… That Saved South Vietnam.
"Lam Quang Thi is a former general of the South Vietnamese army in exile in the United States. I commented on his book about the battle of An Loc (1972) there is a year and a half . I come back today proposing a more detailed form than the previous reading.
The South Vietnamese army, the ARVN, has long been overlooked in the historiography of the Vietnam War. The trend is reversed only in recent years by the work of some American historians, especially with Andrew Wiest which preface this item. As he points out, Americans, traumatized by what drama for them the Vietnam War, have tendace to forget that it was originally a conflict between Vietnamese. Paradoxically, the North Vietnamese adversary is long respected more than the South Vietnamese ally (!). It must be said that the South Vietnamese sources have left little behind them: it is therefore going to ask, in particular, the expatriate community abroad and translate frequently his testimonies. General Thi is one of the few general officers of the ARVN having first book of his own autobiography military in 2001, in English, before signing this book on the Battle of An Loc during the Easter offensive. The battle is one of the best treated of the offensive in English, but it is true that it is especially the American point of view. Thi brings a new perspective, that of the South Vietnamese, with its limitations it is sometimes obtuse than its North Vietnamese adversaries, that many tend to forget by not making a partisan reading …
You can see the angle of attack from his own introduction Thi, where he slays the role of media-American whose role was reassessed by several serious studies: he cites, but in a biased manner, while regretting that most American historians do not take into account the views of the ARVN … the book's title is inspired in part that of Bernard Fall of Dien Bien Phu.
In the first chapter, Thi lists the main offices of the various wars in Indochina: Na San, Dien Bien Phu and Khe Sanh until 1972 and An Loc. We do not clear at this time, the reasons, if not that explain the abandonment of Khe Sanh in 1968 facilitates the strengthening of troops from North to South Vietnam to the offensive 1972. We understand the usefulness of this recall only at the end of the book.
The province of Binh Long , where the city of An Loc is, is strategically placed: it is at the intersection of highways 14 and 13, the latter leading to Saigon, north of the capital. Colonel Nhut leading the province from the beginning of 1970. He is an experienced officer who has proven to fire, especially during the offensive of Tet . He leads the regional and popular forces in the province of aggressive, not to let the enemy respite. Nhut was appointed by General Tri , commander of the Third Army Corps. After the accidental death of the latter in February 1971, he was replaced by General Van Minh , former commander of the district of Saigon and the 21th Infantry Division and member of the famous " Delta clan , "a group of related general the President and General Thieu . Minh, who has distinguished himself as during the Tet Offensive in Saigon, appoint his own men in his army. He chooses including General Hung to control the 5th Infantry Division, which has not been entirely satisfactory during the incursion into Cambodia in 1970. However, this division will play a key role in the Battle of An Loc, and contrary to what qu'affirmeront later American advisers, Hung was not unworthy, according Thi. The 5th Infantry Division is composed of former battalions Nung North to South Vietnam folded after the partition of 1954. Thien has been a major time. An Loc is one of the three targets of the 1972 Easter offensive launched by Hanoi. The capture of the city would install the new provisional revolutionary government and threaten Saigon. The South Vietnamese detect adverse preparations along the Cambodian border several months before the start of the offensive. But they hesitate on the axis of attack: the North Vietnamese did not they rather break the province of Tay Ninh , the traditional invasion route to the west of the province of Binh Long?
An Loc is the target of three North Vietnamese divisions, 5th, 7th and 9th. On April 5, Loc Ninh, a small town north of An Loc, is beset by the first elements of the 5th Division, supported by tanks T-54 and PT-76. The assaults are broken with the intervention helicopter Cobra U.S. and release of CBU. The 1st Armored Squadron was destroyed on the road north of Loc Ninh, without the South Vietnamese have fallen weapons voluntarily, as would a persistent myth propagated by American historians. General Hung, defending An Loc with the help of his American adviser, Colonel Miller recalls his seventh regiment in the city. On 6 April, the situation in Loc Ninh worsens while the North Vietnamese to attack the Task Force 52, elements of the 18th Infantry Division also dependent of the third body, which holds firebases to Hung Tam, between Loc Ninh and An Loc. Loc Ninh falls on April 7, after the suicide of a U.S. military adviser: Colonel Vinh, who commanded the 9th Regiment of the 5th Division, was taken prisoner. For Americans, it is simply made too easily. Thi disputes this while acknowledging that Vinh made several errors.
