The Command post of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign
Location: Located in Muong
Phang Commune, Dien Bien District, about 35km, 10km as the crow flies, from the
centre of Dien Bien Phu City, Vietnam.
Characteristics: Here visitors will find the hut where General Vo Nguyen
Giap worked and other huts for information and military operation discussion.
Major General,
Deputy Chief of Staff Hoang Van Thai, deputy head of the Chinese consultants’
group and chief of staff Mei Jiasheng and other officers left Viet Bac for Tay
Bac on December 6th, 1953 to make preparations for the Tay Bac Campaign in
winter-spring 1953-1954.
On January 5th, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander-in-Chief of the Dien
Bien Phu Campaign and head of the Chinese consultants’ group Wei Quojing left
for Tay Bac. The General’s first stop was at Tham Pua Cave (Km 15, Tuan
Giao-Dien Bien Phu road). This command post had been set up as early as December
7th, 1953. In this cave, on January 14th, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap assigned
the tactical tasks for different divisions, following the guideline of “sweep
attack, sweep victory” under which the battle would last 2 days and 3 nights
with the D-Day set on January 20th, 1954. On January 17th, 1954, the Command
post was moved to the area beside Huoi He Stream in Na Tau Commune (Km 56+200,
Tuan Giao-Dien Bien Phu road). Due to some reasons, the D-Day was changed to the
25th then the 26th of January 1954. At 11:00 hours in the morning of January
26th, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap decided to swift from the strategy to “strike
swiftly, win swiftly” to “strike surely, win surely”. This military order was
sent to all units in Dien Bien. The Command post was situated in Na Tau from
January 18th, 1954 to January 30th, 1954.
At night of the
30th and early of the 31st day of January 1954, the Command post was moved again
to Muong Phang Commune. It stayed there until May 15th, 1954. This was the third
and the last command post of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. Atop the Phu Ca
Mountain, General Vo Nguyen Giap had a watchtower built to get a panoramic view
of Muong Thanh Field through binoculars. In this Command post one can visit:
- Sentry box No. 1
- Information Center
- Hut of Reconnaissance Operation
- Hut of General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander-in-Chief of the Dien Bien Phu
- The 96m tunnel through the mountain, connecting General Giap’s hut with that
of Chief of Staff Hoang Van Thai
- Area for Chinese consultants
- Hut of Chief of Staff Hoang Van Thai
- Meeting hall
- Political sector
The Muong Phang Command post successfully bore the historical task of liberating
Dien Bien entrusted by the Party Central Committee and Uncle Ho.
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Source: Vietnam Administration of Tourism |