The Battle for Quang Tri occurred in and around
Quảng Trị City (
Quảng Trị Province), the northernmost provincial capital of
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
during the
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
when the
Vietcong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
(VC) and
People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...
(PAVN) attacked
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
(ARVN) and American forces across major cities and towns in South Vietnam in an attempt to force the Saigon government to collapse. This included several attacks across northern
I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to:
France
* 1st Army Corps (France)
* I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...
, most importantly at
Huế
Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
,
Da Nang
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
and Quảng Trị City. After being put on the defensive in the city of Quảng Trị, the Allied forces regrouped and forced the PAVN/VC out of the town after a day of fighting.
Background
![29](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/29._-_Quang_Tri_Citadel_and_City_Fall_1967.jpg)
In 1968, Quảng Trị City was a small market town and the capital of Quảng Trị Province, the northernmost province of South Vietnam, bordering North Vietnam to the north, and Laos to the west. Like the old imperial capital at Huế, Quảng Trị City is located on
Route 1. It is about inland from the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
along the eastern bank of the
Thach Han River
Thatching is crafting a roof with dry vegetation.
Thatch or Thach may also refer to:
* Thach (surname)
* Thach, Alabama, also known as "Thatch"
* Thach Weave, aerial combat tactic developed by naval aviator John S. Thach
* ''Thatch'' (comic ...
, south of the
Demilitarized Zone
A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
.
Because Quảng Trị City was an important symbol of South Vietnamese government authority and was arguably the most vulnerable provincial capital in South Vietnam, it was a prime target of the North Vietnamese during the 1968
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
. The PAVN had attacked and briefly overrun and occupied the city ten months earlier, on 6 April 1967, in a large scale coordinated attack by a reinforced PAVN regiment, freeing 200 Communist prisoners from a city prison.
The permanent loss of the city to the Communists would be a political embarrassment and weaken the government's legitimacy, and would allow the establishment of a Communist administrative center in the South. The question was not whether the PAVN/VC would attack Quảng Trị City again, but when.
[
]
PAVN/VC forces and plan of attack
The PAVN 812th Regiment (reinforced), of the 324th Division,[ was assigned the task of capturing and holding Quảng Trị City. Its three regular battalions, K-4, K-5, K-6, and the reinforcing 808th Main Force Battalion (or K8 battalion from the PAVN 90th Regiment) and 814th Main Force Battalion, both largely manned by North Vietnamese regulars, numbered about 400 to 500 men each. Along with a platoon of the 10th Sapper Battalion, and signal, reconnaissance and heavy weapons support companies, the reinforced regiment totaled about 2,700 troops.
The PAVN plan called for the platoon from the 10th Sapper Battalion to infiltrate the city on the evening of 30/31 January to pave the way for a major assault by elements of the 812th Regiment. The K4 Battalion and the 814th Main Force Battalion would supply the primary assaulting forces. At 02:00 on the 31st the sappers would emerge from hiding to destroy key installations in the city. At the same time the K4 Battalion would attack from the east and the 814th Battalion from the northeast. A 122-mm. rocket battalion (probably from the 54th Artillery Regiment) and organic artillery would provide supporting fire for the attack. The K8 Battalion would position itself along Highway 1 just north of the city to block allied reinforcements coming from that direction. The K6 Battalion would assault the city from the southeast, block Highway 1 south of the city, and attack the headquarters of the ARVN 1st Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, at ]La Vang Base
La Vang Base (also known as La Vang Combat Base or Firebase La Vang) is a former Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base near Quảng Trị, Vietnam.
History
The base was located in La Vang, 2km south of Quảng Trị beside Highway 1.
...
about a mile and a half south of the city. The 812th's K5 Battalion would remain in reserve in the village of Hải Lăng southeast of the city. Commandos from the 10th Sapper Battalion would also attack Landing Zone Jane south of La Vang to keep the American forces there tied down. The 814th and K4 Battalions would then occupy the city, and the remainder of the 812th Regiment would deploy in blocking positions in the surrounding area to prevent allied reinforcements.
Given their failure to hold Quảng Trị City after overrunning and briefly occupying it in April 1967 despite committing a large force of about 2,500 men, the PAVN/VC became more aware of the difficulties of attacking and capturing the city. In the weeks before Tet, they had attempted to lure Allied forces from the coastal lowlands to the mountains by threatening several of the Marine combat bases along Highway 9 in the western part of the province. But while the U.S. Marines had shifted some forces to the besieged Khe Sanh Combat Base
Khe Sanh Combat Base (also known as Ta Con) was a United States Marine Corps outpost south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) used during the Vietnam War.
History
US Army Special Forces (Detachment A-101, Company C, 5th Special Forces G ...
, MACV
U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense.
MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV ...
commanders had reinforced eastern Quảng Trị Province in late January with the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division. The existence of major American units near Quảng Trị City came as a shock, but with little time to make adjustments, the Communists decided to move forward with their original plan.
Disposition of ARVN units
The brunt of the attack would fall on the ARVN forces in and around the city. These were the 1st Vietnamese Regiment, the 9th Airborne Battalion, an Armored Personnel Carrier
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world.
