This article is the 556th original article of "Burning Islands". Author: Moskit
The full text has a total of 4660 words, with 12 pictures. It takes 15 minutes to read. It will be first published on July 26, 2021.
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550. Stormy Night - German Air Raid on the Port of Bari and the Allied Gas Scandal
549. Darkest Hour - The Dunkirk Evacuation Operation from beginning to end
547. "Rat Transport Operation" in the Mediterranean - - The Sinking of Hermes (Part 2)
545. The Fiery Hell - Documentary of the B-29 Air Raid on Tokyo
543. The King on the Ship - the Commander of the U-boat Force
540. Reborn from the Fire! ——The Marat battleship fighting in Leningrad (Part 2)
537. "Rat Transport Operation" in the Mediterranean Sea - The sinking of Hermes (Part 1)
534. Air threat! ——The battleship Marat fighting in Leningrad (Part 1)
531. Courage and Glory - The legendary life of "Crazy Jack"
526. The million-dollar show - the battle for the Remagen Bridge
524. Witnesses of despair ——The last moments of U-74 and "Bismarck"
522. Atypical landing battle (1) - napalm , heavy artillery and battleship
519. A gift from the sky - the wonderful adventure of Germany's doomsday weapons
515 . Sea and air duel - German U-boat VS British B-17
512. Pioneer ace - Wolfgang Loos and his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
498. Shoal Ferryman - World War II A brief biography of Japan's big engine boats
494. Heavy Armor Vanguard - The Development History of the American M26 Tank
In the early 1970s, the Vietnam War that had lasted for nearly 10 years exhausted the finances and patience of the U.S. government, and decided to remove its troops from Vietnam as soon as possible. will all be withdrawn, and all wars in Vietnam will be handed over to the South Vietnamese government. The North Vietnamese government, which has long hoped to unify Vietnam, will naturally not miss this good opportunity. They are planning a ferocious offensive with the intention of taking over South Vietnam territory in one fell swoop.
Figure 1. The U.S. military withdrew from Vietnam
By early 1971, there were only two air mobile divisions left in the once extremely large U.S. military stationed in Vietnam - the 1st Cavalry Division and the 101st Airborne Division. The rest were some handymen who had not yet withdrawn. infantry regiment. By March 1972, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 101st Airborne Division had also left the desolate Vietnam and returned to their hometown. However, the AH-1G Cobras of the 1st Division remained in Vietnam and were at the disposal of the U.S. Air Force Command who was still in Vietnam. Their original mission was to block the pursuit of and North Vietnam in the rear stage to ensure the safe evacuation of the remaining U.S. military units. But the NVA clearly intended to give them extra work.
On March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese army began the famous "Easter Offensive", which North Vietnam called "Operation Nguyen Hue". North Vietnamese military leaders believe that since all U.S. ground troops have withdrawn, military operations will no longer be limited to sending guerrillas to villages and small strongholds. They will do a big job and completely change the confrontation between North and South Vietnam.
In early 1972, when the North Vietnamese army inspected the equipment in their hands, they were certainly not in a bad mood - 14 regular divisions and 26 independent regiments, equipped with 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles , to deal with the South Vietnamese "militia" Naturally relaxed and happy. The first targets of the attack were Quang Tri Province close to the country's North and South Demilitarized Zones, and Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. The second round of attacks is on Kontum and Polek. If successful, South Vietnam will be cut in half. The third strike, also the southernmost one, went through Cambodia to Luc Ninh and An Loc, directly threatening Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. This eagerness for quick success and gambler's mentality paved the way for the next disaster offensive.
Figure 2. Combat map, pay attention to the distance between An Loc (An Loc) below and SAIGON (Saigon)
On April 2, two North Vietnamese infantry regiments feinted to attack Northern Tay Ninh Province with the support of captured M41 Bulldog tanks South Vietnam base. While the South Vietnamese were distracted by this attack, three North Vietnamese divisions (over 35,000 men, including auxiliaries) prepared to attack south, intending to capture An Loc to threaten Saigon. Stationed in An Loc is the 5th South Vietnamese Division. Like other South Vietnamese troops, each regiment and battalion has US military advisers to stabilize the position.
html On the morning of April 5, the North Vietnamese 3rd Division crossed the Cambodia-Vietnam border and attacked Lu Ning. There were less than 1,000 South Vietnamese defenders here, and the situation immediately became very dangerous. The U.S. military realized North Vietnam's strategic intentions and mobilized two aircraft carriers and to attack North Vietnam in conjunction with a large group of bombers taking off from Thailand and Bienhe bases in Vietnam.
The Americans used all their forces, including napalm bombs, cluster bombs and the "Aerial Reaper" AC-130 gunships, to barely repel the North Vietnamese group attack. However, under the fierce attack of more than 30 North Vietnamese tanks on the 7th, Luc Ninh was still lost. At this point, the road south of An Loc was firmly controlled by North Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese defenders of An Loc could no longer obtain supplies from the land.
