On March 31, 1975, the Politburo decided to launch a general offensive and uprising to liberate Saigon as soon as possible, with the guiding ideology of "speed, boldness, surprise, and sure victory".
On March 31, 1975, the Politburo met and assessed: "The strategic general offensive has achieved an extremely great victory"... The strategic opportunity to launch a general attack and uprising in the enemy's lair is ripe" and decided to launch a general offensive and uprising to liberate Saigon as soon as possible, preferably in April, with the guiding ideology of "speed, boldness, surprise, and sure victory".
On the same day, in Hanoi, General Vo Nguyen Giap assigned comrade Nguyen The Bon - Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff of the 1st Corps - the task of organizing an urgent march to the Southeast region to coordinate with friendly units participating in the campaign to liberate Saigon-Gia Dinh. Within 16 days, the Corps had to organize the marching forces to assemble at Dong Xoai.
At 11:00 a.m. on March 31, 1975, the Politburo ordered comrade Van Tien Dung to go to the South early to meet comrade Pham Hung to immediately discuss the plan to capture Saigon, because "the situation was changing rapidly, we needed to seize the time to act urgently".
In Binh Dinh, at 5:15 a.m. on March 31, 1975, our comprehensive attack on the entire enemy defense line here took place at the same time. The 12th and 141st regiments of the 3rd Division attacked the enemy's group. The 95A Regiment attacked the group of the 41st Regiment of the Republic of Vietnam from Nui Mot to Phu Phong bridge. The 968th Division continued to attack the enemy at Tra Lam Son mountain. A spearhead of the 968th Division penetrated deep to capture and liberate Dap Da town, cutting off Highway 1.
Also on the morning of March 31, 1975, Quy Nhon City Party Committee coordinated with the 93rd Regiment of the provincial army to secretly invade the south of the town, suddenly capturing Zone 5, Mot Mountain, Doi Bridge, Song Ngang Bridge, controlling the rear base of the 22nd Division of the Republic of Vietnam, and the enemy airport. Our artillery placed on Mot Mountain supported the 598th Water Commando Unit to capture Mui Tan, Quy Nhon military port.
In coordination with the army and organizations, more than 11,000 people were mobilized to occupy the Provincial Governor's Palace, the prison, the Public Security Department... At 8:00 p.m. on March 31, 1975, the Quy Nhon commando team coordinated with Battalion 50, commandos D30 and D20 to capture and plant flags on the lobby of the puppet provincial government's administrative building and the Binh Dinh Sub-region Center. Quy Nhon town and Binh Dinh province were liberated.
In Phu Yen, on March 31, 1975, Battalion 9, Regiment 64, Division 320 attacked Hon Mot stronghold; Battalion 8 captured Road 1 from Phu Khe to Hoa Xuan wooden bridge.
In Northern Phu Yen, local forces captured Ngan Son bridge, cut National Highway 1 south of Tuy An, prevented the enemy from retreating to the town, creating conditions for the main force to attack Tuy Hoa town.
On the same day, Regiment 48 and Regiment 9 urgently deployed forces to attack the enemy in Tuy Hoa town.
In Dak Lak, on March 31, 1975, the battle at Phuong Hoang Pass continued fiercely. Upon receiving news that the enemy intended to retreat, the commander of the 10th Division ordered his forces to occupy an advantageous position on the eastern side of the pass to block the enemy. The enemy concentrated artillery, aircraft bombed fiercely, and enemy infantry rushed forward with all their might.
Throughout the night of March 31, 1975, C130 aircraft took turns dropping flares and shelling along Highway 21. Enemy artillery from Lam Son and Duc My bases heavily bombarded our positions to reassure the remaining troops.
In Ninh Hoa, in the afternoon of the same day, the Ninh Diem armed forces mobilized the masses to rise up and liberate the commune, then together with the masses liberated the entire Hon Khoi area. On the night of March 31, 1975, civil servants and officers in Nha Trang voluntarily evacuated, and soldiers at Dong De non-commissioned officer school also fled.
At Binh Long, at 5:00 a.m. on March 31, 1975, the 9th Division of the 4th Corps opened fire and attacked the Chon Thanh sub-region. By 10:00 a.m. the same day, the 7th Battalion and two of our tanks captured the security post. At 2:00 p.m., the enemy sent the 315th Battalion from Bau Bang to support Chon Thanh. The 9th Division received orders to switch to fighting the enemy to support them.
On the battlefield of Zone 6, on the morning of March 31, 1975, Regiment 812 with tank support defeated the enemy's counterattack in Di Linh Sub-region. Meanwhile, in Tuyen Duc, on the same night, the enemy abandoned Da Lat city and fled to Phan Rang, destroying Dai Ninh bridge on Highway 20 to slow down the advance of our main force to Da Lat.
In the Southeast, by the end of March 1975, we had opened a large liberated zone adjacent to Saigon, stretching from North Tay Ninh, through Loc Ninh, Dau Tieng, Chon Thanh; from Mo Vet to La Nga through Hoai Duc, Tanh Linh; from Highway 1 to the south of Highway 2, Ba Ria.
In Military Region 9, on March 31, 1975, Regiment 1 destroyed Ba Ke sub-region, liberated Hau Loc commune, controlled a 4km long section of Mang Thit river, and cut off the enemy's transportation route on this river.
At the same time, Regiment 3 of Military Region 9 destroyed 4 enemy pacification groups in Hoa Binh commune (Tam Binh), threatening Tam Binh sub-region to the west; Regiment 20 of Military Region destroyed a company of Security Battalion 407, causing heavy damage to Thoi Lai area.
After nearly a month of general offensive and uprising throughout the South, we destroyed and disintegrated two strong enemy military regions and corps, captured and destroyed many of their technical facilities, liberated the provinces of the Central Delta and the Central Highlands and many regions in the Mekong Delta and the Southeast, forming a siege of Saigon-Gia Dinh from many directions.
NDO
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