The miracle of the 5,000km oil pipeline across Truong Son has amazed the world .
A true legend, the 5,000 km long oil pipeline along Truong Son road was built under rain of bombs and bullets.
In the entire system, there were 316 pumping stations, 101 warehouses with a capacity of over 300 thousand m3. The petroleum troops developed into 9 pipeline regiments, 2 construction regiments, 1 information regiment, 2 mechanical factories, 3 transport vehicle battalions. Within 7 years, this pipeline transported 5.5 million tons of petroleum to the battlefields.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the successful August Revolution (August 19, 1945 - August 19, 2025) and National Day (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2025), Dan Tri reporter had a conversation with Major General Ho Sy Hau, former Director of the Department of Economics of the Ministry of National Defense , design engineer of the oil pipeline across Truong Son.
The Vietnamese bravery and intelligence in building a "fire-carrying river" to support the front line is clearly shown in every memory of the veteran general about this project that amazed the world.
Dear Major General Ho Sy Hau, how was the urgency of having a petroleum pipeline across Truong Son demonstrated at that time?
- Starting in 1968, the United States carried out a high concentration of bombs and ammunition to prevent the North from supporting the Southern front. After only a few months, all river mouths and ferry terminals were heavily mined; fuel depots were continuously attacked. In key areas, even rocks and stones were turned to dust.
The oil tankers had only a thousandth of a glimmer of hope of getting through the key points. Under such conditions of destruction, all transportation of food, equipment, and weapons was halted. The fronts and Group 559 encountered many difficulties, and many plans were delayed.
There was a time when Commander of Group 559 Dong Si Nguyen had to call the Ministry of Defense to discuss the lack of fuel and the vehicles had to stop operating. If fuel and food were not transported in, tens of thousands of soldiers and young people would be at risk of starvation.
In 1968, we started building the pipeline, the same year I graduated from university. At that time, the Ministry of National Defense went to the Polytechnic University, the University of Mining and Geology, and the University of Water Resources to select 18 engineers who had just finished their graduation projects but had not yet defended them. We were given special permission to graduate and go directly to the battlefield to participate in research and construction of the pipeline.
Before there were oil pipelines, what methods did our soldiers use to transport gasoline, sir?
- We have tried many different ways to transport gasoline. Sometimes we line our backpacks with plastic, pour gasoline in them, and carry them on our backs through the forest. But gasoline contains toxic lead, and after just a few hours the gasoline will seep into our bodies and cause poisoning.
Then we tried another method like the petrol palanquin, where four people carried a barrel, passing through a key point with knee-high mud that contained many cluster bombs that could explode at any moment.
Unable to travel by road, we went by river, but were still detected by the enemy. There were nights when 30 barrels of gasoline reached their destination, 29 soldiers were killed and dozens more were injured.
We also had the first homemade pipelines, using small pumps to pump through the main points, and for the last 200m we had to chisel out the trunk of a bamboo tree and patch it up with tire tubes. The first 300 tons of gasoline passed through.
But the bamboo trunks could not last long. After a period of use, the trunks shriveled up, the joints were loose, and a lot of gasoline leaked. The forest was covered in gasoline, and just one piece of a cluster bomb would burn everything down.
There were many casualties but the mission was still not completed. If the fuel shortage continued, thousands of vehicles would remain idle, threatening important operations.
Dear Major General Ho Sy Hau, what turning point has come to help us find a method to build an oil pipeline across the Truong Son mountain range?
- A ray of light came after the Vietnamese delegation's working trip to the former Soviet Union. The friendly country provided us with two sets of field oil and gas pipelines, 10cm in diameter, each set 100km long. Senior Lieutenant General Dinh Duc Thien, former Director of the General Department of Logistics, immediately proposed the aid and put the pipeline into use.
Many problems arise in that situation.
One is, this is a tactical pipeline, while we need a pipeline that serves the campaign and strategy.
