This tactic was very successful as it made the U.S. soldiers constantly on edge. This boosted Vietcong morale as even though the Americans had superior weapons and resources; the Vietcong knew they could win the war. This sapped the morale of the U.S. This leads me to the next tactic I shall discuss which is the Vietcong’s network of tunnels.
The Vietcong made a network of underground tunnels, which were multifunctional. The Vietcong used these tunnels to escape U.S. bombing and chemical weapon attacks, hide and wait to ambush the American soldiers, aid the wounded, hold conferences, plan attacks and strategy rest, store supplies and bring in new supplies. This was very effective as it saved many Vietnamese soldiers and give them a place to hide, attack from and retreat to. The next tactic is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a 1500km long supply route. This passed over mountains and through jungles. Its aim was to supply the Vietcong from China and there factories from the Chinese border. This was very effective as it kept the Vietcong supplied. The next tactic is the use of Women and Children.
The North Vietnamese communists made great use of women and children in peasant communities. They worked to keep the transport routes open in case they were needed for direct combat. The Vietcong soldiers did not wear uniforms so they would hide among civilians, as they would not stand out. One Vietnamese general said,
“My people are the sea and the army is the fish.”
Children were also used as decoys as bombs would be attached to young children and then they sent towards the American soldiers. The bomb would then explode killing the child and the American soldiers. This tactic was effective as it meant that the Vietcong could not be spotted easily spotted, more Vietnamese men could fight and the American soldiers would not suspect a small child coming towards them. The next tactic is Relocation of Industries.
The relocation of Vietnamese industries was in response to the blanket bombing campaigns by the American soldiers. When the Americans began bombing the Vietnamese industries, the Vietnamese decided to move. The Vietnamese then decided that the best place to move their industries would be to the Chinese border. The industries would then be out of range of the American bombing and even if it was not the Vietnamese were sure that the Americans would not bomb near china in fear of enraging the Chinese. Most of the industries were relocated or hidden in remote areas. The stores from these were kept in underground caves. This tactic was effective as it maintained Vietcong supplies. The next tactic is Major Offensives.
Major offensives (or TET offensives) were high profile attacks, which the Vietcong occasionally carried out. These involved attacks on places such as the American Embassy and the Presidential Palace in Saigon. These attacks were very successful as they terrified the U.S. and it convinced the U.S. that they were not winning the war. The major offensives got the Vietcong a lot of publicity. The next tactic is Booby Traps.
In battle, the Vietcong would use booby traps to surprise and kill the American soldiers. The Vietcong used many different types. These included: The Punji trap, which was a hole filled with spikes (sharpened wooden sticks) and concealed with grass and other foliage. American soldiers would fall into these and were squired on the spikes and not be able to escape from the deep hole they were concealed in. They also used mines of various sorts. These included the Bouncing Betty, which was a bomb with prods, and when it was stood on, it would bounce up and explode. The tin can trap was a bomb inside a can, and when it exploded, it would send shrapnel flying about. The Vietcong also used grenades with trip wires. This surprised and killed the American soldiers as they could not see the trip wire that the Vietnamese used. The Vietnamese often concealed these wires. This tactic was very effective as it terrified U.S. soldiers and sapped the U.S. morale.
Altogether, Vietcong tactics were very effective.
Now I shall discuss American tactics. The first tactic I shall discuss is financial aid.
Before America became militarily involved in the fight against Vietnamese communism, they became financially involved. In 1956 they provided the French (who were then the colonial rulers of Indo-China which included Vietnam) with money to aid them in their fight against the Vietnamese who wanted too claim independence again and were rebelling against their rulers. This was ineffective as the French later lost this war at the battle of Dien Bien Phu and were driven out of Vietnam. The next tactic that I shall discuss is Military Equipment and Advisors.
From 1958-1963, America sent increasing amounts of money, military equipment and advisors to aid South Vietnam in their fight against the communist North Vietnam. This was not effective, as eventually America had to send in combats troops and start a civil war against North Vietnam. The next tactic that I shall discuss is Political Involvement.
The US became politically involved in South Vietnamese politics as they attempted to influence the choice of the leader. They promised that in 1956 elections would be held for re-unification of the country and they were not. Then in 1963, President Diem was overthrown and murdered in a coup backed by the U.S. This tactic was ineffective as it made the Vietnamese people dislike the Americans. The next tactic is military combat.
