguyên wrote in his diary
(p.102):
"Be vigilant when reading French documents about
this basalt land. It may be that the French only
verbally communicate to one another and don't write
about the natural and mineral resources of this
region. The past 20 years, I have not seen any
plateau in California as rich as that in Tây
Nguyên".> (p.103)
(in: Hà Viêt: Be Vigilant with the CIA; PAVN
Publishing House, 1978, p.72)
[France and "U.S.A." don't check the
mountain range of Truòng Son]
<The French colonialists and US imperialists both
tried to study the Truòng Son Range and the Ho Chi
Minh Trail with different motives. But they have
failed in their attempt to understand the latter.
Only the local people and our soldiers who are
closely attached to the range can grasp it
thoroughly.> (p.103)
[Writers writing about Vietnamese Truòng Son
without having been there]
<Some people in the western press are prolific in
writing about the Ho Chi Minh Trail even though they
have never set foot on this amazing system of roads.
They write about "the Indochinese myths", ""the
thousand-fin dragon" which can replace a cutoff fin
with a new one, and "the ever-changing road
mysteriously supported by the 'Buddha'." In the eyes
of Western journalists, the trail is now described
as a road in ancient myths, now drawn in detail as
it really exists. A French journalist wrote:
"It is a macadamized road, not an asphalted one,
three to four meters wide. It is not like the trails
that cross Road Nº 9 but is composed of many
branches forming a system of supply lines. From a
helicopter, looking down on the roads covered by
thick foliage trees, they are only visible wherever
napalm bombs have burnt out all the leaves. In these
places, apparently nothing can survive; the (p.103)
tree trunks are strangely white, standing lonely
without branches or leaves." (p.104)
[Book after "U.S." defeat of 1972 - the mystery]
<After the Vietnamese were victorious on the Road
9 - Southern Laos Campaign, a French journalist
published in Paris a 300-page book titles "The Ho
Chi Minh Trail". The book sold fairly well. However,
its descriptions do not fully portray the true
features of the trail. The author of the book
himself even admitted that he was completely
powerless in the face of understanding the mysteries
of this road system.> (p.104)
[Western journalists only have fantasies]
<As a matter of fact, many Western journalists
and US Strategists and tacticians could not
visualize what the Ho Chi Minh Trail should actually
be like. They were therefore all the more intrigued
by it whenever they spoke about it. What was
difficult to understand and what was mysterious
regarding the Ho Chi Minh Trail could not be
exhaustively explained. It still remains, though
these are simple mysteries.> (p.108)