Second, your country can install this pipeline when it controls the airspace, while on the battlefield in our country at that time, the US Air Force was controlling the sky. Finally, the terrain of the Truong Son mountain range is extremely complex, the terrain is harsh, can it be installed?
But this pipeline has a huge advantage. The pipe weighs just over 30kg, is easy to transport and most importantly, if the enemy breaks it, we can reconnect it. Director of the General Department of Logistics Dinh Duc Thien was decisive and immediately put it into operation.
Not disappointing the trust of the Central Military Commission and the General Department of Logistics, from then until 1975, the pipeline was continuously extended, providing gasoline for the resistance war against America.
How were the first kilometers of the oil pipeline completed under difficult conditions and facing dangers, sir?
- Initially, the former Soviet Union only provided us with 200km of pipes, so we had to produce them ourselves. Although the industry at that time was still rudimentary, we still ensured production, and continued to receive support from our friends the former Soviet Union and China, so we had enough pipes to build.
Our greatest success at that time was the production of Truong Son pumps. After a period of research and manufacturing, we successfully assembled a mobile fuel pump with a capacity equivalent to the Soviet Union's PNU-35/70 pump.
Once we have all the equipment and techniques, we begin to deploy tactics and strategies in the field.
The first difficulty in building a pipeline across the Lam River was that the flood was very high in August. We had no cables, cranes, or supports, and enemy reconnaissance planes were flying overhead day and night. We had to find every way to get the pipeline across the river.
Under the fast-flowing river, we completed each joint, welded it tightly bit by bit. Thus, a long pipeline lying neatly under the river was completed. Having crossed the Lam River, no river could trouble us anymore.
We entered the Truong Son range. The task at that time was to place the pump on the top, which was also the most difficult task. The construction process was very difficult because Truong Son ranged from sunny in the East to rainy in the West, and the top of Truong Son range was also the place where the enemy was determined to bombard most fiercely.
For 3 months, we could not cross Mu Gia Pass (located on National Highway 12A of Quang Tri Province today to Cha Lo border gate on the Vietnam - Laos border). Many soldiers sacrificed here because of air strikes and enemy commandos on the opposite mountain peak. The reason was that we were discovered by both reconnaissance in the sky and on the ground, and were affected because the pipeline near the road was bombed.
Having determined the cause, we deployed plans to camouflage the pipeline. Our troops raised the pipeline higher, cleverly camouflaging it in the woods. We continued to use damaged pipes, placing more gasoline drums at exposed locations so that the enemy would continue to think that we were building there to mislead. This method helped reduce casualties and ensure the safety of the actual pipeline construction.
With all determination, on the New Year's Eve of the Year of the Rooster, I still remember that it was February 16, 1969, our gasoline successfully crossed Truong Son, reaching the fuel depot in Laos. The Deputy Commander at that time also had to exclaim, "It's wonderful, the underground river crosses the mountain!". From then on, the gasoline pipeline was present in Truong Son.
The Southern frontline was still very far from the Truong Son trail and had to pass through many key bombardment points, causing a lot of damage to transportation in general and to bringing fuel into combat service in particular. How did our army change its strategy in this situation, sir?
- After a while, we saw that the fuel depot at Mu Gia Pass was still too far from the front. We made a decision: to bring the Truong Son fuel pipeline across the 17th parallel, straight to the southern battlefield.
In early September 1969, the Western Truong Son pipeline was discovered and completely destroyed by the enemy. Even the saddle areas and mountain peaks that we planned to pass through were bombed to pieces by B-52s. Many soldiers, surveyors, and construction workers were killed.
The group of young engineers began to investigate the reasons. Firstly, because this was an area near the battlefield, near the 17th parallel, there were many enemy spies.
Second, the Americans know that our pipeline can only go through these areas.
After calculating, the group of young engineers proposed to bring the pipeline to the highest peak in the area, and at the same time, to drive the enemy's reconnaissance team out of their area. This surprised the enemy, because they did not think we could bring the pipeline to that area.
We escaped death's door after 3 months. By December 22, 1969, the gasoline had crossed Truong Son, reaching Ban Co, 50km from the border, serving transportation in the 1969-1970 dry season.
