IntroductionThe elaborate fortifications that our Marines were forced to attack – the hundreds of meters of neck-deep bunkers, fighting holes, gun pits, and connecting trenches so cleverly woven into the hedgerows, buildings, and thickets – were constructed over the previous weeks by the full-time efforts of a local VC support battalion.
[A US Marine Corps officer]
The fortifications were unbelievable, and the NVA soldiers were popping in and out, up and down, shooting from all the holes. Fields of fire overlapped. To get at one bunker, you had to take the fire from another. By teams and pairs the Marines would throw grenades, then flank the bunker, and fire up the trench. It was not our first time out. As usual, the enemy was almost invisible until we got right on top of them. Some broke and ran – most died in place.
[A US Marine Corps officer]
The war in Vietnam was characterized by evolving tactics and techniques, and seemingly conflicting means of warfare, all set within a complex political environment. It is often described as a guerrilla war, though it was also a conventional one for the United States involving multiple-division operations. The Viet Cong (VC) Main Forces and the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) or North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars may not have been supported by artillery, tanks, and aircraft (except in rare instances), but nonetheless they conducted large-scale conventional operations against the Free World military forces.
In taking on the Free World forces, the VC/NVA faced tremendous firepower delivered by artillery, mortars, direct-fire weapons, fighter-bombers, strategic bombers, and helicopter gunships. The weight of ordnance dumped on the elusive fighters met and often superseded that delivered in World War II on major population centers and Pacific islands.
Free World forces also possessed effective surveillance, reconnaissance, and human intelligence collection capabilities. However, the vast area of operations, dense tropical vegetation, and rugged terrain to some degree countered these capabilities. The VC/NVA needed other means to reduce the huge disparity between the belligerents. They became highly adept at camouflage and counter-intelligence measures (or “asymmetric innovation” in today’s terminology). Their tactics also reflected attempts to counter the massive firepower they faced. They moved at night, often rapidly covering great distances to limit their exposure; they widely dispersed deploying units; and when directly engaging the enemy they employed “belt-hugging” tactics (moving in and remaining closely engaged), even intermingling units, to prevent the enemy from bringing his artillery and close air support to bear.
It became critically important for the VC/NVA to conceal and protect themselves from prying eyes and massive firepower. Soldiers have always dug, but the VC/NVA combatants dug as few soldiers ever have done before, with the exceptions of those during World War I and the Korean War, both to hide and to survive. Their field works included defended villages, base camps, fortified complexes, hilltop defenses, trench systems, individual fighting positions, crew-served weapons positions, bunkers, caches, and extensive tunnel systems. Camouflage measures to hide from ground and aerial observation, deception measures, and the employment of obstacles and booby traps went hand-in-hand with such works. The maintenance of their trail systems was also of critical importance.
Field fortifications and tunnel systems are typically thought of as defensive in nature and as active protective measures, but the VC/NVA also employed them offensively. It was common for extensive field works, weapons positions, and shelters to be constructed to support assaults and sieges on Free World firebases and remote camps, and even for large-scale ambushes.
The tunnel systems were begun in the late 1940s and evolved through the First Indochina War with France. They were first used to hide wanted individuals, then families as the fighting worsened, and to hide supplies; before long whole villages and guerrilla units were hiding in them. They were well developed by the time the Americans arrived in 1965 and continued to expand as Free World firepower increased.