Preview

How Effective Were the Guerrilla Tactics of the Viet Cong

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1412 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Effective Were the Guerrilla Tactics of the Viet Cong
How effective were the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong – History

Plan * What tactics the Viet Cong used against US/ARVN troops. * How the Viet Cong dealt with the decisions made by the US troops. * How guerrilla tactics were better than those used by the US troops. * How the environment in Vietnam suited the Viet Cong and how it was a disadvantage for the US troops. * How the surroundings in Vietnam were an advantage to the Viet Cong.

The Viet Cong had many tactics which they used against the US and ARVN troops in the Vietnam War, however these tactics were not those that you would expect to be used in a war.

The Viet Cong were a Guerrilla army, meaning that the people fighting for them are not proper soldiers. As guerrilla armies don’t have any rules that meant that they could do anything in the war, these tactics were often hit and miss. Whereas the US troops had to follow rules which prevented them from shooting first against the Viet Cong. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare)

The US troops were always used to fighting enemies face to face but the Viet Cong knew that if they did this then they would be beaten, so they dug a series of tunnels, a tactic and a strategy that had never been used before. The tunnels either connected from countryside to key cities or they were used to lead down to hidden bases. These tunnels allowed the Viet Cong to get to the places they wanted without the enemy detecting them. They also allowed them to fight the enemy without them seeing them, leading to the US troops calling them ‘The Invisible Enemy’. This tactic was very successful as many US troops lost their lives without ever seeing the Viet Cong. It was also successful as the Viet Cong could also get to the places they wanted quickly and without having to fight.

On the other hand the US troops were searching through the forests in Vietnam and this allowed the Vietcong to use their tactics of ambushing US patrols, setting booby-traps and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The tactics used by the Vietcong and US military forces were very different and changed during the course of the war. At the beginning of the war the Vietcong (NLF) army was aggressive whilst the US army was defensive. The Gulf of Tonkin incident became America's excuse to become aggressive towards the Vietcong.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietcong were a communist movement in the South who were against the South Vietnamese government and the USA's involvement with the civil war. The use of tactics (the plans, weapons and battle strategies used in war) were prime in minds of the Vietcong and they went to all means to gain the upper hand in the conflict. For example the use of booby traps, tunnels and trails. Some like the Ho Chi Minh trail were a huge success among the Vietcong whereas things like booby traps had less of an affect on the opposition.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eventually the exhausting war escalated into guerilla warfare, and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians were killed in the close fighting. Although the Viet Cong were responsible for some of these deaths, American forces in the area also were responsible for the killings unbeknownst to the American public. American soldiers during the war were sent on search and destroy missions in which they would ravage villages killing and destroying everyone. Americans were taught that the Vietnamese were not human, and…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    he war in South Vietnam became a “war with no front” where guerrilla fighters could not be distinguished from the local populace who might, in fact, have been guerrilla fighters. The US found itself at war with an enemy that could disappear within minutes of an attack, one that might appear at any moment on a patrol or not at all. All this was very debilitating for any US soldier out on patrol and was used to explain why massacres of innocents did take place such as the one at My Lai in 1968.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Battle Of Verdun

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Vietnam was an actual war, not just a singular battle such as Verdun, therefore, it lasted much longer. The campaigns and battles fought during the Vietnam War lasted from a couple of years to several months with the war itself lasting nearly two decades (“Operation Rolling Thunder” 2010). Operation Rolling Thunder was planned as a bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The first round of the bombs were dropped in March of 1965 and lasted until late 1968. This operation produced three years of continuous bombing on the North Vietnamese in hopes of crippling their ability to wage war against the US and South Vietnam (“Operation Rolling Thunder” 2010). This is nearly identical to what was done to the French at Verdun. One of the differences is that the Germans wanted to drain France of their soldiers, while capturing Verdun was secondary. Without any kind of public eye looking at Verdun, both sides were free to carry out necessary actions to gain victory. The Vietcong used the dense jungle to transport small arms, munitions, and soldiers to the front line of the war. One of the trails that the Vietcong heavily used during the war was the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which consisted of multiple routes as well as fake trails to confuse the United States and other enemies. It was vital that the U.S. destroy the hidden trails in order to prevent more weapons from being transported (Trueman, “Ho Chi Minh Trail”). Cutting off the enemy’s supply lines are top priority in any kind of war or battle. One of the main reasons why the Battle of Verdun lasted almost a year and was able to use an excessive amount of amunitions was that both sides had stable supply lines deploying necessary troops to the front lines. Instead of trenches, Vietnam had a dense jungle that offered a source of great camouflage for the Vietcong and hindered the United States ability to…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unfortunately, the Viet Nam soldiers did not share in the understanding of the Rules of Engagement so they attacked swiftly and frequently. Rendering the American soldiers weak and unable to fight back.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Miss

