April 30, 1975. The entire nation wept with joy.
But only 41 months later, the border ran red with blood again.
In the Southwestern region, starting in late 1975, the Khmer Rouge forces of Pol Pot secretly crossed the border.
Initially, they just stole cattle and rice. But by 1977-1978, they slaughtered people like they were cutting grass. The Ba Chúc Massacre (An Giang) alone, in April 1978, saw 3,157 civilians systematically murdered over a few days and nights. Corpses piled up in Phi Lai and Tam Bửu Pagodas; blood flowed like streams. Pol Pot once boasted on Phnom Penh radio:
"One Khmer Rouge can kill 30 Vietnamese."
On December 25, 1978, over 100,000 Vietnamese volunteer troops crossed the border. Only 13 days later, on January 7, 1979, Phnom Penh was liberated.
The genocidal regime collapsed, and millions of Cambodians escaped the slaughterhouse. However, we also left over 20,000 of our children on friendly soil throughout ten years of peacekeeping. At the same time, turmoil surged in the North.
On February 17, 1979, over 600,000 Chinese troops poured across the border, from Lũng Cú to Pò Chài. Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, and Lào Cai were leveled.
Schools, hospitals, and kindergartens were incinerated. The ancient citadel of Quảng Trị, which had just been rebuilt after the 81 days and nights of 1972, was shattered again by 130mm artillery fire.
Soldiers who had just returned from Cambodia, without time to even take off their backpacks, immediately picked up their guns and headed to the Northern border. Tày, Nùng, and Dao ethnic mothers carried rice and guided the troops. Children aged 14-15 held grenades, blocking tanks.
The fiercest fighting lasted at the high points of Vị Xuyên, Lão Sơn, and Phục Hòa from 1984-1989. Some hills changed hands dozens of times in a single day. One 12-man squad defending a hill saw 11 men fall the last man still clutched his rifle, lying atop his comrades' remains.
For ten continuous years (1979-1989), the South worried about defending Cambodia, while the North worried about defending every inch of the homeland. Letters home contained only a few short words:
"Your son is still healthy. Mother, please don't cry."
But the mothers still wept, knowing their sons lay somewhere between the Chùa Tháp forests or on the Vị Xuyên hills. On March 26, 1989, all Vietnamese volunteer troops withdrew from Cambodia. On September 5, 1989, the last gunshot at Vị Xuyên fell silent.
True peace finally returned after 44 continuous years of warfare (1945-1989). But that peace was bitter.
Tens of thousands of soldiers returned without legs or arms. Tens of thousands of mothers never received the remains of their sons. Ba Chúc still bears the marks of mass graves. Quảng Trị Citadel was "killed" for the third time. The Vị Xuyên hills still hold countless nameless graves.
The Vietnamese people had to fight four major wars in one century against the French, against the Americans, against Pol Pot, and even against the fraternal nation once celebrated with "16 Golden Words." Blood had barely dried before more blood was spilled. Bones had barely healed before they were broken again.
But it was precisely those painful years that etched an oath into the heart of every Vietnamese person, an oath never to be forgotten:
"Independence is not a gift granted by anyone. It is something that must be paid for with blood, drop by drop, across three or four generations."
And the fire from 1945, through Điện Biên, through Quảng Trị Citadel, through the Independence Palace, through Ba Chúc, through Lão Sơn, through Vị Xuyên, still burns red. Now it burns quietly in every person's heart, like a small reminder:
"Never allow our descendants to fall again upon the very land where their ancestors have fallen too many times already."
( A thousand years of Việt history is a thousand years of fire testing gold. The Ngô Quyền, Lê Hoàn, Lý Công Uẩn... used their flesh, blood, and wisdom to forge the two words Đại Việt. The nation has been built, but the biggest war a war fought not just with swords, but with the soul and technology still lies ahead.
Now, beneath the neon lights of the 21st century, in the year 2086, that ancient oath is no longer carved on bamboo or written on paper. It is encoded into every cell, fabricated into every mechanical component. The Dragon and Fairy soul has not merely been resurrected, it has been upgraded.
A new vow The Oath of Iron and Steel has been activated.
And Trung, the half-machine warrior, carrying the mission SÁT THÁT (Slay the Invaders), has just awakened… )