Battles and Stalemate
March 1967-end of 1967 → US and SV forces → fought series of battles along border between NV and SV.
- first major battle → Nov 1965 → in La Drang Valley
- estimated that US casualties number 234 dead. NV lost 1500-2000 troops
US had superior firepower, NV and Viet Cong were battle hardened + effective at fighting a stronger enemy. Even though US force skilled large numbers of Viet Cong → failed to achieve clear victory However Viet Cong and NV could not drive out US either
- war developed into a stalemate
Overall Strategy
| NV | US |
|---|---|
| inferior in military equipment. Viet Cong and NV → turned to guerrilla warfare in order to avoid large scale battles that were not in their favour did not wear uniforms - hard to tell apart from peasants. attacked then disappeared → jungles, villages, tunnels | used superior air power → strategic bombing → disrupt NV supply lines. e.g. → operation rolling thunder 1965. - NV cities, factories, army bases, Viet Cong, Ho Chi Minh Trail → bombed resulted in 1000s of civilian casualties |
| Support from Civilian Population |
| NV | US |
|---|---|
| Ho knew importance of winning over pop. Viet Cong was expected to respect + help peasants they were prepared to kill those who opposed them / cooperated with enemies. 1966-1971 → Viet Cong killed est. 27000 civilians | US did not enjoy same degree of popular support as NV did. Frequent “Search and Destroy” missions to hunt down Viet Cong forces → resulted in many civilian deaths. Use of defoliants + napalm as weapons → resulted in long term health problems for civilians. - led to low support for US * * |
| Morale |
| NV | US |
|---|---|
| 1 mil Viet Cong + NV → est. to have died in war → exceeding US losses Loss was price Ho was willing to pay as war was seen as war of national liberation greatest strength of Viet Cong → refusal to give in to anything less than complete removal of US from Vietnam | morale of US troops high at start of war → fell as war intensified. Following introduction of conscription → many US troops send to Vietnam over war → young and inexperienced. did not understand why they were conscripted to fight war in faraway country, for ppl they knew nothing about low morale → worsened by → media’s portrayal of US involvement in war as unjust one |
over course of war:
- Viet Cong controlled countryside while US controlled major towns and cities and their own bases
- US could stay as long as it had the political will to do so.