Thursday, May 25, 1972
Viets Preparing For Crucial Hue Battle
HUE, Vietnam (UPI) --As the days dwindle to what many fear are a precious few, a tough South Vietnamese commander is quietly building up the defenses of Hue.Whether by design or necessity, the North Vietnamese have given the new commander, Lt. Gen. Ngo Quang Truong, breathing space to reestablish government positions to the south and west of Hue.Truong, highly regarded by the American advisers for his military ability and his non-involvement in politics, was appointed May 3 as commander of Military Region I which contains South Vietnam's five northern provinces.President Nguyen Van Thieu fired Truong's predecessor, Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Lam, after the Communists completed their conquest of the northernmost province of Quang Tri.Since then Truong has sent a successful raiding party into Quang Tri, stabilized northern defensive positions along the My Chanh River 20 miles north of Hue and reoccupied at least temporarily artillery bases Bastogne, 12 miles southwest of Hue and Rakkasan, 15 miles due west of Hue.The last two government pushes were to set up what officials call a "ring of steel" designed to keep Communist guns outside of artillery range of the old imperial capital.Truong also has visited many of the troops in and outside of Hue, quietly building confidence or instilling fear -whichever he deems necessary for government forces to hold the line.Hue is a prize to both Saigon and Hanoi.In Saigon, a senior diplomat said, "whoever wins the battle for Hue can sit down at the Paris peace talks with a vital trump card."Hue is now the key to the war."Today, perhaps two-thirds of the city"s pre-invasion population of 150,000 has fled to Da Nang, 50 miles to the south, and beyond.Immediately after the collapse of Quang Tri, near panic swept Hue. The narrow highway heading into the city was choked with refugees from the north.Frightened South Vietnamese soldiers fired their rifles in front of trucks to make the vehicles stop so they could get rides.The river of refugees could not be curbed. But what had to be stopped quickly was the soldiers, hundreds of them, who had left their units to flee south. One of the first orders given by Truong was for all soldiers to return to their units or face death by firing squad. A wall of sandbags was built on the north side of the river for executions.The soldiers stopped running.Military sources believe the Communists have four divisions, some 40,000 men, designated for the assault on Hue.The South Vietnamese have some of their best troops manning the Hue defenses. They include two Marine regiments, major parts of an airborne division and the 1st Inf. Div. Some American advisers admit if these units fall to the Communists, then Vietnamization has failed.The North Vietnamese forces are deployed north of the My Chanh 20 miles north of Hue and 12 to 15 miles to the west and southwest of the city.The eastern sector is relatively secure, with only a short distance between the city and the South China Sea. Only 10 miles southeast of Hue is Phu Bai base, where the largest contingent of American troops north of Da Nang is stationed. But the Americans are there to protect other Americans and not to defend Hue. The south is open but subject to Communist pressure and interdiction of Highway 1.The citadel fortress was strong in ancient times. But now the big 130mm guns of the North Vietnamese could render it useless if they move within range.The North Vietnamese this time may not bring a lot of fire-power to bear on Hue for fear the strongly nationalist citizens of South Vietnam would turn against them because of a wanton destruction of the historic monuments of this city.American sources have all but pledged not to bomb the near-sacred areas for similar reasons.The Communist plan now seems to be to fight a small action along the 11-mile My Chanh front to hold the South Vietnamese marines there, while sending main units around the west flank and also severing the road to the south.This would put Hue and the South Vietnamese in major trouble in what could be one the most important battles in the two decades of the war."Viets Preparing for Crucial Hue Battle", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Thursday, May 25, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.