Viet+Cong+War+Tactics

=**__Viet Cong War Tactics__**=

After French rule, most communists moved to the north, except communist leaders ordered a few thousand soldiers to stay undercover in the south. These soldiers formed the core of the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong became the military branch of the National Liberation Front. North Vietnam sent weapons and support regularly to the Viet Cong. //(Right)// [|//http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/31/36-3010a.gif//] //Napalm bombs explode on Viet Cong structures south of Saigon in the Republic of Vietnam. , 1965//

North Vietnam and the Viet Cong used a Maoist approach to war. It included three phases for victory. First they began recruiting members, assassinating government officers, using propaganda, and taxing rural areas. Next, they would increase attacks on the government through various ways. Finally, They would use conventional warfare to capture cities and overrun the government.

To begin the first stage, all low-level Viet Cong members were required to dig three feet of tunnels everyday. These tunnels stretched for miles underground and included "cities" which held sleeping areas and kitchens so Viet Cong members could live underground for weeks if needed.

The Viet Cong used these tunnel systems to ambush US soldiers. Without the man-power or firepower to compete for extended periods of time with the United States in conventional warfare, the Viet Cong fought using guerrilla tactics and booby-traps to keep the American soldiers off guard. The booby-traps consisted mainly of camouflaged pits with sharp spears at the bottom. If an unsuspecting soldier ran into one, a gruesome impaling followed. While United State soldiers moved through the jungles of South Vietnam trying to avoid booby-traps, Viet Cong soldiers would fire at the US soldiers from one tunnel entrance. Disappearing instantly, those Viet Cong members would hide and other Viet Cong members would attack the US soldiers from behind. The US soldiers would not be able to locate the seemingly non-existent enemy and fight back. //(Right) Operation "Oregon," a search and destroy mission conducted by an infantry platoon of Troop B, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), three kilometers west of Duc Pho, Quang Ngai Province. An infantryman is lowered into a tunnel by members of the reconnaissance platoon., 04/24/1967//

The United States hunted out entrances to the intricate tunnel systems and sent brave tunnel "rats" to fight in the tunnels. At the entrance, the tunnels were often only large enough to fit one man crawling on his stomach. When the "rats" found Viet Cong soldiers in the tunnels, there was a shoot off until one party got killed because it was impossible to retreat.

The Viet Cong finally began the second and third stages of their war approach with the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive was the first major offensive by the Viet Cong and North Vietnam. North Vietnam could not continue to defend itself against the United States attacks for long and needed to attempt to win the war quickly. Although the offensive ended in a defeat for the Viet Cong, it boosted their morale and showed many people that the United States was not undefeatable. //(Right) A small hole in the side of an earthen mound leads to the Vietnam War tunnel network at Cu Chi. The mound is surrounded by fallen leaves.// [|//http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/collections/freeman/vietnam/600/vietnam_172.jpg//] //Margery H. Freeman, photographer. Date: May 1997 Location: Cu Chi, Vietnam//

In the end it could be argued that the United States won the war in terms of battles, but the Viet Cong and North Vietnam won the war in their own right with propaganda and influence. The Viet Cong had gained large numbers of followers, many through propaganda, in the south by the time that the United States withdrew from Vietnam. Propaganda proved to be one of the most effective tactics used by the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong may not have beaten the United States and won the war outright, except it did play a vital role in helping North Vietnam.

//(Right) Steps and an arched walkway are seen inside a Vietnam War tunnel at Cu Chi. The surfaces appear to be carved of packed earth.// [|//http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/collections/freeman/vietnam/600/vietnam_170.jpg//] //Margery H. Freeman, photographer. Date: May 1997. Location: Cu Chi, Vietnam//

__Bibliography:__ Philip Caputo __10,000 Days of Thunder A History of the Vietnam War__ New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005

"Battlefield: Vietnam Guerrilla Tactics" May 17, 2007 [|www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerilla/index.html]

"Vietnam War" May 23, 2007 http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/7624/vietnam.htm

"Viet Cong" May 21, 2007 http://www.answers.com/topic/viet-cong