(Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap’s talk at a conference held in January to recapitulate military tasks of the Third Military Zone: “The strategic role of the self-defense militia force in the great anti-U.S. national salvation struggle for our people“--recorded)
Part I
(Text) Comrades: All our people have successfully ended 1966 and entered 1967--a year of fierce struggle, but also a year of greater victories. On behalf of the party Central Committee and the party Military Affairs Committee, I convey my greetings to the conference for recapitulating the military tasks of the Third Military Zone and hope that the conference will achieve good results.
The party Military Affairs Committee is greatly interested in this conference and warmly praises the local force and the self-defense force of the Third Military Zone, which during the past two years have collaborated with the regular force and achieved outstanding results in combat, production, and communication and transport, thus actively contributing to the victories of both zones.
The party Military Affairs Committee welcomes the leadership of the military zone party committee and party committees at various echelons, which have strictly and creatively carried out the party’s lines and policies and the high command’s orders and instructions concerning local military tasks. Various localities in Thanh Hoa, Haiphong, and Nam Ha have scored many satisfactory achievements. As for Ha Tay, it has exhibited weaknesses in the recent past. Although it has exerted efforts, Ha Tay must move forward more steadfastly.
I am very happy to have the opportunity to talk to you comrades at a time when the anti-U.S. national salvation emulation heroes and combatants congress has achieved success and is encouraging all the people and army to attain the climax of the movement of emulation in scoring feats of arms and defeating the U.S. aggressors.
The latest anti-U.S. national salvation emulation heroes and combatants congress dazzlingly reflected Vietnamese revolutionary heroism and, at the same time, asserted the correctness and creativeness of our party’s people’s war line. The people’s war line is the line of mobilizing all the people, arming all the people, and leading all the people to fight the aggressors and using the people’s armed forces as a key force for defeating all aggressive enemies. According to our party’s military line, the people’s armed forces consist of three categories of troops: main-force troops, regional troops, and people’s self-defense militia.
The self-defense militia forces have played and will always play an important strategic role in the people’s war. In speaking of people’s war, we must necessarily speak of the self-defense militia forces. Therefore, today, at this conference on the recapitulation of local military tasks, I would like to talk to you comrades about the self-defense militia forces so that you will clearly realize their strategic role in our people’s great anti-U.S. national salvation task.