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 had realized the quagmire into which the operations had fallen, despite engaging in them, beyond the thousands of Viet Cong and at least 7 regular army divisions. Under these circumstances he drew up a highly ambitious plan, which if successful might 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. attacks were planned against the country's 36 largest cities and 23 largest military bases, American and South Vietnamese.
Along with the troop attack, Giap would activate his entire network of agents operating in South Vietnam. Assassination attacks against prominent anti-communists, sabotage of military and non-military targets, and a general uprising of the people of South Vietnam against the "imperialists" were planned.
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 violated the informal, cease-fire, which was valid for the so-called week of Wed - January 27 to February 3.
It was there that Giap leaned, aspiring to achieve the complete surprise of the opponents. The attack was well prepared. Preparations began almost six months before her event. In total more than 80,000 North Vietnamese – Vietcong and regular soldiers would take part in the attack.
The main targets were the city of Hue, 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 embassy of the USA and of course the most important base of Ke Shan, on the border with Laos.
At the same time, however, the government of North Vietnam expressed its desire to open negotiations with the Americans, setting as a condition the cessation, or at least the limitation, of the American aerial bombings. This diplomatic move, they calculated, would both lull the Americans to sleep, but would also allow the faster gathering of men and supplies, in view of the attack. The Americans, however, to the credit of their intelligence services, were not misled. As early as the end of November 1967, they had the first indications of enemy concentrations.
Their indications were confirmed as early as the beginning of December, while in early January, the Americans were able to know several of the targets of the attack, thanks to North Vietnamese documents that fell into their hands. Based on this information, Wesmoreland asked the South Vietnamese government to suspend the traditional Tet week truce and put South Vietnamese forces on alert.
However, the South Vietnamese leader, President Thieu, did not accept Westmoreland's proposals, on the grounds that suspending the ceasefire would have an adverse effect on the morale of the South Vietnamese people and army. Thus the two sides reached a reprehensible compromise. The truce would be limited to 36 hours. An official announcement of the restriction would be made on January 30, a day before the celebration of Wednesday, January 31.
Attack
However, Westmoreland had put American forces on alert, especially the guards of important facilities and infrastructure. However, due to the prevailing climate of laxity, many units did not implement Westmoreland's orders.
A few hours before midnight on January 30, 1968, thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers and Vietcong guerrillas began to take up positions around their objectives. At the same time, in the South, the festivities had begun.
The people were in the streets watching parades with sacred dragons and thousands of fireworks, which lit up the sky. At the same time 20,000 Northerners were ready to attack, against the South's capital Saigon alone.
Another 10 battalions were aimed at capturing the old capital of Hue, and two divisions would attack the Ke Shan base. Other major attacks would occur simultaneously against the cities of Pleiku, Ban Me Thuot, Nha Trang, Quang Gai and Quang Tri, near the border of the two countries.
Both the volume of the North's available forces and the breadth of the zone of operations are astonishing. The intended attacks covered almost all of South Vietnamese territory, from the border with North Vietnam south to the Anam Peninsula.
This fact in itself is indicative of the penetration of the North into South Vietnam. The Northerners were able, at will, to penetrate the enemy's territory, throughout its length and breadth. But it was quite another for small enemy battle groups to infiltrate enemy territory, and quite another to succeed in infiltrating entire divisions.
In the early hours of the morning the North Vietnamese forces rushed out. In Saigon, a total of 20,000 North Vietnamese began the attack. Among their targets were the radio station, the American embassy, the presidential palace and the city's airport.
The attack began, around 03:00, when a group of Northerners, wearing South Vietnamese police uniforms, attacked the radio station building. Their goal was to seize the building and broadcast a recorded message from Ho Chi Minh, with which the leader of North Vietnam called for open rebellion to the people of the South. The Skorzeny-style attack succeeded in its first stage.
The attackers easily surprised and neutralized the South Vietnamese paratroopers guarding the radio station and captured the building. But they failed in the second leg of their mission, thanks to the courage of a station technician, who caught up and transmitted the special pre-arranged signal, the reception of which would stop the power supply to the station. Thus, without electricity, Ho Chi Minh's message could not be transmitted. This was the first defeat of the attackers and indeed one of the most important.
At about the same time a special raid group was beginning the attack on the presidential palace. After blowing up the main gate of the palace with an anti-tank launcher, 34 North Vietnamese "commandos" stormed the large courtyard surrounding the building. But there they found themselves before surprise. The guard had been reinforced and in addition to the presidential guards, there were units of the army and most importantly, two tanks.
