Dien Bien Phu pack horses - silent warriors
In the memory of the Dien Bien Phu victory in 1954 (Giap Ngo), the image of soldiers pulling artillery, and civilian laborers carrying goods into battlefields has become a historical symbol.
However, one of the less mentioned, but no less important factors is the pack horses, the special transport force contributing to ensuring logistics for the entire campaign.
According to many documents at the historical museum, after the great victory, the summary of the Department of Supply for the Dien Bien Phu Campaign said that the recorded number was 914 pack horses, which were statistically detailed alongside other means of transport in each period of the campaign.
Thanks to that, we have transported a volume of materials to serve this campaign of up to 20,000 tons. Including 1,200 tons of ammunition; 1,873 tons of gasoline and oil; 14,950 tons of rice; 268 tons of salt; 577 tons of meat; 1,034 tons of food; 117 tons of other materials.
Dien Bien Phu's terrain is rugged, roads are narrow, and motorized vehicles are almost inaccessible.
In that context, pack horses became the "steel legs" of the campaign. Each horse could carry dozens of kilograms of food and weapons, persistently crossing forests, wading streams, and climbing slopes in harsh weather conditions.
Without the shout of volunteering, without medals, pack horses stretched day and night into silent transport convoys. That persistence contributed to ensuring continuous supply for the front, helping the troops maintain a long-term battle formation, creating a premise for decisive victory.
Carrying horses are not only a means of transportation but also a vivid symbol of the people's logistics strength in the war. Along with carrying bicycles, bamboo baskets, and bare shoulders of civilians, the image of carrying horses reflects the spirit of mobilizing the entire people, taking advantage of all resources to serve the resistance war.
Besides real-life pack horses, Vietnamese history and culture also preserve the image of iron horses and sky horses as symbols.
Iron horse" - the legendary bicycle carrier is one of the key factors for the Dien Bien Phu victory.
Extraordinary strength when each "iron horse" initially could only carry 80-100kg, but after improvement (adding handles, reinforcing frames), productivity has skyrocketed. The record belongs to soldier Ma Van Thang with a 325kg load trip and Mr. Trinh Ngoc with 345.5kg.
Recalling the role of pack horses in the Dien Bien Phu campaign is not only to further complete the historical picture, but also to express gratitude for the silent and persistent contributions that contributed to the great victory of the nation.
The historic Dien Bien Phu victory also took place during the Year of the Horse, Giap Ngo. The historical Years of the Horse have created a brilliant milestone on the journey of building and defending the country of the Vietnamese nation.
Before the Binh Ngo year 2026, let's look back, let's express gratitude to history.
The image of the horse carries many layers of symbolic meaning, is a memory of silent but persistent footprints throughout the history and culture of Vietnamese people.
