The victory of the Vietnamese people and its Army in defeating the U.S. imperialist B-52's strategic air raid in Hanoi, Hai Phong and a number of other important targets in the North of Viet Nam at the end of 1972 is the victory of the Vietnamese will and wisdom in the Ho Chi Minh era. That victory is the combined outcomes of many factors; in which, the political and spiritual strength of our people and Army played the leading role and bore the most significant meaning.

That strength is concentrated in the spirit of daring to fight, knowing how to fight and determining to win by our people and Army against the strategic air raid by the U.S. B-52 aircraft, a weapon advertised as "impossible to be defeated," "could not be shot down by any weapon". The U.S. military also threatened: with the use of B-52s to attack Hanoi and Hai Phong, then the "population centres as well as military targets will be wiped out... the targeted areas will be left with debris". The belligerent forces in the U.S. government expected that with the use of strategic air raids by B-52s against Hanoi and Hai Phong, they would defeat the will and spirit of the Vietnamese Army and people, forcing us to sit at the negotiating table and sign an armistice with the terms and conditions in favour of the U.S. However, they made a serious mistake since they failed to appreciate the great spiritual and political strength of our people and Army in this campaign.

First of all, it is the dare to fight spirit of our people and Army in the face of the threat of the destructive power of the B-52 strategic aircraft. That was reflected by the fact that, in the face of an enemy with advanced weapons, hailed by American military experts as having tremendous destructive power, our people and Army did not waver or fear, but showed our steadfast bravery and determination to fight and to shoot down B-52 aircraft. Right from the initial days when the U.S. deployed B-52s for their airstrikes in the southern battlefield, on July 19, 1965, President Ho Chi Minh, on behalf of our people and Army, affirmed the determination to fight. He said: "Even though the American empire had a huge amount of weapons and a lot of money. No matter if they have B-57, B-52 or whatever "B", we will fight against… and once we fight against it, we will definitely win”. When the U.S. deployed B-52s for "carpet bombing" in the western part of Quang Binh, President Ho instructed the Political Commissar of the Air Defence - Air Force service that: "As American deployed B-52s to bomb the North, we must find a way to shoot down these aircraft”. Upholding Uncle Ho's instruction, right from 1966, the Air Defence - Air Force Service deployed the 238th Missile Regiment to Vinh Linh to study how to cope with B-52s. In the following years, four more missile regiments and a number of MIG fighters were deployed to Military Region No.4 to support the Tri-Thien battlefield and directly study how to fight against B-52s. In February 1968, the Air Defence - Air Force Service completed a plan called "A plan to fight against the US B-52 strategic air raid and protect Hanoi and Hai Phong"; then it continuously supplemented and completed to have "the May plan", "the July plan", "the September plan", and finally "the November plan" – the best plan to fight against B-52s. In order to realise the spirit of daring to fight and the determination to shoot down the B-52s from the first engagement, the Air Defence - Air Force service soon studied and learnt lessons in the battlefield, and built a document namely How to shoot down the B-52s for training troops and unifying engagement plans; At the same time, it made determination to the General, Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap trying to achieve the N2 goal (shooting down 06% - 07% of the B-52 aircraft, the rate that could shock the White House) and moved forward to reach N3 goal (shooting down more than 10% of B-52s, the rate that forced the U.S. to lose). That showed, the spirit of daring to fight was implemented with specific actions, through the proactive preparation of engagement plans to fight against B-52s with clear goals set from the early days; and only with the spirit of daring to fight and determining to fight, could we be well-prepared, so that on the night of December 18, 1972, our people and Army entered the campaign to fight against the U.S. strategic air raid, mainly conducted by B-52s, without being surprised at strategic, operational and tactical levels. Our combat units entered the state of combat alert level 1 - the highest level 35 minutes in advance, and on the first night of the Campaign, we shot down 03 "stratofortresses" B-52s, of which 02 crashed right on the spot.

The determination to fight of missile troops in the air defence campaign in 1972

Secondly, the political and spiritual strength of our people and Army in the 1972 "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air" Victory is also reflected in the action of knowing how to engage and determining to win. On the basis of the spirit of daring to fight, our people and Army bravely overcame all hardships, fierceness, ingenuity, flexibility, creativity, and were firmly confident in their ability to win so as to decisively find a way to fight against and shoot down the B-52s. Facing with the enemy's electronic jamming, aiming to "blind" our radar and air defence systems, the Radar troops made tremendous efforts to research and find a way to overcome it. Some units even carried their equipment, crossing high passes, deep streams, and fierce attacks by the enemy, etc. to the top of Truong Son Mountain range to set up a station to extend its radar signals in searching for B-52s. Thanks to extensive studying, the Radar troops were able to identify the B-52 jamming signals in a dense jamming signals with the support of the escorted fighters, accurately detecting the position of the B-52s, promptly notify combat units to engage them. The Missile Force overcame the limitations of technical weapons, distinguishing real and fake targets, avoiding self-guided missiles of the enemy aircraft (air-to-ground missiles); at the same time, actively and flexibly changed the conditions, applied different control tactics to shoot down 36 aircraft of all types, including 29 B-52 aircraft in the entire Campaign. The Air Force, with the desire to shoot down B-52s, secretly used remote field airport for night sorties, with a unique and creative engaging tactics, and the will, determination to win, and their bravery, so as when needed, pilot Vu Xuan Thieu controlled the plane to rush straight into the B-52 to destroy it. Thanks to the confidence in the victory, our people and Army proactively overcame the technical limitations of the existing weapons and equipment to organise a widespread people's war, establish a multi-layer fire, with reasonable engaging tactics, saved missiles and kept pilots for night flights to engage B-52s, while other forces attacked tactical aircraft, ensuring that all forces could shoot down enemy’s aircraft, all weapons could bring into play their lethality. As a result of the 12 days and nights campaign, our people and Army shot down 81 enemy aircraft; of which, 34 were B-52s (accounting for 17.6% of the US B-52 aircraft participating in the raid), far exceeding the N3 goal, forcing the U.S. to sign the Paris Agreements, accepting all fundamental conditions from our party as the "agreement of October 1972", in which the U.S. withdrew all its troops home, opening up a new situation and opportunity for our people and Army - the opportunity to the final victory in the resistance war against the invaders and unify the Homeland.

