Word: phong
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During the past four months, 16,000 Communist troops have been killed in battle (v. 4,000 South Vietnamese and 1,500 U.S. dead). Viet Cong defections have increased to an unprecedented rate of 80 a day. So low is the guerrillas' morale that Tien Phong, the South Vietnamese Reds' party journal, suggested recently (see THE WORLD) that Viet Cong leaders may not be able to afford to concentrate only on battleground activities and might better focus on the "political struggle movement...
...Tien Phong (Vanguard), monthly organ of Viet Nam's Communist Party, the Reds confirmed the growing feeling in Saigon that they are not only being mauled militarily but doing badly in the political war as well. Until last year, when the U.S. began its massive intervention, they had skillfully nurtured peasant sympathy. The new military pressures forced the Viet Cong to raise taxes, broaden the conscription of rural youths, and make other stiff demands on their peasant converts. The buildup of U.S. forces and the pacification of rural areas, Tien Phong noted, has, "practically speaking, created great difficulty...
Mutilations on Display. In the cities, Tien Phong counseled, the Reds should use demonstrations, strikes and barrages of propaganda against the high cost of living, food shortages, the draft, and demand wage increases and better jobs. In rural areas, the protests should center on allied air and artillery strikes and "the plan to herd people with their unhusked rice into concentration centers and to use toxic chemicals in the massacre of our compatriots." Then there is the subtler approach, such as paying calls on the wives of Vietnamese troops "to inquire about the health of their husbands" and thus undermine...
...stamp is clearly visible on the 83rd Detachment at Saigon's Tanson-hut airbase. Like their commander, the 83rd's pilots wear black flying suits with purple scarves. They call themselves Than Phong ("divine wind," the translation of the Japanese "kamikaze" of World War II). Boss of the 83rd is Hanoi-born Major Luu Kim Cuong, at 32 a 13-year veteran of Viet Nam's long war, and a confidant of Ky's. Cuong has logged more than 8,500 flying hours, taught himself to fly the Skyraider in a mere three days. He flew...
Clear & Hold. With the growth of the militiamen, the army is being released from static holding operations to make major offensive sweeps against the Viet Cong, sometimes clearing them from areas where no government forces have been in 15 years. In Kien Phong and Vinh Long provinces, where the Reds once dominated up to 65% of the population, swiftly mounted government raids against guerrilla training centers and supply depots have reduced the Communist-controlled populace to less than 30%. In the past year, the army's striking power has been massively enhanced by U.S. helicopters that can airlift Vietnamese...