The foregoing is a review of the heavy setbacks, especially strategic and tactical setbacks, of the U.S. imperialists in implementing the strategy of local war of aggression in South Vietnam during the past two years. For our people, the past two anti-U.S. national salvation years were violent fighting and testing years, during which they have achieved very great and glorious victories.
Confronted with the fact that the U.S. imperialists have massively sent expeditionary troops to South Vietnam and frenziedly stepped up the war of destruction, mainly by means of their air and naval forces, against the north, the people in the entire country find themselves in a very serious situation, that is, the struggle for the country’s survival. This situation sets forth for our people throughout the country a common duty: unite the entire people and make both north and south stand shoulder to shoulder in stepping up the great patriotic war and determined to fight to vanquish the U.S. aggressors in order to protect the north, liberate the south, and advance toward the unification of the fatherland.
President Ho said: “At present, struggling against U.S. aggression and for national salvation is the most sacred duty of every patriotic Vietnamese. All our soldiers and people are united and of the same minds, fear no sacrifices and hardships, and are determined to fight until complete victory.”
On the South Vietnam battlefield, with their special war strategy going bankrupt, the U.S. imperialists have been forced to shift to the local war strategy. However, the character of their war still is a war of aggression aimed at achieving the political objectives of neocolonialism. Thus, their war is a neocolonialist aggressive war.
The anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war of the Vietnamese people in South Vietnam is a revolutionary war, a people’s war developed to an unprecedentedly high degree. It is a revolutionary war, a people’s war of an entire people against U.S. imperialism’s neocolonialist aggressive war.
The great resistance war is developing favorably, because it is directed by an accurate and creative line and because it has synthetically applied and creatively developed all of the valuable experiences and forms of struggle of the Vietnamese revolution, ranging from the political struggle to uprisings and war. Thus our people’s anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war is progressing according to all the laws of a revolutionary war against the neocolonialist aggressive war, laws whose main contents are the spirit of indomitable struggle of an heroic people, the spirit of thorough revolution of the working class and the basic masses of workers and peasants, and the skillful and unique combination of all forms of struggle, especially of the political struggle with the armed struggle, in all regions of the country, from jungles, rural areas, and plains to cities.
Naturally under the direction of all these laws, each form of struggle, such as the armed struggle as well as the political struggle, has its own law. Since our people are already equipped with an indomitable spirit--better to die than agree to serve as slaves, have at their disposal very valuable revolutionary struggle experiences, hold fast to the laws of the revolutionary war against the neocolonialist aggressive war, have very correct strategies and tactics, understand the enemy and friendly situations, and are resolved and know how to fight to defeat the enemy--their anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war has achieved great victories and will certainly achieve final victory.
Holding firm to the character and goal of the U.S. imperialists’ local war, our people in South Vietnam continue developing the achievements scored, strive to step up the people’s war, and are resolved to fight and vanquish the U.S. aggressors. The strategies and tactics of the people’s war have undergone new developments so that they are consistent with the new situation of the war.
The southern armed forces and people have asserted that their combat targets are the U.S. and puppet forces. These are the enemy’s strategic forces to prosecute the war of aggression. They rely on each other and fight in close cooperation. The U.S. troops are the core force which is a military buttress for the puppet armed forces and administration and at the same time the main mobile force. The fact that the U.S. troops are heavily defeated will have a very great adverse effect on the puppet armed forces and administration, causing the puppet troops to disintegrate and the puppet administration to collapse quickly. Since the U.S. armed forces are the most modern armed forces in the capitalist world, they need abundant war means and important logistic bases. Therefore, we seek to destroy not only U.S. military strength, but also the enemy’s war means and logistic bases.
The puppet armed forces rely on the U.S. forces to survive and to consolidate and develop their ranks. But they play a very important role toward the Americans in the neocolonialist aggressive war. They are the political buttress for the U.S. forces. They are used as both occupation forces and mobile forces on battlefields. They are primarily in charge of controlling and oppressing the people and at the same time carrying out the pacification task. The fact that they are destroyed and disintegrated will deprive the U.S. forces of a buttress for continuing their neocolonialist aggressive war.
The puppet administration is the political buttress and an instrument for the U.S. imperialists to achieve neocolonialism. In view of this, our people in South Vietnam have combined their armed struggle with their political struggle in order to overthrow the puppet administration, not only at the basic levels, as they have done so far, but also at other levels.
On the basis of clearly acknowledging their combat targets, our people in South Vietnam have correctly and successfully settled the strategic and tactical problems of the people’s war. Our people have waged an all-people, comprehensive, and protracted resistance war in which they have always taken the offensive, have relied on their own force which they consider as the principal force, and have highly appreciated the support of brother socialist countries and progressive people all over the world. The resistance war of our people will certainly be victorious, even though it has to undergo sacrifices and hardships.
The participation of all our people in the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war is one of the basic points in our country’s people’s war strategy. The objective of the southern compatriots’ resistance war is to liberate the south, defend the north, and advance toward the reunification of the fatherland. This objective is entirely consistent with the profound aspirations of all people. This has been instrumental in mobilizing and organizing all people to take part in the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war, thus forming a large and strong resistance force in which the 14 million South Vietnamese people are combatants, fighting the enemy by all means and everywhere.
Since the victory of the general uprising, the South Vietnam National Liberation Front has developed and broadened the great national unity bloc, has succeeded in mobilizing all people to stand up to save the country and themselves, and has insured the practical interests of the people from all walks of life, including the peasants’ right to own land. Therefore, the front has been able to consolidate the worker-peasant alliance as a firm and steady foundation for the great national unity front against U.S. aggression and for national salvation.
