Conflict in Asia - Vietnam War 2

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  • The Vietnam War (2)
    • Vietcong tactics
      • Guerrilla tactics
        • Surprise attacks, ambushes and booby traps
          • Useful because they did not have the military strength to participate in direct conflict
      • Traps
        • Guerrilla tactics
          • Surprise attacks, ambushes and booby traps
            • Useful because they did not have the military strength to participate in direct conflict
        • Punji traps, bouncing betty, etc.
        • Intended to injure troops and slow down a group
        • Mental warfare - they were always on edge and wary - low morale
          • Some were made from unexploded US bombs
        • Hearts and minds
          • Helped the Vietnamese people which made them more likely to help them
            • Villagers hid them during S&D raids and made traps/transported supplies
        • Allies
          • They used their allies' fighter jets and anti-aircraft guns (USSR and China)
        • Tunnels
          • Hundreds of miles of tunnel networks to hide from bombing and ambush soldiers
          • US tried to use 'tunnel rats' to stop this
      • US tactics
        • Targeted bombing - Operation Rolling Thunder from 1965 - 1968
          • Somewhat successful as many VC were killed but targets were limited in fear of making China/USSR enter war
        • Search and destroy
          • Missions to kill any VC but many innocents were killed too as it is hard to tell them apart
            • Made US very unpopular in S Vietnam
        • Chemical weapons
          • Agent Orange and Agent Blue - designed to remove foliage from forest but caused generations of birth defects and illness
            • Napalm was intended for the same purpose but led to severe injuries and buns for many civilians
      • The Tet Offensive
        • January 1968 - surprise attack
        • NVA attacked US bases (1st example of open warfare in Vietnam)
        • Military success for US as they regained control after several hours
          • 2000 deaths for VC but only 1000 for America
          • VC held US Embassy for several hours - this scared the US public as they thought they were winning the war
        • Media victory for the VC - provoked extreme protests in US as people saw they were far from winning
          • They realised that the government had been lying and covering up things - mistrust
          • LBJ refused to give the extra 200,000 soldiers that they asked for and did not run again for president
            • They realised that the government had been lying and covering up things - mistrust
      • Vietnamisation
        • Nixon's secret plan to end US involvement without letting the North win
        • They would train up the ARVN so they could fight alone then withdraw US troops
          • Bombing will increase
        • 1st set of troops withdrawn in 1969 (there was 549,500 overall in Vietnam) but by 1971 there was only 140000
        • Unsuccessful - led to worsened morale and decreased support of war due to increased bombing
          • ARVN was not strong enough and suffered many defeats

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