On 7 April, President Thieu, despite the very serious situation in the north, near Quang Tri, unlocks the 21th Infantry Division, the 1st Airborne Brigade and the 81st airborne commando group in defense of An Loc . I must say that the assistant to the president for security, General Quang , is the mentor of Minh, and also belongs to the " Delta clan "has been enforced by the threat posed by the pressure of An Loc in Saigon . Colonel Nhut organized the defense of the city with regional and popular forces and distributes including rocket-propelled grenades M-72. The 3rd Ranger Group Colonel Biet lands soon to strengthen the defense of the city. On the evening of 7 April, the 9th North Vietnamese division seizes airport Quan Act , east of An Loc. 8th regiment of Colonel Truong arrives by helicopter on April 11, with battalions in full and 2000 LAW. He defends the north of the city, the 7th regiment to the west, the 3rd Ranger Group to the east, and regional and popular forces in the south. The Rangers are dismayed by the departure of their American advisers, fortunately replaced quickly because at the end of tour of duty, and also to avoid the disastrous effect after a similar event in Quang Tri. In total, the South Vietnamese have about 7,500 men, almost without artillery, against 21,000 North Vietnamese tanks and aligning a much more substantial artillery.
The first attack occurred at An Loc April 13, preceded by the intervention of B-52 against North Viêtnamese concentrations. The 9th North Vietnamese division captured the hill Long Dong , which dominates the north of the city. A column of 15 T-54 down the main boulevard to the headquarters of General Hung. But the North Vietnamese tanks, expecting to be greeted as liberators, all doors open and navigate beyond their infantry they are gradually eliminated by LAW, the Cobras or artillery used in tight shot. A young man of 18 years of self-defense forces destroyed a T-54 with its LAW, plumping the morale of the defenders. The North Vietnamese were wrong about the intent of the population, which supports the ARVN: I must say that Colonel Nhut had stopped by security, all the supporters Vietcong known before the offensive. Defenders are heavily supported by the B-52, which destroy particular ammunition depots of the attackers, the VNAF and gunships AC-130. After the first attack, the North Vietnamese occupied the northern half of An Loc, South Vietnamese southern half. General Hung then formed mobile teams tank with LAW or RPG-2 and 7 returned, the next day, the first elements of the 1st Airborne Brigade are placed not far from An Loc.
On 15 April, after sending a thousand shells, North Vietnamese leave the assault. 0 west, the headquarters of the 271st Regiment of the 9th Division and an infantry battalion are sprayed by the intervention of a box of B-52. Two reporters, one American and one French, following the Rangers , then make pictures of a North Vietnamese crew chained inside his armored. The Rangers lead fierce street fighting against the North Vietnamese, discovering on captured documents that they have all the communication codes of the 5th division! The South Vietnamese are also subject to psychological propaganda, with little effect. Civilians trapped in An Loc suffer the worst health conditions, are taken under artillery fire. You have to dig mass graves to bury all bodies. The supply, which should amount to 200 tons per day, can only be done by air: the DCA is so dense that several helicopters and aircraft were lost, proceed to HALO drops, but two thirds of the total dropped fall into the enemy lines.
The South Vietnamese, who had to give up a third of the northern part of the city after the second attack, decided to open a corridor to An Loc from the south via the National Highway No. 13. But the North Vietnamese 7th Division is subtracted. It is primarily engaged there that the first Airborne Brigade before being airlifted southeast of An Loc, April 14. The fights are particularly hard but the paratroopers manage to rally the city, not without losses. It is then the 81st airborne commando group, composed of former Special Forces south Viêtnamese dissolved in 1970, which arrived on the scene. The supply of fresh troops allows defenders to launch attacks against point, but the 81th group is struggling to operate in conjunction with the 8th Regiment of the 5th Division. On April 20, the North Vietnamese seized the hills Doi Gio and 169 dominate An Loc southeast. The attacks show the 21-22 and 30 April, and are broken by the intervention among other B-52, while falls in the north, Quang Tri.
In early May, the South Vietnamese detect preparations for the 5th North Vietnamese division, which replaces the 9th too experienced. Mission Arc Light additional B-52 are requested. Defenders are only 4000 to face the barrage of shells on the night of May 11: 8300 shots, followed by assault no less than four regiments. The situation is critical in the east and northeast of the city. Civilians involved in the fighting, as the old man who asks for a hand grenade Rangers to go casually throw the top of the balcony through the door of a T-54! The U.S. Air Force and South Vietnamese intervenes massively but lost no less than 6 devices in one day. The 5th North Vietnamese division is proven so it is removed after a few days and only continues the ninth seat. In late May, the DCA around the city was partially offset and June, helicopters may finally supply the city and evacuate the wounded.
For south of the city, the 21th Infantry Division General Nghi , another member of the " Delta clan "came the Mekong , trampling face the North Vietnamese 7th Division on the National Highway No. 13. The division, however, is supported by the first and third airborne brigades. It must be said that the North Vietnamese have built a system chot / Kieng particularly effective (defensive positions of the squad to the company). The South Vietnamese can not overcome the vice. Nghi, appointed commander of the fourth body is replaced by Hau , who commanded the advanced headquarters of the 1st Airborne Division. Using diversion and airstrikes, he managed to link up with the defenders June 8 At this time, the situation has already improved significantly in An Loc…"
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I'm quite interested in this book.
Anyone had read it?
If the answer is yes, comments?
Thanks in advance for your guidance.
Amicalement
Armand
snapped some photos of games he didn't get a chance to play in at Council of Five Nations.
