Ho Chi Minh Campaign
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| Ho Chi Minh Campaign | |||||||
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| Part of the Vietnam War | |||||||
 VPA T-54 pushed towards Saigon |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 Vietnam People's Army National Liberation Front |
 Army of the Republic of Vietnam |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Van Tien Dung Tran Van Tra |
Nguyen Van Thieu (Until April 21) Tran Van Huong (April 21-28) Duong Van Minh # |
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| Strength | |||||||
| Army:500,000+ (est.) Navy:3,000 Air Force: 10,000+ |
Army:750,000+ Navy:40,000+ Air Force:50,000+ |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Vietnam War |
|---|
| Ap Bac – Binh Gia –Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – A Shau – Duc Co –Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Junction City – Hill 881 – Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Lam Son 719 – Ban Dong –FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri –Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri –Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Buon Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa –2nd Saigon – Rolling Thunder – Barrell Roll – Pony Express – Steel Tiger – Tiger Hound – Tailwind – Commando Hunt – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Chenla I – Chenla II – SS Mayagüez |
The Ho Chi Minh Campaign (also known as Operation Ho Chi Minh) began on January 24, 1975, and was the final campaign launched by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to destroy the government of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Initially the DRV leadership anticipated it to end in two years, but to their surprise, South Vietnamese resistance collapsed more quickly than expected as the Vietnam People's Army smashed through the ARVN's defences with ease. The objective of the campaign was to capture Saigon in time to celebrate late President Ho Chi Minh's birthday.
The Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975 was different to the ill-fated Easter Offensive in many ways. The subsequent resignaton of President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal meant that the promises of a disgraced former President would not be honoured by the United States Congress. Militarily, South Vietnam would not receive any American air-support once Hanoi threw its armies against Saigon. More importantly, the units of the ARVN would find themselves increasingly outnumbered by their Communist adversaries, both in terms of manpower and firepower.
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[edit] After 1973
In 1973 after the signing of the Paris Peace Accord, the South Vietnamese fielded the fourth largest military in the world as a result of the Enhance and Enhance Plus Programs. New combat and transport aircraft, tanks, helicopters, artillery pieces and other military equipment worth $753 million were shipped to South Vietnam. This arms shipment was a gesture welcomed by the South Vietnamese government, but the lack of sufficient training and dependence on America for spare parts, fuel and ammunition caused maintenance problems for the ARVN.
At the same time, the North Vietnamese themselves were recovering from the ill-fated offensive of 1972 with key Soviet and Chinese military aid. The VPA High Command recognised the need for the development of an organised road network to transport sufficient supplies of food, weapons and ammunition to the front. By 1974, they had constructed an all-weather, hard-surfaced road system to accommodate the modern mechanised army which had been rebuilt since the Paris accord. Specialized tank units were assembled and put under the command of Chinese advisors. As new roads were completed, fresh recruits from the North crossed into the territories occupied by the Provisional Revolutionary Government along with convoys escorted by the tank units, along with sometimes as great as 200-300 trucks, bringing with them food, uniforms, boots, weapons and ammunition. The most notable feature of the North Vietnamese build-up was the air-defence network which consisted of twenty-two regiments equipped with radar-controlled systems with formidable SA-2 and the shoulder-launched SA-7. Such systems posed a major threat to the South Vietnamese air force because they were not equipped to deal with such threats so reconnaissance flights by the VNAF were kept to a minimum. This lack of active intelligence made such elite South Vietnamese units such as their sniper teams and mortar teams almost useless, as they were often unable to find their targets before it was too late.
[edit] Debate Over Strategy
Towards the end of 1973 the debate over the DRV's policy emerged as the Communist Party Central Committee convened to assess the progress of the Communist in the South. General Van Tien Dung and Defence Minister Vo Nguyen Giap argued strongly for the resumption of military operations, warning that increasing passivity would effect the morale of the Army, but Premier Pham Van Dong feared that resuming military operations would drain the resources needed for reconstruction.
The result was Resolution 21 which called for attacks, whenever possible, on the government of South Vietnam to regain the territories that were lost to the ARVN and to "test the reaction" of the South Vietnamese military and America. The order was given to units of the VPA for the reestablishment of military action. The first blows of this strategic policy were delivered during the months between November and December when the Communists attacked ARVN forces in Quang Duc province, Bien Hoa and at several Navy docks. North Vietnam's leaders watched closely and anxiously as strikes by American B-52s failed to materialize.
President Nguyen Van Thieu, while taking advantage of North Vietnam's recuperation, stretched his forces thin by launching offensives against Communist strongolds in Cambodia and elsewhere. While the offensives were successful the cost in terms of manpower and resources were high, by the end of 1974 the ARVN were experiencing shortages as a result of decreases in American aid while the Communist forces continued to gain strength with DAO estimates putting VPA numbers at 500,000 men along with 700 tanks and 450 artillery pieces. Well aware that America was no longer willing to intervene, the North Vietnamese leadership sensed that time was ripe for the final push towards Saigon. In October of 1974, the Politburo decided to launch a full-scale military operation. The objective was to capture Saigon within two years.
