But the city, the country's largest, also has a great deal of historical value related to the wars of resistance against the French and Americans to offer interest to tourists as well as locals. One of the most fascinating destinations is Cu Chi guerrilla warfare tunnels, located about 70km from downtown HCM City. Built by South Vietnamese liberation forces as shelter from US and Sai Gon troops during the war, the site is known over the world, but even many locals have yet to visit the tunnels. Revolutionary spirit First formed in 1948 during the resistance war against the French colonialists, the original network of tunnels was in Tan Phu Trung and Phuoc Vinh An wards. Initially, the tunnels had only short paths and simple structure that were used to hide documents, weapons and resistance members deep inside the enemy-controlled area. Only during the anti-American war were the tunnels reinforced and widened. Beginning in 1961, when the Party Committee and headquarters of the Sai Gon-Gia Dinh Military Region of the liberation forces chose Cu Chi as an operating area, the tunnel system maximized its use for years, especially in 1966, against the Americans broadening the war in the South. With their indomitable strength, Cu Chi’s resistance forces and local people created a system of crisscrossing tunnels with multiple floors, with more than 200km of underground trenches in total. For a long time, the enemy attacked the base and the tunnel network relentlessly by pumping water into the tunnels, using German shepherd dogs to hunt and identify the tunnels then using bombs to destroy them. The US forces were involved in 5,000 attacks that aimed to wipe out the Cu Chi resistance base. In addition, thousands of tonnes of various chemical toxins were sprayed on the area. But, relying on the tunnel network, the Vietnamese liberation soldiers and Cu Chi locals were able to counter all the enemy attacks. Liberation forces and local people created …
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