The Cochinchina Uprising (November 23, 1940) was a major historical event, leaving an indelible mark on the Southern troops and people – “The bronze citadel of the Fatherland” and many valuable lessons for Military Region 7’s armed forces to inherit and promote in the cause of building and defending the country today.

Cochinchina Uprising is a dramatic epic in the history of revolutionary struggle of the Party Committee, people of Cochinchina and the nation. The uprising is forever the symbol of the will and rebellious spirit of miserable masses. The factor that created that rebellious spirit was the “patriotism”, the offensive revolutionary spirit, and the determination to bring independence, freedom for the Fatherland, prosperity and happiness for the people. The uprising affirmed the growth, attraction, leadership and irreplaceable role of the Communist Party in the political arena, as well as in social life in the 1940s. It is the continuation and promotion of the patriotic tradition, heroic courage and glorious history of our nation in the new era, fighting under the banner of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thought.

Eighty years have passed, but the great historical significance of the Uprising still remains, and will forever be the pride and lessons of profound practical value in the cause of building and defending the Vietnam socialist Fatherland. In the field of military science, the Cochinchina Uprising gives us many valuable lessons on armed force building, strategic direction, national unity strength and the spirit of the revolutionary masses; on organising, building forces and conducting war; on the art of creating and taking opportunities, planning and operating the insurrection; on military secrets and building revolutionary bases. In addition, the uprising left us many guerrilla teams, some of which continued to fight and became the core in the foundation of the armed forces of Military Region 7.

Live-firing conducted by MR7's armed forces in an exercise

Promoting that tradition and that precious lesson, the armed forces of Military Region 7 pay special attention to making it strong in politics, ideology and organisation, with increasingly higher overall quality, worthy of being a reliable force of Party and the People. From a burgeoning army with insufficient military knowledge, the armed forces of Military Region 7 both fought and matured, gradually accumulated necessary experience and knowledge, successfully completing all assigned tasks and making worthy contributions to the general victory of the resistance wars against the French colonialists and the American imperialists. When the country was unified, the armed forces of the Military Region continued to fight to protect the southwestern border of the country and fulfill international obligations, rescuing the Cambodian people from genocide.

In the new phase of the revolution, together with the army and people of the whole country, Military Region 7's armed forces continued to promote the spirit of the Uprising to complete all assigned tasks and build up the tradition of “Infinite loyalty; creativity; self-sufficiency and self-reliance; unity to win”. It has always been the core in ensuring firmly the all people’s national defence posture, maintaining a stable environment for the key economic region in the South, contributing to protecting the country from early and afar.

In the face of the opportunities and challenges in the integration process, the complicated developments of the world and regional situations, over the past years, cadres and soldiers of the armed forces of the Military Region have always thoroughly grasped resolutions and directives of the Party, policies and laws of the State on military and defence missions, mastered political tasks, upheld the sense of self-reliance, synchronously implemented solutions for building the armed forces of the Military Region strong in politics, ideology and organisation; closely combined socio-economic development with strengthening national defence and security potentials, and well performed military external relations; closely coordinated with other forces in the area to prevent and settle disputes and conflicts among the people, and  activities to entice, incite and take advantage of issues of ethnicity, religion, democracy and human rights to sabotage our country's revolution of the hostile forces. At the same time, it has actively participated in building strong political bases, political and spiritual potentials, consolidating the military - civilian solidarity relationship, building solid provincial defence areas, and borders of peace, friendship and cooperation with neighboring countries.

Deeply aware of the “people’s heart and mind posture”, the Party Committee and High Command of the Military Region always coordinate closely with the provincial (municipal) Party Committees and local governments in leading and directing the local armed forces to implement many positive measures to build a solid “people’s heart and mind posture”, focusing on helping the ethnic minorities, the religious people with concrete, thoughtful and gratitude actions. Many visits and meetings with religious dignitaries, village notables, etc., of the leaders and commanders of the Military Region have left a deep impression on the beautiful image of “Uncle Ho’s soldier”. The Standing Party Committee and the High Command of the Military Region have also directed to hold many specific activities with high efficiency, such as: building a core political force and reservists working in industrial zones, export processing zones, factories and companies in order to enhance the ability to grasp the situation and solve complicated problems right from early stages. All for the common goal is to promote the strength of great national solidarity for building the country increasingly prosperous in economy and firm in national defence and security.

In building defence and security potentials, many major policies have been concretised by the Standing Party Committee and High Command of the Military Region into projects, programs and plans, such as: the Project on building the reserve forces to improve the quality of management, mobilisation and implementation of defence tasks; the project on procurement of equipment, support tools for forces to improve task performance efficiency, etc. For many years, Military Region 7 has always been a typical example of building strong and comprehensive local armed forces right from the grass-roots. Moreover, the overall quality and the combat readiness level of the armed forces of the Military Region have been constantly improved according to the direction of “lean, compact, and powerful”. Training contents are closely related to actual combat reality and combat object to ensure substantive teaching - substantive learning and substantive testing and absolute safety. In combat readiness, it has always prepared for “3 ready”, namely: ready people – ready weapon and vehicle - ready plan” and adjusted and supplemented in time to successfully cope with situations arise.

To ensure that each province (city) has an active militia force, the Military Region pilots the model of rotary concentrated militia force for advanced training. Accordingly, each province (city) is to establish one or two permanent militia companies sponsored by local budgets, which will coordinate with other forces in handling situations in the area. This policy is highly agreed by the party committees and authorities of the provinces (cities). In order to create uninterrupted connection to promote the synergy of localities in a solid defence posture, the Military Region implements the policy of “the back-line localities and units support the front-line localities and units in difficulties”. In fact, when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, in an interconnected posture, when Ho Chi Minh City became the “front line”, other provinces also established many isolation areas to share the burden in pandemic prevention and control with the City.

Stemming from the tradition of “protecting the village, protecting the country”, and the experience that “each citizen is a living milestone, no force can protect the border as firmly as the people”, the Military Region has advocated the formation of residential clusters in border areas to create solid ‘fence” to protect the country. Currently, along the border lines of Military Region 7, residential areas are being formed adjacent to border militia posts and border stations. In the future, these residential clusters will be the villages and hamlets along the border, creating a solid “fence” for the southwestern border of the country. These are the pioneering steps, paving the way for the construction and implementation of the project “Strengthening defence potentials in combination with socio-economic development in the border provinces of the Military Region in the 2020 – 2025 period”.

Promoting the rebellious spirit of the Cochinchina Uprising, the armed forces of Military Region 7 will continue their efforts to rise up, score more achievements to build it revolutionary, regular, elite, and increasingly modern to successfully accomplish military and defence tasks in the area in the new situation.

Lt. Gen. VO MINH LUONG, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of National Defence, Former Commander of Military Region 7