A Vietcong memoir by Như Tảng Trương

Author:Như Tảng Trương
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Trương, Như Tảng., Mặt trận dân tộc giải phóng miè̂n nam Việt Nam -- Biography., Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Personal narratives, Viet Cong., Revolutionaries -- Vietnam -- Biography., Vietnam -- Politics and government -- 1945-1975., Vietnam -- Politics and government -- 1975-
Publisher: Vintage Books
Published: 1986-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

A VIETCONG MEMOIR

hammocks from the rubber trees, propping our nylon squares over us in a useless attempt to keep off the torrents of water. When morning came, it was difficult for any of us to tell if we had slept or had simply lapsed temporarily comatose.

But as we continued northward, we all sensed that there was less urgency to our movement. At some unidentifiable point we realized that no more shells were exploding dully in the sodden trees. At last, in the jungles outside Kratie, 150 kilometers or so north of Route 7, we were able to stop and rest. For several days we did little other than sleep and enjoy the luxuries of hot tea and prepared food, items we hadn’t seen for a week and a half. With an opportunity to relax and begin recuperating from this ordeal, spirits started to revive. COSVN’s Pham Hung and General Trung joked that “Even though we ran like hell, still we’ll win,” sentiments that Henry Kissinger anticipated in his 1968 Foreign Affairs article: “Guerrillas win if they don’t lose. A standard army loses if it does not win.”

In taking stock of the situation, we had not in fact lost a great deal. In terms of casualties, our luck had continued to hold. Despite the close escape and the rigors of the march, all of the leadership had manged to arrive at Kratie unharmed. Here we linked up with the COSVN staff, which had previously been evacuated to the region, also without loss. In the expanses of Cambodia’s northern provinces, we were less vulnerable to the B-52s and relatively immune to assault, since our forces had de facto control over the region (and had had for some time).

The ARVN attacks that we had so narrowly survived were a precursor to the large-scale American incursion into Cambodia that jumped off a month later. The wider war that resulted from these actions was an almost immediate benefit to us. The American/ARVN attack indeed caused damage and disrupted supply lines. But our antagonists had no staying power in Cambodia. The United States at this point was already in the process of a staged unilateral withdrawal, which could not be truly compensated for by increased air activity. The Saigon forces by themselves were hard-pressed to meet the military challenge they faced in South Vietnam, without adding

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