In 1964 the Gulf of Tompkin incident took place which led to Johnson giving the order to launch Operation Flaming Dart, a strategic bombing run against specific targets in retaliation. This soon turned into Operation Rolling Thunder, a massive round the clock bombing campaign to weaken the Vietminh into surrender. However this didn’t happen as the communists built tunnels to shield themselves from the US bombs. This was the first of the Vietcong tactics.
The Vietcong soon attacked the US airbases, which maintained the constant bombardment of Rolling Thunder, and so to defend the bases US ground troops were sent to Vietnam. These troops were then attacked by Vietcong forces using Guerrilla Warfare, the second of the communist’s tactics. Guerrilla Warfare is a tactic created by Mao Ztung; it is where a small force can defeat a much larger force by exploiting the larger force’s weakness. A dog cannot get all the flea on it’s back as they move too quickly. Guerrilla Warfare works on the same principal.
The use of Guerrilla Warfare by the Vietcong led to the US using Search and Destroy missions. Units would scour the jungle for communists and kill any they saw.
This led to Vietcong forces ambushing groups of soldiers by hiding in trees, underground, in bushes and by laying booby traps like mines, tripwires and punji stake pits. All the time this was happening the NLF were using Pacification as a tactic. The soldiers would go into villages and help the people, offer them land and in return the peasants would give them food and some join their cause.
The Tet offensive was the next tactic of the Vietcong. They decided to mount a surprise attack on the festival of Vietnamese New Year. It was open warfare and the US won. 80% of Vietcong were killed.
Guerrilla Warfare was a successful tactic for the Vietcong, they knew the terrain whereas the US soldiers did not. The US was fighting a force they couldn’t see which made it very hard for them. Search and Destroy was not a very successful tactic for the US because of the ambushes set up by the Vietcong, which were successful. In an attempt to make it easier to fight the Vietcong, the US sprayed Agent Orange to defoliate the forest. This was an unsuccessful tactic because of the side effects it had; the deformities it caused and the political repercussions. Strategic Hamlet was a complete failure, it only served to annoy the peasants and make them join the NLF. Also the atrocities committed by US troops turned the peasants against America. However the Pacification used by the Vietcong worked and made the peasants help them. The Tet Offensive was a stupid mistake for the Vietcong, but a military victory for the US. Finally the bombing raids by the US succeeded militarily as they caused massive damage, but politically they hindered the war effort as they killed civilians and the American public saw the images. Most famously Kim.
Overall the Vietcong had more successful tactics than the US had, and the US had more failed tactics than the Vietcong had. Also the Vietcong Army had a motive to winning the war, they wanted to unite Vietnam as one country again. Whereas the US army simply wanted to finish their tour of duty and leave. This could be a reason why the US did not win the war.