50 years of national reunification: April 10, 1975: Continuing to attack Xuan Loc town

On April 9, 1975, our troops attacked Xuan Loc town, the enemy's key defensive base protecting Saigon from the Northeast. On April 21, the enemy troops in Xuan Loc fled, and the gateway to Saigon from the Northeast was opened. Immediately after the loss of Xuan Loc, President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned. (Photo: VNA)

On the morning of April 10, 1975, in the Xuan Loc Campaign, the 4th Corps continued to attack and break through Xuan Loc town, occupy the airport, inflict heavy damage on the 3rd Regiment of the 18th puppet Division, attack the 1st Airborne Brigade that had just landed in Tan Phong and expand the area of control in the town.

Suffering heavy casualties, the enemy was forced to send additional Special Forces to reinforce Xuan Loc, in order to counterattack and push back the army liberating the town.

It can be seen that the victory or defeat in Xuan Loc was very important to the puppet army because it was directly related to the survival of the Saigon regime, to prolonging the war in the hope of finding a negotiated solution with our army, therefore, the enemy would resist to the end.

The battle at Xuan Loc was extremely fierce and fierce, both our side and the enemy suffered heavy losses. Unable to continue the old way of fighting, the Regional Command and the 4th Corps Command decided to change the way of fighting: surround Xuan Loc and attack the reinforcements.

Our army did not continue to attack Xuan Loc town but withdrew its forces to destroy the enemy units that counterattacked but were not firmly established and lacked cover; used long-range artillery to control Bien Hoa airport, separating Xuan Loc from Bien Hoa, and cutting off Highway 2 from Bien Hoa to Ba Ria.

Senior Lieutenant General Tran Van Tra from Loc Ninh went down to the 4th Corps to directly command and urge the corps to implement the new fighting method.

Because Xuan Loc had not been completely defeated, on the same day, the Regional Command sent a telegram to Military Region 9 to cancel the plan to attack the airport and Can Tho city. At the same time, the Eastern army had advanced to Nha Trang.

Also on April 10, 1975, the leaders and commanders of Group 232 went to the Saigon-Gia Dinh Liberation Campaign Command Headquarters to receive their mission.

On the same day, the Navy Command dispatched three transport ships 673, 674, 675 of Regiment 125 from Hai Phong to take over Da Nang to prepare to capture the islands of the Truong Sa archipelago.

These "ships without numbers" were familiar with the " Ho Chi Minh trail at sea", having passed through the Truong Sa archipelago many times, so they were familiar with the route, could distinguish the islands, and had experience avoiding reefs.

On April 10, 1975, the Secretariat issued Circular No. 312-TT/TU on propaganda of victory, encouraging emulation with the South, and achieving many new victories.

The notice emphasized: “Our army and people are attacking and rising up throughout the South and have achieved victories of very important strategic significance, creating favorable conditions to move forward to achieve even greater victories.

The rapid development of the revolution in the South has posed many new requirements that need to be resolved. The new victories in the South are stirring up a fervent revolutionary spirit throughout the country. It is necessary to quickly and widely announce the news of victory, to deeply mobilize the entire Party, the entire army, and the entire people, to make everyone clearly see the significance of the victory and their responsibilities in the new situation, and to contribute their greatest efforts to the common revolutionary cause of the nation…”

Meanwhile, in the Northern rear, the Central Support Council was working urgently. The people of the Northwest and Viet Bac sent a petition to the Central Government requesting a temporary halt to the transport of goods and food to their localities, in order to focus on timely support for the Campaign to liberate Saigon.

Factories and enterprises also mobilized 30-50% of their troops to serve on the battlefield.

In the history of the resistance war against America to save the country, this was the campaign that mobilized the highest level of military transport vehicles, with 42,000 tons of vehicles.

The entire military transport force of 120,000 people (80% of the campaign logistics force), 6,300 transport vehicles of Group 559, 2,100 vehicles of the Transport Department and hundreds of vehicles of army corps, military branches, military services, military regions... were mobilized.

A large State transport force, including more than 1,000 automobiles, 32 ships (5,000 tons of vehicles), 130 railway cars (9,000 tons of vehicles) and hundreds of tons of air vehicles were mobilized to transport troops and facilities to the battlefield.

Not to mention more than 400 private trucks and passenger cars in newly liberated areas also participated in the campaign./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/50-nam-thong-nhat-dat-nuoc-ngay-1041975-tiep-tuc-tien-cong-thi-xa-xuan-loc-post1026825.vnp