Battle of An Loc
Encyclopedia
The Battle of An Lộc was a major battle of the Vietnam War
that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a decisive victory for South Vietnam
. In many ways, the struggle for An Lộc
in 1972 was an important battle of the war, as South Vietnamese forces halted the North Vietnam
ese advance towards Saigon.
located northwest of Military Region III. During North Vietnam's "Easter Offensive", officially known as the Nguyen Hue Offensive of 1972, An Lộc was at the centre of North Vietnamese strategy due to its location on QL-13 between Base Area 708 in Cambodia
, and Saigon. To protect this important area the Republic of Vietnam had essentially one single division in Bình Phước Province, the ARVN 5th Division. During the battle the 5th ARVN division was outnumbered by a combined force of three North Vietnamese and Viet Cong divisions resulting in the most protracted conflict of the whole 1972 Easter Offensive.
On the same day that Loc Ninh—a small town 20 miles (32.2 km) north of An Loc on the border with Cambodia was assaulted the (NVA
) PAVN 7th division launched an attack on Route 13 in an attempt to cut off An Loc from Saigon. To control route QL-13 was to control the road to Saigon, some 90 miles (144.8 km) to the south. This prevented resupply of ARVN forces in An Loc.
The defenders of An Loc were made up of several organizations of the 5th ARVN Division. They included the division's 8th Regiment with about 2,100 men; the 7th Regiment which was short one battalion and only had 850 men; the 9th Regiment, most of which was destroyed at Loc Ninh had only had 200 men; Task Force 52, 500 men; the 3rd Ranger Group, 1,300 men; as well as Binh Long Provincial Regional Force, Popular Forces, and People's Self-Defense Forces, about 2,000 men. The defenders were later reinforced by the elite 81st Airborne Commando Battalion and the 1st Airborne Brigade, brought in by air because QL-13 was blocked by the NVA. The defenders also had little artillery and had to rely on US air support. Other reinforcements consisted of the 21st ARVN Division which was plagued by a very slow move from the Delta area in the south of the country and cleared QL-13 after protracted fighting.
The ARVN defenders did have one card to play throughout the battle, the immense power of US air support. The use of B-52 Stratofortress
bombers (a strategic strike craft capable of carrying one hundred and eight MK82 (500 pound) bombs on one run) in a close support tactical role, as well as AC-119 Stinger and AC-130E Spectre
gunships, fixed wing cargo aircraft of varying sizes, AH-1 Cobra
attack helicopters and Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) A-37's. These methods worked to blunt the offensive from the North Vietnamese Army. At this stage in the war the NVA often attacked with PT-76
light and T-54/55 medium tanks spearheading the advance, usually preceded by a massive artillery barrage. These tactics reflected Soviet doctrine, as the NVA had been supplied with Soviet (and Chicom-Chinese Communist) equipment; including jets, artillery, and Surface to Air Missiles since the beginning of the war. The battle eventually stagnated and became a periodic trade of artillery barrages, most probably as a result of casualties sustained in frustrated attacks on heavily entrenched enemy positions that could call in a withering array of supporting fire power.
The first attack on the city occurred on April 13. It was preceded by a powerful artillery barrage. The NVA captured several hills to the north and penetrated the northern portion of the city held by the 8th Regiment and 3rd Ranger Group. ARVN soldiers were not used to dealing with tanks, but early success with the M72 LAW
, including by teen age members of the People's Self Defense Forces (PSDF) went a long way to helping them overcome their fear. The 5th Division commander, General Hung, later ordered tank-destroying teams be formed by each battalion, which included PSDF members who knew the local terrain and could help identify good locations to ambush tanks. They took advantage of the fact that the NVA forces, who were not used to working with tanks, often let the tanks get separated from their infantry by driving through ARVN defensive positions. At that point, all alone inside ARVN lines, they were vulnerable to the tank-destroying teams.
