Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, soldiers from both sides battled heat exhaustion and each other for nearly 20 long years. But the key to Communist victory wasn't weapons or stamina, it was a dirt road. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, winding through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, started as a simple network of dirt roads and blossomed into the centerpiece of the winning North Vietnamese strategy during the Vietnam War, supplying weapons, troops, and psychological support to the South. The trail was a network of tracks, dirt roads, and river crossings that threaded west out of North Vietnam and south along the Truong Son Mountain Range between Vietnam and Laos. The journey to the South originally took six months. But, with engineering and ingenuity, the Vietnamese expanded and improved the trail. Towards the end of war, as the main roads detoured through Laos, it only took one week. Here is how it happened. In 1959, as relations deteriorated between the North and the South, a system of trails was constructed in order to infiltrate soldiers, weapons, and supplies into South Vietnam. The first troops moved in single-file along routes used by local ethnic groups, and broken tree branches at dusty crossroads were often all that indicated the direction. Initially, most of the Communist cadres who came down the trail were Southerners by birth who had trained in North Vietnam. They dressed like civilian peasants in black, silk pajamas with a checkered scarf. They wore Ho Chi Minh sandals on their feet, cut from truck tires, and carried their ration of cooked rice in elephants' intestines, a linen tube hung around the body. The conditions were harsh and many deaths were caused by exposure, malaria, and amoebic dysentery. Getting lost, starving to death, and the possibility of attacks by wild tigers or bears were constant threats. Meals were invariably just rice and salt, and it was easy to run out. Fear, boredom, and homesickness were the dominant emotions. And soldiers occupied their spare time by writing letters, drawing sketches, and drinking and smoking with local villagers. The first troops down the trail did not engage in much fighting. And after an exhausting six month trip, arriving in the South was a real highlight, often celebrated by bursting into song. By 1965, the trip down the trail could be made by truck. Thousands of trucks supplied by China and Russia took up the task amidst ferocious B-52 bombing and truck drivers became known as pilots of the ground. As traffic down the trail increased, so did the U.S. bombing. They drove at night or in the early morning to avoid air strikes, and watchmen were ready to warn drivers of enemy aircraft. Villages along the trail organized teams to guarantee traffic flow and to help drivers repair damage caused by air attacks. Their catch cries were, "Everything for our Southern brothers!" and, "We will not worry about our houses if the vehicles have not yet gotten through." Some families donated their doors and wooden beds to repair roads. Vietnamese forces even used deception to get the U.S. aircraft to bomb mountainsides in order to make gravel for use in building and maintaining roads. The all-pervading red dust seeped into every nook and cranny. The Ho Chi Minh Trail had a profound impact on the Vietnam War and it was the key to Hanoi's success. North Vietnamese victory was not determined by the battlefields, but by the trail, which was the political, strategic, and economic lynchpin. Americans recognized its achievement, calling the trail, "One of the great achievements in military engineering of the 20th century." The trail is a testimony to the strength of will of the Vietnamese people, and the men and women who used the trail have become folk heros.
在越南丛林的深处, 双方士兵 与热衰竭和彼此斗争了 将近 20 年。 但共产政权的胜利 并不是归功于武器或持久战, 而是一条泥泞的道路。 胡志明小径, 蜿蜒连接越南、老挝和柬埔寨, 它始于简单的泥土路网络, 最后演变为促成越战期间 北越战略获胜的 重要一环, 为南方提供武器供应, 军队, 和心理支持。 这条小径是包含铁路, 泥土道路和 渡河的网络, 它从北越向西穿出, 再沿着越南和老挝 中间的安南山脈南下。 一趟向南的旅程 原本需要六个月的时间。 但是越南人发挥了聪明才智, 运用工程学改善和延伸了道路。 贯穿整个战争阶段, 作为一条绕道老挝的主干道, 连接南北越只需一个礼拜。 一切是这样发生的。 在1959年, 南方和北方关系恶化, 为了将士兵、武器和粮食输送到南越, 北越修建了一系列道路。 开路先锋成一字纵队, 沿着地方居民使用的小路前进, 并在泥土路的岔路口 折断树枝作为记号。 最初,沿路下来的 共产党干部 大都是南越出生、在北越受训的人。 他们打扮得和普通农民一样, 黑色宽松衣裤和方格花纹的头巾。 他们脚上穿着用切割后的轮胎 制成的胡志明凉鞋, 并用“象肠带”随身携带 烹饪好的米食, 这是一种缠在身上的亚麻筒带。 条件很艰苦, 很多人死于炎热, 疟疾, 和阿米巴性痢疾。 迷路, 饥饿, 还有被野生老虎和熊攻击的可能性 也时时危及着他们的生命。 食物是一成不变的米和盐, 而且很容易就耗尽。 恐惧、空虚和思乡的情绪 始终萦绕心头。 于是士兵们通过 写信, 画画, 和与当地居民抽烟喝酒来打发时间。 第一批沿着小径走下来的部队 并没有遭遇很多敌人。 在筋疲力尽的六个月旅程后, 抵达南方是最值得纪念的事, 他们通常会高歌庆祝。 到了1965 年, 这趟旅程可以用卡车完成。 中国和苏联援助的上千辆卡车 成为 B-52 轰炸机最明显的目标, 而卡车司机被称为“地面飞行员”。 当小径上的车辆越来越多, 美军空袭也越来越密集。 驾驶员开始在夜晚或凌晨开车 来躲避空袭, 而哨兵则会准备 对司机通报敌方飞机的行踪。 沿路的村民会组织起来 确保车流顺畅, 并帮助司机修复空袭所造成的损伤。 他们的口号是 “一切为了我们的南方兄弟!” 和“在车子还没通过前, 我们不会去管自己的房子。” 有些家庭捐出门板 和木床用来维修道路。 越南军甚至诱使美军 对山脚进行轰炸。 为了取得建造和维护道路 所需的砾石。 这条道路延伸到了每一个角落。 胡志明小径对于越战 有着深远的影响, 也是河内获胜的关键。 北越的胜利并不是在战场上, 而是由一条小径决定的, 这是政治, 战略, 和经济各层面的结合。 美国认识到了这条路的重要性, 并将它称作 ‘“20世纪军事工程上 最伟大的成就。” 这条道路见证了越南人民的 坚韧意志, 而所有穿梭于这条小径的人们, 都被尊为民族英雄。