Battle of Xuan Loc
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| Battle of Xuan Loc | |||||||
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| Part of the Vietnam War | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Image:Flag of North Vietnam.svgVietnam People's Army | Image:Flag of South Vietnam.svgArmy of the Republic of Vietnam | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| General Hoang Cam General Hoang The Hiep (Political Commissar) | General Le Minh Dao | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 40,000 | 6,000 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 5,000+ dead and wounded | 1,500 dead and wounded | ||||||
| Vietnam War |
|---|
| Ap Bac – Binh Gia – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Ia Drang – Long Tan – Dak To – Tra Binh Dong –Ong Thanh – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Lang Vei – Hills 881 & 861 – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Ripcord – FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – An Loc – Kontum – Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Buon Ma Thuot – Xuan Loc – 2nd Saigon – Barrell Roll – Rolling Thunder – Pony Express – Steel Tiger – Commando Hunt – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Chenla I – Tiger Hound – Lima Site 85 – Tailwind – Chenla II – Cambodia |
The Battle of Xuan Loc was the last major battle of the Vietnam War. It was fought between the ARVN 18th Division and the VPA from April 9th to 20th, 1975.
Contents |
[edit] Setup
During the closing days of the 1975 North Vietnamese Offensive, four VPA divisions were pitted against a small ARVN force, dug-in astride the rugged hills near Xuan Loc - a town of 30,000 people located along one of the key roads into the capital, Saigon. Advancing in strength down the coastal highway were the VPA 5th, 6th, 7th and 341st Divisions, massed with artillery and T-54 tanks. Defiantly blocking their way were the ARVN 18th Divisions, Long Khanh provincial forces, and 82nd Ranger Battalion. On 12 April 1975, the 1st Airborne Brigade, made up of four Airborne Battalions and one Airborne artillery battalion, was moved into the area of operations by helicopter.
[edit] Battle
The battle which followed was unique in many respects for the Vietnam War, involving units of divisional size, devastatingly effective VNAF airpower and sophisticated US-made BLU-82 Daisy Cutter Bomb Live Unit-82s. For nearly 2 weeks, the ARVN held Xuan Loc and counterattacked against impossible odds. In contrast to the general impression of total collapse on the part of the ARVN, it was described as 'heroic and gallant' by the South Vietnamese defenders. It was one of the few places where the ARVN, though outnumbered, stood and fought with a tenacity which stunned their opponents. The stand of the ARVN so impressed the rest of the entire South Vietnamese Army, that previously routed, they grew confident again. News reporters were flown in from around the world to witness the battlefield strewn with VPA casualties, repelled in assault after assault with heavy losses, including at least 37 T-54 tanks destroyed or knocked out.
After 12 days and nights of ferocious combat against the North Vietnamese Communist forces, the steel defensive line at Xuan Loc (Long Khanh) still held firm. The forces of the North Vietnamese 4th Corps engaged in the battle had suffered heavy losses. For this reason the Headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign hastily changed their plan for the attack on Saigon. The forces of the North Vietnamese 3rd Corps in Tay Ninh and 2nd at the Nuoc Trong base would be used to make the “major effort” to attack and capture Saigon. The VPA 4th Corps would abandon its efforts against Xuan Loc and would become a “reserve force”. For this reason, Xuan Loc was no longer a “hot point,” and the Headquarters of ARVN 3rd Corps/Military Region 3 ordered the 18th Infantry Division and all units participating in the Xuan Loc (Long Khanh) battle to retreat to Bien Hoa on 20 April 1975 to establish a new line defending the outer approaches to Saigon.
The retreat back to Bien Hoa to assume the new mission was carried out during the night of 20 April 1975.
[edit] Aftermath
Xuan Loc is a city on Route 1, located about 100 kilometers northeast of Saigon. The city is the capital of Long Khanh Province (formed in 1957). It holds the basecamps of the Headquarters of the 18th Infantry Division and the division’s organic units. Xuan Loc was also an important strategic position, situated at the intersection of Routes 1 and 20. The capture of Xuan Loc opened the gate for the North's final assault on the government of South Vietnam.
[edit] References
- Davidson, Philip. B (1988) "Vietnam at War" Xuan Loc. Novato: Presidio Press
- Colonel Hua Yen Len, Chief of Staff for Operations, 18th Infantry Division, (1988) "The Line of Steel at Xuan Loc: 12 Days and Nights of Ferocious Combat"
