Osprey - Campaign 362 - Vietnam 1972 Quang Tri.pdf

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VIETNAM 1972:
QUANG TRI
The Easter Offensive Strikes the South
CHARLES D. MELSON
ILLUSTRATED BY RAMIRO BUJEIRO
CAMPAIGN 362
VIETNAM 1972:
QUANG TRI
The Easter Offensive Strikes the South
CHARLES D. MELSON
ILLUSTRATED BY RAMIRO BUJEIRO
Series editor Nikolai Bogdanovic
Contents
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN
Development of the VNMC, 1954–75
n
Development of the US Marine Advisory Unit, 1955–73
5
CHRONOLOGY
OPPOSING FORCES AND COMMANDERS
North Vietnam
n
South Vietnam
n
VNMC
21
23
OPPOSING PLANS
The prelude to defeat
33
THE CAMPAIGN
The Spring Offensive
n
Easter Sunday at Dong Ha
n
Confusion at Quang Tri City
n
Collapse
The defense of Hue City
n
Holding the My Chanh Line
n
The Marines attack
n
In the balance
Quang Tri City redeemed
n
The final assault on Quang Tri Citadel
n
Returning north
n
The eleventh hour
37
AFTERMATH
The final act
n
Victory from defeat, 1972
n
Victory lost, 1973–75
n
The battlefield today
86
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sources
n
Bibliography and further reading
92
ACRONYMS
INDEX
94
95
North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam, 1972
Base areas
Main attacks
Secondary attacks
N
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
0
0
50km
50 miles
Tchepone
Dong Ha
Quang Tri
Hue
Da Nang
Hoi An
Trail
hi
Minh
Ho
C
Infiltration
routes
South China Sea
LAOS
THAILAND
Attacu
I CORPS
Chavane
Chu Lai
Quang Ngai
Dak To
Kontum
Siem Pang
Pleiku
Infiltration
routes
Qui Nhon
kong
River
Me
Tonle
Sap
II CORPS
CAMBODIA
Tuy Hoa
Kratie
Infiltration
routes
Nha Trang
Phum Krek
Phnom Penh
Svay
Rieng
S
ihanouk
Tr
a
il
Loc Ninh
An Loc
Tay Ninh
Da Lat
III CORPS
Saigon
Bien Hoa
Phan Tiet
Infiltration
routes
Tan Chau
Cao Lanh
My Tho
Vung Tao
Rach Gia
Can Tho
Gulf of
Thailand
IV CORPS
South China Sea
Quan Long
(Ca Mau)
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN
The US Marine Corps established and assisted several analogous services in
the Far East during the Cold War (1945–91). With the conflict in Vietnam,
US Marine “advisors” were present from 1954 through 1975. While engaged
in a counter-insurgency war, a conventional division-size force was built that
had a trial by fire during the 1972 Easter Offensive. After a decade of low-
intensity conflict, the Marines had to oppose a cross-border combined-arms
invasion. Critical to this was the loss and subsequent recovery of Quang
Tri City. How did these Marines respond, and was their approach justified
in the end? This account of the Vietnamese Marine Corps (VNMC) and its
1972 fight for the capital of Quang Tri Province will tell this tale. It is based
on primary sources and published narratives. This is not a comprehensive
review of the war, the VNMC, or the USMC advisory effort, which can be
found in the official histories of the Vietnam War produced by the US Marine
Corps, Army, Air Force, and Navy.
The period after World War II saw a number of associated Marine Corps
established in the Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the Republic
of Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. The early Cold War
witnessed this proliferation of amphibious forces in Asia, in part because of
the reputation the US Marines had earned in the cross-Pacific drive against
Japan and in other post-war confrontations. In addition, other Marines from
the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain were present at various times.
These formed, with the help of foreign military aid, to fight the various
conflicts to contain communist expansion in the region. This account has a
particular focus on one of these, the Vietnamese Marine Corps. By way of
introduction, let us start at the beginning.
In 1954, a scattering of riverine commandos called the “Marine Infantry”
of the Republic of Vietnam Navy became known as the Vietnamese Marine
Corps (VNMC, or
TQLC
for
Thuy Quan Luc Chien).
The Marine Corps
became part of the armed forces general reserve and was separated from
the Vietnamese Navy (VNN) in 1965; from then, it answered only to the
Joint General Staff of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF).
It expanded from a solitary battalion to nine infantry battalions and three
artillery battalions in a multi-brigade structure along with service and
support units. Also present was a small advisory team of US Marines as
part of the Cold War proliferation of Corps of Marines in the area of the
US Pacific Command. Americans brought with them a background based
on established naval amphibious forces, division-level employment, and a
legislated structure. Because of this, a vision of a Vietnamese Marine Division
OPPOSITE
The NVA launched the cross-
border attack from neighboring
sanctuaries in North Vietnam,
Laos, and Cambodia using
combined arms teams on a
communist-bloc model. Naval
and air forces remained in
defense of North Vietnam
proper. Surprise, along with
local superiority in numbers
and firepower, ensured
initial success.
5

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