Fatefully the attackers were swept and 32 of them were killed in a matter of minutes. Apparently these men were the first wave of assault against the presidential palace and were tasked with clearing a way for stronger divisions that were waiting in reserve.
However, the catastrophic failure of the first wave did not allow the second wave to launch an attack. The North Vietnamese attacks, with the same tactics, against the South Vietnamese Army Headquarters and the Naval Headquarters also suffered the same fate. The first waves of Northmen attack were exterminated to one.
At the same time, the North attacked the airport of the city and the nearby bases of Bien Hoa and Long Binh. This is where the fiercest fighting took place within Saigon. The North's attack came after a mortar bombardment.
The defenders were hard pressed and only the dispatch of reinforcements saved the situation the following day. All night the defenders, although reinforced with 4 infantry companies, were almost overturned. Waves of Northerners broke one after the other on the defensive perimeter, but exhausted the defenders.
It was evident that the resistance would collapse unless new reinforcements arrived. The Americans seemed lucky in this case. At first light the next day, February 1, the Americans sent armored forces to break through the Northern cordon.
The American tanks easily dispersed the North Vietnamese covering forces and despite the loss of 2 M-113 TOBs, they managed to reach the rear of the North Vietnamese forces, which at that time were preparing for the final assault against the besieged American defensive perimeter. The American tanks took full advantage of the situation and opened fire with everything they had available.
What followed can hardly be described. From a minimal distance, the "fifty" (12.7 mm machine guns) of the M-113 opened fire en masse against the Northmen gathered for the attack and destroyed them. Men were being cut in two by the heavy machine gun shells, dismembered, human limbs flying through the air.
The Northerners could not stand the pounding for long and fled in panic, allowing the armored American phalanx to join their besieged colleagues. It was a very serious defeat for the North and indeed one of the bloodiest they suffered during the attack on Wed.
In the early hours of January 31, the American embassy in Saigon was also attacked, a symbolic target for the North. Here, too, a small raiding party was expected to open the way, which would then be reinforced with strong forces.
Here too the attack was manifested in the same way and developed in the same way. A group of 12 Northerners blew up the outer compound of the embassy and entered the inner courtyard. There began an exchange of fire with the patrolling guards. In this first skirmish, 5 American guards and 2 North Vietnamese fell.
Having overcome the first obstacle, the attackers took up battle positions in the garden of the embassy courtyard and in a symbolic act, blew up the embassy shield above the main entrance of the building with an anti-tank launcher. They then waited for the intended reinforcements to proceed with the assault on the building itself. But in vain. Reinforcements never came.
The Americans immediately isolated the surrounding area, and as soon as dawn broke, they neutralized the infiltrating enemies from the air with helicopters. The attack on the embassy was easily repulsed. And yet the victorious battle of the embassy, it would not be an exaggeration to say, that it cost the Americans the war!
The American journalists, who rushed to cover the attack against the embassy, relying on the words of ordinary soldiers, broadcast the news that the embassy, or at least part of the building, had been captured by the Viet Cong! This news was immediately broadcast in the USA and caused astonishment.
Wonderment turned to horror and near-panic when, after the embassy courtyard was cleared, American television crews stormed in, broadcasting live images of dead North Vietnamese and Americans, as well as the rightful turmoil.
Westmoreland tried to play down the impact, holding a press conference in which he said the embassy had never been occupied. But no journalist believed him. The damage had been done for the Americans and could no longer be controlled. This story contains a huge moral lesson, about the press, which the Americans, at least, fully understood and applied in subsequent wars
At the military level, however, the battle of Saigon essentially ended at 17.00 on February 1st, when the last attacks of the North had now been repelled. The battle of Saigon had lasted 17 hours and had ended with the absolute dominance of the Americans and their allies. Naturally, the liquidation operations in the city lasted until the beginning of March 1968.
But they were more of a "police" type of operation - arresting agents and insurgents who had hidden in the city - and in no way can be considered outright military operations. After all, the failure of the North in Saigon was recognized by them as early as February 1, when General Giap's headquarters gave the order to stop attacks on the city.
Hue
Hue was for centuries the capital of the Vietnamese empire. Its rulers had gained great prestige and glory by repelling Chinese attacks from the 10th to the 17th century AD. During the war it was just a glorious provincial capital, but also a transportation hub, controlling the routes to the North, with about 140,000 inhabitants.