Figure 3. AC-130
On April 12, Captain James Wilbanks and Major Richard Henie were flown by helicopter to An Loc to replace them during the siege. Injured US military advisor. Wilbanks and his party got off the plane under the welcome of North Vietnamese artillery and rockets . The current situation is not too bad. South Vietnam still controls most of the urban areas, and under the influence of the South Vietnamese Rangers With support, they can also launch a certain scale of counterattack to surround and annihilate the small North Vietnamese troops that broke into the city.
Wilbanks thought his career as a consultant would be short-lived until he was awakened the next morning by the shouts of South Vietnamese soldiers. "Thiet Gap! " It was the first time he heard this word, and he was about to ask the translator, but the "source" of the shouting immediately appeared on his own - a column of North Vietnamese T-54 tanks broke into the city and was walking along the street to the north. move.
Wilbanks had been dealing with North Vietnam for a long time, and he immediately realized that these tanks were infantry that went deep alone and lacked cover. He approached the commander of the Rangers (the most powerful unit in South Vietnam) and asked them to carry anti-tank weapons to attack the tanks in a roundabout way, while he immediately coordinated close air support with the headquarters.
Figure 4. North Vietnamese T-54 tanks that broke into the city. The lack of infantry cover made them an excellent attack target.
The Americans in the rear were naturally not idle, but the proposal to send ground troops to Vietnam was rejected. At this moment It was obviously inappropriate to intervene at the right time. The six aircraft carriers that rushed to the coast of Vietnam became South Vietnam's biggest reliance at this time. In the first two weeks of the fighting, American attack aircraft A-6 and A-7, fighter-bombers F-4, South Vietnamese attack aircraft A-1 and A-37 made 2500 sorties against the advancing forces of the Northmen, Effectively slowing down the North Vietnamese army's offensive.
Of course, AC-130 and AC-47 gunships are also very active. The US military has a low opinion of this large-scale ground attack by North Vietnam. "North Vietnamese soldiers like to gather in one place when attacking, making it difficult for them to carry out precise air strikes." To make an effective defense", of course, Americans had an even lower opinion of South Vietnam, and only the Rangers were trustworthy friendly forces.
Figure 5. The bombed-to-ruin hills outside An Loc City
Calling in close air support on city streets can be very lethal, both for the person being attacked and for the person calling in an airstrike, as the two sides are sometimes only separated by 20 meters.In an air raid, the 113-kilogram bomb that was thrown away hit the North Vietnamese tank in the middle of the street, but it did not explode. This made the North Vietnamese tank crew and the South Vietnamese soldiers separated by a wall heave a sigh of relief.
On the outskirts of An Loc City, B-52 flew in groups of three and dropped more than 300 Mk-82 bombs they carried. The North Vietnamese army suffered huge casualties, but still continued to attack the city. On April 19, North Vietnam's second large-scale offensive began. In close-range street fighting, the North Vietnamese army showed a different level of professionalism than before, and even concentrated on using captured tear gas to remove South Vietnamese paratroopers from buildings outside the city. Drive away from the middle.
However, the offensive basically stopped on the 22nd, because the North Vietnamese supply lines had been completely destroyed by American indiscriminate bombing. In order to provide fuel for the B-52, the U.S. Air Force transferred 110 KC-135 tanker aircraft , bringing the total number of tanker aircraft to 187. During the most dangerous phase of the operation, B-52s would bomb the assembly points of North Vietnamese troops every hour. The North Vietnamese troops, who lacked high-altitude air defense means, could only be bombed but had no choice but to do so.
Figure 6. T-54 tank blown over by B-52
The next task of the US military is to deal with the North Vietnamese armored forces that have broken into the city. The professional anti-tank missile BGM-71 TOW will not be officially put into actual combat until May 2, and it will hit the original friendly force-the M41 Bulldog captured by North Vietnam. Before that, the attack helicopter could only be equipped with 70mm Armor-breaking rocket emergency. The performance of the attack helicopter unit was very good. In the narrow streets of An Loc, North Vietnamese tanks were simply living targets. Some helicopter pilots even reported the results of more than 5 tanks.
Although it has nothing to do with the high-altitude B-52, in the face of the low-altitude AH-1G and the old UH-1B (used to launch anti-tank missiles), North Vietnam still has sufficient countermeasures: in addition to the old anti-aircraft machine gun In addition to and joint 23mm anti-aircraft guns, they also brought SA-2 and SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles . The former shot down an F-4 at the end of April and was quickly suppressed by the US military aircraft that came to retaliate. It did not play much role in the subsequent battles. However, the shoulder-mounted SA-7 is very good for dealing with helicopters. On May 8, the North Vietnamese SA-7 made its first performance, shooting down an AH-1G. At this time, it had not aroused the alert of the US military. Combat records show that the United States People thought that the plane was shot down by the " recoilless rifle ".
Figure 7. A T-54 tank destroyed by an attack helicopter outside An Loc City
On May 11, North Vietnam launched the largest offensive since the beginning of the siege of An Loc, intending to capture the city in one fell swoop. They fired 7,000 shells in 4 hours. Four columns, supported by about 40 tanks, attacked Anlu City from different directions.
