Guerrilla+Warfare+(JHM)

Guerrilla Warfare

One of the few tactics of warfare the Vietcong used against the United States in the Vietnam War was Guerrilla Warfare. Guerrilla warfare was a major player in the war because the U.S failed to recognize that the NLF (National Liberation Front) and Vietcong represented most of South Vietnam. Using this to their advantage they weakened South Vietnam continuously. Guerilla Warfare is defined to be between terrorism and modernized tactics and assault. Guerrilla Warfare is mostly started in rural areas like Vietnam. Guerrilla has three minor phases to start a Guerrilla army or unit. The first phase is to gain the support of the people or it will not function because the people give them internal and external support boosting their morale. Plus the Guerrillas, most of the time, are the people and civilians retaliating. The Vietcong got the support of the people when Bao stopped a lot of the farming in Vietnam. The farmers of Vietnam are known as sacred because they make the food. Also when the U.S went through a village killing innocent people that believed in communism it maddened the people making more turn into communist. This then gives the Guerrillas what they want thus giving the Guerrillas more support and strength. This also maddened some the people of South Vietnam causing them to support the Guerrillas in the South making the country corrupt with violence thereby making Vietcong more powerful as well. Once the Guerrillas gained the support of the people they then formed small unconventional guerrilla units. Guerrilla warfare is based on the will of their people and makes it so the soldiers (also civilians with minor training) fight harder and better. Phase two is organizing the soldiers and to teach them combat. The south communist Gorillas did this as they gained facilities and processed into more conventional tactics. The soldiers are citizens so the enemy can’t pick them out of the crowd thus giving the Guerrillas the element of surprise. They started by taking facilities by using the average tools of Vietnam as weapons. They usually attack by night at first so they can get close enough to attack with their UN evolutionalized weapons for example pitchforks, swords, act. Usually these facilities are small and contain weapons that can advance the Guerrillas units’ weaponry. They can also pick the spots to attack based off the terrain so they can use it to their advantage. They do this because they don’t have the resources to fully demolish the enemy so they harass them by attacking weak spots (small facilities) using guerrilla tactics until their enemy is weak, annoyed and disheartened. Phase three is once they have taken enough facilities and have enough advanced weapons to support their Guerrilla army, then they switch to conventional warfare (tanks and the traditional assault). Then they gather the main army and attack the other army straight forward. If the enemy gains power again and pushes the Guerrillas back they go back to unconventional warfare and attacking at night. Then if the bulk of their Guerrilla army is wounded they just go to the communist citizens for medical age and intelligence. They can also wait a while to attack again or attack a smaller facility thus going back to the Guerrilla tactics. For the Vietcong they had neighboring countries Cambodia and Laos as a safe haven to rest or hide and later on a communist ally so they could never truly be defeated or fully demolished. This was the major ideas and actions that the Vietcong in South Vietnam did. Then they had Russia and China aiding them with all there weapons so the U.S couldn’t stop the Guerrillas from getting weapons. America came to Vietnam not suspecting these tactics and because of it were annoyed, harassed, pushed around, and beaten by the Communists.

Online cited web pages used for refrences: ==[|On **Guerrilla Warfare**]([|http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1937/guerrilla-warfare/)]==

==[|Understanding **Guerrilla Warfare**]([|http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1990/GJ.htm)]==

==[|****Guerilla Warfare****] ([|http://homepage.mac.com/stray/ib/history/guerilla-terrorism.html)]==