What different tactics were used by both sides in an attempt to win the conflict in Vietnam between 1956 and 1968?
History GCSE Coursework Assignment Two
What different tactics were used by both sides in an attempt to win the conflict in Vietnam between 1956 and 1968?
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The Vietcong had to resort to guerrilla warfare because they were outnumbered and the US had superior weaponry and a stronger economy to support the war.
They adopted Mao Tse Tung's tactics; he was fighting for Communism in China, using guerrilla warfare. He said that soldiers had to be of the people in the same way "as fish are of the sea".
It was important that the Vietcong had the people on their side, as they needed to rely on them not to inform the enemy where they were. They were fighting for freedom; if they could project this message to civilians then they would support them and in many cases, in the fight. They succeeded and many Vietcong were hidden within villages. They had won the "hearts and minds" of the South Vietnamese people.
They were advantaged because they were native people, knowing the countryside blending amongst villagers.
The Vietcong avoided confronting the enemy on a large scale and instead would ambush convoys and outposts and set traps. They'd "hit and run"; attack their adversaries and then flee, so the unsuspecting enemy wouldn't know what had hit them. The Vietcong also tried to "cling to the enemy belt", meaning keeping as close to the enemy as possible, and attacking at every opportunity. This would trigger the enemy to bring in back up, and the guerrillas would retreat and slowly advance once more. They mainly operated at night and often lived in forests and rural areas to avoid soldiers.
The traps set were simple but highly effective. They'd dig holes in the ground and cover them over, so soldiers would fall and break their ankles.
A 'Bouncing Betty' was a mine just under the ground's surface, detonated by the disturbance of the three prongs jutting upwards.
The 'Tin Can Trap' consisted of a hand grenade with the pin removed, which had been wedged in a can. It was detonated when a soldier caught the trip wire.
The 'Fuel Tank Trap' was a grenade, which had been prevented form exploding by a rubber band. This was placed in a fuel tank of an empty vehicle. The rubber band perished, the grenade went off, blowing up the fuel tank.
A 'Punji Trap' was a pit containing spikes with poison or human excrement on the points to cause blood poisoning.
These traps installed fear in the American troops, as they never knew what was going to happen.
The Vietcong also re-used weapons, They took discarded pieces of American artillery and made it into grenades and mines. They turned American weapons back against them. They were also given financial aid and weaponry from Communist countries such as China and Russia.
At the beginning of the war, America provided aid to Diem's government. They supplied ...
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A 'Punji Trap' was a pit containing spikes with poison or human excrement on the points to cause blood poisoning.
These traps installed fear in the American troops, as they never knew what was going to happen.
The Vietcong also re-used weapons, They took discarded pieces of American artillery and made it into grenades and mines. They turned American weapons back against them. They were also given financial aid and weaponry from Communist countries such as China and Russia.
At the beginning of the war, America provided aid to Diem's government. They supplied them with money, weapons, and also American advisors to train the ARVN. These advisors however, were later found to be in combat.
By 1961, support for the Vietcong in South Vietnam had increased; Diem's government was unpopular. The Vietcong had begun to use the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This trail pumped men and supplies from North Vietnam, through Laos and Cambodia, who supported the revolution, and into South Vietnam.
The Vietcong appeared to be winning. Kennedy began increasing the number of advisors, 685 in 1961, 16,000 by 1963. He also increased funding and weaponry.
Despite there being 170,000 ARVN troops and just 10,000 Vietcong in the South, America was not winning the war. They did not have the support of the civilians, who were aiding the Vietcong. America could not have civilians supporting the Vietcong, because, if they joined up and started getting killed, the news would spread through America thus causing the American people to try and cease the war in Vietnam. A war could not be won without the support of the people. It became apparent that there was no military solution and a new plan was launched to introduce 'Strategic Hamlets' in 1962.
Villages were built with houses, schools and hospitals, at great expense. Up until then, very few villages had schools and hospitals and it was thought that the peasants would be grateful to the government. The villages (or hamlets) were filled with the civilians who were most against Diem; these were the poor, country peasants. The Hamlets were surrounded by fences, walls, turrets, gun posts and watch towers, supposedly to keep out the Vietcong. The new inhabitants were trained as soldiers to fight against the Communists. However, support for the Vietcong was strong, and the people resented being taken from their homes and farms. The government had forgotten to consider that it was impossible to differentiate between peasants and soldiers, so the Strategic Hamlets were infiltrated with soldiers providing anti-American propaganda.
Kennedy also created Green Berets, which were highly trained special forces. He increased military aid and provided 300 helicopters.
Diem's government was corrupt and prejudiced and it was apparent that he was not the man to win the war or unite Vietnam. In 1963, he was assassinated by his own military and there is evidence to suggest the USA knew it was going to happen. By not preventing it, they supported the motion.
