I returned to the epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh” by poet Chau La Viet, to understand and love more the years when my homeland was immersed in the smoke and fire of bullets and bombs, to respectfully bow my head before the people who carved their lives into the sacred soul of the mountains and rivers.

“The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh” is a new epic poem written by author Chau La Viet in the Writing Camp on the theme of armed forces and revolutionary war organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Tam Dao in August 2025. Immediately after that, this epic poem was published by the Army Publishing House in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army. There are many articles analyzing and evaluating this epic poem in depth and full of emotion.

As a son of the land of fire Tay Ninh, blessed to be born in peacetime, I come to this epic poem with a sincere heart of gratitude to the past, to the generations of fathers and brothers who were ready to set out when the Fatherland called their names, ready to die for the Fatherland, determined to live for the aspiration of peace, North and South reunited as one, so that our country could resound with the song of triumph.

The epic poem recreates and depicts the unforgettable days - the fierce land of fire in Tay Ninh during the Junction City operation conducted by the US imperialists and the Saigon puppet army to attack the North Tay Ninh base area in the dry season of 1967.

This is the land of brutal war

Where the dry season of 1967 passed (1967)

The enemy launched an unprecedented campaign.

They named him Gian-xôn X-ti.

At that time, the US Command was very interested in the North Tay Ninh base area. The US constantly propagated calling this North Tay Ninh war zone the "holy land of the Viet Cong" with the "White House" and the "Pentagon", meaning the headquarters of the Central Bureau, the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, the Military Commission and the Command of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam.

Therefore:

Expeditionary Army and Saigon Army

Marching loudly to Lo Go - Xa Mat.

Armies, tanks, armored vehicles

Helicopters blacken the sky

They want to turn the war zone into ashes.

Determined to destroy our forces...

The footprints of the enemy trampled

Destroyed Cu Chi, Ben Suc, Trang Bang...

The flow of the poem is like a narrative. The words of the poem do not have a mournful cry, but the pain makes people's hearts ache. I love Tay Ninh so much! I love my country so much.

Tay Ninh is the primeval forest

The Riec and Rum Duon mountains are covered with layers of trees.

That peaceful and prosperous land suddenly became desolate and exhausted.

The day I came to the forest there was no more bird sound.

Bombs and bullets destroyed everything.

The stream dried up and left bare rocks.

The shirt was stained with gunpowder and sweat.

The brutal and bloodthirsty enemy wanted to destroy Tay Ninh at all costs.

They know Tay Ninh has R- Central Bureau...

Special Forces Intelligence, Police

Puppet soldiers covered every inch of Tay Ninh land.

They hunted down and massacred

Even wild plants cannot be at peace...

Oh the days of Chau Thanh, Trang Bang

Commandos searched every house, examined every blade of grass...

Then they spread poison all over the forest...

The leaves of the forest still have blood stains.

The Tay Ninh battlefield was immersed in the smoke and fire of bullets and bombs for decades. The blood and bones of many people had soaked into the motherland. Many hearts sacrificed themselves. The mass of hatred mixed with the cries, the pain of losing the country turned into a steadfast strength, into a bright flame of struggle, determined to keep every inch of land and treetop. Love turned into an unparalleled strength. The army and people of Tay Ninh fought with utmost courage and resilience to protect their homeland, to protect the Central Bureau - to protect the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam. Nowhere was as fierce as this place, and nowhere was as rich in heroic stories as this land. The names of hamlets and villages have become history.

Here are Se Lo, Rum Duon, Ang Khac, Soc Ki,

Trang Chien, Ca Tum, Ta Xia

This is Dong Pan, Bau Co,

Dong Rum, Tri Kiet, Ba Vung, Con Trang...

Each land name a brilliant feat.

The campaign took place in a situation where the US had a much greater difference in strength, but the Liberation Army of South Vietnam achieved a complete victory. The US ended Operation Gianxôn Xity. General Nguyen Chi Thanh once commented: "Operation Gianxôn Xity was the largest operation of the US army into the northern Tay Ninh base area, but it was also the most painful operation, marking the peak of their failure in the second dry season strategic counterattack in their plot to find and destroy". That achievement was also a strong affirmation of the fighting spirit and heroic tradition of our nation, especially the steel spirit of the security soldiers.

The epic poem "The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh" by poet Chau La Viet gradually reveals the story of security officer To Quyen.

Also in those days there was a man named Xuan Cau.

He went to the battlefield very early.

The place he came to was the hot land of Tay Ninh.