The second attack on the city took place the next day, on April 15. The NVA were concerned because the ARVN 1st Airborne Brigade had air-assaulted into positions west of the city and was coming to reinforce the defenders. Again the NVA preceded their attack with an artillery barrage followed by a tank-infantry attack. Again, their tanks became separated from their infantry and fell prey to ARVN tank-destroyer teams. NVA infantry following behind assaulted the ARVN defensive positions and pushed farther into the city. B-52 strikes helped break up some NVA units assembling for the attack. By the afternoon of the 16th, fighting had died down.
Unable to take the city, the North Vietnamese Army kept it under constant artillery fire. They also moved in more anti-aircraft guns to prevent aerial resupply. Heavy anti-aircraft fire kept Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) helicopters from getting into the city after April 12. Then fixed wing VNAF aircraft, C-123's and C-119's tried. Several were shot down and by April 19 the US Air Force took over. The US used C-130's to parachute in supplies, but many missed the defenders and aircraft were shot down or damaged. Low altitude drops during day and night did not do the job, so the USAF tried a new technique. On May 2 High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) techniques were tried. That method worked much better and was used until June 25 when the siege was lifted and aircraft could land at An Loc. Over the entire course of the resupply effort, the garrison recovered several thousand tons of supplies, the only supplies it received during the siege.
On 11 May 1972 the North Vietnamese Army launched a massive all-out infantry and armor (T-54 medium tanks) assault on the town. The attack was carried out by units of the 5th and 9th NVA divisions. This attack was repulsed by a combination of US airpower and the determined stand of ARVN soldiers on the ground. Almost every B-52 in South East Asia was called in to strike the massing enemy tanks and infantry. The commander of the defending forces had placed a grid around the town creating many "boxes" each measuring 1 km by 3 km in size which were given a number and could be called by ground forces at any time, the B-52 Arclight
cells (groups of 3 Aircraft) were guided onto these boxes by ground based radar. During 11 and 12 May, the US Air Force managed an "Arc Light" mission every 55 minutes for 30 hours straight, using 170 B-52's and smashing whole regiments of NVA in the process. Despite that air support, the North Vietnamese made gains, and were within a few hundred meters of the ARVN 5th Division command post. ARVN counter-attacks were able to stabilize the situation. By the night of May 11, the NVA consolidated their gains. On May 12, they launched new attacks in an effort take the city, but again failed. The NVA launched one more attack on May 19 in honor of Ho Chi Minh's birthday. The defenders were not surprised, and the attack was broken up by American air support and an ambush by the ARVN paratroopers.
After the attacks of 11 and 12 May, the NVA directed its main efforts to cutting off any more relief columns. However, by the 9th of June this proved ineffective, and the defenders were able to receive the injection of manpower and supplies needed to sweep the surrounding area of North Vietnamese forces. By 18 June 1972 the battle had been declared over.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a decisive victory for South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. In many ways, the struggle for An Lộc
An Loc
An Loc is a small town in Bình Phước Province in southern Vietnam, located approximately 90 km north of Saigon with a population of 15,000...
in 1972 was an important battle of the war, as South Vietnamese forces halted the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese advance towards Saigon.
Prelude
An Lộc is the capital of Bình Phước ProvinceBinh Phuoc Province
Bình Phước is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the southeastern region of the country, to the north of Ho Chi Minh City. It shares a border with Cambodia.-History:...
located northwest of Military Region III. During North Vietnam's "Easter Offensive", officially known as the Nguyen Hue Offensive of 1972, An Lộc was at the centre of North Vietnamese strategy due to its location on QL-13 between Base Area 708 in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, and Saigon. To protect this important area the Republic of Vietnam had essentially one single division in Bình Phước Province, the ARVN 5th Division. During the battle the 5th ARVN division was outnumbered by a combined force of three North Vietnamese and Viet Cong divisions resulting in the most protracted conflict of the whole 1972 Easter Offensive.
