PANO – Situated not far from the poetic Cua Tung Beach is a bare hill full of white sand. That “Sand Hill”, called “Height 21″ in military terms and “sacred hill” by the locals, is in Gio My commune, Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province. This hill is closely linked to a heroic platoon and a dramatic battle in 1968.
In that battle, soldier Hoang Ngoc Bich was the only survivor.
Flaming autumn
Bich recalled that in 1968, after the Mau Than Campaign, Vietnamese troops and the enemy engaged in combat to seize each inch of land and hill. Early that year, the enemy was defeated in Huoi San-Ta May. The Ta Con Airfield was under fire, forcing the enemy to rely only on the logistic route from Cua Viet Port.
Present sand hill (called Height 21 in military terms)
In May, Company 2 of Battalion 4 of Regiment 270, a regular unit, joined with guerrillas from Gio Linh commune to lay an ambush and annihilate a company under Battalion 3 of US Marine Brigade 196. The history of Regiment 270 records that Platoon 6, led by its commander Khuong Van Chi, achieved an outstanding feat.
When autumn came, the enemy opened a raid in south Ben Hai River. At that time, Platoon 6 was assigned to set up a commanding position on Height 21, decimating the enemy on the opposite Height 31.
“The mission of my battalion was to prevent the enemy from approaching Ben Hai River to foil their boast of “washing their feet in Ben Hai River”, Bich remembered.
On September 2nd, 1968, Bich’s battalion occupied areas from Xuan My and Gio My to Gio Thanh and Cua Viet.
Acknowledging Bich’s nimbleness, Company 2 of Battalion 4 assigned him as a sniper on Height 31. Though that hill was covered only by white sand, Bich and his comrades camouflaged themselves and sniped at the enemy even in the daytime. Killing many enemy soldiers, Bich was rewarded the certificate of “Valiant man killing puppet troops”.
In early October 1968, Bich was assigned to work as a liaison for the company’s commanders.
In the evening of October 15th, Platoon 6 was ordered to control Height 21 under command of deputy commissar Nguyen Huu Canh and Commander Khuong Van Chi.
“It was a moonlit night. We had to enter the battlefield at 8pm and work until 4am the next day, to complete the fortifications for combat”, Bich said.
At 8am on October 16th, the enemy artillery shelled for ten minutes.
Knowing that the enemy was launching an attack, the platoon troops remained calm. One hour later, hearing noises, Bich looked out of the trench and seeing many tanks approaching, reported this immediately to the commander.
In the first attack wave, the enemy tanks were hit by antitank mines. Two were blown up. Then, artillery shells followed, injuring a light machine-gun soldier named The.
Bich received an order to attract the enemy towards the antitank mine field. The third tank fell into the trap, forcing the enemy tanks to retreat.
Historical witness Hoang Ngoc Bich, the only survivor of Platoon 6
Until the afternoon, the platoon underwent heavy causalities. Bich went deaf after firing many rounds of RPG-2 (B40) and RPG-7 (B41) at the enemy. He felt a burning pain in his face.
To divert the enemy line of fire, Bich used his extra clothing as decoys. When he reached Commander Khuong Van Chi’s position, surrounded by enemy tanks, Bich saw a heart-rending scene: Chi died while holding his gun, and the bodies of other comrades overwhelmed the A-shape trench.
Bich was determined to divert the enemy’s attention. As his two comrades were moving to another place in the trench, they were spotted by the enemy and were fired on by recoilless mortar. Later, the enemy tanks ran over the trench, burying Bich.
For the whole day, Platoon 6 launched many counter-attacks at the enemy, burned 5 tanks and killed dozens of the enemy’ troops. However, the 33-member platoon was overwhelmed by the enemy.
They died, but their strong will scared the enemy, forcing them to withdraw to Height 31 and breaking their scheme of raiding south Ben Hai River.
The last soldier
At midnight that day, Platoon 3 was ordered to go to the battlefield to collect the injured and the dead.
“When we came, the battlefield was levelled. Blood stains were seen on the white sand, but we found just some bodies”, Nguyen Xuan Dong, a liaison of Battalion 4 said.
Searching the field, the troops found a rising head. They dug deeper and found naked Bich. Touching his warm body, the comrades happily washed his face. The first question Bich raised when he opened his eyes was “Hand-grenade? Give me a hand-grenade to destroy the tanks!”.
Bich was lucky to survive thanks to some wooden bars in the A-shape trench. His 32 comrades all died in action.
After the battle, Bich looked like a lost soul due to his injuries and his torment for his dead comrades. Half a month later, he was advanced to be admitted to the Party and was voted to attend the “Determination to Wine” Emulation Congress, in which he was titled “The Soldier of “Determination to Win” of the Whole Army”.
Seeing Bich, the new party member and the hero of the company, taking an oath before the party flag with the support of the commissar and the battalion’s commander, no one could hold back their tears.
By Nguyen Minh
Translated by Mai Huong
Đăng ký: VietNam News