Faced with the heavy defeat of the Saigon army and government, the frontline Naval Command in Da Nang and the Military Region 5 Command decided to quickly mobilize forces to immediately capture the remaining islands of the Truong Sa archipelago.
At 0:30 on April 25, 1975, ship 641 carrying Squad 2 (Team 1, Special Forces Group 126) commanded by Lieutenant Do Viet Cuong began landing on Son Ca Island in the Truong Sa archipelago. After secretly reconnaissance, the battle formation was deployed.
At 2:30 a.m. the same day, our troops opened fire simultaneously. The enemy troops stationed on the island were completely surprised, their formation was in disarray, they fought back weakly and quickly surrendered.
After half an hour of fierce fighting, at 3 o'clock Son Ca Island was completely liberated. Our army destroyed and captured all enemy forces on the island; seized two radios, four telephones, two motorboats, one engine, 40 barrels of gasoline and all weapons and ammunition.
Naval Special Forces Group 126 attacked and liberated Son Ca Island, Truong Sa archipelago, April 25, 1975. (Photo: VNA)
On April 25, 1975, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign Command moved to Ben Cat, directly commanding the General Offensive to liberate Saigon - Gia Dinh.
The Ho Chi Minh Campaign Command decided to use captured enemy aircraft, piloted by our pilots, to attack Tan Son Nhat airport, further promoting enemy confusion, not allowing the ringleaders to easily escape, not allowing the aircraft still at Tan Son Nhat airport to escape.
At this time, in the outskirts of Saigon, in addition to the main and local units, there were 6 special forces regiments, 4 battalions and 11 special forces teams that secretly deployed forces, approached targets in the inner city, and prepared to capture and hold major bridges leading into and out of the city.
The Saigon - Gia Dinh Party Committee mobilized 1,700 cadres into the inner city districts and suburban communes, inciting the masses to rise up, coordinating with the main force's attacks. In 80 suburban communes and 14 urbanized communes, we had bases. Of the 337 hamlets, we had bases in 251 hamlets. In the rural areas of Saigon, we had 80 Party cells with 601 party members, 40 Youth Union cells with 284 youth union members.
Two regiments and five battalions of the city’s armed forces and district army companies were also ready to support the uprising masses. Many volunteer propaganda teams were established. Hundreds of vehicles equipped with broadcasting equipment set out on duty. In many places, the masses printed leaflets, sewed flags, wrote banners, etc., eagerly preparing to welcome the liberation army.
On April 25, 1975, all our preparations were basically completed, the forces participating in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign reached their deployment positions and were ready to wait for the order to open fire.
During the 11 days of preparation for the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the strategic logistics of the Truong Son Command exploited and transported 24,000 tons of weapons, 25,000 tons of food, 1,000 tons of medicine, 1,000 tons of gasoline; organized 5 repair stations, 10 artillery and tank repair stations to serve the campaign.
In particular, in the days leading up to the campaign, the logistics of the Region brought 10,000 people from the rear to organize into 8 mobile battalions and mobilized nearly 4,000 transport vehicles of all kinds, 656 motorboats, canoes, 1,736 bicycles, 63,342 frontline laborers, established 15 field hospitals, 17 treatment teams, with over 10,000 beds to serve the troops.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ban-tin-chien-thang-25-4-1975-giai-phong-dao-son-ca-thuoc-quan-dao-truong-sa-ar939741.html
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