Ever since the sending of U.S. troops to invade South Vietnam, the contradictions between the U.S. imperialists and the country-selling Vietnamese traitors and the Vietnamese people have become increasingly acute and deep. Our people in South Vietnam, millions as one, have closed their ranks in the all-people unity bloc under the NFLSV’s invincible banner in order to fight U.S. aggression to save the country. Since our people in South Vietnam have carried out the slogan of “All people are armed and take part in fighting the enemy,” the people’s war has been developed deeply and broadly and has produced a great effect.
On the basis of the participation of all people in the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war, our people in South Vietnam have built and developed swiftly the Liberation Armed Forces which are composed of three kinds of troops: the guerrillas, the regional units, and the main force units. These three kinds of troops of the Liberation Armed Forces are a core force of the southern people in their anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war. With a large political force and with the increasingly large and strong Liberation Armed Forces, the South Vietnamese people will certainly and completely defeat more than a million U.S., puppet, and satellite troops.
In our country at present, fighting against U.S. aggression and for national salvation is the great, sacred historic task of the Vietnamese people as a whole. Our people in the south and the north resolutely stand shoulder to shoulder in fighting until final victory in order to achieve independence and freedom of the entire country. Waging a comprehensive resistance war is a very important strategic problem for developing our strength in all fields in order to vanquish the aggressors, an enemy with numerous troops and strong equipment, but with many contradictions and weaknesses in the neocolonialist war of aggression.
A striking characteristic of the people’s war in our country at present is that even within the local war, the fight against the enemy on all fronts--military, political, cultural, diplomatic, and so forth--is waged at the same time, in which the military struggle and the political struggle are the most basic forms of struggle. The military struggle and political struggle are closely coordinated, assist each other, and encourage each other to develop. The coordination between the military struggle and the political struggle is a law of the revolutionary struggle in our country. It is also an initiative of our people in the process of the protracted revolutionary struggle.
The political struggle plays a very important role throughout the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance. In our country, the political struggle of the masses has always served as a basis for the development of the military struggle. At present in South Vietnam, our people’s struggle has become a direct confrontation with the enemy, and together with the military struggle, has scored repeated and great successes.
In the present local warfare, the political struggle continues to play a very important role. The U.S. imperialists have used expeditionary forces to launch direct aggression against South Vietnam. But they are forced to carry out a neocolonialist policy, and to resort to all kinds of political maneuvers to fool the people. This constitutes an opportunity for the South Vietnamese people to further step up their political struggle. Moreover, the sending of American troops to directly launch aggression against South Vietnam has further developed the contradictions between our people and the U.S. imperialists. Therefore, the South Vietnamese people of all walks of life including those who did not realize the true nature of the U.S. aggressors or who were fooled into following them have now stood up to fight the enemy. This constitutes a favorable condition for the South Vietnamese people’s struggle to develop and to score great victories.
The main objectives of the political struggle are: to mobilize and organize the people, to guide the people in the struggle against the enemy in all forms, and at the same time to closely coordinate with the military struggle and to help it score the greatest victories for the resistance.
The more violent the war becomes, the more strengthened and effective the political struggle will be, especially in the urban centers of South Vietnam where many contradictions between the U.S. imperialists and their henchmen on the one hand and our people on the other, contradictions even between the U.S. imperialists, and so forth. In the process of the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance, the political struggle of the urban compatriots of South Vietnam will play an ever more important role and directly hit the enemy in their deepest dens.
The military struggle is becoming ever more important and is playing a decisive role in directly defeating the enemy on the battlefield. At present the U.S. imperialists are concentrating their forces and resorting to a policy of arms and force to invade South Vietnam and enslave our people. Therefore our people in South Vietnam have to resort to revolutionary violence to oppose the counterrevolutionary violence, and to use military struggle to oppose the armed aggression of the enemy. The U.S. imperialists are using a huge military force to carry out aggression in South Vietnam. As a result, the military struggle of our people in South Vietnam has become ever more important.
The main objectives of the military struggle are: to destroy the enemy military force, to defend the people, to attract the people’s sympathy, to coordinate with the political struggle, and to serve and help the political struggle score the greatest victories for the resistance.
Along with the political struggle, the military struggle of our people in South Vietnam has defeated over half a million rebel troops in the special war, and is now defeating over 1 million U.S., rebel, and satellite troops in the local war. In parallel with the new progress of the political struggle, the military struggle of the South Vietnamese people has developed and is developing strongly, quickly, and steadfastly in both forms, guerrillas and large-scale combat.
Guerrilla activities and large-scale combat coordinate with each other, help each other, and encourage each other to develop. At the same time, they closely coordinate with the political struggle to score great victories in both military and political fields, thus leading the resistance toward final victory. Protracted resistance is an essential strategy of a people of a country which is not large and crowded and which has restricted economic and military potentials, but who are determined to defeat an enemy and aggressor have [sic] large and well-armed forces.
The anti-U.S. national salvation resistance of our people in South Vietnam must be a protracted resistance, because our people have to fight the imperialists’ ringleader, that is the U.S. imperialists, who have large military and economic potentials. Despite their bitter defeats, the enemy is still very obdurate. In the process of their protracted resistance, the longer they fight, the stronger the South Vietnamese people become. On the contrary, the longer the enemy fights the greater difficulties he encounters. The comparison of forces on the battlefields turns in our people’s favor and creates favorable conditions for our people to rush ahead and to completely defeat the enemy. In carrying out their protracted resistance, the South Vietnamese people have frustrated the blitzkrieg strategic scheme of the U.S. aggressor, and forced him to fight in accordance with our strategy, thus causing him to be extremely confused and incapable of escaping complete defeat.
