Once the Strategic Villages had been over-run by the Vietcong, America launched operation rolling thunder to limit supplies from the north and then used the minor excuse of an attack on Pleiku an American airbase to justify war to the American public and deployed ground troops.
The Vietcong’s Guerrilla tactics were almost impossible to counter, they used their knowledge of the jungle very effectively. Demoralising the soldiers by setting booby traps like the punji trap. A unit could loose half of their soldiers and never see the enemy. Unable to keep the Vietcong out of villages the U.S told the troops to search and destroy. But the Vietcong didn’t wear uniform and could be children to old women. The soldiers in desperation resorted to torture, destroying property and random killing making them even more unpopular. The real Vietcong were often down the tunnels disappearing and reappearing wherever they wanted.
The Americans blanket bombed the rainforest using cluster bombs and chemical weapons like Napalm to chase out the enemy and destroy the rainforest but the Vietcong moved in small groups, well spread out and so the bombs would only hit a few people, mostly civilians.
the Americans tried to destroy the Vietcong cover with defoliants, agent orange removed cover and agent blue to destroy crops which again affected the peasants most.
The Vietcong were now strong enough to fight in the open, they had gathered U.S. weapons and unexploded bombs to make grenades, nothing had been left to waste. During the tet festival when gun shots were confused with fire works and the U.S. had declared a cease fire the tet offensive began. Vietcong attacked American airbases all over the country. A suicide Vietcong mission broke into the U.S. embassy they were all killed but they achieved their aim the American public was outraged they had been led to believe that they were winning the war. But if they couldn’t even secure the U.S. embassy! Public support of the war in America died and Johnson had no choice but to pull troops out of Vietnam.