Mang But is one of the particularly difficult communes in the Eastern Truong Son region of Kon Plong district. The Dak Snghe River flows from Quang Ngai into Kon Tum province, the first point belonging to the peaceful Dak Lanh village. 43 years after the complete liberation of the South, the former battlefield has changed dramatically, constantly striving for prosperity and development.
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| Old airport area in Mang But |
Mr. A Duong in Dak Lanh village, former Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Mang But commune, said: During the resistance war against the US to save the country, Mang But was built by the US-puppet to become one of the important bases in the Eastern Truong Son region. In the center of Mang But district, a field airport was built to serve the transportation of enemy forces, weapons and ammunition. On the ground, the system of posts and posts was dense. The military construction system was all built underground. The Xe Dang people in Mang But were forced into strategic hamlets, living a miserable life of "fish in a bowl, birds in a cage". At this base, the enemy deployed 500 regular troops, not only equipped with artillery, but also with support aircraft.
From Mang But district, the enemy continuously attacked, causing difficulties for our army in transporting weapons, equipment, and providing food and provisions to serve the troops on the Kon Tum battlefield. The balance of power put our troops in a difficult and difficult situation; we could only try to hold out, fight small, isolated battles to disperse the enemy forces, but could not yet "resolve" this important base.
With the determination to expand and complete the liberated area, the B3 Command and the Kon Tum Provincial Party Committee decided to destroy the Mang But stronghold in mid-1974. After a period of active preparation, on June 11, 1974, our forces, including local troops and the main force of the 10th Division, simultaneously surrounded, approached, shot down aircraft and shelled the enemy's central area; destroyed the outposts and outposts and called for surrender through loudspeakers, creating a siege and threatening position for the enemy.
Our forces, including H29, H80, H16 and Group 20 of Military Region 5, surrounded and sniped day and night, combined with 82 and 80 artillery to threaten the surrounding area. To liberate Mang But, we also had heavy guns to attack and destroy the enemy. Thanks to that, on the afternoon of August 20, 1974, Mang But district and sub-region were completely liberated.
The liberation of Mang But created a springboard to liberate Kon Tum province, and at the same time helped thousands of Xe Dang people of Ca Dong branch in this area escape the yoke of the old regime.
44 years after the victory of Mang But and 43 years after the liberation of the South, the enemy's former field airport area has become the backbone route connecting the center of Mang But commune with nearby and faraway villages. The historical relic of the Mang But victory has been included in the lessons of the children of the people in the area temporarily occupied by the enemy.
Mr. Dinh Dan in Long Rua village, who was a cadre of District 29, participated in the siege of the enemy in Mang But district, contributing to the liberation of his homeland. He could not hide his joy when witnessing the changes in life in the former military stronghold.
This April, wherever you go in the 12 villages of the commune, you will see farmers enthusiastically plowing and planting rice.
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| Mang But commune people promote the strength of wet rice production |
Chairman of Mang But Commune People's Committee Nguyen Cong Vinh said: Up to now, the whole commune has stabilized the cultivation of over 550 hectares of wet rice. While the winter-spring crop area is still modest at 20 hectares, the summer-autumn crop is dominant. Thanks to the new rice varieties allocated to support ethnic minorities in difficulty by the State, farmers have gradually replaced the old long-term, hard-grain, dry-rice varieties with short-term, soft-grain, fragrant rice. Rice productivity has also been increased, reaching 32-35 quintals/hectare. However, the traditional red rice variety is still preserved, serving the processing of typical products, meeting the requirements of exploiting the potential of Mang Den National Ecotourism Area. Not only focusing on exploiting the strength of wet rice cultivation and maintaining the area of corn and cassava; Mang But commune also focuses on strongly shifting to growing some industrial crops, medicinal plants with commodity value such as Catimo coffee, Boi Loi, Dinh Lang...; contributing to increasing income for households. With a total herd of 1,600 buffaloes, up to now, on average, each household in Mang But has nearly 2 buffaloes. 9/12 villages and hamlets of the commune have contracted to manage and protect more than 3,700 hectares of forest.
In recent years, Provincial Road 676, more than 40 km long, has been invested in upgrading and connecting from Mang Den, through Mang Canh, Dak Tang, to Mang But, facilitating travel and promoting production and daily life of local people. In 2014, the 13-kilometer road from the center of Mang But commune to Dak Lanh village was also solidly invested to help the locality solve traffic difficulties on the main route connecting Mang But commune at the end of Dak Lanh village with Tu Mo Rong district at the beginning of Ngoc Yeu commune.
Thanks to the concentration of resources from the State's programs and projects to build infrastructure and support production and daily life of local people, up to now, more than 75% of households in Mang But commune have been supported to "tiled" their houses. Over 50% of the total households in the commune have purchased televisions and used "dishes" to receive signals to follow information and entertainment. 11/12 villages have mobile phone signals. 10/12 villages have wireless loudspeakers... The poverty rate in the area has decreased to below 40% and strives to continue to reduce the poverty rate by 4-5% each year.
Nearly 44 years after the Mang But victory, the studious countryside has formed and developed 5 schools, including two junior high school boarding schools for ethnic minorities, two primary schools and one kindergarten, attracting nearly 1,000 students each year.
Teacher A Huong was born and raised in Dak Lanh village and is extremely happy to return to teach his fellow countrymen at Mang But Primary School right in the village. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of A Vinh commune also grew up in the homeland of Mang But, which has a rich revolutionary tradition.
Here, the local people are always proud because despite many difficulties and challenges, they still preserve and promote the cultural identity of the Xe Dang ethnic group such as organizing folk festivals, maintaining the traditional blacksmithing profession...
Although the difficulties have not yet been eliminated, Mang But commune still strives to mobilize all resources to continue to improve the infrastructure to serve the people's livelihood and economy, support production, and sustainably reduce poverty; strive to create positive changes in all aspects of people's lives in the coming years./.
Tags:
Konplong district