In the present era, with the common offensive thrust of the world revolution, national liberation wars have favorable conditions for developing. National liberation wars can and will certainly score victories without necessarily being connected with a world war or with the revolution right in the country of the imperialist aggressors. Therefore, national liberation wars must allow some time, and a long time, to be able to crush the aggressive desire of the colonialist imperialists and to win final victory.
Our people highly appreciate the struggle of the American people against the aggressive Vietnam war of the Johnson administration, considering it a valuable mark of sympathy and support of our people’s just resistance. Moreover, our people are thoroughly aware that the decisive factor for the success of the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance is our people’s objective efforts to turn the comparison of forces more and more in our favor on the Vietnam battlefield, where there is a firm struggle between the aggressors and the victims of aggression, and where the war situation is developing more and more in favor of the heroic South Vietnamese people.
Our people hold that after the forthcoming presidential elections in the United States, and despite a possible change of presidents, the U.S. imperialists’ aggressive policy cannot be changed in nature. The U.S. presidential elections are but a distribution of hierarchies among the personalities of the parties of the ruling capitalist class in the United States. Of course, through the forthcoming elections, the American people will better realize the errors and setbacks of the Johnson administration in the aggressive war in Vietnam. And so, the struggle of the American people against the aggressive war will be stronger.
The southern people’s protracted fighting strategy reflects the determination to fight and the ability of our people to defeat the U.S. imperialists under all war circumstances. The southern people, as well as the people in our entire country, are ready to carry on the resistance for 5, 10, 20, or more years, and are firmly confident of victory. In the protracted resistance against the U.S. imperialist aggressors, our people in the south are able and determined to gain time and to score increasingly greater achievements. The southern people are able to do this, because in the past they have scored great achievements and because the resistance forces have swiftly matured.
On this basis, the southern army and people will make greater efforts and will certainly score increasingly greater achievements. The southern people are able to do this, because the U.S. imperialists, following their successive, heavy setbacks, are driven into a strategically deadlocked situation, the U.S. troops’ fighting efficiency has increasingly decreased, the U.S. troops are considerably scattered and passive, and the puppet troops and administration are on the verge of collapse. The U.S. ruling circles have been increasingly opposed by the U.S. people and is being isolated politically to a high degree in the international arena.
Although it is great, the U.S. economic and military potential is not boundless. Moreover, the realities of the war in Vietnam have proved that although they have a great number of troops, good rifles, and much money, the Americans are unable to extricate themselves from defeat and deadlock and will certainly be completely defeated.
Relying mainly on our own force but at the same time seeking assistance from the socialist bloc and the people in the world is a very important strategic matter. This is a manifestation of the masses’ steadfast viewpoint, which places absolute confidence in our people and nation, who are imbued with an indomitable tradition and have sufficient conditions and ability to defeat the aggressive enemy, even if it is the U.S. imperialists.
Revolution is the work of the masses. No one can replace our people in carrying out the resistance to wrest back independence and freedom from the Vietnamese fatherland. Only our people can decide their destiny. Relying mainly on our own force and the all-people unity strength and firmly grasping the strategy and tactics of the invincible people’s war, our people are determined to defeat the aggressive enemy, the U.S. imperialists.
Relying mainly on their own force, our people have defeated hundreds of thousands of professional troops of the French aggressor colonialists. Relying mainly on their own force, our people in the south have successfully conducted a general uprising and have defeated the special war of the Americans and the puppets. Relying mainly on their own force, our people have defeated the first phase of the U.S. imperialists’ local war strategy and will certainly and completely defeat more than one million U.S., puppet, and satellite troops.
The present era is the era of revolutionary storms. The strong socialist bloc is becoming a factor which decides the development of human society, and the people’s liberation movement is boiling throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Imperialism, headed by the U.S. imperialists, is being repeatedly attacked everywhere; our people can and must fully develop the advantages of the present area [sic - era?] and positively seek assistance from the socialist countries and the people in the world in order to strengthen our force and ability to defeat the U.S. imperialist aggressors.
Our people do not detach our anti-U.S. national salvation resistance from the present era and highly value the assistance of the socialist countries and our friends in the world. Nevertheless, relying mainly on our own force must be set forth as a matter of primary and decisive importance. In the southern part of our country, the offensive strategy is the strategy of the people’s war in the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance.
In the south, the offensive strategy has been carried out by our people since the general uprising period, and the coordinated military and political offensive strategy has scored great achievements in defeating the enemy’s special war. Nevertheless, when the U.S. imperialists sent in masses of U.S. troops to directly invade the South, the problem was whether our people would continue to carry out the offensive strategy. The southern people have continued to carry out the offensive strategy, because their resistance has a winning position and because the southern people also possess mature military and political forces, which have conditions for further swift development, while the U.S. imperialists and their lackeys are being heavily defeated and are seriously declining. At the outset the U.S. expeditionary troops introduced into the south were forced to remain in a strategically passive and scattered position in order to cope with the people’s war, which has developed vigorously everywhere.
