Parade on Truong Sa Lon Island - Photo: AD

Journey beyond the waves - camouflage in the ocean

The next day, April 12, when Squadron C75 was marching in the middle of the ocean, a strange ship suddenly appeared following them, and foreign planes continuously circled and monitored them in the air. Although the commandos and their weapons were carefully hidden in the ship's hold and camouflaged with fishing nets, the tense situation made everyone worried: Operation Commander Mai Nang worried: "Has the plan been exposed?"

He quickly ordered the ships to change direction, pretending to head towards the waters of Hainan Island (China). The “fishermen” of Squadron C75 calmly steered the ships as if it were a regular route. After many hours of tense monitoring, the strange ship and the surveillance plane gradually disappeared. Immediately, the entire squadron accelerated, heading straight towards the Truong Sa archipelago. From dawn on April 11 to afternoon on April 13, Squadron C75 moved to the predetermined coordinates.

The night sky of April 13 gradually turned into the morning of April 14, 1975. On the vast sea, 3 ships took turns entering their positions, preparing for the first battle: Song Tu Tay Island. At around 1:00 a.m. on April 14, 1975, Special Forces Team 1, commanded by Captain Nguyen Ngoc Que, divided into 3 groups, quietly left ship 673, and used boats to land on the island. Ships 674 and 675 were tasked with guarding the outside.

Of the three landing forces, two landed safely, but the remaining force had an accident and could not reach the island due to the large waves. More than an hour later, the attacking force that had an accident also managed to reach the island. At exactly 4:30 a.m. on April 14, 1975, the three forces opened fire simultaneously. Being attacked by surprise, the enemy gathered in their defensive positions to fight back. Major General Mai Nang recalled that at the beginning of the battle, our commandos had the advantage of surprise, but the enemy's firepower was still quite strong. "We shouted loudly about using strong firepower to intimidate the enemy hiding in the bunker." (Later, he did not expect that thanks to this very loud shout from his comrades, it contributed to the Saigon army soldiers quickly surrendering.) The gunfire from the defensive position gradually weakened and then stopped. At about 5:30 a.m. on April 14, 1975, the Saigon soldiers on Song Tu Tay Island surrendered en masse. The Liberation Army flag was raised to replace the flag of the old regime. The person with the honor of raising the national flag on Song Tu Tay Island was Corporal Le Xuan Phat, of Team 1, Special Forces Group 126.

Major General Mai Nang - the direct commander of the campaign to liberate Truong Sa - Photo: VT

Immediately after Song Tu Tay Island was liberated, the enemy's defense situation on the entire Truong Sa archipelago was shaken. On the same day, ships continued to carry special forces and main force troops to occupy the remaining islands: Sinh Ton, Nam Yet, Son Ca, An Bang and Truong Sa Lon. The campaign was carried out quickly, skillfully and accurately. On April 14, ship 675 of captain Pham Duy Tam transported prisoners of war back to Da Nang to hand over and brought troops of Division 2 (Military Region 5) to take over Song Tu Tay Island, building a solid defense system to protect the first achievement on the sacred sea.

There is a detail in the story with the commanders of the campaign to liberate Truong Sa in the past that we will always remember: “At about 5:30 am on April 14, 1975, we liberated Song Tu Tay island, then just a few hours later, at 9 am on the same day, a strange ship appeared outside the island. The strange ship quickly approached the shore, the soldiers on board were preparing to land when they discovered that the Liberation flag was flying on the island, and the Liberation army was in a position of readiness to fight, the strange ship quickly retreated”. The story of the strange ship appearing at that time makes us today admire even more the strategic vision of the "General Headquarters" in the spring of 1975 regarding Truong Sa archipelago!

After liberating Song Tu Tay Island, the policy of attacking and liberating the remaining islands in the Truong Sa archipelago was passed down from the top. At dawn on April 21, 1975, ship number 641 commanded by comrade Do Viet Cuong (Deputy Captain of Team 1 of Group 126, later he became a Hero of the People's Armed Forces, Rear Admiral, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy) aimed straight at Son Ca Island. Like the ships in the formation that attacked Song Tu Tay Island, ship 641 was disguised as a fishing boat and continuously changed its license plate to avoid being discovered.

The plan was for ship 641 to attack on the night of April 23, 1975, but on the way they encountered many American submarines, destroyers and aircraft, so the superiors agreed to let ship 641 delay the attack time... At exactly 2:00 a.m. on April 25, 1975, our troops landed on Son Ca Island. At 2:30 a.m., all the attack forces opened fire simultaneously, and the enemy surrendered after only half an hour. The Liberation Flag flew over Son Ca Island.

On the night of April 26, Commander Mai Nang received a telegram from his superiors with the following content: "The enemy has ordered to withdraw from Nam Yet island tonight. You guys observe. If the enemy cannot detect you, then organize an attack from behind. If you cannot do this, then camouflage yourself in the surrounding area and wait for the enemy to withdraw. Send forces to occupy the island and do not let the island fall into the hands of other opponents. Because enemy ships are not allowed to fire at strange ships, they are very afraid of naval battles."

On April 27, we liberated Nam Yet and Sinh Ton islands. The superiors assigned Commander Mai Nang to stay on Nam Yet island. On April 28, our army liberated Truong Sa and An Bang islands, successfully completing the assigned tasks within half a month with the greatest efforts... A vast sea area rich in resources with islands and archipelagos of extremely important strategic positions was under the sovereignty of the Fatherland. On the morning of April 30, 1975, Deputy Commander Hoang Huu Thai ordered ship 673 to return to Nam Yet island to pick up Commander Mai Nang to return to the mainland to receive a new mission.

" We are all Vietnamese citizens"

We still remember the afternoon in the treatment room of the Military Traditional Medicine Institute, Major General Mai Nang still had a burning emotion and that day he told us the story that he had kept in his heart for so long. He believed that the enemy surrendered quickly partly due to our strong firepower, but there was another reason. Once, after liberating a target in the Truong Sa archipelago, he met and asked the Saigon soldiers why they decided to surrender even though they had previously resisted? The answer really surprised him.

Soldiers on the other side of the battle line said: “At first we had to fight back fiercely because we thought it was foreign troops attacking the island. We only recognized the Liberation Army when the commandos shouted loudly about using heavy firepower and found that it was indeed the voice of the Northerners.

“At that time, a Saigon soldier told me that at first they were very afraid of the sudden, daring attack that made them not know who the enemy was. What they feared most was the foreign navy attacking and occupying the island. If it was a foreign army, they would fight to the death. But when they recognized the enemy through their voices, they were less afraid, because the force liberating the island was the army of the North, all of Vietnam. Even though decades have passed, I still cannot forget the feelings of those soldiers on the other side of the battle line”...

An Du

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/truong-sa-50-nam-khuc-khai-hoan-giua-bien-dong-bai-2-co-giai-phong-tung-bay-tren-toan-quan-dao-193314.htm