Airpower And The 1972 Easter Offensive by Lt.-Col Matthew C. Brand

Author:Lt.-Col Matthew C. Brand [Brand, Lt.-Col Matthew C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Special Forces, Middle East, Israel & Palestine, Iraq, United States
ISBN: 9781786250049
Google: eihvCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2015-11-06T05:02:54+00:00

Military Region III—The Siege at An Loc

The southern assaults into MR III were somewhat unexpected, as the main attacks were predicted to occur in the first two regions to the north. Once launched, however, attacks into Binh Long Province were arguably the biggest threat to South Vietnam of the entire offensive due to the proximity of the advancing NVA from Saigon, just sixty-five miles south of An Loc. Clearly, President Thieu could not allow North Vietnam to take and hold An Loc. Even if they stopped there, as planned, and did not immediately proceed toward Saigon, they could use An Loc as a new staging area for any future final assault on South Vietnam’s capital.

MR III was comprised of 11 provinces that surrounded Saigon, many of which had seen much fighting earlier in the war. Leading the effort defending the region was III Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Minh, along with his senior US advisor, Major General James Hollingsworth. At Minh’s disposal were the 5th, 18th, and the 25th ARVN Divisions. Defending Binh Long Province was the 5th ARVN division, led by Brigadier General Le Van Hung, along with provincial forces numbering around 2,000 soldiers led by Colonel Tran Van Nhut. Hung’s senior American advisor was Colonel William Miller, who had a rocky relationship with the division commander.

Binh Long Province was the middle of MR III’s three western-most provinces that bordered Cambodia (see figure 5). It was rectangular shape with the long sides running north and south. Highway 13 cut the province right down the middle, running straight south out of Cambodia and eventually into Saigon. The town of Loc Ninh lay about one-third the way down Highway 13 between An Loc and the Cambodian border, with the An Loc almost exactly in the center of the province. An Loc, a town of about 20,000 people, was surrounded by rubber plantations and sat astride Highway 13. It was eleven blocks long and six blocks wide, with houses of brick, stone, stucco, and wood.{110} This small, unassuming town would become the site of the longest siege of the war, its stubborn defenders suffering arguably the longest sustained period of continuous, punishing artillery attacks in the annals of warfare. Put simply: renowned Vietnam scholar Douglas Pike called it “probably the single most important battle in the war.”{111}

Leading the invading Communist forces was NVA Lieutenant General Tan Van Tra, who had thirty-three battalions at disposal for attack. Prior to the start of the offensive, Hung and Miller anticipated the attacks, but thought the main effort would be in Tay Ninh Province directly to the west of Binh Long because this was the traditional enemy attack avenue toward Saigon. As the offensive began, this belief was further reinforced by an NVA two-regiment diversionary attack into Tay Ninh, while the actual main effort was the 9th VC Division pushing south toward An Loc. The diversionary attacks were initially very successful. However, since the NVA did not exploit their success, Hollingsworth, who was initially fooled, now correctly guessed that Binh Long was the real enemy avenue-of-approach.

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