The striking characteristic of the offensive strategy of our southern people is to comprehensively and continuously attack and to gain the initiative in attacking the enemy everywhere with all forces and weapons and with all appropriate methods. The comprehensive offensive is a coordinated military and political offensive and includes the attacks on U.S. troops and the puppet troops and administration in the mountain and jungle areas, the deltas, and the cities. This requires a very great determination and very flexible, creative attacking methods. Our people have succeeded in doing this, because our people have an extremely valiant fighting spirit, mature political and armed forces, and unique, versatile, and extremely damaging fighting methods.
The southern people have used all methods of the military and political struggles to attack the enemy. It is due to coordinated military and political attacks on the enemy that the southern people’s offensive strategy has acquired strong and great effect. It is due to the fact that the offensive strategy has been carried out in a flexible and creative manner, depending upon the place, time, and objective, that the southern people have developed a very steadfast offensive strategy posture and have driven the enemy deep into a passive and defensive position everywhere. Not only have the armed forces including the three categories of troops composed of guerrillas, regional forces, and regular troops carried out the offensive strategy, but the women’s troops, and all the people in the political forces have also repeatedly attacked the enemy.
It is on the basis of this offensive strategy that the revolutionary war in the south, with its various forms, has successfully developed and has acquired increasingly greater strength. It is on the basis of this offensive strategy that the people’s army and political struggles have developed successfully from the rural areas to the cities and from the mountain and jungle areas to the deltas, and especially on the battlefields and in various strategic directions. These creative forms of struggle, including the political struggle with its extremely rich contents from low level to high level and the armed struggle for guerrilla warfare to attacks with concentrated forces and with skilled, flexible, and unique fighting methods, have allowed the people’s armed forces and political forces to develop their offensive strength to a high degree, attack the areas regarded by the enemy as indestructible, thus opening extremely great new prospects and capabilities for the offensive strategy and giving the offensive strategy--a comprehensive and continuous offensive--an immeasurable strength, an invincible strength.
[The following segment of Part III was transmitted by Hanoi Domestic Service in Vietnamese at 1300 GMT on 19 September]:
The foregoing is a summary of the main contents of the people’s war strategy, which our southern people have applied in the present anti-U.S. national salvation resistance. This strategy has achieved very great victories and has defeated the local war strategy of the U.S. imperialists during the recent very important phase.
The “all people resist the Americans for national salvation” strategy has caused the large and strong U.S., puppet, and satellite forces of more than a million men to become small and weak. The comprehensive resistance strategy has made the already passive enemy become more passive in all fields. The protracted resistance strategy has defeated the blitzkrieg strategy of the U.S. imperialists and their lackeys. The offensive strategy has developed to a high level the great political and military power of the entire nation and driven more than a million enemy troops deeper into a defensive and passive state.
It is obvious that our people’s war strategy is superior to all strategies of the U.S. imperialist aggressors. Every day this strategy has proved that it is invincible. To defeat the U.S. imperialists, our people have not only correct, creative, and very effective strategies, but also clever tactics.
We all know that with good tactics a certain number of troops can defeat the enemy, but if the tactics are bad, these troops can hardly be victorious and sometimes sustain losses. In war, to defeat the enemy’s strategies and open the way for greater victories, it is sometimes better to fight a few battles with good tactics than to fight many battles with bad tactics. In fighting an enemy having millions of troops, we will encounter many difficulties if we do not have flexible and creative tactics. If we have good tactics, not only can we achieve great results in fighting, but also develop the effects of military operations and strategies and deal heavy blows to the enemy aggressors.
In the south of our country, by strongly developing the effects of the people’s war strategy, the Liberation Armed Forces have heightened their wonderful courage, resourcefulness, creativeness, and spirit of mastery; developed to a high degree the efficiency of all weapons at hand; limited the efficiency of the enemy’s modern weapons; and invented clever, varied, and effective tactics.
All tactics of the Liberation Armed Forces have been invented and developed on the basis of intense patriotism, deep hatred for the enemy, and the spirit of voluntarily, actively, and resolutely finding resourceful and creative means to attack and annihilate the enemy.
On the southern battlefield, the tactics of the guerrilla force have developed in varied ways, thus greatly frightening the enemy. The guerrillas have fought with primitive weapons such as spikes, mines, and traps as well as with semimodern and modern weapons. They have fought with means aimed at decimating as well as annihilating the enemy. The guerrillas have recognized the enemy’s weak points and fully developed their own strong points.
They have discovered clever tactics and devoted their courage, spirit of sacrifices, and intelligence to successfully enforcing these tactics. Now the southern guerrillas’ tactics are very powerful.
There have been battles in which guerrillas have defeated raids by enemy battalions, in which a guerrilla squad annihilated an entire U.S. company, in which guerrillas have destroyed an enemy command headquarters. Cases of shooting at and burning the enemy’s armored vehicles, planes, warships, and so forth have become common among southern guerrillas. Southern guerrillas have stretched out the enemy to decimate and annihilate him, thus sowing great fear among his ranks.
On the southern battlefield, the LAF’s method of fighting with concentrated forces to completely annihilate enemy troops has increasingly developed and has been very effective. On the basis of the people’s war, which has developed to a high degree, and in coordination with the guerrillas and regional forces, the LAF’s main force units have dealt powerful blows to the enemy on all battlefields.
With gallantry and skill and by restricting to a minimum the effect of the enemy’s aircraft and artillery, fully developing all kinds of weapons, and deepening the difficulties encountered by the U.S. troops--low morale, unfamiliarity with the terrain and climate, poor command, and so forth--the southern LAF have dealt serious, annihilating blows to the enemy, whether he remains in his well-fortified and adequately protected bases, or moves out to launch attacks or conduct mopup operations, and even if he belongs to seasoned U.S. divisions, such as the First Infantry Division, the Air Cavalry Division, U.S. Marine divisions, and so forth.