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, four battalions of the North Vietnamese Army and six battalions of the Vietcong, 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 January 31st 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.
The commander of the Marine 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. Μεγάλες μάχες δόθηκαν για την ανακατάληψη των ερειπίων της καθολικής εκκλησίας, και του αθλητικού κέντρου της πόλης. Στις 13 Φεβρουαρίου, μετά από άγριες συγκρούσεις, με μεγάλες απώλειες, κυρίως Βορείων, τα τμήματα της 1ης Μεραρχίας Πεζοναυτών, ενώθηκαν στο μέσο της πόλης με τμήματα της 101ης Μεραρχίας.
Οι Βόρειοι είχαν κοπεί στα δύο. Αλλά και πάλι δεν παραδόθηκαν. Αποσύρθηκαν στο παλαιό ανάκτορο που δέσποζε της πόλης και αμύνθηκαν εκεί μέχρις εσχάτων. μια εβδομάδα διήρκεσε η μάχη του ανακτόρου και μόλις στις 24 Φεβρουαρίου εκκαθαρίστηκε και η τελευταία νησίδα αντίστασης στο κατεστραμμένο ανάκτορο.
Η μάχη της Χουέ έληγε, μετά από 25 σχεδόν ημέρες. Άφησε πίσω της μια εντελώς ρημαγμένη πόλη. Περισσότερα από 10.000 σπίτια είχαν καταστραφεί και 116.000 κάτοικοι είχαν μείνει άστεγοι. Άλλοι 5.000 κάτοικοι είχαν εκτελεσθεί ή απαχθεί από τους κομμουνιστές.
Αλλά και Βόρειοι είχαν υποστεί συντριπτικές απώλειες, χάνοντας περισσότερους από 5.500 άνδρες. Οι αμερικανικές απώλειες ήταν επίσης βαριές, ξεπερνώντας τους 1.000 νεκρούς και τραυματίες, ενώ οι απώλειες των Νοτιοβιετναμέζων ξεπέρασαν τους 1.500 νεκρούς και τραυματίες.
Έτσι έληξε η μάχη της Χουέ, με τους Αμερικανούς και τους συμμάχους τους να επιτυγχάνουν μια «ακριβή» σε αίμα νίκη και τους Βορείους να κερδίζουν τις εντυπώσεις, εφόσον είχαν κατορθώσει να κυριεύσουν έναν συμβολικό στόχο, όπως η Χουέ, και να τον διατηρήσουν για τόσες μέρες, αναγκάζοντας τους Αμερικανούς να ρίξουν στη μάχη μεγάλες δυνάμεις για να την ανακαταλάβουν.
Άλλες συγκρούσεις
Πέραν όμως των επιθέσεων στη Σαϊγκόν και στη Χουέ, οι Βόρειοι επιτέθηκαν και σε δεκάδες ακόμα πόλεις. Μια από αυτές ήταν και η Ντα Ναγκ, δεύτερη σε πληθυσμό πόλη τους Νοτίου Βιετνάμ και έδρα του 1ου Σώματος Στρατού του Νοτιοβιετναμικού Στρατού. Η επίθεση εκδηλώθηκε και εδώ με σφοδρότητα, αλλά αποκρούστηκε σχετικά εύκολα με τη συνδρομή της Αμερικανικής Αεροπορίας. Τα επιτιθέμενα τμήματα απομονώθηκαν από την αεροπορία και την επομένη εξοντώθηκαν με συγκεντρωτική αντεπίθεση.
Σκληρές μάχες σημειώθηκαν και νοτίως της Σαϊγκόν. Οι Βόρειοι κατόρθωσαν σε ορισμένες περιπτώσεις να θέσουν, για μερικές ώρες, ή στην καλύτερη για αυτούς περίπτωση, μερικές μέρες, υπό τον έλεγχο τους μερικές επαρχιακές πόλεις και την αμερικανική βάση στο Λανγκ Βέι. Η απόλυτη όμως αμερικανική αεροπορική υπεροχή απετέλεσε συντριπτικό παράγοντα για την ανατροπή των βορειοβιετναμικών σχεδίων. Κάθε πραγματική ή έστω πιθανή εχθρική συγκέντρωση κατακλυζόταν από τόνους βομβών και ρουκετών.
