Early in the war, the VC actually controlled numerous such villages, using them for rest, recruitment and resupply. Members of the combat support unit were also responsible for placing mines and booby traps. University Press of Kansas), pp. untrained were often unconfident and consisted of young men and teenagers W. Scott Thompson and Donaldson Frizell, eds., The Lessons of Vietnam, (Crane: New York), p. 120, Col. Hoang Ngoc Lung, The General Offensives of 1968–69. ME Sharpe: 1993. pp 130–154, Werner and Huynh.. Pay and rations for designated infiltrators was more than that given to other troops. They also made booby traps and mines. Other recruits were expected to serve as part-time village helpers or guerrillas. Another 1.5 million tons of bombs were unloaded on Laos and Cambodia. Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites. At all levels of the structure, the control of the Communist party was constant. VC "Armed Propaganda" squads conducted a systematic campaign of assassination and kidnapping to eliminate competitors, intimidate the populace and disrupt or destroy normal social, political and economic life. Prior to 1965, the GVN faced near defeat with a mix of guerrilla and regular warfare. The total tally of the VC/NVA terror squads from 1967 to 1972 stands at over 36,000 murders and almost 58,000 kidnappings according to one US Department of Defense estimate, c. [2] The term PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam), identifies regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army or NVA as they were commonly known by their Western opponents. The NLF also included fully armed formations- regional and local guerrillas, and the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF). and were directly responsible to the battalion commander.[81][82]. use bombs and bobby traps. President Johnson stopped bombing North Vietnam in return for peace talks in Paris. Despite having no aircraft, tanks or artillery of their own, the Vietcong managed to hold out against the Americans until the USA left Vietnam in the 1970s. A key component of the American strategy and tactics was war from the air. "[72] The VC intent was to set up a "parallel" administration, operating clandestinely. Improvements in ARVN performance. Understrength units for example, sometimes kept "phantom" soldiers on the roster, with leaders pocketing the extra payroll of the bogus troops. However the critical population control and infrastructure effort continued, and the VC were still able to muster about 85,000 fresh recruits annually. strategy was to avoid fights with American soldiers unless the odds were in It did not occur in a vacuum however. The 21–44, Bill Fawcett (2009) How to Lose a War, Harper, pp. Hit squads attacked and eliminated selected enemies. [71], Creation and manipulation of front groups or infiltration of existing organizations. This could vary depending on operational circumstances. The Vietcong had experience of doing this while fighting the Japanese and the French after World War Two - they were very familiar with the terrain and the climate. They often attacked in large groups over a wide area. Some groups were deliberately created fronts of the PRP, or were taken over and manipulated. The Tet Offensive saw some steady ARVN performances and military defeat of the VC during Tet allowed the ARVN to consolidate its gains. Massive US troop sweeps and interdiction efforts while causing substantial pain to communist forces at different times and places, foundered on these realities.[65]. [42] Troop rotation policies also hindered continuity in pacification. COVSN supervised VC forces (Main Force, Regional and Village Guerrilla) in this zone. Along with bombs some 400,000 tons of napalm were dropped and some 19.1 million gallons of herbicides were applied. The VC entered a village and harangued the local populace about supporting the Revolution before digging in, and passing word to the district capital that they were active in the community. Networks of informers were numerous and the system used blackmail, threats and propaganda to secure the cooperation of GVN functionaries, often working through their relatives. Continued efforts to build the revolutionary VC infrastructure and weaken GVN forces via propaganda and organization. Some of his authoritarian methods and nepotism however alienated a variety of groups in South Vietnamese society. II, p. 116. NLF and PAVN structure and organization are then discussed. 18–211. War was to be waged on all fronts: diplomatic, ideological, organizational, economic and military. The result was under-strength units up front, and huge wastage and theft of weapons, equipment and supplies in the rear. [12] Guerrilla warfare for example co-existed alongside conventional operations, and propaganda and terrorism would always be deployed throughout the conflict. More detailed subdivisions existed.[78]. Diem was an implacable enemy of the Communists and his nationalist credentials were comparatively clean, but he had inherited a very fragile situation. A small nucleus of followers was usually gathered, and these were used to further expand recruitment. The conclusions of these analyses however were ignored as the Johnson regime steamed ahead.