155–159, Nicholas Khoo. This was usually directed against a road bound column of vehicles. Since establishing itself as an independent nation in 1776, the United States has been involved in numerous domestic and international conflicts, including the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. This took advantage of some US Rules of Engagement limiting or delaying the use of heavy weapons in inhabited areas. Ambushes were also executed. Typical of these were the Tet attacks and the border battles that saw heavy losses against superior US air, ground and naval firepower. Planning for attacks was a careful, deliberate process, that could take many months. Time as always, still favored Communist forces. These locations could be a double-edged sword: they gave clear fields of fire against American infantry but the adjacent rice paddies sometimes created convenient enemy landing zones, and the water escape routes could become bottlenecks. The two strikes were timed close enough together so that the target column was engaged from both ends before it could deploy and face toward either danger. Trailing the formation was a rearguard detachment. Only a direct hit by an artillery shell or bomb could kill troops inside such holes. The command post was situated in a central location, often on terrain which afforded it a vantage point overlooking the ambush site. 18–211, Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., The Army and Vietnam [Baltimore, Md. provide concealment to prevent detection from the ground or air, enable ambush force to deploy, encircle and divide the enemy, allow for heavy weapons emplacements to provide sustained fire, enable the ambush force to set up observation posts for early detection of the enemy, permit the secret movement of troops to the ambush position and the dispersal of troops during withdrawal, This page was last edited on 5 September 2020, at 07:26.

Spider holes, for example, were small holes in the ground covered with greenery, in which a single person could hide and surprise the enemy when they got close. Anton Schlecker, founder of the Schlecker Company, which operated retail stores across Europe. Fragmenting—splitting up in small groups when under attack, especially when trying to break through an encirclement. A tiger trap was a large hole that was filled with wood or bamboo spikes, and then covered with leaves and branches to disguise the hole. Others simply claim the war was “unwinnable” from the outset, citing the corrupt, inept South Vietnam regime as “unworthy” of American support. The encounter between the 274th VC Main Force Regiment and the US 11th Armored Cavalry shown in the diagram above illustrates several facets of the contending forces. In instances where smaller units didn't have enough troops to stage a complete five-element ambush they would set up one of the preferred ambush types and avoided close assaulting the enemy. Proposals for an operation were first sent up the chain of command. The Army and Vietnam, pp135–274. The NVA/VC favored seven types of ambushes; Mine, Bloody Nose, Flank, L-shaped, Maneuver, V-shaped, and Z-shaped. The cells they worked in were very small so that if captured, they could not be tortured for information about others. to do, versus what was the most effective way to stamp out the Viet Cong. Their ultimate goal was to overthrow the South Vietnamese government and reunify North and South Vietnam as a single communist state. [19], Defensive positions had to be prepared every time VC/NVA troops moved to a new destination, with an eye to the suitability of terrain, camouflage and withdrawal routes. In other categories they could not match the wide range of advanced US technology. Search and Destroy Tactics vs. Agent Orange worked by killing plants, but it’s intensity also caused the deaths of millions of civilians, and caused birth defects in Vietnamese children for decades after the war had ended. Study.com has thousands of articles about every Fall, Street without Joy, (Publisher: Stackpole Books: 1954, rev 1994), pp. [12] As noted above, Main Force VC and NVA typically spent only a small number of days a year fighting. Suitable areas (usually on high ground) were selected and heavily bombarded with artillery and airstrikes, then US engineers and security troops landed to commence construction of fortifications, bunkers, artillery emplacements and helicopter landing pads. The Vietcong or Vietnamese communists, were part of a political and military organization that was established in 1960 and consisted of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF).