In 1968, General Giap, the glorious victor of the battle of Dien Bien Phu against the French, was now the Minister of Defense in the Hanoi government. Not without reason, his opinion was of great importance at the end of decisions related to the development of military operations. Giap devised a highly ambitious plan, which if successful could even end the war in their favor. The plan called for, for the first time since the beginning of the war, a large-scale offensive, all over the territory of South Vietnam. The offensive was decided to begin on January 31, 1968, the day of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.
It was one of the holiest days in the Vietnamese calendar, and until then none of the belligerents had breached the informal cease-fire for the so-called Wed week - January 27 to February 3. It was there that Giap leaned, aspiring to achieve the complete surprise of the opponents. The city of Hue was set as the main targets , the old imperial capital of Vietnam, the occupation of which had a great psychological impact, of course the capital of the South, Saigon, with all its large military and air bases, but also the US embassy and of course the all-important Khe Sanh base, on the border with Laos.
The Battle of Hue
The city was only a few kilometers from the border with North Vietnam. She was therefore vulnerable, as the Northerners were able to muster very strong forces and throw them into the attack against her. So they did. In the first echelon, 4 North Vietnamese Army battalions and six Viet Cong battalions, with a reduced composition, attacked the city. But these forces were soon reinforced, with an additional regiment of the North Vietnamese Army. On the other hand, Hue was a South Vietnamese brigade headquarters. Because of the Wednesday holiday, however, the vast majority of men had received holiday leave.
Thus the military commander of the city, Brigadier General Truong, had at his disposal, at the beginning of the battle, only one South Vietnamese company, with his headquarters and the garrison of the Allied Military Command building, where Australian and American soldiers were housed. Also a short distance from the city – 13 km. to the south – was the US Marine Corps base Fu Bai. 4 companies of American marines were stationed there. At 03.50 on 31st January the waves of the North entered the celebrating city, taking everyone by surprise. Only the Truang headquarters and the Allied Command building did not fall into North Vietnamese hands. The entire rest of the city was occupied and hundreds of "reactionary" citizens and officials were arrested.
The list of candidates had already been drawn up before the attack and initially included 196 names. In fact many thousands of dissidents were executed by the communists. Inside the city, the situation was developing into a tragedy for the few besieged. They had called for reinforcements, not knowing the extent of the threat they faced from the most obvious source, the Marine base at Fu Bai. Commander of the Marine Corps base, Brigadier General Lahue , sent a company of marines, accompanied by two tanks, to the aid of the besieged. This small force immediately moved towards the city. Shortly before entering it, however, he fell into an ambush by the Northerners and was pinned down by deadly enemy fire, suffering losses. Its leader, Captain Bustler, radioed Fu Bai for help, and Lahue dispatched another company of Marines.
The second company reached the positions of the pinned down Marines and joined them. But they soon realized that both companies were now surrounded by hundreds of enemies. Only then did Lahue understand the seriousness of the situation and asked for serious reinforcements to be sent. However, reinforcements arrived on the night of February 2-3. And they began the opposition on the morning of February 3rd. Until then the besieged enclaves of Americans, Australians and South Vietnamese faced waves of enemy attacks on their own.
The first counterattack was carried out by 3 companies of Marines, supported by M-48 tanks. After 14 hours of fierce street fighting, the Americans recaptured the city's mortgage office building and advanced towards the post office. The Northerners put up a fanatical defense and for each building, for each house a fierce battle had to be fought with grenades. The entire 1st Marine Division had already rushed to the area, from the South and forces of the famous 101st Airborne Division, which with a vertical overshoot, found themselves in the south of the North, cutting off a large number of them in the city. Thus the Northerners from being besiegers became besieged. But they did not lay down their arms.
The fighting continued. The Americans succeeded in freeing the besieged, whose situation was now tragic, and continued the liquidation operation. Great battles were fought for the recapture of the ruins of the Catholic church, and the sports center of the city. On February 13, after fierce clashes, with heavy losses, mainly of Northerners, the units of the 1st Marine Division joined in the middle of the city with units of the 101st Division.
The Northerners were cut in two. But they still didn't give up. They retreated to the old palace that dominated the city and defended themselves there until the end. the battle of the palace lasted a week and only on February 24 was the last islet of resistance in the destroyed palace cleared. The battle of Hue was ending, after almost 25 days. He left behind a completely devastated city. More than 10,000 houses were destroyed and 116,000 residents were left homeless. Another 5,000 residents had been executed or kidnapped by the communists.
But the Northerners had also suffered overwhelming losses, losing more than 5,200 men. American losses were also heavy, exceeding 1,800 killed and wounded, while South Vietnamese losses exceeded 2,600 killed and wounded. Thus ended the Battle of Hue, with the Americans and their allies achieving an "expensive" victory in blood and the Northerners gaining the impression that they had managed to seize a symbolic objective like Hue and hold it for so long. days, forcing the Americans to throw large forces into the battle to recapture it.