Fire in the Streets by Eric Hammel

Author:Eric Hammel
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781890988173
Publisher: Pacifica Military History
Published: 2009-07-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Altogether, February 4 was a pivotal day in the battle for Hue, for it marked the beginning of a regimental effort by U.S. Ma­rines to recapture the southern portion of the city—a signal to the NVA that the Americans had placed Hue near the top of their list of nationwide priorities. For the Marines, the fall of the NVA strongpoint in the treasury building was of immense signifi­cance, for it served notice to the 4th NVA Regiment that in a matter of days the Americans had mastered the art of city combat. The Marines had captured the treasury with an improvised attack using available weapons—tear gas, tanks, 106mm recoilless ri­fles, mortars, and 3.5-inch rocket launchers—combined with tough infantry clearing tactics. That success demonstrated that they could probably seize any NVA strongpoint in the city.

Also of significance that afternoon was the arrival of the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer Lynda McCormick. From around 1700 on, 1st Marine Regiment and 1st ARVN Division units in need of direct fire support would be able to receive on-call assistance from McCormick’s 5-inch guns or from other U.S. Navy warships that were eventually deployed in the South China Sea east of the city.

*

Despite the fact that he was in hiding, Jim Bullington was better informed about events around South Vietnam than most Americans in Hue. Thanks to shortwave news broadcasts Bulling­ton listened to all day on February 4, he knew that the Commu­nist TCK-TKN plan was in ruins and that Communist forces were in retreat in all but a few locations, chiefly in Saigon, Hue, and Khe Sanh. Though his own fate was still in doubt, Bulling­ton was elated by the good news.

Only a few blocks from Jim Bullington's hideout, the Than-Trong compound was bathed in despair. The family had a short­wave radio, but frequent visits by roving VC propaganda cadres and search teams prevented any listening. Also, the food was running out. The family had been forced to share its food with many NVA and VC, and about the only fare left was steamed rice with fish sauce, and even that was in short supply. On February 4, Tuy-Cam's mother oversaw the hiding of a 100-kilo sack of rice in the family bunker, where it might be mistaken by searching VC for a bag of sand. The big danger remained the discovery of Tuy-Cam's two servicemen brothers, who were still hiding in the attic. If things seemed to be going well elsewhere in Hue that day, February 4 was the day the Than-Trong clan began to lose hope.

*

Attacks to expand the 1st ARVN Division's holdings inside the Citadel had continued. By the morning of February 4, it is probable that the ARVN force inside the Citadel actually outnum­bered the NVA defending force. Most likely, the NVA force deployed inside the Citadel consisted of only the 6th NVA Regi­ment's 800th and 802nd NVA battalions and part of the 12th NVA Sapper Battalion. Though relatively small in numbers, the NVA occupied a massively fortified Japanese-built complex of bunkers and fighting positions.

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