Τα διαλυμένα εχθρικά τμήματα αναλάμβαναν στη συνέχεια τα ελικόπτερα και τα Gunships του στρατού και της αεροπορίας. Έτσι, στις 21 Φεβρουαρίου, ο Γκιαπ δεν είχε άλλη επιλογή, παρά να παραδεχθεί την ήττα του και να διατάξει την παύση των επιθετικών ενεργειών. Οι τελευταίες εκκαθαριστικές επιχειρήσεις που σχετίζονταν με την επίθεση του Τετ έληξαν στα μέσα Μαρτίου 1968.
Η επίθεση είχε αποτύχει ολοσχερώς σε όλους τους, στρατιωτικούς και πολιτικούς της στόχους. Ούτε εξέγερση του λαού του Νοτίου Βιετνάμ έγινε, ούτε έδαφος κατελήφθη, ούτε έστω μια σημαντική στρατιωτική επιτυχία δεν είχαν να παρουσιάσουν.
Απώλειες και αντίκτυπος
Οι δε απώλειες που προκάλεσε έχουν ως εξής :
Αμερικάνοι: νεκροί 1.536, τραυματίες 7.764, αγνοούμενοι 11.
Νοτιοβιετναμέζοι: νεκροί 2.788, τραυματίες 8.299, αγνοούμενοι 587.
Βορειοβιετναμέζοι: νεκροί 45.000, τραυματίες άγνωστο, αιχμάλωτοι 6.991.
Νοτιοβιετναμέζοι πολίτες: νεκροί 14.000, τραυματίες 24.000.
Παρόλα αυτά η επίθεση του Τετ πέτυχε τον στόχο της και εν πολλοίς έδωσε την νίκη στους Βορείους. Οι καλύτεροι σύμμαχοι του Γκιαπ, για την επίτευξη αυτού του αποτελέσματος, αποδείχθηκαν οι Αμερικανοί δημοσιογράφοι.
Η αμερικανική κοινή γνώμη βομβαρδίστηκε με κάθε λογής πληροφορίες, φήμες και διαδόσεις, με αποτέλεσμα, μεγάλο μέρος της να αντιδράσει στην συνέχιση της αμερικανικής εμπλοκής στη συνέχιση του πολέμου. Μοιραία η αμερικανική πολιτική ηγεσία, υπό το βάρος του πολιτικού κόστους, αναγκάστηκε να μεταβάλλει τη στρατηγική της.
Αργότερα ο νέος Αμερικανός πρόεδρος Νίξον κέρδισε την εξουσία με σύνθημα την αμερικανική απεμπλοκή από το Βιετνάμ. Ήδη όμως τρεις μήνες μετά την συντριβή της επίθεσης οι Αμερικανοί ξεκίνησαν, στις 13 Μαΐου 1968, συνομιλίες με τους Βορειοβιετναμέζους στο Παρίσι. Στόχος τους ήταν η σταδιακή τους απεμπλοκή από τον πόλεμο και η ανάθεση των ευθυνών στους Νοτιοβιετναμέζους συμμάχους τους, η λεγόμενη Βιετναμοποίηση του πολέμου. Από εκείνη τη στιγμή ο πόλεμος είχε χαθεί.
Ο πόλεμος βέβαια θα διαρκούσε για άλλα 7 χρόνια. Όλοι όμως γνώριζαν πια τον τελικό νικητή. Οι ίδιοι οι Αμερικανοί γνώριζαν ότι ο Νοτιοβιετναμικός Στρατός και το απολύτως διεφθαρμένο καθεστώς της Σαϊγκόν, δεν ήταν σε καμία περίπτωση σε θέση να τα βγάλουν πέρα με τους Βόρειους, παρά τα σύγχρονα όπλα και την εκπαίδευση που τους παρείχαν.
Αν και ο πόλεμος κλιμακώθηκε μεταξύ των ετών 1969-73, με την εμπλοκή του Λάος και της Καμπότζης, τον Ιανουάριο του 1973, πέντε έτη μετά το Τετ, υπογράφτηκε η επίσημη κατάπαυση του πυρός, μεταξύ ΗΠΑ και Βορείου Βιετνάμ.
Οι Νότιοι δεν άντεξαν μόνοι τους, ούτε δύο χρόνια. Σύντομα σαρώθηκαν από τις δυνάμεις των Βορείων, οι οποίες στις 30 Απριλίου 1975, κατέλαβαν και τη Σαϊγκόν, τερματίζοντας υπέρ τους τον πόλεμο.