Liberate Nam Yet Island, Ba Ria town and the entire Phuoc Tuy province

On April 27, 1975, we liberated Nam Yet Island, Ba Ria town and the entire Phuoc Tuy province. The Ho Chi Minh campaign developed and achieved many victories.

Illustrative photo: Tank and infantry forces of Division 320 captured Dong Du base (Cu Chi) on the morning of April 29, 1975, opening the steel door of Northwest Saigon for our troops to penetrate deep to capture Tan Son Nhat airport and the General Staff of the puppet government in Saigon . (Photo: Le Trung Hung/VNA)

To the east of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, continuously on April 27 and 28, 1975, the 304th Division defeated many enemy counterattacks and organized many attacks on the Armored School and Nuoc Trong base but could not finish them off.

At 10:00 a.m. on April 27, 1975, the 46th Regiment captured Thai Lac, Phuoc Thieng, Phu Loi, and surrounded Long Tan. In the Long Thanh area, the 101st Regiment organized an attack on the district capital. The enemy increased its forces to counterattack and mobilized artillery to support the 468th Marine Brigade, along with security and militia to defend the Long Thanh district. Our soldiers both hunted down the enemy and fought back against enemy aircraft.

At 4:30 p.m., the 325th Division completely controlled the Long Thanh area, breaking an important link in the enemy's southeastern Saigon defense line. On the night of April 27, 1975, the 325th Division attacked Nhon Trach but still could not completely destroy this base to deploy artillery as planned.

In the direction of the 3rd Division of Military Region 5, on the morning of April 27, 1975, our tanks led the 7th Battalion of the 141st Regiment to attack and destroy the resistance nests inside Ba Ria town, successively occupying the logistics area, security area, police area, security union command post... Battalion 4 occupied Binh Gia, Ngai Giao, developed down to Binh Ba, then took advantage of the victory to capture Nui Dat.

In Xuyen Moc, Long Le, and Long Dien districts, local armed forces simultaneously attacked, creating a situation of attacking from the inside and from the outside, forcing the enemy to flee. Battalion 5 attacked the enemy's artillery position at Da hill, and together with Battalion 8, surrounded and attacked the Van Kiep training center.

By 12 o'clock, Regiment 141 had crushed the enemy's resistance nests, completely liberating Ba Ria town. Next, Division 3 moved down to Vung Tau, but the enemy had destroyed Co May bridge and organized blockades, so it could not move forward. The division changed the flanking direction of Regiment 12 to the main direction and reinforced Regiment 2 in this direction to continue attacking the enemy. Local units coordinated with the main force to attack the enemy in Long Dien and Dat Do.

By 5:00 p.m. on April 27, 1975, we completely controlled the area from Long Hai to Ba Ria.

Southeast, at 4:07 a.m. on April 27, 1975, the 341st Infantry Division, reinforced by 1 tank battalion, 1 mixed anti-aircraft artillery battalion and regimental and battalion-level tactical firepower, opened fire to attack the weak area of ​​Trang Bom - a vital link in the enemy's front line of defense. Many fierce battles lasted for hours between our tanks and armored vehicles and those of the enemy.

At 10:00 a.m. on April 27, 1975, the 341st Division destroyed the enemy's defense area, taking control of Trang Bom sub-region occupied by the 18th Infantry Division and the 5th Armored Regiment of the Republic of Vietnam.

The 6th Division was reinforced by the 209th Regiment (7th Division), 1 tank battalion, 2 anti-aircraft artillery battalions, advancing south of Route 1, destroying the enemy's defensive areas at Ong Hoang slope and disintegrating the 5th Armored Regiment of the Republic of Vietnam at Yen The intersection, expanding to Ho Nai, Bien Hoa. The enemy retreated to a cluster in Long Lac-Ho Nai, the Division was unable to break through.

On the night of April 27-28, 1975, the 113th Special Forces Regiment divided into three groups to penetrate deep into the Ghenh Bridge, Hoa An Bridge, and Hoc Ba Thuc Armored Base. Ghenh Bridge was in an extremely important position, so the enemy concentrated their forces to counterattack fiercely to retake it. The battles to hold Ghenh Bridge by the 113th Regiment took place extremely fiercely throughout April 28 and 29, 1975.

