Instruction to Establish the Viêt Nam Propaganda Unit for National Liberation

 December 1944

Source: Hồ Chí Minh toàn tập, Tập 3, Chính trị Quốc gia - Sự thật, Hanoi, 

2011, pp. 539-540.

Translation: Hồ Chí Minh, Selected Works, Vol. II, Foreign Languages Pub-

lishing House, Hanoi, 1961, pp. 155-156

1—The Viêt Nam Propaganda Unit for National Liberation315 shows by its name that greater importance should be attached to the political side than to the military side. It is a propaganda unit. To act successfully, in the military field, the main principle is concentration of forces, therefore in accordance with the new instruction of the Organization,316 most resolute and energetic officers and men will be picked out of the ranks of the guerilla units in the provinces of Cao Bằng, Bắc Cạn and Lạng Sơn and a great amount of weapons will be concentrated to establish our main force.

Because ours is a national resistance by the whole people, we must mobilize and arm the whole people, therefore, when concentrating our forces to set up the first unit, we must maintain the local armed forces, co-ordinate their operations and assist each other in all aspects. On its part, the main unit has the duty to guide the cadres of the local armed units, assist them in drilling and supply them with weapons if possible, thus helping these units to grow unceasingly.

2—With regard to local armed units, we will gather their cadres for train-ing, send trained cadres to various localities to exchange experience, maintain liaison, and coordinate military operations.

3—Concerning tactics, we will apply guerrilla warfare, which consists of being secret, rapid, active, now in the East now in the West, arriving unexpect-edly and leaving unnoticed.

The Viêt Nam Propaganda Unit for National Liberation is the first born unit. It is hoped that other units will soon come into being.

At first its size is small, however, its prospect is brilliant. It is the embryo of the Liberation Army and can move from North to South, throughout Viêt Nam.

 In August 1942, Hồ Chí Minh was jailed in China, where he had gone to organize support from the Vietnamese diaspora. The Kuomintang believe him to be a common undocumented Vietnamese migrant. His comrades asked Sun Fo, the daughter of Sun Yat-sen, to intervene to free him. He was freed in September 1943, but this unusual request resulted in his house arrest. He managed to return to Viêt Nam only a year later, in September 1944.

315 The Viêt Nam Propaganda Unit for National Liberation was set up on December 27, 1944 within small guerilla units that had formerly operated in the provinces of Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn. In the beginning, it comprised of 34 men and officers and a few rudimentary weapons. Nevertheless, it highlighted the spirit of sacrifice and heroic combativeness for national inde-pendence and democracy and launched a movement for armed struggle in many localities throughout the country to advance toward the August 1945 general uprising. It is the prede-cessor of the present Viêt Nam People’s Army.

316 Meaning here the Party.