Article · Picture/Jiang Sen
The active M1 series main battle tank of the US military was named "Abrams" to commemorate the famous American general and the commander of the US military in Vietnam. What is little known is that he fought fiercely with the then US President Nixon in the Vietnam War, which was an important factor in the final failure of the US military in Vietnam.
Vietnam's Youth Daily recently published an article commemorating the "Nguyen Hye Campaign" in 1972: 50 years ago, the Viet Nam Communist Party demonstrated its determination to reunify Vietnam to the American invading forces and the South Vietnamese regime through this "decisive war of reunification", and finally forced the US military to withdraw from Vietnam in an all-round way.
During World War II, Abrams was a strong general in the American armored forces. The famous American general Patton once said of him: "This man is the most outstanding tank commander in the whole American army." Abrams joined the 4th Armored Division of the U.S. Army in 1941, and has been serving in this force during World War II. This unit was the vanguard of Patton's 3rd Army Group. According to records, Abrams transferred 7 tanks in 10 months to "fight better", and he led to destroy 80 German tanks.
After becoming the commander of the "American Military Assistance Command in South Vietnam" (MACV) in June 1968, Abrams reorganized the "advisory force" of the U.S. military in South Vietnam, integrated the actions of the South Vietnam Army with those of the U.S. military, canceled the "large-scale search and destruction" action formulated by his predecessor Westmoreland, and instead emphasized "focusing on the defense of densely populated areas in South Vietnam".
Abrams must maintain a balance between the above actions and the strategy of "Vietnamization of the Vietnam War" (proposed by Nixon). The so-called strategy of "Vietnamization of the Vietnam War" refers to Nixon's request that the US military gradually let go, and at the same time strengthen the training and arming of the South Vietnamese forces, so that the latter gradually have the strength to fight against the Vietnamese Communist Party. At that time, some senior officials of the US government believed that the US military would withdraw from Vietnam sooner or later, but the specific time was not determined.
After 1969, under the pressure of the upper class, Abrams gradually reduced the US military operations in Vietnam. However, he has been looking for opportunities to take the initiative. In March 1970, the Cambodian political situation changed, and a more pro American regime appeared in Phnom Penh. American and South Vietnamese troops were able to enter Cambodia and attack the Vietnamese Communist forces there. At the end of April 1970, Abrams launched a cross-border attack jointly executed by the US and South Vietnamese forces to disrupt and destroy the logistics center and assembly base of the Vietnam People's Army. The Vietnamese People's Army abandoned the above areas in order to avoid a direct confrontation with the US military. However, the US military's action did not achieve much success - Nixon was angry at Abrams' action of "expanding the scale of the Vietnam War" and ordered to suspend the action in advance, which made both sides very unhappy.
On December 9, 1970, the autocratic Abrams launched the cross-border action again - "Blue Mountains 719". Under the cover of US army helicopters, air force B-52 bombers and naval fighter planes, the South Vietnamese troops invaded Laos with the No.9 road as the attack axis, using the tactics of armored vehicle penetration and helicopter landing, in an attempt to cut off the strategic transport line of the Vietnamese People's Army.
At that time, the South Vietnamese troops invested the most elite airborne division, marine division and the first infantry division. However, due to the lack of the ability of senior South Vietnamese officers to command large-scale military operations, the front-line forces were in chaos. It is said that most South Vietnamese officers dare not go to the front line to learn about the war situation.
The Vietnamese People's Army responded quickly. They first divided and surrounded the fire points of the South Vietnamese troops, then bombarded them with field guns and mortars, and at the same time used anti-aircraft guns to prevent American aircraft from carrying out fire support and supplies. During the fighting, the Vietnam People's Army also sent out elite tank troops. The South Vietnamese troops that invaded Laos suffered heavy losses, and the US military also lost more than 100 helicopters.
However, Abrams firmly believed that "South Vietnamese troops can mature on the Laos battlefield". He said to his men: "Without large-scale combat, the South Vietnamese forces will not grow and will not be able to get rid of their dependence on the US military. Now the loss is acceptable." At the same time, in order to avoid the cancellation of the operation by the superior, Abrams reported his good news to the White House instead of his bad news.
Nixon and his national security adviser Kissinger soon received the news that "South Vietnamese troops have suffered heavy losses in Laos". American media also reported the real situation on the battlefield in Laos.