South Vietnam and the U.S. Air Force gathered all their air power to come to the rescue. Every 55 minutes, a B-52 dropped bombs on the heads of the North Vietnamese troops. In some areas where the war was intense, the B-52 bombing point was far away from the South Vietnamese defenders. Only less than 600 meters away. 350 tactical air forces also participated in the air raid. Although they repelled the North Vietnamese attack, the cost was not small - one A-37 light attack aircraft, two AH-1G, and two O-2 Skyhawk targets. The designated aircraft and a A-1 attack aircraft were shot down.
Figure 8. B-52
active during the siege. The South Vietnamese defenders dug trenches to hold on. Even with the support of non-stop air strikes, holding An Loc seemed like an impossible task: According to an American consultant, outdoors The chance of surviving for 5 minutes is only 50%. Due to the heavy losses of the unprotected transport helicopter , the task of airlifting supplies was handed over to the C-119 and C-123 transport aircraft . They flew at a low altitude of 150 meters to drop supplies over the city stadium every day.
But during the North Vietnamese offensive, such a transportation operation was tantamount to suicide-two C-123s and their entire crew were lost in just one hour on the morning of April 15.Subsequent airlift operations can only be dropped at high altitudes, and most cargo usually does not float into South Vietnamese-controlled areas. American C-130 medium transport aircraft soon joined the airlift operation, but their lives were not easy. A C-130 was hit by anti-aircraft artillery on its way back. The shrapnel made a big hole in the fuselage and disappeared together with the flight engineer. The landing gear hydraulics were also hit, forcing the crew to manually lower the landing gear.
When approaching the base, the damaged engine ignited a fire. Sparks jumped into the cabin through the hole in the fuselage and ignited the remaining cargo. The C-130 reluctantly landed with the raging fire. At this time The only remaining crew members were the pilot and navigator.
Figure 9. C-130 low-altitude tactical airdrop, this mode of transportation was discontinued as losses increased
The airlift operation was very bad. By May 1st, the North Vietnamese easily obtained 90 percent of the airdrop. supplies. One North Vietnamese prisoner even asked his guards for a fruit cocktail. The supplies he picked up during the siege made him fall in love with the drink and he was willing to tell everything he knew as long as he could drink it. More than a month ago, he lived on rice and salted fish.
Figure 10. Destroyed T-54 tanks on the street
Even if the airlift operation was changed to night or escorted by armed helicopters , the damage situation did not change. On the night of May 3-4, the third C-130 was shot down. All air transports are forced to be dropped at high altitudes. Even if parachutes are installed, the cargo may be damaged due to excessive landing speed.
It was not until early June that the North Vietnamese offensive was contained and the scope of activity was reduced before helicopters could safely land in the city. They would bring in supplies and evacuate the wounded. Sometimes if there were not enough spaces, the wounded would have to stand on the landing gear and hold on to the hatch.
During the entire siege, the AH-1G unit "Blue Max", which specialized in hunting tanks, was the most active, dispatching 422 sorties and destroying 18 tanks and 25 other armored vehicles . Naturally, they also suffered the heaviest losses. In the battles from April to June 1972, 10 of the 13 AH-1Gs were shot down, and 8 crew members were lost. The culprit responsible for the loss of 8 crew members in 4 shooting incidents was North Vietnam's SA-7. Due to the lack of warning when hit by the missile , many times the crew could not judge their own status, leading to tragedy.
On June 21, an AH-1G was hit by an SA-7 and its tail was completely cut off. Fortunately, the wingman on the side discovered the missile and issued a warning on the radio. The hit crew understood the damage and their own status, managed to maintain the attitude of the helicopter and hit the trees on the ground at a low speed, gaining a buffer and surviving. This was also the first time that a helicopter pilot was hit by an anti-aircraft missile. Survive a hit.
Figure 11. Painting depicting the AH-1G being hit by an anti-aircraft missile
html In early June, North Vietnam's offensive was not so desperate. In fact, they were withdrawing from the An Loc area step by step. By the end of June, An Loc had been in An Loc for 2 months. The blockade was finally lifted. South Vietnam lost 12,800 soldiers during the siege (2,300 killed, 8,500 wounded, 2,000 missing). North Vietnamese casualties cannot be counted. The most conservative estimate is that 6,500 were killed and no injuries were counted. The figure given by the Americans was that North Vietnam suffered 25,000 casualties. Of course, these figures have never been officially recognized by North Vietnam. As for civilian casualties...the tall mass graves outside the city tell us that only God probably knows. The remains of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were scattered inside and outside the city. The French newspaper that arrived later used the relatively conspicuous title " Verdun ".
Figure 12. People frantically trying to evacuate the city
As the important stronghold city was defended, the South Vietnamese government proudly announced its victory. However, the Americans still saw the future development of the situation in Vietnam from the direction of the battle and were eager to The escaped US government accelerated peace talks with North Vietnam after the Easter armistice, while South Vietnam will usher in their end amid the complacency of victory and the deepest fear in their hearts.
- Finished, please look forward to the next article -