Attacking U.S. military bases and logistical installations is also a powerful fighting method of the LAF on the southern battlefield. Although the enemy stays deep in his extremely well-protected bases, the LAF has been able to penetrate deep into his lairs, inflicted very heavy losses on him, and, as the enemy has admitted, has carried the fear of the war to his bed.
LAF attacks against the U.S. bases at Da Nang and Chu Lai, the large airfields, and the logistical installations at Lien Chieu, Long Binh, and many other areas have brought about very great results which were like the feats of arms scored by a marvelous strategic air force unit of the people’s war and which, as the enemy has had to admit, could not be prevented [from coming forward] or warded off.
On the southern battlefield the LAF’s method of attacking cities is being developed. With the support of the people’s political forces, small units of the LAF have succeeded in winning resounding victories and annihilating a substantial part of the enemy’s vitality. In particular, the attacks launched by the LAF in the heart of Saigon, Hue, and other cities have supported the struggle movement of the urban compatriots, frightened the enemy, and filled the hearts of our compatriots throughout the country with elation. The attacks on the cities have demonstrated the marvelous courage, skill, and flexibility of the LAF.
On the southern battlefields the methods for attacking military communications, especially important strategic axes of communications, are very effective LAF methods. With them, the LAF have disrupted and paralyzed the enemy’s ground logistical supply movement and weakened his mobile ability on the battlefields. The U.S. and puppet troops were forced to shift an important part of their forces to protect and clear their communications, but to date the enemy’s military communications still face many difficulties, and his important strategic routes are still constantly and violently attacked and threatened.
The LAF’s method for attacking military communications are developing, thus making the U.S. expeditionary troops unable to develop the effect of their up-to-date equipment and highly mobile ability.
At present in the south, all three categories of troops--guerrillas, regional forces, and regular troops--are very familiar with the methods for attacking military communications and are placing the U.S. and puppet troops in a truly perilous situation on the military communications front.
On the southern battlefields, the LAF forces also have other skilled fighting methods such as those designed to destroy enemy positions, to combine fighting with troop proselytizing in order to disintegrate the enemy ranks, to combine fighting with military revolt in order to destroy one important unit of the enemy after another, to combine political struggle with military struggle in order to destroy strategic hamlets, to foment revolts in the rural areas, and so forth.
In the process of fighting and defeating the U.S., puppet, and satellite troops, our southern people have constantly sought fighting methods that are able to help develop the fighting strength of all their military and political forces to a high degree with a view to continuously and comprehensively attacking the enemy at all times and in all places, soon all his strategies and tactics, and score increasingly greater achievements.
At present these fighting methods of the LAF have been creatively and effectively applied by the three categories of troops: guerrillas, regional forces, and regular troops. Herewith, I present only the fighting methods adopted by the LAF’s main force units and which have undergone development.
The fighting methods are based upon coordination among various armed branches and the independent fighting method of each armed branch. The coordinated fighting method of various armed branches of the LAF is one in which infantry troops constitute the main elements operating in coordination with one or many other armed branches and creating a superior strength and a powerful fighting capacity in order to annihilate major units or command posts of the enemy.
Because of the characteristics of the situation of friendly and enemy units on the battlefield, the organization of coordinated fighting does not depend on the availability of units of all armed branches. The LAF have proceeded from coordinating combat among a few armed branches, toward coordinating combat among many of the basis of using infantry troops as the main elements, with a view to developing the decisive role of infantry troops on the battlefield.
Thus, to improve the effectiveness of the coordinated fighting method, the LAF have attached great importance to building and developing many infantry units which fight effectively under all circumstances by coordinating their actions with the armed branches and combining many fighting methods and tactical forms and tricks of the people’s war.
In addition to the fighting method based upon coordination among various armed branches with infantry units constituting the main elements, the LAF have also adopted fighting methods based upon coordination among the various armed branches themselves. For instance, coordination between artillery units and crack special units, between engineer and antiaircraft units, and so forth. The existing conditions and the nature of the need to annihilate the enemy serve as a basis for determining the coordination of combat between the armed branch and the other, with a view to adopting a fighting method able to insure victory and rapid and complete annihilation of enemy troops.
To insure that the fighting method based upon coordination among various armed branches achieves increasing effectiveness, the southern liberation armed forces have laid special emphasis on developing the highest efficiency of all kinds of weapons and equipment, developing to a high degree the liberation troops’ fighting ability, and using each unit and each armed branch at the right time and place, with a view to raising its level of mastery over the battlefield and completely annihilating large enemy units.
The liberation armed forces’ fighting methods based upon coordination among various armed branches is being vigorously developed along with the steady development of the armed branches, especially the development of the infantry units, and in accordance with the growing requirement for concentrated fighting. The fighting method based upon coordination among various armed branches will certainly make a decisive contribution toward annihilating many large units and many important bases of the enemy, changing the situation on the battlefield in favor of the southern people and providing the southern people with opportunities to move forward to completely defeat more than a million troops of the U.S. imperialist aggressors.
The independent fighting method of each armed branch is a very unique creation of the people’s war in the southern part of our country. Not to mention the infantry force, the other armed branches of the liberation armed forces, such as the artillery units, the crack special units, the engineer units, the antiaircraft units, and so forth, have their own independent fighting methods. The common characteristics of the independent fighting methods adopted by various armed branches is the thorough comprehension of the spirit of positively attacking and annihilating the enemy, developing to the highest degree the initiative of the southern armed forces and people at any time, anywhere, and in the face of any enemy. With the independent fighting methods of various armed branches, the southern liberation armed forces have succeeded in creating many opportunities to attack the enemy and enabling the armed branches to acquire a tremendous new fighting ability.
