Word: minh
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Traction for Trucks. This assures the Communists of access to the Mekong and, most important, provides security for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Although ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) troops, with U.S. air support, inflicted considerable damage during the Lam Son 719 thrust into Laos and made parts of the trail unusable, the Communists reacted by simply moving the key supply network westward and widening it in the bargain. Thus, in recent weeks, Communist activity along the trail has been running at twice the normal rate. U.S. aerial reconnaissance has revealed piles of bamboo and mounds...
...improve security for the trail, the Communists last month pushed the Laotian army completely off the strategic Bolovens Plateau, deep in southern Laos. Possession of the plateau not only gives the NVA control of the heights overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but also of a landscape so wild that a full division can assemble there without being spotted from the air. Seeking to further improve their supply network, the Communists continue to battle along Route...
...North Vietnamese have already gained control of Snuol at the far southern terminus of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In the course of five days of fighting, they mauled an ARVN task force of 4,000 holding the town, forcing it into a disorderly retreat. Saigon insists that it had long planned to leave Snuol once the rains began, yet there is plenty of evidence that ARVN departed with embarrassing haste. It left behind no fewer than 72 vehicles-including tanks, armored personnel carriers and trucks -and eleven artillery pieces. The U.S. Air Force had to bomb the abandoned...
Litmus Test. Once launched, however, the offensive is not certain of success. The Communist position has its weaknesses. Hanoi's Laotian and Cambodian holdings are very sparsely populated. In South Viet Nam the Communists hold nothing but such desolate regions as portions of the U Minh Forest and the A Shau Valley. The heavily populated and strategically important Mekong Delta and the eleven provinces around Saigon face no substantial military danger. While ARVN troops have performed disappointingly in some recent battles in Cambodia and Laos, the litmus test of the Vietnamization program is how they will defend themselves inside...
Unnecessary Advice. Thieu has already begun his re-election campaign. Last week, with the diplomatic corps in tow, he paid a flying visit to Vietnamese troops of the 21st Infantry Division in the waterlogged U Minh forest, one of the most impregnable Viet Cong strongholds until ARVN troops began a campaign to reoccupy it six months ago. Thieu assured villagers: "Our troops will stay on here now for a thousand years to ensure your security." At an anniversary ceremony for the division, he cut the huge birthday cake with a sword. "We don't use swords to make wars...