"Keep fighting America and you will find a way to defeat America"

60 years ago, in 1965, after realizing that the “Special War” strategy had failed in South Vietnam, the US authorities switched to the “Local War” strategy, sending hundreds of thousands of troops into South Vietnam. Immediately after massively landing in the South of our country, the US troops were dealt painful blows and suffered heavy losses.

The plots of the US empire when sending troops to the South

The US “Special War” strategy in South Vietnam gradually came to an end. In a difficult situation, the US Department of Defense proposed three options: Withdraw from the war. That would be a humiliating defeat for the US; continue the war at its current level. This would weaken the US; quickly expand and intensify the war in South and North Vietnam to win but the cost would be huge.

President Johnson and the US military decided on the third option: Send ground troops into South Vietnam to carry out the "Local War" strategy to gain a decisive victory. On July 17, 1965, President Johnson approved the proposal to increase the number of troops, accepting the "search and destroy" plan of General Westmoreland, Commander of the US Military Command in South Vietnam (MACV). After this decision, the number of US troops sent to South Vietnam increased from 18,000 in early 1965 to nearly 81,500 in July 1965, and by the end of 1965, more than 184,300.

US expeditionary force entered South Vietnam in 1965. Photo archive

Since mid-1965, the US imperialists have switched to implementing the “Local War” strategy, opening the war ladder and the highest military effort of the US authorities to continue carrying out the new colonial war of aggression in Vietnam. The fact that a leading imperialist with economic potential, abundant weapons, and modern, advanced military technology massively sent expeditionary troops to fight in South Vietnam and then used the air force and navy to attack the North of our country has made some of our cadres and soldiers worried and anxious because we do not have much experience fighting the US.

What are America's plans when it sends troops en masse into the South? How will we deal with the American and Saigon puppet troops? What are our strategic requirements? Do we dare to fight the Americans? Can we defeat the Americans and how?... are issues that our strategists and battlefield commanders need to see clearly, look deeply, and analyze carefully...

The Party directed the determination to defeat the American invaders.

Faced with the escalating situation of the US imperialists, comrade Le Duan, First Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party, affirmed: "We must be ready to respond in order to defeat the enemy if they expand to the North with the entire army" and "it is essential to gain and firmly grasp the initiative on the battlefield, always attack strongly, and at the same time defend well".

To proactively cope with the increasingly fierce war situation and maintain the offensive strategy, the Politburo, President Ho Chi Minh and the Central Military Commission directed the rapid development of both the quantity and quality of the people's armed forces. In particular, building and developing the main force according to the requirement: "Building the main force into a strong, compact, and fast punch" and deploying it firmly in key strategic areas. The Party directed our army and people to proactively find ways to fight the US, maintain the initiative on the battlefield by organizing preemptive attacks on the US expeditionary force, implementing the motto: If we fight the US, we will find a way to defeat the US.

Slogan of determination to defeat the US in the first battle of Nui Thanh (Quang Nam), 1965. Photo archive

In early March 1965, the first American battalions had just landed in Da Nang and Chu Lai, and were still not firmly established when they were attacked by militia and guerrillas right at their bases. Local militia and guerrillas combined with political forces relied firmly on villages to fight, besieging and attacking American bases with all three prongs: military, political and military. During this time, we proactively sent local forces to the front to "find Americans and destroy them".

On May 10, 1965, the Military Region 5 Command instructed the Quang Nam Provincial Military Command: Destroy an American unit to lower their prestige from the beginning, and gain experience for the entire Region. The target is chosen by the province. The fighting unit is chosen by the province, fighting according to the level and equipment capabilities of the province.

On the night of May 25 and early morning of May 26, 1965, Quang Nam Provincial Military Command organized a local company to attack Company 2 of Battalion 2, Brigade 9, Division 3 of the US Marines at Nui Thanh peak. With a dangerous and unexpected attack, we quickly won a great victory, destroying and injuring 140 enemies.

The battle of Nui Thanh was not large in scale, but it was the first battle in which our revolutionary armed forces destroyed the American expeditionary force on the southern battlefield. This first victory affirmed the determination of the Southern army and people to fight the Americans; strongly encouraged the spirit of fighting the Americans, and contributed to building the confidence of our army and people in defeating the Americans.

While the militia, guerrillas and local troops in the South had fought and initially defeated the American expeditionary force, the main force had little experience in fighting the Americans. Many questions were raised that needed to be answered: How should the main force fight the Americans? Should they concentrate or disperse to fight small-scale battles like the local forces? Could the main force defeat the Americans and launch a campaign?... On August 18, 1965, in Van Tuong (Quang Ngai), a main force regiment of the Liberation Army of Zone V coordinated with local troops, militia and guerrillas, relying on the battle formation of the Chu Lai guerrilla belt and Binh Son district to fight back the first operation of 6,000 American soldiers and 3,000 puppet soldiers.

Our troops applied the motto of "sticking to the US's belt and fighting", separating the tanks and marines, causing the enemy's formation to be in disarray, forcing them to huddle together and defend. The enemy switched from being proactive to being passive in response. After two days, we eliminated 900 of them from the battle. The victory at Van Tuong further strengthened the determination of "if we keep fighting the US, we will find a way to defeat the US" and our armed forces initially assessed the actual strength, discovering the weaknesses of the US army in both spirit and fighting style.

The victories at Nui Thanh and Van Tuong showed that the ability to defeat the US expeditionary force became a reality on the battlefield, answered the question of fighting and defeating the US in the "Local War" strategy and the ability of the main force to fight the US; and encouraged the movement to destroy the US on the southern battlefield.

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MINH QUARTZ - NGUYEN VAN HAI

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/nghe-thuat-quan-su-vn/cu-danh-my-se-tim-ra-cach-danh-thang-my-831134