Also in 1963, Kennedy was assassinated, and the vice president, L B Johnson, came to power. In this period of transition US involvement escalated, and the Quagmire Theory began to take hold. This said that once involved, it became increasingly difficult to withdraw.
Johnson realised the severity of the situation and decided bombing was required. He ordered the bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, hoping that this would prevent infiltration of Vietcong and supplies into South Vietnam. Johnson also thought that they needed to bomb Vietnam but he didn't have public support. He needed a trigger to justify the actions. He in fact, got two. On August 2nd 1954, the US destroyer 'Maddox' and other vessels off the coast were attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. The US base at Pleiku was attacked on February 6-7th. 10 aircraft were destroyed, 8 advisors were killed and over 100 wounded.
The US public were outraged, Johnson had justification to bomb North Vietnam and send in ground troops. On February 11th 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder began bombing of North Vietnam. On the 8th March, American marines appeared at Da Nang
Operation Rolling Thunder was planned to last 8 weeks, in reality it lasted 3.5 years. 8000 tonnes of bombs were dropped each day to meet the goals of the operation, neither of which succeeded. Firstly, to crack Ho Chi Minh's moral and stop him sending troops south, it made him more determined. Secondly to stop the supply roots to South, but they over-estimated the supplies the Vietcong required to keep fighting. To continue fighting an effective war, the Vietcong only needed 15 tonnes a day and China alone provided 6,000 daily. At first, the bombing was surgical and selective, hitting key places, such as roads and bridges or where ground troops were in trouble. However, before to long, saturation or blanket bombing began to be used. This was used when the US were loosing too many troops to ambushes and wanted to kill as many Vietcong as they could in specific areas.
This suggests that the Vietcong hiding in forests and rural areas led to the Americans introducing saturation bombing. The bombing led to more guerrilla tactics being inforced in retaliation. Countries such as China, Laos and Cambodia helped by setting up SAM sites, by sending out more planes (MIGs) with air-to-air missiles and setting up a large amount of AA guns. They also trained up more pilots who later became some of the best pilots around.
The soldiers themselves not only hid themselves better in trees and swamps, but also went underground. They dug complex tunnel networks to escape the bombing. So, American bombing led to the Vietcong hiding in tunnel systems. The US troops would be sent to find the entrances to the tunnel networks, no easy task, and then enter with grenades to blow up the soldiers and shoot any survivors.
The American troops were sent out on "Search and Destroy" missions in an attempt at finding the Vietcong hiding in villages. They would be dropped by helicopter, which gave the Vietcong very little warning, near to a village. They would then search the village. If any Vietcong or Vietcong supporters were found they would be killed. If weaponry, or anything else thought to be of aid to guerrilla warfare, was found it would be taken away and destroyed. Frequently, it was too time consuming to search the entire village, so they soldiers would simply torch it. These raids soon became known as Zippo raids, after the Zippo lighter. An example of where a "Search and Destroy" mission went horribly wrong is My Lai, where US soldiers went in and massacred a village of mainly women and children, which contained no Vietcong. The village would often come of worse if the troop had lost men in convoy to the site.
From 1962, the US used chemical warfare under Operation Ranch Hand. They could not find the Vietcong due to the cover of forest, so they used Agent Orange to wipe the trees of their foliage. So, the Vietcong hiding in trees led to the use of Agent Orange. They attempted to eradicate the Vietcong's food supply by spreading Agent Blue over the crops. They attempted to wipe out the Vietcong themselves using Napalm and Petroleum Jelly, which would stick to the skin and cause horrific burns. None of these dramatically altered the way the war was fought but reports of the destruction damaged public support in America.
A pattern of war had now been established. The US troops would wipe out many Vietcong through Search and Destroy and air strikes, so the Vietcong would retreat, sometimes even into Cambodia. Then, when it had cooled off, the Vietcong would reappear, and then the US would attack and it continued in this way. There were no front lines, and no land was lost or gained. The US troops would gauge their success or failure by body counts.
There was one conventional battle at Le Drang Valley where the Vietcong lost 1800 soldiers, when the US lost just 240. It proved to the Vietcong that conventional warfare was impossible and they would have to avoid pitched battles.
Helicopters were now being used in huge numbers. They were used as troop carriers, often on Search and Destroy. They were also used as transport and as gunships.
On the 31st January 1968, the date of the Vietnamese Tet Festival, guerrilla soldiers entered the towns and cities in tanks and there was face-to-face combat between the two sides. The Vietcong suffered huge losses but it was a pivotal turning point of the war. The US government and civilians realised that the Vietcong would never give up, no matter what the losses were. They realised that they were fighting a war which could never really be won, the Vietcong would continue fighting and not surrender and it was apparent that the US should just cut its losses and leave. From this point, US involvement decreased until eventually all troops were removed.
