Battle of Ap Bau Bang
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The Battle of Ap Bau Bang (Vietnamese: ''trận Bàu Bàng'') took place on the morning of 12 November 1965 when two regiments from the
Viet Cong , , 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) 9th Division attacked a night defensive position of the United States 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment (2/2nd Infantry) at a small village ( ấp) of Bàu Bàng, in today's Bàu Bàng district, 25 km north of
Thủ Dầu Một Thủ Dầu Một () is the capital city of Bình Dương province, Vietnam, located at around . The city has an area of 118.66 km², with a population of 417,000 (as of 2018), and is located 20 km north of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, on ...
.


Background

On 4 November the commander of the
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) 5th Division Major general Phạm Quốc Thuần requested the 1st Infantry Division to secure
Highway 13 The following roads may be referred to as Route 13 or Highway 13. For a list of roads named A13, see List of A13 roads. International * Asian Highway 13 * European route E13 * European route E013 Afghanistan *The Kabul–Behsud Highway - ...
north of
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to cover the movement of the ARVN 7th Regiment, 5th Division for an operation in the
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. 1st Infantry Division commander
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ordered
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William Brodbeck's 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division to undertake this mission. The mission in turn was given to
Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
George Shuffer and his 2/2nd Infantry. Shuffer established a Task Force consisting of his unit plus Troop A, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment and Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 33rd Artillery Regiment. Shuffer divided Highway 13 into 3 sectors each secured by a company and with the command group, Cavalry and artillery in the middle sector. Each day patrols would be sent out to sweep the Highway and its surroundings and they would withdraw into night defensive positions. The commander of the VC 9th Division, Senior Colonel Hoàng Cầm decided to attack the American forces, gathering his units on the afternoon of 11 November. The main target would be the central American unit located just south of the village of Bau Bang, with the main assault by the 272nd Regiment supported by mortars and recoilless rifles and elements of the 271st Regiment. While the 273rd Regiment would attack from the south and block Highway 13 to the south preventing any reinforcement, while the 7th Battalion would be held in reserve.


Battle

On the night of 11 November several mortar rounds hit Shuffer's central position and a night ambush killed two VC At 06:05 on the morning 12 November, as Shuffer's forces prepared to start patrolling Highway 13, the VC launched their attack. Starting with a barrage of 50 mortar rounds, a battalion of VC attacked from the southwest. The attack was quickly met by return fire from Troop A's M113s which broke up the attack. A second attack from the south and a third attack from the southeast were similarly beaten back by the waiting American force. At 07:00 the main attack was launched from the village of Bau Bang to the north and initially succeeded in penetrating the American position, before this attack was also repulsed. Battery C used its guns in anti-personnel mode firing 50 rounds at ground level with two second fuses. Air strikes by
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
A-1Hs and
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
A-4s were directed against the VC mortars and recoilless rifles positioned in and around Bau Bang. At 09:00 the VC launched a final assault from the north, but were met with concentrated artillery fire and air strikes and by 13:30 the VC had abandoned their attacks and withdrawn.


Aftermath

Total U.S. casualties were 20 killed and 103 wounded, while VC losses were 146 killed (body count) and a further 50 were believed to have been killed, but the bodies were removed. Vietnamese sources only acknowledged 109 killed and over 200 wounded for the VC and claimed to have killed or wounded 2,000 Americans and destroyed 39 tanks and eight heavy artillery pieces. The 2/2nd Infantry and attached units received a Valorous Unit Award for this action.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ap Bau Bang, Battle of Conflicts in 1965 Battles involving the United States Battles involving Vietnam Battles and operations of the Vietnam War Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1965 History of Bình Dương province