The political and spiritual strength of our people and Army in the 1972 "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air" Victory stemmed from patriotism, the tradition of fighting against foreign invaders of the Vietnamese people, as President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “Whenever the Fatherland is invaded, that patriotism and tradition become vibrant, they form a huge and powerful wave, overcoming all dangers and difficulties, sinking all the invaders and betrayers.” In the face of the U.S. deployment of B-52 aircraft to brutally attack Hanoi, Hai Phong and several other important targets in the North of Viet Nam, our people were not afraid; patriotism and tradition of fighting foreign invaders once again united the whole nation into a unified block around the Politburo, the Party Central Committee, and the General Command to actively build a multi-layer defensive posture along with the determination to fight and to win. That strength also stemmed from the foresight, the clear-sighted leadership of our Party and beloved President Ho Chi Minh, with the prediction that "the U.S. is bound to be defeated, but it is only defeated after being lost in the sky of Hanoi", so as to soon have the direction on the thorough preparation to cope with the U.S. B-52 strategic air raid. On the basis of early and accurate forecasts of the possibility that the U.S. would deploy B-52s to attack Hanoi and Hai Phong, our Party and President Ho Chi Minh soon built up the people’s and the Army’s confidence, the will to fight and to defeat the invaders. That determination to fight was reflected in President Ho Chi Minh’s words that “Ha Noi, Hai Phong and several cities and factories may be destroyed, but the Vietnamese people are not afraid! Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.”

The political and spiritual strength of our people and Army during the 12 days and nights Campaign in 1972 was also multiplied by the excellent command of the Ministry of National Defence and the staff agencies at strategic level. On the basis of early and correct assessment of the possibility that the U.S. would take adventurous action to raid Hanoi and Hai Phong by B-52 aircraft, the Politburo, directly the Central Military Commission, the General Command, and the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army soon directed the Air Defence - Air Force service to complete the Campaign Plan to engage the US B-52's strategic air raid in the sky of Hanoi and Hai Phong, and guiding document on how to shoot down B-52s. Therefore, the preparation was proactively conducted in all aspects. The adjustment of formations, the training for engaging troops, the work of ideological and political education, the building of determination to "fight and win", the work of maintaining weapons, equipment and facilities. ... were fostered and completed on time as planned, before the Campaign happened. The proactive and thoughtful preparation in all aspects for the Campaign made a very important contribution to strengthening the confidence of our people and Army in the Party's leadership and in the capability to win the engagement with the B-52 aircraft in the sky of Hanoi. Along with that, the propaganda and political and ideological education were actively, regularly and persistently carried out by the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence and localities, both before and during the Campaign. It also made a particularly important contribution to overcoming all right-wing, wavering, and lack of confidence expressions; promoting patriotism, the nation's tradition of fighting against foreign invaders; building the will and determination to fight and to defeat the American invaders; strengthening confidence in the ability to shoot down B-52 of each People's Army officer and soldier and each citizen. Leaders and commanders of the Air Defence - Air Force units simultaneously paid attention to educating the nation's tradition of fighting against foreign invaders, constantly strengthening political will and the determination to fight and defeat the enemy for the troops. The Party and political work in the units was conducted at all level and to all subject, aiming at helping all cadres and soldiers to realise the plots and tricks of the U.S. imperialists, and thoroughly understand our military and political guidelines, building the will to "fight and decisively defeat" the B-52s. At the same time, emphasis was placed on encouraging the troops to promote their creativity, self-reliance, overcome difficulties and hardships, master and bring into full play the technical advantages of the available weapons to shoot down the B-52s and capture the enemy pilots alive.

The political and spiritual strength of our people and Army in the 1972 "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air" victory was also enhanced by the great and effective assistance in all aspects of the governments and peoples of other socialist countries; the strong consensus and support of the national liberation movement, of the revolutionary forces, of peaceful democracy and of the progressive people all over the world, including the progressive American people. It was the solidarity and international support that encouraged and enhanced the spiritual and political strength of our people and Army in this fierce battle.

The war has receded, but the lesson on promoting political and spiritual strength in the "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air" Victory, 50 years ago is still valid. To safeguard the Fatherland in the time of accelerating industrialisation, modernisation and international integration, with significant impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is necessary that we should focus on building: sustainable economy, strong national defence posture, strong internal power, peaceful people, political and social stability, the whole nation must be a unified block." The strength to safeguard our beloved Fatherland of Viet Nam in that context is the synergy of many factors, the power of the people's war, which is highly developed in the new conditions; in which, the political and spiritual strength of the whole nation still plays the key role. That requires our entire army and people to regularly and persistently pay attention to building, consolidating and promoting political and spiritual strength, contributing to maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for the development of the country, creating favourable conditions to successfully realise the aspiration of "developing a prosperous and happy country", as powerful as the wish of our dearly beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

NGUYEN NGOC HOI