The general of wisdom and compassion

VNA

 

General Vo Nguyen Giap

 

In 1972, when the US used B52 bombers to bomb Hai Phong and the capital Hanoi, I was stationed in Quang Binh. There was one incident that I will never forget. One day, while on a mission to collect news from Western stations, I was shocked by a piece of news that almost paralyzed my whole body. I could not believe my ears. Then, not just one station, but several news agencies took turns broadcasting the bad news: General Vo Nguyen Giap had died from a B52 bomb during a trip to inspect a missile site... None of us believed this (or rather, we did not want to believe it), but for some reason, we all burst into tears, sobbing as if we had lost our closest loved one. The Central Committee must have known this, so the very next day, on the Voice of Vietnam Radio, news continuously broadcast that the General was inspecting the units... The joy that came to us was immense, and the joy even turned into optimism as if we were about to liberate the South. Only then do we know how much the General holds in the hearts of the soldiers.

Exactly ten years later in Moscow, I had the honor to meet the General in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Science and Technology. At that time, I was sent to do research at Lomonosov University. For some reason, after a general meeting with representatives of PhD students and senior interns, the General asked me to stay and meet him privately. And fortunately, in that extremely valuable meeting, I was instructed and advised by the General, and it was also a lucky chance, in a meeting that for me was a big event in my life, to meet Professor Dang Bich Ha, the General's wife. What I remember until now is that when I told the General and his wife about the story of my unit crying like rain because of the news of the General being bombed, I thought the General would laugh as if it was a joke, but no, the General showed emotion that surprised me. The General was truly touched by a very real story about the soldiers' feelings for him.

The whole world knew General Vo Nguyen Giap after the earth-shaking Dien Bien Phu victory. I also memorized many details about this great historical event, in which I was very fond of the idea of ​​sure victory and the decision to take the motto "fight sure, advance sure" instead of "fight fast, win fast". But if I had not heard the General directly recount the reason for this decision, I would only understand that this was a wise decision reaching the artistic level of a military genius. It turned out that what made the General stay up many sleepless nights to come to this decision was not only the two words "sure victory" but also his pity for the blood and bones of soldiers. Rarely has a famous general had such a compassionate heart and loved his soldiers, because "nhất tướng công thành tháng cốt kho" (for a general to become famous, it takes the sacrifice of tens of thousands of people) is an accepted philosophy, a law of war.

Perhaps because of the General's heart and compassion, after the war ended he thought a lot about culture.

In 1988, I was fortunate to help Professor Phan Huy Le organize the first International Conference on Vietnamese Studies. It was an honor for the Conference to have the General accept to participate and read a paper in the plenary session. Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to go to 30 Hoang Dieu to listen to the General's guidance. On one such occasion, I learned a great idea of ​​his: "Vietnamese military art is a field belonging to the cultural category". At first, I did not really understand, but the General calmly explained, in general: Culture is all human creations for the purpose of existence and development of the community. In Vietnamese history, building the country always goes hand in hand with defending the country, continuously from generation to generation we must stand up and take up arms, using all our talent and intelligence to protect national independence. All creations in the military field are for the survival of the nation, of the country, if not culture, then what? I have told this to many people and everyone has the same thought: The General is not only a famous general but also a great thinker and cultural figure.

During the preparation for the Conference, the General also explained to us things that, according to him, Vietnamese scholars both domestically and internationally have not yet found satisfactory answers to, and he even said they "cannot explain".

First of all, it is the phenomenon of the Vietnamese people losing their independence, then being placed under the rule of feudal dynasties that were strong in military, rich in potential, high in civilization… for a long period of thousands of years without being assimilated. That is something that, according to the General, is unique in human history. This needs to be raised for further research to explain.

Second, it is the miraculous strength of the Vietnamese people in the resistance wars against foreign invaders. Almost all the armies that invaded our country in history were very powerful and aggressive, including armies that were considered capable of shaking the world. In the 13th century, there was the Yuan-Mongol army, an army that conquered the entire Asian and European continents, creating the largest contiguous empire in human history. That army was defeated three times by the Vietnamese people. The General said that this phenomenon cannot be simply explained. Only by deeply understanding history can we explain why we defeated the US, the most powerful empire in the world, a force that before its defeat in the Vietnam War, any country, including those considered to be great powers, had to fear and avoid.

The General's instructions gave me the feeling of being taught by a learned historian and I suddenly felt an indescribable pride. All the General had besides his innate talent was the accumulation of knowledge, training, and proper education. He was a student of the Indochina University, the predecessor of Hanoi National University, the cradle of nurturing and training talents. The pride also lay in the fact that the General loved history and chose history as his profession. He often said, if there was no war, he would be a history teacher! Perhaps that was why he accepted the position of Honorary President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association. Historians across the country considered this a great honor. The General's intellectual and human qualities probably partly stemmed from this.

I know that life and death are natural, but when I heard the news of the General's death, my heart sank. I suddenly remembered a saying that I don't know when it was coined, but has been passed down from generation to generation: "Born as a famous general, die as a god." Throughout history, there have been national heroes who have become gods in the hearts of the people, such as Hai Ba Trung, Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao, Tran Nhan Tong, Le Loi, Nguyen Trai, Quang Trung...

In my heart, I think General Vo Nguyen Giap will live forever and become a divine image in the hearts of the people.