Word: arvn
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...offensive began in the sky-with a shattering barrage of at least 12,000 rounds of rocket, mortar and artillery fire across the Demilitarized Zone, which divides North and South Viet Nam. Said Specialist Fourth Class Michael Hill, a U.S. adviser with ARVN units in the area: "It was like nothing we ever expected and nothing we ever saw." Then came the ground attack. Some 25,000 North Vietnamese troops, with Russian-built tanks and artillery, swept down through Quang Tri province, sending 50,000 refugees fleeing south and U.S. advisers scurrying to their helicopters. As his stunned military forces...
Despite the speed with which it spread, the fighting was still indeterminate. There had been no big set battles, certainly none with crack ARVN outfits like the 1st Division. "The ARVN hasn't stopped the [North Vietnamese] drive," said a U.S. officer in Saigon last week, "but the initial surge has ended. So far, continued this thing has had peaks and valleys. But the peaks haven't been too high, and the valleys haven't been too low." The big peaks, evidently, were still to come...
...when the U.S. troop level in Viet Nam dips below 69,000. The President also directed that the 6,000 U.S. combat troops currently stationed in Viet Nam should not be shifted from their defensive positions around U.S. installations at Danang and in the Saigon area to aid ARVN's fight against the North Vietnamese. To emphasize that it was "their war," it was decided that reporters' inquiries about the South Vietnamese situation would be bucked to the State Department. The President demonstrated his confidence that the situation was under control by leaving for Key Biscayne in midweek...
Militarily, Cambodia has become a doormat for Indochina's warring forces. In its eastern provinces, 10,000 ARVN troops were cautiously probing the sanctuaries where elements of three North Vietnamese divisions are believed to be waiting for the signal to open their long-awaited dry-season offensive in South Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Communist units deeper inside Cambodia opened their own offensive. In midweek, a force of Communist artillerymen, perhaps no more than 200 strong, struck the capital with a devastating, 90-minute rocket and mortar barrage...
There are other uncertainties. The Viet Cong infrastructure, for instance, might not be nearly so weak as is generally assumed. A sudden withdrawal or reduction of U.S. airpower would increase doubts about ARVN's abilities, even if the flow of American supplies and economic support continued. But for the moment, U.S. military men in Saigon and Washington remain reasonably sure that the newly Vietnamized war machine can accomplish its mission: to give the Saigon regime a "reasonable chance" of survival when American troops go home...