The independent fighting method of the artillery units of the liberation armed forces:
On the southern battlefield today, the liberation armed forces’ artillery units, in fighting in coordination with infantry units as well as in fighting independently, have increasingly developed their tremendous power. In many independently fought battles, the liberation armed forces’ artillery units have rapidly annihilated a substantial part of the enemy troops just as they began to maneuver or assemble. The liberation armed forces’ artillery barrages against the enemy’s command posts, military bases, and logistical installations as well as against his bivouacs have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy and rendered him panic-stricken. It goes without saying that for the artillery units, independent fighting is but one method. The primary mission of artillery units is to fight in coordination with infantry units and to support infantry units in major battles in order to annihilate large enemy units.
The independent fighting method of the crack special units, whose numbers are small but whose quality is high, has achieved extremely great results. No matter where the enemy troops are located and no matter how adequately protected they may be, regardless of whether they are U.S. or puppet troops or whether they are in airbases, logistical facilities, U.S. officers’ quarters, and so forth, with their independent fighting method the liberation armed forces’ crack special units have been able to seriously annihilate them.
With boundless courage, marvelous intelligence, and a thoroughly tested fighting capacity, the crack special units, with their own fighting methods, have dealt vigorous surprise blows at the enemy and rendered him incapable of reacting in time. With small numbers but high quality, the crack special units have defeated the enemy and inflicted with heavy losses on him even in areas where large infantry or artillery units have encountered difficulties in organizing combat. The independent fighting method of the crack special units is developing vigorously among the three categories of troops. This has created new fighting abilities and strength for the liberation armed forces to annihilate increasingly larger numbers of the enemy’s military forces everywhere.
With their independent fighting methods, the southern liberation armed forces’ engineering units have paralyzed the enemy’s communications, cut the important strategic routes, destroyed military bridges, attacked the enemy’s mechanized vehicles, and so forth. They have inflicted very serious losses on the enemy. Of course, the engineering units also have the primary task of supporting the infantry and artillery units in combat. Yet, with their independent fighting methods, engineering units have contributed toward effectively annihilating the enemy in a situation in which the liberation armed forces are fighting against U.S. troops, who possess plenty of modern weapons and instruments.
With their independent fighting methods, the liberation armed forces’ antiaircraft units have inflicted considerable losses on the enemy’s air force and have restricted to a minimum the activities of the enemy’s aircraft, especially his helicopters. Although they are newly developed units, the liberation armed forces’ antiaircraft units have demonstrated a courageous fighting spirit and resourcefulness and have created fighting methods which are appropriate for the southern battlefields. As a result, they have inflicted considerable losses on the enemy and have caused many difficulties for him in developing the effect of his air force on the southern battlefield. The southern liberation armed forces’ antiaircraft units have increasingly matured in combat and will certainly deal more serious blows at the U.S. Air Force.
The fighting method based upon coordination among various armed branches and the independent fighting methods of each armed branch of the liberation armed forces have indicated that the liberation armed forces know how to apply the universal principle of concentrating forces to annihilate the enemy and, at the same time, know how to apply the principle of using a small number of troops to defeat a large number of enemy troops who possess modern equipment.
This fact indicates another invention of the people’s war and the Vietnamese military art: not only in the strategic field do we use a small force against a larger force, but in the tactical field, along with using a large force to strike at a smaller force, we use a small force against a larger force. Events on the South Vietnam battlefield have proved that this fighting method is completely and definitely feasible and has been fruitfully implemented. Naturally, when the tactics of using a small force to fight a large force is applied, we must have the following conditions: the quality of units must be high; the targets must be chosen carefully; opportunities must be created; and the situation maintained, especially when there are flaws developed by the enemy; actions must be unexpected and swift; and so forth.
With such varied and creative fighting methods, the South Vietnam Liberation Armed Forces have been able to strike at all targets of the enemy in and outside fortifications, to destroy both the enemy’s strength, and war means, and to attack even the enemy’s military headquarters and bases, logistic bases, communication lines, cities, and so forth, thus inflicting heavy damage on the enemy forces in all domains and everywhere.
With these fighting methods, especially the method of coordinated fighting among various armed branches, not only have the South Vietnam LAF taken the initiative in counterattacking and smashing the enemy’s counteroffensive strategy, but they have also continuously attacked the enemy, achieved glorious victories, and strongly developed their enemy-attacking posture on all battlefronts in the jungle and mountain areas, in the rural areas, and in the cities.
With these fighting methods, the liberation forces have developed to a high degree their militant strength, enabling their three categories of troops to develop their strong offensive force. Not only have the main force units adopted the method of coordinated fighting among various armed branches, but the regional forces and the guerrilla forces are also advancing toward the adoption of this fighting method. As a result of their being closely combined with the methods of the political struggle, these varied and creative fighting methods of the military struggle have become increasingly strong and effective and have brought about resounding victories on battlefields.
A very important factor deciding the victories of the liberation forces in all battles is their skillful and creative fighting methods. Although the U.S. forces have fought many battles, they have not achieved victories because their fighting methods have been clumsy. The fighting methods of the South Vietnamese armed forces and people prevail over those of the U.S., puppet, and satellite forces. They are the methods of a creative people’s war and a brave, heroic, unyielding, intelligent, and resourceful people who, though living in a small and less populous country, possess a steadfast determination to fight to protect their fatherland and are resolved and know how to defeat the U.S. imperialist aggressors’ armed forces consisting of more than a million men.