    • 2288 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Between 1954 and 1964 US involvement in Vietnam increased significantly about the time that the Gulf of Tonkin occurred and to an extent it can be seen that the Gulf of Tonkin was the main reason that the US got involved in Vietnam because shortly after the event happened, it lead to various battles between North and South Vietnam in which two élite battalions of South Vietnam troops were defeated by Vietcong ambush tactics. However,this event has speculated other possible reasons why the US got involved in Vietnam which include: President Johnson’s desire for a blank cheque, the Domino Theory and the Policy of containment. These factors will be explored in the following paragraphs.…

    • 2288 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dien Bien Phu Battle - VN

    • 3552 Words
    • 15 Pages

    The Battle of Đien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union 's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that influenced negotiations over the future of Indochina at Geneva. Military historian Martin Windrow wrote that Đien Bien Phu was "the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle."…

    • 3552 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Viet Cong Case Study

    • 179 Words
    • 1 Page

    “The Vietnamese Communists, or Vietcong, were the military branch of the National Liberation Front (NLF).”(Guerrilla Tactics: An Overview.) The National Liberation Front more commonly known for the Viet Cong was essentially a North Vietnamese army organization based in the south of Vietnam and parts of Cambodia near the border. The Viet Cong army was formed in 1954 and ultimately was functional until it was demobilized in 1976. The Viet Cong administration had both political views and military purpose. “While the organization also had political leadership, it was primarily concerned with military action and comprised the forces that fought against the United States and its allies…

    • 179 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Novel Guide

    • 2763 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Historical information about the period about the publications: The United States sent troops to Southern Vietnam in the early 1960’s to help stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. In 1954, the Viet Cong gained control over Northern half of Vietnam, but the Southern half maintained a government friendly to the United States. Beginning in the late 1950’s, Northern Vietnam began waging a guerilla war to bring all of Vietnam under its control. The United States began supporting South Vietnam during the Eisenhower administration. The governments of South Vietnam were corrupt, unstable, and did not have the support of the people. Americans found themselves fighting a guerilla war, of which they had little experience. Because of overwhelming American firepower and technological capabilities, the Viet Cong relied on ambushes, land mines, and other surprise attacks to confuse and demoralize American troops.…

    • 2763 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    To the American Soldiers and the NVA/VC soldiers, the Vietnam War was both very similar and very different. Most of soldiers in Vietnam went into the war with a purpose, and they had a very high morale levels. Both the Americans and the NVA soldiers left with many problems. The war left most soldiers with very severe cases of mental issues. There were also many things about the war that differed to the soldiers. One was the type of patriotism, and the other was the consequences of choosing to not fight. The American soldiers were fighting with a different type of patriotism than the communist soldiers. The Vietnamese soldiers were fighting for their freedom and to protect their homeland. The Americans were fighting for their government. They went into the war completely trusting their government no matter what they thought about the conflict. The war left both sides with huge wounds that would take a long time to heal.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though the US had more skilled soldiers and with more experience, they weren't matched for the Vietnamese guerilla warfare and their territory. This war was like the rich against the poor. The US troops had nothing to lose. However, the Vietnamese knew that they had everything to lose.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is both necessary and helpful to the study the context of prior history because it reveals who we are in relation to other people, cultures, and countries. They study of history can make up one’s whole being and how they live in a day-to-day basis. History can influence the way a person can process information, view other races and cultures, and even speak. There is an old saying “ If we don’t know where we come from, then we don’t know where we going”. Studying history helps us makes certain decisions and lets us understand the causes of certain issues of today. There were many situations and events in history that led to wars. To name a few: freedom of religion, civil unrest, unfair trade, terrorism, different cultures, and race and last but not least independence. Fighting for independence is one of the main reasons why there is history.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Communism

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Another reason for why the Vietcong gained vast support in South Vietnam was due to Operation Phoenix, the CIA interrogated tens of thousands of VC. They used different methods of torture in the hope of neutralizing the NLF. This Operation was unsuccessful because the US was unable to differentiate a Vietcong with a normal Vietnamese civilian. This resulted in innocent Vietnamese suffering from suspicion and brutal torture. This attitude of the Americans led to more Vietcong sympathisers, gaining them support.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The US used many tactics during the war with Vietnam and the tactics used were usually for one of two purposes: to destroy the Vietcong or win over the peasantry, which was what the population of Vietnam generally consisted of. However, some tactics proved to be more effective than others, and they were inter-related as one often wouldn’t work without the other. The US Army, alongside the South Vietnamese Army (the ARVN) found it difficult to beat the Vietcong tactics.…

    • 2853 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays