Viet Cong Guerrilla Warfare and US Tactics in Vietnam

Viet Cong and Guerrilla Tactics

By 1965, the Viet Cong had approximately 170,000 soldiers, well-supplied with weapons and equipment from China and the USSR. However, they were heavily outnumbered and outgunned by the South Vietnamese forces and their US allies.

Ho Chi Minh believed that superior forces could be defeated by guerrilla tactics, which he had successfully used against the Japanese and French.

The Principles:

• Retreat when the enemy attacks.
• Raid when the enemy camps.
• Attack when the enemy tires.
• Pursue when the enemy retreats.

Guerrillas did not wear uniforms and had no known base camp or headquarters. They worked in small groups with limited weapons, attacking and then disappearing into the jungle, villages, or tunnels.

Aim of Guerrilla Attacks: To wear down enemy soldiers and wreck their morale.

Viet Cong fighters were expected to be respectful to Vietnamese peasants, helping them in the fields. However, the Viet Cong could be ruthless, killing peasants who opposed them or cooperated with their enemies. They also conducted a campaign of terror against police, teachers, and other employees of the South Vietnamese government.

The Viet Cong depended on supplies from North Vietnam, which came along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The total number of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese dead in the war is estimated at one million; however, replacement troops were available.

US Tactics in Vietnam

Bombing

In 1965, the US launched Operation Rolling Thunder, involving extensive bombing raids on military and industrial targets in North Vietnam. Targets included towns and cities in North and South Vietnam, as well as sites in Laos and Cambodia along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Bombing was effective because:

• It damaged North Vietnam’s war effort and disrupted supply routes.
• It enabled the USA to strike at communist forces.
• Intense bombing campaigns were conducted from 1970 to 1972.

However, US air power could not defeat the communists. The Viet Cong continued to operate its supply lines.

The cost of the air war was horrendous. Communist forces shot down 14,000 US and South Vietnamese aircraft.

Chemical Weapons

The US developed a powerful weapon called Agent Orange, a highly toxic “weed killer” used to destroy the jungle where the Viet Cong hid. Americans used 82 million liters of Agent Orange to spray thousands of square kilometers of jungle.

Another chemical weapon was Napalm, which destroyed jungles where guerrillas might hide and also burned through skin to the bone.

Search and Destroy

US Commander General Westmoreland developed a policy of search and destroy. He established secure and heavily defended US bases in the south and near the coasts.

This policy did kill Viet Cong soldiers, but there were problems:

• Raids were often based on inadequate information.
• Inexperienced US troops often walked into traps.
• Innocent villages were mistaken for Viet Cong strongholds.
• Civilian casualties were extremely high in these raids.
• Search and destroy tactics made the US and South Vietnamese forces very unpopular with the peasants.

The Tet Offensive, 1968

During the Tet New Year holiday, Viet Cong fighters attacked over 100 cities and military targets. US forces had to fight to regain control room by room.

In many ways, the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the communists. The Viet Cong lost around 10,000 experienced soldiers and were badly weakened.

However, the Tet Offensive proved to be a turning point in the war because it raised hard questions about the war in the USA:

• There were 500,000 US troops in Vietnam, and the US was spending $20 billion a year on the war. Why had the communists been able to launch a major offensive that took US forces by surprise?