We have just dealt with how the strategies and tactics of the South Vietnamese people’s war have defeated the strategies and tactics of the limited war of the U.S. imperialists and their lackeys. But besides the problems of strategies and tactics, there is another very basic problem: How many troops do our people need to defeat the U.S. imperialists’ aggressive armed forces of more than a million men? Our people in South Vietnam have settled this problem very satisfactorily and successfully.
On the basis of the development of the people’s war, our people in the south have attached importance to the building of military and political forces, considering it a decisive problem in order to implement the strategies and tactics of the people’s war.
Our people in South Vietnam, under the glorious banner of the NFLSV, have developed the experiences of the former resistance war against the French and have been able to develop a policy on the building of armed and political forces, a policy which is consistent with the present conditions of the anti-U.S. national salvation resistance war.
Although South Vietnam is not large and is less populous, the southern compatriots have been able to build strong military and political forces who have the great militant strength and are fully capable of vanquishing more than a million U.S., puppet, and satellite troops who have modern equipment. This armed forces-building policy consists of mobilizing and arming all people and urging them to participate in the war in which the armed forces are a nucleus force. It is a policy of building the armed forces, composed of three categories of troops, along with building increasingly large and broad political forces of the people.
Concerning the building of the armed forces, our people in the south maintain that to develop the people’s war to a high degree and to step up the armed struggle, it is necessary to pay attention to the building of three categories of troops. It is necessary to build steady, strong, widespread self-defense forces and main-force units.
The building and development of the regional forces and main force units must conform to the practical conditions of each region and of the battlefield. These concentrated armed forces must in fact constitute the core forces in annihilating the enemy’s military forces, protecting the people, and achieving increasingly greater successes. The main force units must not necessarily possess a strength equalling that of the Enemy. Yet their quality must be high and their fighting methods must be highly effective so that they can deal steel-like blows to the enemy. They must be fully capable of fighting big annihilating battles, dealing serious blows to the enemy, and changing the situation on the battlefield in our favor. Today the southern people’s three categories of troops--guerrilla forces, regional forces, and main force units--have developed harmoniously. They have been rationally deployed on various battlefields, have increasingly developed their great fighting strength, and have been able to enhance their position and improve the strategic effect of the LAF in the anti-U.S. national salvation struggle.
The LAF have been fighting while building up their strength and have unceasingly improved their fighting quality. Along with intensifying political education and military training, adequate attention has been paid to improving equipment, weapons, and combat instruments. As a result, all three categories of troops have acquired a greater fighting strength and will certainly deal more vigorous blows to the enemy.
With regard to building political forces, the southern people have satisfactorily settled the relations between developing their political forces numerically and constantly improving the quality of their political forces on the basis of broadening the all-people’s great unity bloc and firmly consolidating the key role of the worker-peasant alliance. Today, the southern people’s political forces are very numerous and powerful. It is fitting to say that the 14 million southern people are closing their ranks and moving forward to attack the enemy through military and political struggles.
The political corps, which constitutes the core elements of the people’s political struggle movement, has been strengthened both quantitatively and qualitatively and has vigorously developed in the cities as well as in the rural and mountainous areas.
The political forces of the people in southern cities and towns have developed more and more comprehensively and will certainly step up further their political struggle and continuous attacks against the enemy’s lairs. The southern people’s armed and political forces have been built along a correct and creative line. As a result, they have acquired a tremendous strength, which serves as a basis for stepping up the people’s war, have closely coordinated armed struggle with political struggle, have achieved extremely great successes, and will certainly defeat completely the U.S. imperialists’ war of aggression and overthrow the puppet administration.
If in South Vietnam our armed forces and people under the NFLSV’s leadership have achieved great victories during the past two years, in North Vietnam our armed forces and people, under the leadership of the party, government, and respected and beloved President Ho, have defeated the U.S. imperialists’ war of destruction and frustrated their basic schemes while at the same time continuing to build socialism and wholeheartedly supporting the liberation struggle of the kith-and-kin southern compatriots. We have mobilized and organized all people to participate in resisting the war of destruction by positively fighting the enemy and positively engaging in people’s air defense.
In the field of positively fighting the U.S. air and naval forces, we have mobilized all people to fight, using the armed forces as a nucleus. We have simultaneously mobilized and organized all people to emulate in shooting down U.S. aircraft and strengthened the antiaircraft defense forces, the coast guard forces, and the frontier and demarcation line defense forces.
While developing the capacity of all armed branches and the regional forces and the self-defense and militia forces to fight U.S. aircraft, we have developed our antiaircraft defense, air forces, and artillery forces and improved their technical and tactical standards.
We have strongly developed the effect of antiaircraft guns and other ordinary types of infantry weapons, while striving to develop the effect of jet fighter planes and antiaircraft missiles in order to create thick and highly effective firenets. While fighting, we have carried out training and drawn experiences from the fighting in order to improve the antiaircraft defense quality of our armed forces. We have positively resisted the enemy’s planes and warships, while positively improving our combat activity, and stand ready to fight and defeat the enemy when he ventures to expand the limited war to the north.