On that route, it is estimated that every kilometer, 2 people died. It can be said that this is the most typical place of the competition of courage and intelligence between us and the enemy. Immediately after that, the "bloodline" of petroleum continued to be extended, in 1970, two units specializing in petroleum pipelines were established on the Truong Son route.
Faced with enemy forces equipped with many modern, sophisticated weapons, dense reconnaissance and attacks, and rugged terrain, how did the pipeline troops innovate during the construction process?
- We had to deploy many "most Vietnamese" techniques - that is, both primitive, field-based, and creative based on the actual conditions of the war. Although the Truong Son terrain caused difficulties, it was a high terrain suitable for building gas stations and fuel depots that were not affected even by B-52 airstrikes.
At that time, the AC-130 was a very sophisticated machine, equipped with an infrared detector. Any object that emitted heat was detected by it, including exhaust pipes, engines, and especially generators.
So how can we dispense gasoline without an engine? At this point, we came up with a solution: build self-flowing tanks. The gasoline tank is placed on high ground, and the dispensing station is located below.
The gasoline would flow down without the heat source being detected. In addition, the warehouse and distribution station were 3-4 km apart, so even if B-52 bombs were dropped, it would not cause too much damage.
The time to release the vehicles also needs to be carefully calculated. We have to calculate carefully how many minutes it takes for a vehicle to get enough fuel to be reasonable to arrange for another fleet to come in. This is calculated by engineers but there are complicated formulas and coefficients.
Our engineers have created a “map” to calculate how many kilometers it is from the warehouse to the distribution point, and how high the elevation is between the points. At such a distance, we do not need to calculate on the map, we just need to put a ruler to calculate how long it will take to release a vehicle. Thanks to this practical calculation, even non-engineers can calculate.
Another initiative also shows the creativity from the practice of the pipeline troops. When the surveyors went to Truong Son to measure the high positions. When they reached the border gate of Highway 18, they could not continue measuring because the forest was very large, could not be measured with a theodolite, did not know the contour, and time did not allow for delay.
Finally we find a solution that arises in practice. Engineers use the “step height difference” method.
To know how many meters from the foot of the mountain to the top, the engineers concentrate, counting the distance between steps climbing the cliff or steps on the liaison road: 20cm, 30cm, 70cm... to calculate the total. That way we get the height to design the map in a very wild way like that.
No matter the circumstances, the Vietnam People's Army always tries to overcome difficulties to excellently complete the assigned tasks. Major General, what has encouraged our army to have a spirit of steel and an iron will even in such difficult circumstances?
- I still remember one time the pipeline had to be installed through a stream, with a 30m high cliff on both sides. If we wanted to install it, we needed cables and it had to be done very urgently. At midnight, we knocked on Commander Dong Si Nguyen's door to report that we needed cables. The Commander replied as follows:
“During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, our soldiers had to pull artillery with ropes, cords, and vines. So why do we have to have cables here? There was nothing the Truong Son soldiers could not do, they were just told how to do it. Now there is only 3mm steel wire from the Signal Corps, do whatever you want.”
The Commander's words made us determined to calculate and weave those steel wires together to successfully build a bridge across the river, successfully connecting the pipeline to the West of Truong Son.
Although the enemy used many types of bombs and modern weapons at that time, the Truong Son soldiers were still determined to build and protect our oil pipeline. Although it was inevitable that blood would be shed, this was a contest of courage and endurance between the two sides: new weapons and resistance to new weapons.
As Lieutenant General Dong Si Nguyen once proudly said about this oil pipeline: "If Truong Son Road is a legend, then the oil pipeline is the "legend within the legend".
Thank you very much, Major General!
Content: Do Thuong Huyen
Photo: Khanh Vi
Video: Khanh Vi
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/khoa-hoc/ky-tich-5000km-duong-ong-xang-dau-xuyen-truong-son-khien-the-gioi-sung-sot-20250821160809342.htm
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