He will love it like his own homeland...

“Love turns a strange land into a homeland”. The son of Xuan Cau village (Van Giang, Hung Yen) set out to answer the call of the Fatherland, following the assignment of the Party, to fight on the fierce Tay Ninh battlefield. Tay Ninh is his home, his beloved flesh and blood. He began to “ Build a movement, build a team ”. Under the “small lamp”, in the “smoke-filled basement”, “professional guidance documents for the brothers” were born.

Use the enemy to fight the enemy, use evil to destroy evil

The principles of security strategy

The art of Tay Ninh fighting the enemy

The miracle of people's war.

He lived with the people, worried about their worries, and ate sweet potatoes and cassava with them. The relationship between the army and the people was warm and deep. He put aside his personal concerns, and wholeheartedly loved the windy and sunny borderland.

People call him uncle Tu To Lam.

People love the cassava and sweet potato.

Ao ba ba has been through many rainy and sunny seasons

The bullet wound on the Ao Ba Ba shirt has not been sewn up yet...

The “ao ba ba” seems to encapsulate the feelings of a security soldier. Rain, sun, bullets and bombs do not matter, because there is no love greater than the love of the Fatherland, there is no aspiration greater than the aspiration for peace, for the North and the South to reunite as one family. His determination is like iron, like an iron oath.

He clung to the ground with his brothers to fight back.

Even if it takes sacrifice, I will keep this land...

He stuck with the people and directly held a gun:

“Losing Go Dau means losing Tay Ninh”

The image of Uncle Tu To Lam in the epic poem became a beautiful symbol of security soldiers who are ready to die for the Fatherland.

During the war, at the forefront were “ The girls and boys/They lived and died/Simple and calm/No one remembered their faces or names/But they built the country ”, “ When the enemy came to our house, the women also fought… ” (Nguyen Khoa Diem). And in the group of people going to battle in the fiery land of Tay Ninh, there was a girl “ At the age of nineteen, her hair was shoulder-length ”.

That is the artist named To Lan Phuong, also born in the beautiful homeland named Xuan Cau. She volunteered to serve the battlefield in the South since 1967: “ At nineteen years old, I went to the front line/ Flowers missed you and released their fragrance all night long/ Crossing Truong Son with its high mountains and deep ravines/ Still the flower on my head.../ To Lan Phuong wrote in her diary/ The lines carry a burning love/ For the base, for Tay Ninh with its bullets and fire/ The years of my youth ”.

Her singing voice drowned out the “screaming sound of bombs and bullets”. Her singing was filled with so much passion and affection. “ The singing urges us to make achievements/ The singing accompanies the soldiers on their journey ”. The singing voice of the girl from Xuan Cau still resonates in the hearts of the land and people of Tay Ninh, yesterday and tomorrow.

The epic poem ends with the image of today's fiery land of Tay Ninh, which has changed dramatically.

“The old base with lots of birds singing

The forest is green like the immense spring"

The vast forests of the North Tay Ninh base area were once dry, yellow and white, with trees broken by bombs and toxic chemicals. The forest land was plowed by bombs and shells, with bomb craters after bomb craters, and is now green again. Lo Go-Xa Mat National Park, Chang Riec Historical and Cultural Forest, Dau Tieng Lake's upstream protection forest and the endless forests of rubber, cassava, and sugarcane are a green area. " Ba Den Mountain defeated the enemy ", this place has now been mentioned by the world's leading travel guide Lonely Planet in the top 15 outstanding experiences when exploring Vietnam. A fresh spring has appeared in the land and sky of Tay Ninh.

The war has receded into the past 50 years. The epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Fire Land of Tay Ninh” by poet Chau La Viet has carved the heroic epic of our army and people defeating the Gianxơn xity operation. Recalling the past helps us understand more, love more, and be more proud of the heroic fighting tradition of our army and people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the cause of national liberation and reunification.

We - the children of Tay Ninh today would like to light a stick of incense, bow our heads in gratitude to those who made history, living devotedly for the Fatherland like a fragrant flower in life. The epic poem ends but the melody still resonates in our hearts.

Oh Dong Co River, Dong Co River!

Remember how many people fought for our country

Their names will forever remain with their homeland.

Their name in the hearts of beloved people

Tay Ninh land of fire and the sound of forest birds.

Mai Thao

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/truong-ca-tieng-chim-rung-va-dat-lua-tay-ninh-loi-tri-an-gui-ve-qua-khu-193292.htm