[32]. [77] The NVA likewise was controlled by the PAVN High Command, which answered to the Lao Dong, with party committees and representatives supervising and monitoring all echelons. The villages: battleground for hearts and minds, Importance of the party cadres. While his preparation was not especially impressive by Western standards, the typical NVA soldier proved more than adequate for the task at hand. [50], North Vietnamese strategist Vo Nguyen Giap, Southerners were prominent among Hanoi's war directors, and included such men as Le Duan, who argued forcefully for more confrontation and the massive introduction of northern men and material into the conflict. Such "revolutionary government" would set and collect taxes, draft soldiers to fight, impress laborers for construction tasks, administer justice, redistribute land, and coordinate local community events and civic improvements. Historical development of the NLF and PAVN, Northern build-up of early Southern insurgent forces, Translation of Dau Tranh doctrine into military action, Debates over the gradualist approach and bolder plans, Heavy footprint of US operations on South Vietnam, Pacification versus 'Search and Destroy' against the VC/NVA, Strategy disputes and shifts in the Communist high command, "Southern-firsters" versus "Northern-firsters", Tet as a strategic VC political and psychological victory, The "other war:" the population base, tempo and strategy, Drawing US forces to the periphery while shifting between phases, Effectiveness of overall Northern strategy, Dominant role of Northern based Lao Dong (communist) party, Organization of VC/NVA units in the field, Morale and discipline: the 3-man cell and "self-criticism", Douglas Pike, Viet Cong: Organization and Technique of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, (The MIT Press: new ed. However, they were often booby-trapped with spikes and grenades. their favor. In the words of one US Department of Defence assessment called "Alternate Strategies" in March 1968, after the first phase or Tet: People's War strategy drew the Americans into remote areas, facilitating control of the real prize- the population base. [50] Thus Phase 2 guerrilla assaults might well be met by a pacification focus, while Phase 3 conventional attacks required major counter-force, not police squad or small-patrol activity. Hanoi coordinated its direction through the COSVN, Central Office for South Vietnam. The flexible shifting of tempo and styles however was not without cost. Sending thousands of Northern cadres into the South as leaders and trainers, sometimes aggravating a regional culture clash within revolutionary ranks. Debate still continues among some Western historians as to the exact line-up of Politburo personalities and issues, particularly that of Giap. Merle Pribbenow (transl). [3], If fully successful, the once sleepy village might be turned into a functioning VC support base. Service and indoctrination under the communist system prior to army recruitment made the typical NVA fighter a bit older and more seasoned than his American or ARVN opponent. However needed reforms in cleaning up government corruption, land redistribution, attacking the VC infrastructure, and improving the ARVN armies were uneven, or poorly implemented. Each level was run by a committee, dominated as always by Communist Party operatives. Based on a wide variety of accounts, the performance of some NVA units was excellent, and at times they garnered a grudging respect among those they fought for their discipline, morale and skill. [52] The NLF was organized into 3 Interzone headquarters, that were subdivided into 7 smaller headquarters Zones. As early as 1959, the Central Committee of the Party had issued a resolution to pursue armed struggle. Tet not only exposed political weakness, but failures in America's military strategy as well – securing neither attrition or pacification after 3 years of war – an outcome predicted and achieved by the protracted strategy of the VC/PAVN. Cadres were expected to be of exemplary proletarian, moral and political character, faithfully implementing the most recent party line, and monitoring assigned areas for erroneous thought. [30] Others argue that a fundamental flaw in the American ground strategy was a focus on attrition rather than counterinsurgency to secure the population. Communist forces deployed an extensive and sophisticated intelligence apparatus within South Vietnam, extending from the top echelons of the Southern regime, to village level guerrilla helpers informing on ARVN troop movements. Prosecution of the war followed the Maoist model, closely integrating political and military efforts into the concept of one struggle, or dau tranh. Thousands of regroupees were reinfiltrated south, and a special unit was also set up, the 559th Transport Group, to establish way-stations, trails, and supply caches for the movement of fighting men and material into the zone of conflict. But these battles were not truly representative of the war. Collectively, both forces- the southern armed wing and the regulars from the north were part of PAVN.[3]. They often attacked in large groups over a wide area. The flexible shifting of NLF/PAVN forces was sufficient against both their most potent enemy- the United States, and the GVN. The Vietnam War was most often a small unit war, with vicious… Heavy political indoctrination was part of the package throughout the cycle, most acutely during a special two-week "study" phase. [4] The expulsion of the French had still left a clandestine organization behind in the South, reinforced by thousands of Southerners that had gone North after the communist victory ("regroupees"). Some writers have questioned whether either pacification or "search and destroy" would have made any difference given dwindling American resolve, the big unit focus, other American and South Vietnamese weaknesses noted above, and the Communist strategy of attritional, protracted war. 37–146, Military History Institute of Vietnam, Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People's Army of Vietnam, 1954–1975. The USA were unable to defeat the Vietcong and were met with growing opposition to the war back home. The war however had ceased being primarily a guerrilla conflict and had become conventional, with Hanoi openly bidding for victory during the 1972 Easter attack. Given the Communist Party's dominance over all spheres of Northern Vietnamese society, including the military struggle, it is impossible to understand VC/NVA organization, strategy and tactics without detailing party involvement. Troops of the 18th ARVN Division at Xuan Loc – 1975. A VC demolition team even damaged USS Card while pierside.[10].
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