Word: hoas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...long ago, young (32) General Ba Cut declared that he would behead Viet Nam's Premier Ngo Dinh Diem as a warning of the power of the Hoa Hao, the piratical "religious" sect that once boasted an army of 20,000 and ruled large areas of Viet Nam as a feudal fief. The threat was characteristic of Ba Cut's fanatic life. At 17, hot-eyed Ba Cut swore he would fight to the death against the French, and he cut off the tip of his forefinger to seal his oath. At 21, he switched, began fighting...
...government of Premier Diem. In April, when the Binh Xuyen bandit army tried to grab Saigon, Bao Dai tried to fire Diem. Instead, Diem fought the Binh Xuyen back to the marshes of the Mekong River. Last summer Bao Dai directed an anti-Diem offensive by troops of the Hoa Hao sect, but Diem's troops scattered them. Said Bao Dai a fortnight ago: "I've been accused of betraying my country. But it is not I who have betrayed my country . . . It is the big powers-the men who signed the Geneva pact...
Farther south, Diem's young army, proving more efficient than critics expected, broke the resistance of the rebellious armed Hoa Hao sect. One of Hoa Hao's top warlords, General Lam Thanh Nguyen, slipped into Saigon to seek surrender terms. Diem received him with an ultimatum: bring all rebel troops over to the government immediately or face destruction. Within 30 minutes Lam agreed to have his 8,000 regular troops in government ranks within the week, and ordered an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 guerrilla supporters to cease all anti-government activities. Other Hoa Hao warlords, including...
Behind a brisk barrage from 105-mm field guns, Diem's nationalists, led by a 27-year-old colonel, stormed three Hoa Hao headquarters, forcing the chocolate-colored Mekong River, skittering black pigs and yellow dogs along with the scurrying Hoa Hao. The nationalists lost 40 killed and wounded, but the show was soon over. Only a few hours after the Diem barrage began, one-third of the Hoa Hao laid down their arms and Commander Ba Cut fled for the hills...
...good training, fighting the Hoa Hao," exulted one of Diem's young commanders. "We keep ourselves in shape, while the Communist army stays idle." It was hardly that much of a victory for a dissension-torn country: civil wars do not a country make. But winning them is a necessity for Diem if his regime is to last...