Acc ...
(APC) Troop attached to the 1st Regiment (2nd Troop of the ARVN 7th Cavalry), the Republic of Vietnam National Police
The Republic of Vietnam National Police – RVNP ( vi, Cảnh sát Quốc gia Việt Nam Cộng hòa, links=no), Police Nationale de la République du Vietnam or Police Nationale for short ( vi, Cảnh sát Quốc gia, links=no – CSQG) in Frenc ...
headquarters in the city, a military body similar to the French Gendarmerie led by regular military officers, and Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
and Popular Force
People's Force ( es, Fuerza Popular, FP), known as Force 2011 ( es, Fuerza 2011, links=no) until 2012, is a right-wing populist and Fujimorist political party in Peru. The party is led by Keiko Fujimori, former congresswoman and daughter of form ...
(militia) elements in the city. The 1st Regiment had two of its battalions in positions to the north of the city, and one to the northeast, protecting pacified villages in those areas. The Regiment's fourth battalion was in positions south of the city in and around the regiment's headquarters at La Vang. One Airborne company of the 9th Airborne battalion was bivouacked in Tri Buu village on the northern edge of the city with elements in the Citadel, and the remaining three Airborne companies and the battalion commander were positioned just south of the city in the area of a large cemetery where Highway 1 crosses Route 555.
Disposition of American units
The 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division commanded by Colonel Donald V. Rattan had been moved from near Huế and Phu Bai six days earlier to Quảng Trị Province, with its headquarters at Landing Zone Betty () two kilometers south of Quảng Trị City, with the bulk of its force at LZ Sharon, another kilometer south, in order to launch attacks on the PAVN/VC Base Area 101 roughly to the west-southwest. The brigade had an additional mission to block approaches into the city from the southwest but was primarily focused on its offensive mission. Accordingly, had quickly established two fire bases, one west of the city and another in the middle of the base areas in the hills west of Quảng Trị City.[ The 2nd Brigade of the ]101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
was also moved into Quảng Trị Province in late January, reinforcing the two brigades of the 1st Cavalry in the area.
Battle
Assault on Quảng Trị City
The coordinated PAVN/VC assault was scheduled to begin at 02:00 on 31 January. The 10th Sapper began its attacks on time, but the arrival and attacks of the PAVN infantry and artillery units were delayed by at least two hours by heavy rains and swollen streams and their lack of familiarity with the geography of Quảng Trị Province, and they did not start to move into position until about 04:00. As a result, Regional and Popular Forces, local National Police elements, and elements of the 1st ARVN Regiment located within the city were able to respond to the sappers without having to contend with the main attack at the same time.[
As the 814th Battalion was moving into position to attack Quảng Trị from the northeast, it unexpectedly encountered the 9th ARVN Airborne company in Tri Buu village, which engaged it in a sharp firefight lasting about 20 minutes. The Airborne company was nearly annihilated and an American adviser killed, but its stubborn resistance stalled the 814th battalion's assault on the Citadel and the city.
By 04:20, with an intense, sustained rocket and artillery barrage on the city, Citadel, and MACV compound, the heavy communist pressure and overwhelming numbers forced the few surviving South Vietnamese paratroopers to exfiltrate south along the river to join their comrades in the cemetery, and the 814th began a series of assaults on the Citadel, all of which failed.][
The initial assault by the K4 Battalion from the east was successful. Following the artillery barrage, as the 814th Battalion began its delayed assault on the Citadel, the battalion skirted the lower edge of Tri Buu Village and around the MACV compound and swarmed into the city, attempting to seize strong points and assaulting the Citadel from the south. South Vietnamese irregulars and National Policemen slowed the enemy’s advance, however, and its assaults on the southern wall of the Citadel were beaten back. Adding to its difficulties was the failure of an expected "general uprising" it had been told to expect.][ To the south, the PAVN K6 battalion slammed unexpectedly into the three Airborne companies resulting in an intense, extended firefight that lasted well into the 31st.][
]
Shortly after dawn the 1st Infantry Regiment commander ordered his battalions to recapture the city. His three battalions north of Quảng Trị City began marching toward the capital. Along the way, they collided with the 808th Battalion blocking Highway 1 near the Trieu Phong District headquarters which temporarily stopped their assault. At about the same time, ARVN troops at La Vang began moving north toward the fighting between the Airborne companies and the K6 Battalion in the cemetery south of the city, and were ambushed by the K6th, slowing their advance to a crawl, and they were unable to relieve the paratroopers. Only the K5 Battalion, holding its position in Hai Lang District well south of the city to block reinforcements from Huế, remained unengaged in the fighting.[
]
Engagement of American forces and counterattack
Shortly after noon on 31 January, Robert Brewer, the senior adviser to the military officer who was Province Chief of Quảng Trị, held a conference with Colonel Rattan, and the senior U.S. adviser to the Vietnamese 1st Regiment. The city's status was in the balance. The enemy had infiltrated at least a battalion into the city and its defending forces were in need of immediate assistance. At the time, it appeared that the communists reinforcing from the east and had established fire support positions on the eastern edge of the city.[
At the start of the attack, the ARVN 1st Regiment headquarters at La Vang and Col. Rattan's headquarters at Landing Zone Betty south of La Vang came under sporadic rocket and mortar attacks and ground assaults by elements of the 10th Sapper Battalion, while extremely heavy fog hampered visibility. The fog also prevented shifting the 1st Battalion, 8th US Cavalry Regiment's base camp in the mountains west of Quảng Trị. The 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, which was under the control of the 1st Cavalry Division, continued its base defense mission and patrols west of Quảng Trị.][
This left only the 1st Battalion of the 12th US Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the ]5th Cavalry Regiment
The 5th Cavalry Regiment ("Black Knights") is a historical unit of the United States Army that began its service on August 3, 1861, when an act of Congress enacted "that the two regiments of dragoons, the regiment of mounted riflemen, and the t ...