[edit] The Battle Begins
[edit] Boun Me Thuot
- Main article: Battle of Buon Me Thuot'
General Van Tien Dung secretly crossed the border into South Vietnam on February 5, 1975, to take command of Communist forces. To secure the Central Highlands was his first objective.
On March 11, the Vietnam People's Army launched the assault on Buon Me Thuot as part of Campaign 275, the 4,000 ARVN defenders were quickly overwhelmed as North Vietnamese infantry supported by tanks and artillery pushed the defenders from their positions. Following the evacuation of South Vietnamese soldiers and their families on March 12, President Nguyen Van Thieu and his commanders drew up a plan to retake Buon-Me-Thuot. But due to the speed and strength of the advancing North Vietnamese Army, the plan never materialised. Hue also fell on March 25 and Da Nang on March 28. Surprised by the rapid collapse of South Vietnamese resistance General Van Tien Dung prepare for the final phase of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign: to capture Saigon by May 1.
Realising the weakened state of the ARVN, President Nguyen Van Thieu sent a delegation to Washington in early March to request an increase in economic and military aid. US ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin, who thought that additional aid would help South Vietnam, also made a trip to Washington to present the case to President Gerald Ford and the Congress. The US Congress, reluctant to divert money from economic recovery into what was already a lost cause was unwilling to increase the requested aid. President Thieu's reaction was a combination of anger and despair at what he called "shameful inadequacy" of American aid.
[edit] Xuan Loc
- Main article: Battle of Xuan Loc
With the Central Highlands secured, General Van Tien Dung turned his attention to the southern provinces. Long Khanh Province was the next major target, where Dung deployed five regular divisions to try to destroy the best and most irreplaceable ARVN units. In the final stand against the enemy, on April 9 at the provincial capital of Xuan Loc 38 miles from Saigon, the ARVN 18th Division battled for two weeks against the VPA forces. By April 21 the battle of Xuan Loc was well over with high casualties on both sides. The ARVN's resistance was not enough and were evacuated.
Xuan Loc was an important stragetic location as it was the gateway to Saigon, with the entire Long Khanh Province under its control, the North Vietnamese High Command was able to completely encircle Saigon.
[edit] Saigon
- Main article: Fall of Saigon
The loss of the Central Highlands had a negative effect on the capital of Saigon, where martial law was imposed to control the chaos and lawlessness. In the last few weeks of the war President Nguyen Van Thieu, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, found that he could no longer trust his own air force. On the morning of April 8, VNAFpilot Nguyen Thanh Trung flew his F-5E jet fighter over the Presidential Palace and dropped two bombs. Apparently he had joined the Viet Cong in 1969, just one day before he enlisted in the South Vietnamese air force.
On April 21, 1975, Nguyen Van Thieu resigned as President of the Republic of Vietnam when his closest allies began to lose their confidence over his handling of the war. The Presidency was handed over to Tran Van Huong. During the next nine days North Vietnamese and Viet Cong commanders made plans and conducted reconnaisance for the final assault, with sixteen divisions poised to attack Saigon from Military Region III. With the fall of Xuan Loc, the surviving elements from the ARVN 18th Division regrouped in Saigon to continue their resistance.
On April 28 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong sappers had already began probing the outskirts of Saigon. At the Newport Bridge, about 3 miles from the city centre, South Vietnamese soldiers battled with Communist troops attempting to take control of the bridge. Later that afternoon a formation of four captured A-37s bombed Tan Son Nhut airport, wearing North Vietnamese markings.
On April 29 the former Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky piloted a helicopter to the deck of the USS Midway stationed off the coast. Like many other promises made during the war, the promises made by Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky were never fulfilled, leaving behind a shattered regime.
When the newly-appointed Duong Van Minh took over on April 28 the VPA tightened their grip around Saigon with 100,000 troops. In an effort to prevent the destruction of the city, President Duong Van Minh tried to negotiate a cease-fire with the Provisional Revolutionary Government but to no avail. On the morning of April 30 a VPA tank bearing "843" crashed through the gates of the presidential palace. Later that afternoon President Duong Van Minh made a radio address announcing an unconditional surrender marking the end of the war.
[edit] References
- Daily Report (1975)Asia & Pacific: Generals Giap, Dung Article on 1975 Spring Victory in South Vietnam. Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
- Dougan.C, Doyle.E, Lipsman.S, Martland.T, Weiss.S (1983) The Vietnam Experience: The False Peace. Boston Publishing Company, USA.
- Dougan.C, Doyle.E, Lipsman.S, Martland.T, Weiss.S (1983) The Vietnam Experience: Setting the Stage. Boston Publishing Company, USA.