To the north, at 4:30 p.m., the 312th Division of the 1st Corps opened fire to attack the strongholds of Binh Co and Binh My. At 4:45 p.m., our artillery fired heavily at the Binh Co-Binh My base. With artillery support, the 2nd Battalion of Phu Loi quickly penetrated deep into the enemy base. Company 9 of Battalion 3 attacked the stronghold directly. The enemy fought back fiercely. By 6:00 p.m. on April 27, 1975, we had destroyed and disintegrated all enemy troops, completely controlled these two bases, opened up Highway 16, creating conditions for the Division to deploy north of Ut Tho Bridge (on Highway 15) to practice encirclement and set up a campaign position according to plan.

From April 25 to 27, 1975, Battalion 5, Regiment 27, Division 320B moved deep towards Lai Thieu.

Northwest of the 3rd Corps, at noon on April 27, 1975, Saigon-Gia Dinh commandos, including female commando Nguyen Thi Trung Kien (real name Cao Thi Nhip), were present at the 10th Division Command Headquarters, ready to lead the troops into the inner city. The army and people of Cu Chi enthusiastically helped the troops build the battlefield and dig trenches for the artillery. The mothers and sisters here actively helped the troops camouflage the battlefield and provide food and water.

On the night of April 27, 1975, the 316th Division deployed all its forces to operate around enemy positions, forming a siege, confining and ready to destroy the 25th Division of the Republic of Vietnam along the road from Tra Vo to Trang Bang. The 148th Regiment was ordered to continue attacking Bau Nau, Tra Vo. The 174th Regiment attacked Trung Hung, Phuoc My. The 149th Regiment attacked Trang Bang town.

West and southwest, at 3:00 a.m. on April 27, 1975, Division 5 attacked and cut Highway 4 from Ben Luc to Tan An; Division 8 cut Highway 4, Trung Luong-Tan Hiep-Long Dinh section. Special Forces Battalion 263, Engineer Battalion 341 of Military Region 8, together with local troops, cut the Cai Lay-An Huu section, setting up obstacles to prevent enemy vehicles from the West from supporting Saigon, attracting and blocking the 22nd, 7th, and 9th Divisions of the Republic of Vietnam from this direction, creating favorable conditions for other directions.

On the morning of April 27, 1975, the 3rd Division attacked and captured the bridgehead in the An Ninh-Loc Giang area, then crossed the Vam Co Dong River to approach the enemy to ensure that the main assault force, the 9th Division, along with technical weapons, could cross the river to the assembly point. The 24th and 88th Regiments stuck close to the southern inner city of Saigon.

On the night of April 27, 1975, Regiment 1 of Division 9 arrived at Xang Canal; Regiment 2 and the Division Command Headquarters arrived at An Ninh, Tra Cao; Regiment 3 arrived at Dinh Thanh; Artillery Regiment 42 and tanks, anti-aircraft artillery gathered at Soc Noc. On the way, the units destroyed and forced the withdrawal of many enemy posts, supported the people and local armed forces to rise up and destroy the puppet government's ruling apparatus, liberating the communes and hamlets.

Coordinating with the main force, for several nights in a row, the people of Cai Be and Cai Lay districts flooded onto Highway 4 to set up barricades to prevent enemy vehicles from the West from entering Saigon. Highway 4 was cut off, and the army and people of the Mekong Delta did an excellent job of dividing and holding back the enemy in the southern region of the campaign; at the same time, they coordinated forces with the main force troops to attack Saigon along Highway 4.

On the enemy side, at 10:30 p.m. on April 27, 1975, Duong Van Minh, who was considered to be able to negotiate with the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, was elected President. On April 27, 1975, the enemy used 114 aircraft of various types to fiercely bombard the advancing formation of the 2nd Corps. The Corps' air defense force fought back fiercely, shooting down 7 aircraft.

Receiving orders from the Frontline Naval Command to urgently liberate the islands of Nam Yet, Sinh Ton, and Truong Sa, comrade Mai Nang - Commander of Group C75, on ship 673 in Song Tu Tay, immediately deployed forces to carry out the mission. At 1:30 a.m. on April 27, 1975, ship 673 left Song Tu Tay island and headed for Nam Yet island. At 10:30 a.m. on the same day, ship 673 approached the island. Our forces quickly landed and completely liberated the island.

NDO

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/chinh-tri/ngay-27-4-1975-giai-phong-dao-nam-yet-thi-xa-ba-ria-va-toan-tinh-phuoc-tuy-158388.html