Victory News April 11, 1975: Our army attacked Song Tu Tay island

Implementing the directive of the General Command on liberating the Truong Sa archipelago, the Navy Command immediately deployed the attack plan.

At 4:00 a.m. on April 11, 1975, the units left Da Nang military port and headed out to sea. The first target chosen was Song Tu Tay - an island in the Truong Sa archipelago, guarded by a platoon of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

The attacking force included: Team 1/Special Forces Group 126, which had sunk many enemy ships in Cua Viet; a firepower unit of Battalion 471/Military Region 5; transport ships 673, 674, 675 of Naval Group 125, which were "numberless" ships with a lot of experience traveling around the Truong Sa archipelago.

Our army attacked Song Tu Tay island. (Photo: LSQSVN)

At the same time, a large force of ours was ordered to cut Route 15 (Long Binh-Ba Ria), control Long Tau River and Bien Hoa airport.

At the Vinh Tra front (Military Region 9), under the orders of the Regional Command, on the night of April 11-12, 1975, Regiment 1 (less 1 battalion) heavily damaged Ba Cang sub-region, destroying the enemy's artillery position. Regiment 3 heavily damaged Binh Minh sub-region (Cai Von), destroyed Dong Thanh commune sub-region; destroyed and forced the withdrawal of 13 posts, liberating a section south of Hau River. In the north of Cai Von, Battalion 1 of Vinh Long province destroyed the rear base of the security battalion and My Thuan sub-region.

On April 11, the leading unit of the 2nd Corps arrived at Cam Ranh. The 3rd Division, with the help of the people of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, and Khanh Hoa provinces, was able to move all its forces north of Phan Rang to organize the battle.

Our army gradually took control of Xuan Loc town.

At the Xuan Loc front, on April 11, 1975, the battle continued to be fierce and tense inside and outside Xuan Loc town. The 7th Division continued to attack the rear base of the 5th Armored Regiment, the 52nd Battalion, and the 18th Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, but were all stopped by the enemy.

The 341st Division advanced to the southwest junction of the 43rd Division's rear base and the airport, but was also blocked by the enemy. The 6th Division continued to attack the enemy in the assigned direction.

The enemy continued to send more reinforcements, concentrating on Xuan Loc-Long Khanh 50% of the infantry force, 60% of the artillery, almost all the tanks and armored vehicles of the 3rd Corps, with more than 80 aircraft support flights every day, even using CBU bombs, causing us much damage. The fighting here was fierce.

Faced with the above situation, the Regional Command suggested: “With the same force, switch to mainly attacking the enemy on the outside, leaving only one division with technical weapons to hold the occupied areas in the town and surround the remaining enemy areas, there is no need to increase another division” and instructed: “Change the way of fighting. That is, we switch to establishing a new battle formation, changing the direction of attack from attacking the front to concentrating forces to attack the enemy’s rear”.

Information posted on the front page of Nhan Dan newspaper.

The front page of Nhan Dan newspaper published this event with the title "April 10-11, taking control of an important part of Xuan Loc town".

The content is as follows: "After attacking and rising up to capture the Xuan Loc military sub-region, controlling some areas in the town, on April 10-11, the army and people of Ba Ria - Long Khanh continued to block the enemy from coming to the rescue synchronously, at the same time attacked the enemy's airport in Xuan Loc town, the headquarters of the 18th Republic of Vietnam Army Division, blocked 3 security battalions in Bao Dinh and Binh Phu hamlets that were fleeing, the 322nd Armored Battalion and the 1st Paratrooper Brigade coming to reinforce Xuan Loc town were damaged and stopped outside the town.

As of April 10-11, the army and people of Ba Ria - Long Khanh controlled an important part of Xuan Loc town, destroyed 22 tanks and armored vehicles, shot down three helicopters, and killed many enemies. Hundreds of soldiers and officers of the Republic of Vietnam who followed the call of the revolution returned to the People.

Minh Khoi

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ban-tin-chien-thang-11-4-1975-quan-ta-tien-cong-dao-song-tu-tay-ar936981.html