The Communist Victory in the Vietnam War

History The SHS History Co. Shahriar Syed The Vietnam warfare Describe why the factors which allowed the northbound Vietnamese communist to win a fightfare against a far wealthier, technologically lord power of the US. ContentsPage No. Background2 Introduction2 Logistical Issues3 Causality Tolerance4 Economic Consequences5 schema & Tactics5 communist St cropgy5 Guerrilla Tactics6 American Strategy6 Tactical Response7 Vietnamese Terrain Advantages8 leading8 Bibliography9 Books9 Video9 Website9Background The Vietnam state of war is classed under Cold-War array conflict due to the political cause for the war. The conflict was fought between northern Vietnam, reinforced by the communist allies and sulphur Vietnam, pledgeed by the US and some anti-communist countries. The military conflict mainly occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from the initiatory of November 1955 to the come of Saigon on the 30th April 1975. go through 1 shows the countries on cont force st ep forward brasss of the war Anti-Communists forces Communists South Vietnam * United States * South Korea * Australia * Philippines * unseasoned Zealand * Thailand * Khmer Republic * acres of Laos * Spain * Taiwan * northbound Vietnam * Vietnam * Khmer Rouge * Pathet Lao * Soviet Union * china * North Korea * Czechoslovakia * Cuba * Bulgaria The U. S. g overn workforcet justified their involvement in the war as a way to prevent the spread of communism to South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese political science projected the conflict as taking what is theirs from the French, later sanction by the U.S and South Vietnam itself. Introduction Despite the far wealthier and far to a gr swallower extent superior powers of the U. S. North Vietnam managed to capture South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, meaning a vital triumph. In this report the factors that devolve North Vietnam to victory will be describing each factor in detail. Logistical Issues During the Vietnam War in that respect was a great imbalance of the logistical problems on opposing sides. The American forces were liner difficulties with supporting combat forces.Not only did they need to support American soldiers scarce besides the military forces of South Vietnam, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Australia and other allied countries. The U. S had over 16,000 km of supply lines that was quite in impelling it was costing over 200 billion U. S dollars to maintain this supply of food, water and weaponry*. This massive amount of war cost were only realised al virtually the closing of the war. This in addition with the mounting U. S causalities and the fact that victory remained elusive, the American opinion kick the bucketd from approval to dissatisfaction with the War.The Communist forces stock-still, had little to no worry about logistics, mevery portions of their supplies originated from themselves or from China. The supply routes were get arounder and such(prenominal) to a greater extent organize d. The support do by the Chinese railway network in the Chinese provinces b hunting lodgeing North Vietnam was in like manner a vital importance in importing war material. The American did non strike this network for forethought of Chinese intervention, even so approximately 320,000 Chinese soldiers served the communist forces in repairing and upgrading miles of track, bridges, tunnels and stations.This discombobulate the supply chains cheaper and more(prenominal) effective, creating a major factor that star topology to the decisive victory of communist forces. Figure 2 shows the U. S disproof use of goods and services during the Vietnam War Figure 2 shows the U. S defence pulmonary tuberculosis during the Vietnam War Causality Tolerance A key factor that leads to the communist sayover of South Vietnam was the physical bodys of causalities that they were willing to accept. The tolerance showed by the communists was comparably better than the anti-communists, in accompa niment the U.S. The North Vietnamese political theory was very(prenominal) well summed up by a retell by North Vietnamese icon, Ho Chi Minh You can turn thumbs down ten of my men for both oneness I land of yours, only even at those odds, you will digest and I will win That quote was upheld by the North Vietnamese forces, which is proved by the statistics * 50,000-182,000 civilian dead * 533,000-1489,000 military dead * 600,000 wanting This class of ideology was firstly supported by the anti-communists, in particular the U. S, with the quote by the President John F.Kennedy in 1961 Let every province know, whether, it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, affirm any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival of liberty The U. S. did support this quote highly during the early years of the war but as the succession passed many and protests by the public for bringing all the soldiers to home the anti-Communist in short dealt with the fact that it would be cheaper to grant Vietnam independence the opposite of which the North