the battle of ap bac
TRANSCRIPT
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Battle of Ap Bac
The ARVN and The Battle of Ap Bac
With the Geneva Accords of 1954, the French agreed that Vietnam should be split
into two halves at the 1th!arallel as a temporar" measure until elections could beheld in 195# to decide whether the $ationalist%&ommunists 'of $orth Vietnam( or the
$ationalist%&apitalists 'of )outh Vietnam( should rule the reunited countr"* +he
elections never too place, and the -epublic of ')outh( Vietnam under the corrupt
leadership of $go .inh .iem established itself under /) patronage*
+here had technicall" been a 0-epublic of Vietnam and a 0Vietnamese $ational
Arm" since 1949* +his was, however, a French attempt to 2ustif" their war in
3ndochina to an international audience* +he Vietnamese $ational Arm" eventuall"
numbered around 1, men 'including air and naval forces(* 3n addition, there
were regional &ivil Guard battalions 'which were full%time, but generall" less well
euipped and trained than the regulars( and part%time 0local self%defence militias inthe villages* 6n 1st7anuar" 1954, the regular troops consisted of 45 infantr"
battalions, 4 parachute battalions, 1 reconnaissance regiment '8 armoured car
suadrons(, 4 mortar companies, 54 light infantr" battalions and 14 heav" weapons
companies* +he officers were predominantl" pro%French, and laced staff eperience
in most cases*
+here were man" factions 'including the senior officers of the Arm"( who did not
support .iem as leader* :owever, b" a miture of force and political manoeuvre
'supported b" the /)( he prevailed and the Arm" was reorganised as the Arm" of the
-epublic of Vietnam 'A-V$(*
With the changeover to direct /) support 'under French control the Vietnamese
Arm" had been paid for b" the /)A, but via France(, the new A-V$ was epected to
fight a ;orean st"le conventional war against invading $orth Vietnamese regular
soldiers* +he" were built up and trained for this st"le of warfare, which made their
units too heav" and cumbersome for the counter%insurgenc" warfare the" were forced
to undertae as resistance to the increasingl" autocratic .iem built during the late
195s*
ations % the &ivil Guard '&G( and the Village )elf .efence &orps
').&(* +he larger of these, the &ivil Guard, eisted within the @inistr" of 3nterior
and was funded and advised b" the /*)* 6perations @ission '/)6@(* 3ts 4=,
Author: Danny O'Hara
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men, therefore, were not counted against the 'Washington set( 15,%man force
level ceiling that regulated the si>e of .iems regular forces* $or were the 4,
members of the )elf .efence &orps, even though this organi>ation received limited
amounts of /*)* militar" assistance funds* 3n an" case, serious shortcomings wereevident in both the &G and the ).&* 6rgani>ed into provincial companies directl"
responsible to the various province chiefs, the &ivil Guard was entirel" separate from
the A-V$ chain of command* Furthermore, American civilians under government
contract had armed and trained the &G for police%t"pe as opposed to militar"
missions* +he ).&, essentiall" a scattering of local militia units, was even weaer,
having been organised at the village level into suads and an occasional platoon*
Although the ).& units were subordinate to the respective village chief, the A-V$
bore the responsibilit" for providing them with arms and training* @ore often than not
the A-V$ units gave their obsolete weapons to the ).& and showed little genuine
interest in training them*
3n earl" 1959, the entire A-V$ was in the final phase of a reorganisation programme
which would culminate b" mid%"ear in the formation of seven divisions of uniform
si>e '1,5 men each(, five territorial regiments, and an airborne brigade 'formed
from the old Arm" parachute regiment(* /nder the new organisation the seven
standard divisions were to be deplo"ed in or near population centres throughout the
countr" and were to be organi>ed under two corps headuarters, one '3 &orps( located
at .a $ang, and the other '33 &orps( located at !leiu in the &entral :ighlands* A
third provisional corps headuarters had also been formed in )aigon for activation in
the event of a national emergenc"*
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3n the French War, Viet @inh bases in inaccessible areas gave good securit" as, apart
from dropping paratroopers into the area, other units had long marches with man"
chances of ambush before entering the V@ stronghold* +his gave the V@ ample
opportunit" to either flee or prepare intricate ambush s"stems to defeat the attacers*With the introduction of /) helicopters to the war, A-V$ units could be transferred
in minutes to positions that were several da"s 2ourne" from their bases* +his
massivel" improved both mobilit" and surprise for the A-V$*
+he building of two mechanised companies with 15 @118 A!&s each in April 19#?