America became officially involved in 1965 after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. In 1965, America sent in combat troops to help the South of Vietnam to fight the Vietcong soldiers of North Vietnam. This was ineffective as America lost the war in the end anyway. The next tactic I will discuss is Blanket Bombing.
‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ was active from 1965 to 1968. This was a campaign of intensive bombing as its aim was to destroy North Vietnamese industry and supply routes. This was ineffective as the Vietnamese relocated their industries. It was also ineffective as it killed many innocent civilians and brought the Americans bad publicity. The next tactic I shall discuss is Chemical Weapons.
Chemical weapons were used in many different forms in the Vietnam War. The Americans made great use of Napalms. Napalm was like jellied petrol and when it exploded, it stuck to anything and burned. These were designed to wipe out platoons of Vietcong soldiers although many innocent civilians were affected by Napalm too. One of the most famous images of the Vietnam War is a picture of a Napalm attack. The picture is of a young Vietnamese girl named Kim Phuc. The Americans also used a chemical weapon called Agent Orange, which was a chemical defoliant. It was used to destroy large areas of jungle so that the American soldiers could spot the Vietcong soldiers. Agent Orange was sprayed over rainforest from a helicopter. Sometimes, Agent Orange ignited and killed innocent civilians. Chemical weapons were both effective and ineffective. Napalms were ineffective as they backfired and made the Americans unpopular for many reasons. Agent Orange was practically effective as it worked efficiently at its aim that was to destroy vast areas of rainforest but at the same time was ineffective as it caused long-term environmental damage, cancer, and deformities. This caused widespread controversy and made the Americans appear aggressive. The next tactic I shall discuss is Search and Destroy.
Search and destroy was an on going mission for the American soldiers. These missions were designed to get rid of suspected Vietcong soldiers from peasant villages. These missions made the Americans nervous but also trigger-happy to some extent. Any evidence they found of Vietcong soldiers was destroyed. This tactic was particularly ineffective because of the events of the 16th March 1968 at My Lai. A unit of U.S. troops named the ‘Charlie Company’ were on a search and destroy, mission to the small village of My Lai, which was a suspected Vietcong headquarters with over two hundred Guerrillas based there. I t is estimated that 300-400 were killed here and many of them were innocent men, women and children. The U.S. army covered up this event but a U.S. soldier on a television programme released it to the world. Only one soldier was ever convicted for being part of this massacre. In September 1969, Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty of murdering 109 people. He was sentenced to twenty years but was later released in 1974 after serving only six years. The next tactic I shall discuss is the Strategic Hamlet Program.
The Strategic Hamlet Programme was devised to stop the spread of communism to small villages. U.S. soldiers would go in and uproot village sand relocate them somewhere else. This would also stop them from supporting or helping the Vietcong. This tactic was very ineffective as it backfired on the Americans. This tactic angered the local population and made them even more determined to resist the Americans. The next tactic that I shall discuss is Helicopters.
The Americans made great use of helicopters during the war as they used them to transport supplies and troops either into battle, out of battle or rescuing injured soldiers. The helicopters also possessed devastating firepower. This tactic was very effective and one of the best tactics that the Americans had as this tactic was suited to the jungle terrain. Altogether, the Americans tactics were virtually ineffective against the harsh terrain and the experienced Vietcong soldiers.
Even though the Americans had better resources and equipment than the Vietnamese they lost the war because of the tactics they used against the Vietcong as they were not used to this type of battle as the terrain was completely different to what they were used to. The Vietnamese won the war because they were battle hardened as they and been fighting ever since the Japanese occupation of Indo-China during World War 2. The Vietnamese were also used to the terrain that they were fighting on and developed better tactics to suit the terrain.
The Vietnamese had many good tactics because they were battle hardened and suited to the terrain that they were fighting on. Guerrilla Warfare was effective, the Vietnamese Network of Tunnels was effective, the Ho Chi Minh was effective, the Relocation of Industries was effective, the Use of Women and Children was effective, the Major Offensives were effective and the Booby Traps used in combat were effective as well. The Vietnamese used very effective tactics all round.
The Americans did not have very good tactics because they were not used to the terrain that they were fighting on, the country and its deadly wildlife and many of the American soldiers had never fought before. Financial aid was ineffective, Military equipment was ineffective, Military Combat was ineffective, Blanket Bombing was ineffective, Chemical Weapons were ineffective, Search and Destroy was ineffective, the Strategic Hamlet Program was ineffective and the use of Helicopters was effective.