Vietnamese were doing. Figure 3 (left) shows the American deaths by yearFigure 4 (above) shows the number of deaths save by service branch Economic Consequences The Vietnam War had several set up on the U. S. economy, which soon lead to them withdrawing their forces from Vietnam. The requirements of the war effort s proficient the nations production capabilities, which then lead to an imbalance of contrasting sectors deep down the economy. Factories that produced consumer goods were being utilize to steel war material, which caused controversy over the governments handling of funding. Additionally the massive amount of defence expenditure was do several problems within the American economy.The funds were going overseas, causing an imbalance in loan payment and a weak American Dollar, since no funds were re flip overing to the country. Also, military expenditure, joined with domestic amicable spending created a deficit which fuelled inflation. Anti-war sentiments and dissatisfaction with the U. S government then started to eat into consumer confidence, interests rates rose restricting capital for businesses and consumers. These consequences then lead to an frugal meltdown and then the withdrawal of armament from Vietnam.Strategy & Tactics Communist Strategy The tacticsal manoeuvre used by the communist and the anti-communists were in different but as time went on tactics used by the belligerents became more of an action reaction style of warfare. The North Vietnamese had firstly do a clear and precise computer weapons platform on the war and stuck to that plan as said before, deciding on a war of attrition, realising that they couldnt defeat the U. S which was smart considering it was the worlds superpower at the time. The North Vietnamese decided that they would continue to guard the U.S, planning to make the war as long, bloody a nd expensive for the Americans, in order to turn the American public opinion of the war against its involvement in Vietnam. This dodging was not too absurd, since it was proven successful against the French during the Indochina war (1950-54). planetary Vo Nguyen Giap, a principal commander during the war, was a key figure during the composition of North Vietnamese dodge developed a three-phase view into how the war will undergo 1. Guerrilla bands would be formed and trained, and would establish bases. They would also begin infiltration, creating links with the South Vietnamese peasants.This phase of the Giaps dodge was proven successful as throughout the 1960s, the majority of engagement was do by the South Vietnamese communists. 2. Ambush and assassination would be used to challenge the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam, also known as the South Vietnamese Army) 3. Conventional warfare would then be partaken by the North Vietnamese army. Giaps war of attrition was conducted very well providing flexibility and concealment. near operations done by the night they would move host and supplies, lay mines, set booby traps and arrange ambushes this became very crucial towards the end of the war.Guerrilla Tactics Guerrilla tactics were used greatly during the war. Guerrilla tactics or guerilla warfare uses military tactics by a small number of soldier or armed civilians. The North Vietnamese used a tactic known as hit and maneuver which involves ambushes with mines and bobby traps to surprise or hinder the Americans, then the aim was to inflict as many casualties as possible by overwhelming them for a short period of time and then withdraw before the Americans or the South Vietnamese could counter round out with artillery support of an air strike.This tactic was used on more supplies than actually men since the Communists Another system used by the Vietnamese was known shoot and scoot, involving contend a American or South Vietnamese base with mortars or artillery, normally at night, before they could return fire. An hour later, another attack would be made from a different location. This tactic was aimed to draw guards out of the base into an ambush or theyre would be more guards on patrol so they could simply shoot them down with the use of snipers, this however was very rare since sniper readiness was limited to a few guerrilla groups.Figure 5 shows a Punji stick exhibit form the bailiwick Museum of the ocean Corps. This pit would usually be covered in inborn underbrush Figure 5 shows a Punji stick exhibit form the National Museum of the Marine Corps. This pit would usually be covered in natural undergrowth The North Vietnamese used booby traps extensively throughout the Vietnam War and very effectively. Not only did the booby traps maim and kill many Americans but psychological reports showed that that they never felt safe.Bobby traps involved not only explosive, like mines and grenade triggering bobby traps, but also n on-explosive traps like the deep pits, projectiles, crossbows, spike mud balls all being triggered by a trip wire. The almost famous of the non-explosive traps is known as Punji sticks where fire hardened bamboo stakes were smeared with excretion in a pit so that if the American soldier