On the same day that Loc Ninh—a small town 20 miles (32.2 km) north of An Loc on the border with Cambodia was assaulted the (NVA
NVA
NVA is a three-letter acronym for:*National People's Army, or Nationale Volksarmee, the army of former German Democratic Republic*Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, a Flemish political party also known as New-Flemish Alliance...
) PAVN 7th division launched an attack on Route 13 in an attempt to cut off An Loc from Saigon. To control route QL-13 was to control the road to Saigon, some 90 miles (144.8 km) to the south. This prevented resupply of ARVN forces in An Loc.
Battle
On the 8 April 1972 the small town of Loc Ninh was overrun. About half of the defenders escaped to An Loc. This was the opening number in the concert of destruction that lay in wait for the defenders of An Loc. The siege of An Loc proper began with a 7,000 round a day artillery overture, reducing most of the town of An Loc to rubble. It is hard to overestimate the power of such a barrage and counts as to heavy to even venture out of a bunker for a justified fear of imminent death.The defenders of An Loc were made up of several organizations of the 5th ARVN Division. They included the division's 8th Regiment with about 2,100 men; the 7th Regiment which was short one battalion and only had 850 men; the 9th Regiment, most of which was destroyed at Loc Ninh had only had 200 men; Task Force 52, 500 men; the 3rd Ranger Group, 1,300 men; as well as Binh Long Provincial Regional Force, Popular Forces, and People's Self-Defense Forces, about 2,000 men. The defenders were later reinforced by the elite 81st Airborne Commando Battalion and the 1st Airborne Brigade, brought in by air because QL-13 was blocked by the NVA. The defenders also had little artillery and had to rely on US air support. Other reinforcements consisted of the 21st ARVN Division which was plagued by a very slow move from the Delta area in the south of the country and cleared QL-13 after protracted fighting.
The ARVN defenders did have one card to play throughout the battle, the immense power of US air support. The use of B-52 Stratofortress
B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
bombers (a strategic strike craft capable of carrying one hundred and eight MK82 (500 pound) bombs on one run) in a close support tactical role, as well as AC-119 Stinger and AC-130E Spectre
Lockheed AC-130
The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane. The basic airframe is manufactured by Lockheed, while Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support...
gunships, fixed wing cargo aircraft of varying sizes, AH-1 Cobra
AH-1 Cobra
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a two-bladed, single engine attack helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It shares a common engine, transmission and rotor system with the older UH-1 Iroquois...
attack helicopters and Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) A-37's. These methods worked to blunt the offensive from the North Vietnamese Army. At this stage in the war the NVA often attacked with PT-76
PT-76
The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank which was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like India, Iraq, North Korea and North Vietnam. Overall,...
light and T-54/55 medium tanks spearheading the advance, usually preceded by a massive artillery barrage. These tactics reflected Soviet doctrine, as the NVA had been supplied with Soviet (and Chicom-Chinese Communist) equipment; including jets, artillery, and Surface to Air Missiles since the beginning of the war. The battle eventually stagnated and became a periodic trade of artillery barrages, most probably as a result of casualties sustained in frustrated attacks on heavily entrenched enemy positions that could call in a withering array of supporting fire power.
The first attack on the city occurred on April 13. It was preceded by a powerful artillery barrage. The NVA captured several hills to the north and penetrated the northern portion of the city held by the 8th Regiment and 3rd Ranger Group. ARVN soldiers were not used to dealing with tanks, but early success with the M72 LAW
M72 LAW
The M72 LAW is a portable one-shot 66 mm unguided anti-tank weapon, designed in the United States by Paul V. Choate, Charles B. Weeks, and Frank A. Spinale et al...
