The 341st Infantry Division is a
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
of the
People's Army of Vietnam, first formed in the 1960s.
Vietnam War
U.S. intelligence indicated that the Division was operating in the
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important as t ...
(DMZ) by August 1966.
In mid-May 1968 the Division was the target of
Operation Mameluke Thrust launched by the 1st Marine Division in the
Happy Valley area southwest of
Danang
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 o ...
, however the Division did not engage the Marines.
In 1974 the Division was converted from a training division to a mobile division part of the PAVN strategic reserve and stationed in souther Military Region 4 immediately north of the DMZ.
During the
1975 Spring Offensive
The 1975 spring offensive ( vi, chiến dịch mùa Xuân 1975), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 ( vi, Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy mùa Xuân 1975) was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vie ...
, on 4 March the Division attacked
Định Quán District, cleared Route 20 and captured
Lâm Đồng Province Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin in Chinese and Im in Korean.
Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm.
Lam is also a commonly held surname of Cantonese speakers of Chinese descent. Large populations i ...
.
[
In early April the Division joined PAVN 4th Corps and on 9 April 1975, 4th Corps attacked the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 18th Division around the strategic city of Xuân Lộc part of the last defensive line before Saigon.][The 18th Division withstood the initial PAVN attacks and on 12 April were reinforced by men of the elite 1st Airborne Brigade and Vietnamese Marines.][ By 16 April the battle was turning in favour of the PAVN and on 19 April the ARVN General Staff ordered the units defending Xuân Lộc to withdraw to defend ]Biên Hòa
Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam and part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area and located about east of Ho Chi Minh City, to which Biên Hòa is linked by Vietnam Hi ...
.[ On the afternoon of 22 April the Division's headquarters near Xuân Lộc was hit by a ]CBU-55
The CBU-55 was a cluster bomb fuel–air explosive that was developed during the Vietnam War by the United States Air Force, and was used only infrequently in that conflict. Unlike most incendiaries, which contained napalm or phosphorus, the CBU-5 ...
bomb dropped from a Republic of Vietnam Air Force
The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; vi, Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; french: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF) was the aer ...
C-130
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
, killing over 250 soldiers.[ The 4th Corps pushed on towards Biên Hòa and at 5pm on 26 April they attacked Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Bình.][ By the morning of April 28 troops from the 4th Corps overran ARVN positions at the eastern end of the Newport Bridge.][
]
References
{{reflist
Infantry divisions of Vietnam
Divisions of the People's Army of Vietnam