Strategies and Tactics used in the Vietnam War
North Vietnam and the NLF
· The North Vietnamese strategy was to wage a war of attrition – they realised that they couldn’t defeat the US, considering it was one of the world superpowers at the time.
o They would continue to fight the United States, until it grew tired of getting itself involved in Indochina, where it didn’t need to be initially.
o They planned to make the war as long, bloody and expensive for the Americans, in order to turn American public opinion of the war against American involvement in Vietnam
o Strategy had been successful against the French
· General Giap developed a three-phase view of warfare:
o Phase One: Guerrilla bands would be formed and trained, and would establish bases. They would also begin infiltration, creating links with the South Vietnamese peasants. In fact, throughout the 1960s, the majority of the fighting was by South Vietnamese communists, instigated by the North
o Phase Two: Ambush and assassination would be used to challenge the ARVN. The North Vietnamese would choose where and when to fight
o Phase Three: Conventional warfare of the North Vietnamese Army
· Giap’s war of attrition was conducted with much by flexibility and concealment. Even though the American and the ARVN seemed to control the major cities in the day, the night belonged to the VC and the NVA.
o They moved troops and supplies, laid mines, set booby traps, arranging ambushes.
o NVA and VC were largely on the defensive, making up for their lack of firepower with ingenuity
· Ambushes and snipers was often used:
o Guerrilla tactics of ‘hit and run’; they always ensured they had an escape route
o Ambushes were used in conjunction with mines and booby traps
o Once a fire fight had begun between the VC and the Americans they had to inflict a few casualties and withdraw, overwhelm their enemy immediately or get extremely close to the enemy – otherwise the Americans would call in artillery support or an air strike.
o Snipers were used effectively against patrols, using the element of surprise
· A ‘shoot and scoot’ strategy was used by the Vietnamese:
o Attacking the permanent bases of the Americans or ARVN with mortars or artillery, normally at night before moving off before return fire could be coordinated
o An hour later, another attack could be made from a different location
o Used to draw out patrols in the hopes of luring them into an ambush
· The VC and NVA used booby traps extremely extensively in the Vietnam War:
o Had a psychological impact on the American troops, as they never felt safe. 11 percent of all US deaths and 17 percent of wounds were caused by booby traps and mines from 1965-1970
o Booby-traps were both explosive and non-explosive
o Punji sticks were fire-hardened bamboo stakes smeared with excrement or some form of poison
o Pits and projectiles; crossbows, spiked mud balls with trip-wire triggers
Strategy of the USA and the ARVN
· America’s strategy throughout the Vietnam War was to also a strategy of attrition; however they simply intended to use their vast amount of resources and overwhelming firepower, to make the war too costly for North Vietnam and the NLF to continue fighting.
· The American’s measured their successes in the number of bombing raids they carried out, the number of bombs dropped and the ‘body counts’ of VC dead – General Westmoreland believed that there was a ‘crossover’ point which represented the rate at which the VC and North Vietnamese could be killed, faster than they were being ‘replenished’
· The US had to use a large amount of technology to complement the increase of troop’s number of 100,000 to 500,000 from 1965 to 1968, in order to reduce the US’ own personnel losses:
o Airpower in the form of B52 bombers, helicopters which were used for air support and bombing with high-explosive, anti-personnel and napalm
o Artillery supporting infantry operations
o Chemical defoliants to deny cover to the jungle
· The US attempted to maintain the ‘Hearts and Minds’ program, despite the obvious destruction they were causing upon the countryside, which often resulted in a high number of innocent civilian deaths. They provided aid through this program and attempted to gain the support of the South Vietnamese people.
· The US and the ARVN realised that the VC and the NVA would not commit to a major battle, so they attempted to adopt tactics that would kill as many of the enemy as possible with minimum risk to their forces.
o Search and destroy missions became a primary US and ARVN tactic. Armoured personnel carriers were used to move through areas in search of the enemy, tanks or forces were flown by helicopter
o They aimed to locate, engage and destroy as many of the enemy as possible, either in a ‘fire fight’ or calling in an airstrike or artillery.
· The helicopter was singularly one of the most important tactical weapons used by the Americans in Vietnam:
o CH 47 Chinooks for troops transport, Tarhe Sky Cranes for moving heavy equipment, Hughes OH-6s for reconnaissance, Sikorsky HH-3Es for recovery of downed air crews and OH-58A for patrol or observation
o The most common and versatile helicopter was the Bell UH01D and 1E known as the ‘Huey’ – with modifications it transported troops, evacuated wounded and provided air support
o The helicopter meant that US forces and ARVN never spent long in the countryside, meaning that it would always remain under VC control
· Fire support bases were established for permanent presence in an area. Each base was a self-contained artillery base, which was covered by artillery from the other FSBs. Troops from the FSBs would often go into the surrounding countryside for their search and destroy missions. The disadvantages of the FSBs, were that they were stationary and were prone to the ‘scoot and shoot’ raids of the VC.
· Rolling Thunder bombing campaign beginning in March 1965 continuing until October 1968