, including by teen age members of the People's Self Defense Forces (PSDF) went a long way to helping them overcome their fear. The 5th Division commander, General Hung, later ordered tank-destroying teams be formed by each battalion, which included PSDF members who knew the local terrain and could help identify good locations to ambush tanks. They took advantage of the fact that the NVA forces, who were not used to working with tanks, often let the tanks get separated from their infantry by driving through ARVN defensive positions. At that point, all alone inside ARVN lines, they were vulnerable to the tank-destroying teams.
The second attack on the city took place the next day, on April 15. The NVA were concerned because the ARVN 1st Airborne Brigade had air-assaulted into positions west of the city and was coming to reinforce the defenders. Again the NVA preceded their attack with an artillery barrage followed by a tank-infantry attack. Again, their tanks became separated from their infantry and fell prey to ARVN tank-destroyer teams. NVA infantry following behind assaulted the ARVN defensive positions and pushed farther into the city. B-52 strikes helped break up some NVA units assembling for the attack. By the afternoon of the 16th, fighting had died down.
Unable to take the city, the North Vietnamese Army kept it under constant artillery fire. They also moved in more anti-aircraft guns to prevent aerial resupply. Heavy anti-aircraft fire kept Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) helicopters from getting into the city after April 12. Then fixed wing VNAF aircraft, C-123's and C-119's tried. Several were shot down and by April 19 the US Air Force took over. The US used C-130's to parachute in supplies, but many missed the defenders and aircraft were shot down or damaged. Low altitude drops during day and night did not do the job, so the USAF tried a new technique. On May 2 High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) techniques were tried. That method worked much better and was used until June 25 when the siege was lifted and aircraft could land at An Loc. Over the entire course of the resupply effort, the garrison recovered several thousand tons of supplies, the only supplies it received during the siege.
On 11 May 1972 the North Vietnamese Army launched a massive all-out infantry and armor (T-54 medium tanks) assault on the town. The attack was carried out by units of the 5th and 9th NVA divisions. This attack was repulsed by a combination of US airpower and the determined stand of ARVN soldiers on the ground. Almost every B-52 in South East Asia was called in to strike the massing enemy tanks and infantry. The commander of the defending forces had placed a grid around the town creating many "boxes" each measuring 1 km by 3 km in size which were given a number and could be called by ground forces at any time, the B-52 Arclight
Operation Arc Light
Operation Arc Light was the 1965 deployment of B-52D Stratofortresses as conventional bombers from bases in the US to Guam to support ground combat operations in Vietnam...
cells (groups of 3 Aircraft) were guided onto these boxes by ground based radar. During 11 and 12 May, the US Air Force managed an "Arc Light" mission every 55 minutes for 30 hours straight, using 170 B-52's and smashing whole regiments of NVA in the process. Despite that air support, the North Vietnamese made gains, and were within a few hundred meters of the ARVN 5th Division command post. ARVN counter-attacks were able to stabilize the situation. By the night of May 11, the NVA consolidated their gains. On May 12, they launched new attacks in an effort take the city, but again failed. The NVA launched one more attack on May 19 in honor of Ho Chi Minh's birthday. The defenders were not surprised, and the attack was broken up by American air support and an ambush by the ARVN paratroopers.
After the attacks of 11 and 12 May, the NVA directed its main efforts to cutting off any more relief columns. However, by the 9th of June this proved ineffective, and the defenders were able to receive the injection of manpower and supplies needed to sweep the surrounding area of North Vietnamese forces. By 18 June 1972 the battle had been declared over.
Aftermath
The victory, however, was not complete, as Route 13 still was not open. The 18th ARVN division was moved in to replace the exhausted 5th Division. The 18th would spread out from An Loc and push the NVA back and the area stabilized. The fighting at An Lộc demonstrated the continued ARVN dependence on American air power and American advisors. For the NVA, it demonstrated their logistical constraints. They had to pause after each attack and bring up more supplies.External links
- BATTLE OF AN LOC (VALIANT BINH LONG)
- Battle of An Loc - by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Willbanks
- The Battle of An Loc - A Massive Convergence of Forces