The South Vietnamese troops could not survive in Laos. They fled back to South Vietnam on their own, despite the obstruction of the American "advisers". Nixon was furious and once wanted to dismiss Abrams, who had lied about the war situation. However, he did not do so in the end. He remembered the lesson from the past - President Truman had removed MacArthur, the then commander in chief, from the Korean War, which caused dissatisfaction among the domestic people and the president's support rate fell sharply. So instead of criticizing Abrams publicly, Nixon spoke on television and praised the "Blue Mountains 719" action as the embodiment of the strategy of "Vietnamization of the Vietnam War".
However, Nixon privately sent General Moore, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, to ask Abrams: "The South Vietnamese forces do not have the strength to confront the Vietnamese People's Army, how can you send them to carry out such large-scale operations?" At the same time, the senior leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party also recognized one thing through the "Blue Mountains 719" operation: the South Vietnamese forces are vulnerable. This has strengthened the confidence of the Communist Party of Vietnam in unifying the country.
Since the spring of 1971, the relationship between American commander Abrams in Vietnam and US President Nixon has become worse and worse. In the last years of the Vietnam War, they were divided. Different from Westmoreland, the polite and well-dressed former commander of the US military in Vietnam, Abrams always has a blunt attitude, speaks frankly, and often attends important meetings unkempt.
Wu Yuanjia, a famous general of the Vietnamese Communist Party, believes that the Vietnamese People's Army should wait until most of the US troops leave South Vietnam before launching large-scale operations. However, Le Thun, a senior figure of the Viet Nam Communist Party, advocated that the People's Army should launch a "decisive war of reunification" as soon as possible. He believed that even with the air support of the US military, the South Vietnamese troops would be vulnerable to attack - as the situation on the battlefield in Laos proved.
In the autumn of 1971, the US military in Vietnam became more and more indifferent to war. Le Thang persuaded other colleagues that the senior management of the Vietnamese Communist Party finally decided to launch the "Nguyen Hye Campaign" in 1972 to defeat the puppet regime in South Vietnam, force the US military to accelerate its withdrawal from Vietnam, and smash Nixon's "dream of re-election".
The Vietnamese People's Army assembled 120000 elite troops for the "Nguyen Hye Campaign", which consisted of 14 divisions and 26 independent regiments. To cover the infantry, the Vietnamese People's Army has prepared a large number of advanced Soviet made weapons, including more than 500 tanks (mostly T-54 tanks equipped with 100mm caliber main guns), M-46 heavy field guns, SA-7 air defense missiles and AT-3 anti tank missiles.
The Vietnamese People's Army is going to attack in three ways, and at the same time open up the Zhitian battlefield, the northern battlefield of the Central Highland and the southern B2 battlefield. These three battlefields were all located in the key areas for both sides in the Vietnam War. Among them, Guangzhi Province and Chengtian Hue Province are located in the area where South Vietnam and North Vietnam confront each other; The central highland battlefield is mainly Kunsong Province and Bolaigu Province, which are located in the middle of the South Vietnamese ruling area, maintaining the ties between the provinces of South Vietnam; The South Vietnam B2 Battlefield is located in the hinterland of the South Vietnam ruling area, where Saigon (today's Ho Chi Minh City) is located.
At that time, the South Vietnamese troops maintained their equipment advantage with the assistance of the United States. They not only had nearly 1200 aircraft (excluding more than 400 helicopters), but also received air support and intelligence support from the United States. In terms of the army, the South Vietnamese troops have all kinds of armored combat vehicles. In addition, there are 1671 guns of various types in the South Vietnamese army, of which more than 800 are of 105 mm caliber and equipped with sufficient ammunition.
In contrast, the Vietnamese People's Army has only about 100 aircraft and has to undertake the arduous task of defending the important areas in the north. Among the army units of the People's Army, only the famous 308 division has achieved mechanization, and other division level units are still infantrymen. In terms of artillery, the number of heavy artillery of the People's Army is insufficient, and its ammunition reserve level is also low.
In the early morning of March 30, 1972, three divisions of the People's Army, about 30000 officers and men, with the support of more than 200 tanks, crossed the North South confrontation area and moved towards Guangzhi Province in the north of South Vietnam. On that day, about 5000 shells and rockets rained down on the positions of the South Vietnamese garrison.
The 3rd South Vietnamese Division stationed in Guangzhi Province is a newly formed unit with no combat experience. After a little resistance, they quickly retreated from their front positions. In the following days, due to the overcast clouds and heavy rain, the Vietnamese People's Army did not encounter any aerial threat. Instead of moving forward in a camouflage and decentralized manner as in the past, they concentrated their forces to move forward quickly.