gave a similar increase in firepower and assault capabilit" to the A-V$* +hese two
units were deplo"ed in the @eong .elta region 'which was the most active at that
point( and proved themselves able to put V& units 'who apparentl" had no anti%
armour weapons( to flight*
6peration in the .elta during 19#? had shown that with their American advisors andeuipment, the A-V$ could defeat the V& guerrillas* )everal actions had resulted in
V& routs C and heav" losses from fighter%bombers dropping bombs and napalm on
the fleeing guerrillas* +here had been some disturbing 'for the /) advisors(
tendencies for the A-V$ commanders to not press combat with the V& and to leave
the wor to artiller" and air units* :owever there was still confidence that if the V&
would stand up and fight the A-V$ in a conventional manner then the technological
superiorit" of their euipment would destro" the guerrillas and give etra confidence
to A-V$ troops and commanders*
+he ideal opportunit" seemed to present itself at the end of .ecember 19#?, when
surveillance showed the presence of a main force V& unit in the hamlet of +an +hoi
fourteen miles northwest of @" +ho 'and about fort" miles southwest of )aigon(*
-adio intercepts seem to indicate that the V& was using +an +hoi as some form of
headuarters centre, and that a reinforced compan" of main force V& defended the
position 'i*e* about 1? men(* An attac b" the local A-V$ formation, the th
.ivision, was planned for the ?nd7anuar" 19#8 b" the /) advisor" team* /nits of the
th.ivision 'which had the best record for action against the V& at that point( would
be supported b" &ivil Guard battalions, together with the 4th @echani>ed -ifle
)uadron of the ?nd Armoured &avalr" -egiment in @118 A!&s, and helicopters
'both transports and the new gunships(* +he plan involved converging assaults on the
hamlet b" the ?nd
one waiting to
advance and trap the retreating V&* +wo companies of the 1 st
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At that point, the /)A had deplo"ed a few helicopter transport companies to
Vietnam, mainl" euipped with the Vertol &:%?1 )hawnee '0Fl"ing
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+he battalion commander then attempted various half%hearted flaning manoeuvresfor the net two hours, until he was lightl" wounded himself and the efforts petered
out* .uring these two hours, the battalion called in repeated artiller" stries but these
all landed behind the V& positions* At around 1E, the battalion commander radioed
his superior '@a2or Dam Huang +ho, the province chief, who had his :H less than
8m to the south( reuesting support* :e reported eight dead and fourteen wounded
'including himself(* -ather than order +as Force < to support their comrades, or
moving up and taing charge himself, or attempting to sort out the artiller" problems
'which had been reported to him b" one of the American advisors(, +ho called the th
.ivision commander '&olonel
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and machine guns, and were ama>ed that the V& continued to return fire and did not
flee as had previousl" happened with helicopter attacs* +he &:%?1s had dropped
their A-V$ troops 'who dived into the mud of the padd" fields and generall" refused
to fire(, and then attempted to tae off* All of the helicopters had received multiplehits, but onl" one was unable to lift* +he pilot reported that he was shutting his engine
and that he, his co%pilot and two crewmen would tae cover with the A-V$*
+he helicopter crews had a 0code which said that downed crew should be rescued
straight awa", and that leaving them to mae the best of it with the A-V$ was not
enough* +herefore one of the other &:%?1s landed between the downed helicopter
and Ap
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+he infantr" that
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At 18E45, the first three @118s were across the canal and could advance towards
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forwards* +he dug%in V&, without an" anti%tan weaponr", should soon brea and
runK
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The View From The Other Side
+he V& commander of the ?#1stV& @ain Force
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+he village guerrilla scouts had raised the alarm at about 4E 'having heard the
&ivil Guards set off(, and the troops manned their positions* +he plan b" the ?#1 st
commander was to spring a heav" ambush on the approaching A-V$, then melt awa"
before reinforcements arrived*
:owever, events unfolded differentl" and b" noon the V& commander realised that he
had no escape ecept for eastwards across open swamp where fighter%bombers would
cut his men down* +he officers and $&6s passed amongst the V& positions and told
the men that retreat was impossible until nightfall C it was 0
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$on%&ommunist struggle, and could not understand how the A-V$ didnJt tae the
opportunit" to destro" a V& regular formation* )ome of the officers C &aptain
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to stand and tae most of what comes their wa"* +he list of troops involved on both
sides isE
A-V$ ?nd