The principle of combat adopted by our armed forces in opposing the U.S. imperialists’ war of destruction through air and naval power is: positively annihilate the enemy, protect the targets the enemy wants to hit, and preserve and improve our forces. Only by succeeding in annihilating the enemy can we protect our targets from the enemy and preserve and improve our forces. Conversely, only by succeeding in protecting these targets and preserving and improving our forces can we create favorable conditions to annihilate the enemy. On the basis of the concrete situation, sometimes we regard annihilating the enemy as the main task and sometimes we regard protecting targets from the enemy as the main task. Yet normally the principle of positively annihilating the enemy is the most basic and most decisive contents of our task.
As a result of their thorough understanding of the principle of fighting against the enemy’s aircraft and warships, the northern armed forces, especially the antiaircraft and the air force units, have created many highly effective fighting methods. On the basis of developing the fighting ability of each armed branch and on the basis of the coordination among many armed branches, it is necessary to pay special attention to adopting fighting methods which are most appropriate to each concrete object of combat.
Generally speaking, the objects of combat are the U.S. air and naval forces. However, on the battlefield in general and in each region, each direction, and each battle in particular, it is necessary to determine the concrete objects of combat to be struck, as the strength of many armed branches. The basic requirement is to firmly understand the enemy’s actions and our own strength and capabilities in order to determine which object must be struck, and how.
In the field of active defense, we have stepped up the people’s antiaircraft defense with the aim of restricting the losses in human lives and properties caused by the U.S. Air Force and Navy. We have improved the people’s antiaircraft defense organization and the alert-reporting organization and strengthened the construction and consolidation of shelters and communication trenches everywhere. We have evacuated people from the densely populated areas and adjusted the work, study, and life habits to war conditions. We have taken defense measures against the bombings and shellings of the U.S. Air Force and Navy and, at the same time, intensified the protection of security and order and taken precautionary and defense measures against the psychological warfare of the enemy, as well as against the evil plot of the reactionaries and spies.
Events during the two years of struggling against the war of destruction of the U.S. imperialists prove that our defense measures have achieved great results. Although the U.S. imperialists have caused certain damages in human lives and properties of our people, basically the life of our troops and people continues to be stable, the local economy continues to develop, agricultural production continues to increase, communication and transport is not interrupted, and general education, as well as other cultural and artistic activities, continue to develop. Naturally these results have their origin in the fact that our people have satisfactorily fulfilled the task of fighting and producing at the same time. But it is obvious that the defense measures have made an important contribution to this task.
Events during the two years of struggling against the war of destruction and tactics of our army’s and people’s struggle against enemy planes and warships are completely correct and have achieved great results. We have downed almost 2,300 fighter planes of the U.S. imperialists, sunk and burnt many commando boats and warships of the enemy’s navy, annihilated and captured enemy pilots. We have forced the U.S. imperialists to pay a high price for their violations of our airspace and territorial waters.
In addition to actively counterattacking the enemy’s planes and warships and actively taking defense measures, we have made timely changes in the direction of our economic building and development and actively maintained and developed communications and transport on all communication lines, especially on roads leading to the frontline. This is a very important success which our people have achieved under the leadership of the party, the government and President Ho.
Thanks to the fact that we have changed the direction of our economic building and development in good time, we have been able to pursue our socialist construction under fierce war conditions. The economy of the socialist north in war time has satisfied people’s war and provided our people with sufficient strength to fight for a long time and victoriously.
On the production front, our people have strengthened revolutionary heroism, overcome all difficulties, and valiantly produced even though the war of destruction has become increasingly fierce. Even in the areas where the enemy has attacked continuously, such as Vinh Linh, Quang Binh, and other localities, our people have stuck fast to their positions on land and sea and in factories, fighting and producing well at the same time.
Thanks to actively protecting and developing communications and transport, we have satisfactorily insured the demands of the frontline, as well as the demands of economic building, cultural development, and the people’s life. Our peoples have smoothed out all our difficulties and hardships and disregarded sacrifices while insuring the continuity of communications and transport with the aim of bringing a large amount of goods to the frontline and serving the frontline in good time and efficaciously. This is a very great exploit of important strategic significance. This exploit has defeated the wicked and evil design of the U.S. imperialists of creating obstacles to our communications, thus hoping to stop the support of the great rear to the great frontline.
It is obvious that our people’s war has defeated the war of destruction of the U.S. imperialists. In the fire of war, the socialist north has become increasingly more powerful. The all-people solidarity bloc has become increasingly firm and has become increasingly high. Some 17 million northern compatriots are siding with 34 million southern kith-and-kin compatriots to struggle until final victory.
The U.S. imperialists have sustained heavy defeats in their war of destruction against the north of our country. All their strategic designs have gone bankrupt. It is obvious that the independent activities of an air force--even if it is the modern air force of the U.S. imperialists--cannot have the effect of deciding victory on the battlefield. The U.S. air force can cause certain damages to our people, but it surely cannot shake our people’s rocklike determination to oppose the Americans for national salvation. It surely cannot save the U.S. imperialists from complete defeat in their aggressive war against the south. The north’s big victories demonstrate the great power of the people’s war and of the socialist system. This power has dealt and will deal heavy blows at the U.S. Air Force, smashing the so-called superiority of the U.S. Air Force.
Our people throughout the country have won big victories. Our people are taking advantage of these victories to rush forward and defeat the U.S. imperialist aggressors in both the north and south, win increasingly bigger victories, and win final victory.
Previous: Part II--The U.S. imperialists were heavily defeated during the very important period of the local war of aggression in South Vietnam.
Next: Part IV--Four conclusions drawn from the two-year old anti-U.S. national salvation resistance.