survived the fall onto the spike that they may die from blood poisoning. American StrategyThe American strategy throughout the Vietnam War was also a war of attrition however they simply intended to use their vast amount of resources and overwhelming firepower, to make the war too costly for the communist allies to continue fighting. This ideology may have been similar but Ho Chi Minh, drawing card of PAVN (Peoples Army of Vietnam), rightly predicted that the lack of political will would lead the Americans to withdraw from a long and bloody war. Their hold in and morale was not strong enough to sustain them throughout the war.The American forces were also made a grave mistake by measuring rod the ir successes in the number of bombing raids they carried out and the body count of Vietnamese communists dead they believed that there was a crossover point which represented the rate at which the PAVN could be killed, faster than they were being replenished. What they didnt realise was most causalities that were dealt were civilians rather than soldiers. There initial strategy was tarnished so their land of their tactics would be useless. Another mistake that the U. S attempted was the black Maria and Minds program.Which provided aid of the destroyed villages in wore torn areas, and attempted to gain the support of South Vietnamese people. Despite the obvious destruction caused by the bombs they dropped which resulted in high civilian casualties, the US government still saw the program as necessary. This money could have been used in more effective ways to help them win the war. Tactical Response In repartee to guerrilla warfare used by the communists the Americans used only o ne main counter guerrilla tactics which adopted tactics that would kill as many of the enemy as possible with minimum essay to their forces.Search and destroy missions became a crucial US and ARVN tactic. These involved armoured carriers to move through potential enemy hot spots in look of as many enemy bases as possible. Tanks or soldiers were flown in by helicopters and then quickly flown out before any ambushes can take place. This aimed to locate, occupy and destroy as many of the enemy as possible, each in a fire fight using hand held firearms or calling in an airstrike. This tactic had only one major flaw that was the helicopter. Figure 6 shows a CH 47 Chinooks used to delivery of supplies Figure 6 shows CH 47 Chinooks used to delivery of supplies The CH 47 Chinooks was used for troops transport and moving heavy equipment and was the singularly most important tactical weapon the anti-communist used. This technology did allow the tactic search and destroy much easier with ai r cavalry but the major problem with the tactic was that US and ARVN troops never spent long in the country side meaning that it would always remain under communist control. Vietnamese Terrain Advantages When fighting the Vietnamese had a crucial advantage that they were able to use the terrain in their favour.Forces in America were not fully equipped and trained for the techniques take for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain. The forces were to be trained for the limited lines of sight and arcs of fire, logistical training due to know roads for vehicles and the inherent tropical diseases that have to be prevented or treated by medical service. Most men did not go through this training causing the US forces to struggle. The Vietnamese however underwent this training due to the close proximity of jungle and the large likely hood that they would need to fight in the jungle in order to protect their country.The terrain also made guerrilla warfare easier for the Nort h Vietnamese due to dense vegetation. Leadership Leadership by opposing sides by the war were very different and was a great advantage by the North Vietnamese, this was due to the number of allies on the anti-communist. America, South Vietnam, South Korea, Australia as well as other countries all had a say in which the war should be carried. The Vietnamese though had a very systematic and organized view of leadership. At the head of the PAVN was Ho Chi Minh both the president and primary minister and below him was trusted usuals, commanders etc. these people were the key figures of the war even though the Soviet Union and China was involved). This made this allowed the pass along of the war for them to become clear on the communist Vietnamese side. It also had very little room for argument since each and every general and leader had a common interest. The anti-communist side was facing numerous problems as many countries did not want to lose men but the US were at first willing t o lose men in order to contain communism and the quote made by John F. Kennedy summarises there oint of view (refer to page 4). All in all, the anti-communist were not agreeing on points for the war which made progress very difficult. Bibliography Books Moore, Harold G. , 1922-We were soldiers once -and young Ia Drang, the battle that changed the war in VietnamMOORE, H. G. , & GALLOWAY, J. L. (1992). 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