to support the ARVN units engaged with the PAVN/VC. Both battalions had opened new fire bases to the west of Quảng Trị, along the river valley leading to Khe Sanh. At approximately 13:45 on 31 January, Col. Rattan directed the battalions to close out the new fire bases and launch assaults as soon as possible to prevent the PAVN/VC from bringing additional forces into the city and also blocking their withdrawal. By 16:00, the cavalry battalions had air assaulted into five locations northeast, east, and southeast of Quảng Trị City where intelligence sources had showed PAVN/VC units located. The American helicopters received heavy fire as they landed troops east of the city in the middle of the heavy weapons support of the K-4 Battalion, and fighting there continued until 19:00 as the PAVN/VC fought with machine guns, mortars, and recoilless rifle
A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...
s. Engaged by ARVN forces in and near the city, and by American forces on the east, the K4 Battalion was soon overcome.[
Two companies of the 1/5th Cavalry air-assaulted southeast of Quảng Trị engaging the K6 Battalion from the rear in a heavy firefight, while ARVN troops blocked and attacked it from the direction of the city. American helicopter gunships and artillery hit the K6 Battalion hard causing significant further casualties. By nightfall on the 31st, the battered 812th Regiment decided to withdraw, though clashes continued throughout the night.][
Quảng Trị City was clear of PAVN/VC troops by mid-afternoon on 1 February, and ARVN units with U.S. air support had cleared Tri Buu Village of enemy troops. The remnants of the 812th and K6 battalions, having been hit hard by ARVN defenders in and around the City, and by American air power, artillery, helicopters and air assaults by 1st Cavalry troopers on the outskirts of the city, ][ broke up into small groups. Sometimes mingling with crowds of fleeing refugees, they began to exfiltrate the area, trying to avoid further contact with Allied forces.
The fleeing PAVN and Main Force soldiers were pursued vigorously by ARVN and American forces, with contact continuing off and on over the next ten days.][ Heavy fighting continued with large well-armed PAVN/VC forces south of Quảng Trị City, and there were lighter contacts in other areas.][
The American military considered the attack on Quảng Trị "without a doubt one of the major objectives of the Tet offensive". They attributed the decisive defeat to the hard-nosed South Vietnamese defense, effective intelligence on PAVN/VC movements provided by Robert Brewer, and the air mobile tactics of the 1st Cavalry Division. Between 31 January and 6 February, the allies killed an estimated 914 PAVN/VC and captured another 86 in and around Quang Tri City.][
]
Aftermath
The rapid defeat of the regimental-size enemy force that assaulted Quảng Trị City proved to be one of the most decisive victories the Allies secured during the Tet Offensive. Aside from mopping up operations in the countryside, it was effectively over less than twenty-four hours after it had begun. Most elements of the 812th PAVN Regiment were so badly mauled that they avoided all contact for the next several weeks, when they otherwise might have played a role in the battle for Battle of Huế to the south. Losing the province capital would have been a severe blow to South Vietnamese morale, and PAVN units could have caused extensive damage to nearby ARVN and American bases had they captured long range ARVN artillery pieces in the Citadel. They would also have cut off resupply traffic on Highway 1 to allied forces along the DMZ and the Marines at Khe Sanh. The PAVN/VC's swift defeat preserved an important symbol of South Vietnamese national pride and allowed the allies to devote more resources to other battles in northern I Corps, particularly to the struggle for Huế.
See also
* First Battle of Quảng Trị
The First Battle of Quảng Trị ( vi, Chiến dịch Trị Thiên) resulted in the first major victory for the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Easter Offensive of 1972. Quảng Trị Province was a major battleground for the opposin ...
* Second Battle of Quảng Trị
The Second Battle of Quang Tri ( vi, Trận Thành cổ Quảng Trị; also called Operation Lam Sơn 72) began on 28 June 1972 and lasted 81 days until 16 September 1972, when South Vietnam's Army of the Republic of Vietnam defeated the North Vi ...
References
External links
Photographic history of 1st Cav LRRP Rangers at 1968 Quang Tri Tet Offensive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quang Tri
1968 in Vietnam
Quang Tri 1968
History of Quảng Trị province
Quang Tri (1968)
Quang Tri 1968
Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968
January 1968 events in Asia
February 1968 events in Asia