On May 1, 1972, the People's Army successfully occupied Guangzhi City, the capital of Guangzhi Province, and basically controlled Guangzhi Province. At the same time, the People's Army also gained a lot in the front line of the Central Highland, which opened fire at the same time. Large areas, including Dado, were soon under their control. In the southern B2 battlefield, which was originally listed as the most important attack direction, the People's Army also gained something: they took Luning lightly on April 7, and got the first result of this campaign. By June, the "Ruan Hui Campaign" launched by the People's Army had achieved results on all fronts.
Although the 3rd South Vietnamese Division withdrew from the forward position, they established a new defense line about 16 kilometers away from the confrontation area. At that time, the US military left 50000 troops in South Vietnam, including two brigades of ground combat forces, mainly responsible for defending aviation bases. They will not intervene in the battle unless they are directly attacked by the People's Army. The US military that supported the South Vietnamese forces in the "Ruan Hui Campaign" was mainly the aviation force and intelligence personnel.
Nixon responded strongly to the attack of the Vietnamese People's Army and asked the US military to use aircraft carriers, fighter planes and B-52 bombers to attack North Vietnam.
From May to June 1972, the US military continued to carry out heavy bombing on North Vietnam. The bombers took the communication facilities of the Vietnamese Communist Party as an important target, including an oil pipe laid by the Vietnamese People's Army that can deliver 1300 tons of oil to the southern front every day. On June 19, the US military dispatched 300 aircraft to bombard the air defense positions of the Vietnam People's Army, and dozens of air defense missile launchers were destroyed.
The intensive bombing of North Vietnam by the US military weakened the People's Army's anti-aircraft fire. From April to early July 1972, the Vietnamese People's Army only launched more than 1600 anti-aircraft missiles. Due to the increasing shortage of anti-aircraft missiles, the Vietnam People's Army Air Force was forced to send MiG-21 fighters to fight against the US air strikes. By the end of July, about 40 of the 200 MiG fighters of the People's Army Air Force had been shot down by the US military.
After July, the US and South Vietnamese troops continued to carry out air strikes on North Vietnam. From August 15 to 17, they dispatched 1000 aircraft. The air raid caused some losses to North Vietnam. At that time, the US military adopted a new type of precision strike aerial bomb with a high hit rate. The US military claimed to have destroyed 15 large bridges in North Vietnam and 3000 transport trucks, "once forcing Hanoi to be unable to get food supplies, and the supply of the Vietnamese People's Army on the front line also had problems".
In addition, to the surprise of the senior management of the Communist Party of Vietnam, there was no shortage of people who supported Nixon's bombing of North Vietnam among the American people at that time. They believed that "if they did not do so, the US troops in South Vietnam would be in danger".
On the ground, the South Vietnamese troops began to counter attack. The Vietnamese People's Army was forced to retreat because its marching route was blocked by air fire and it was too late to adjust its troop deployment. Later, the South Vietnamese troops concentrated their forces to attack Guangzhi City. It was not until September 11 that the South Vietnamese troops attacked the outskirts of Guangzhi, and the two sides engaged in fierce street fighting in the urban area. The war was extremely tragic - more than 1500 people from the 27th Regiment of the Vietnam People's Army fought bloody battles in Guangzhi, and only 10 people were not injured when they were pulled down!
The indomitable Vietnamese People's Army has suffered a lot for the South Vietnamese army. The latter planned to capture Guangzhi City from June to July, but it was only in mid September that they managed to win. Next, the South Vietnamese troops launched an offensive operation, code named "Blue Mountains - 72A", aimed at comprehensively occupying Guangzhi Province. However, as soon as the South Vietnamese troops who suffered heavy losses in the Guangzhi Campaign entered the field, they fell into a passive situation.
At this time, there was a huge difference between Abrams and Nixon. According to Abrams, the US military aviation force should focus on bombing the main force of the Vietnamese People's Army entering the South Vietnam area first, thus weakening the actual combat effectiveness of North Vietnam. Nixon insisted that the aviation forces focus on bombing the military facilities in North Vietnam. In Nixon's view, letting US B-52 bombers enter the sky over North Vietnam was a demonstration against the Soviet Union. If only the Vietnam People's Army in South Vietnam was bombed, it would not be able to deter the Soviet Union. In the fierce internal struggle between the US president and the military leaders, the South Vietnamese forces were unable to move forward to the north - the "Ruan Hye Campaign" launched by the Vietnamese Communist Party had achieved certain results. At the end of January 1973, the parties to the war signed a peace agreement. So far, the "Ruan Hui Campaign" that began at the end of March 1972 came to an end.
Later, Abrams expressed dissatisfaction with Nixon's practice in this battle, and believed that "Nixon's wrong bombing strategy missed the golden opportunity for the US military to hit the main force of the Vietnam People's Army".
