Page 142 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

under Sergeant Tang Ly, was given the task of protecting the cornrnand
element and attacking the enerny frorn the le{t flank; and. Znd platoon,
under Warrant Officer UT,was to hit the enerny in a frontal attack in
coordination with the crack reconnaissance section,
I'The waiting period did not last 1ong, As soon as the
Rangers left Village Road l4 and were in view frorn the cemetery, the
Cornrnunists opened fire on thern, Tran Xoongrs troops who rvere in an
open field did not have any alternative but to hit back as forcefully as
poesibl.e. They charged with fixed bayonets. The first Viet Cong
defense line rapidly c ollap s ed.
rrXoong and his troops irnrnediately surged forward and,

after taking possession of the enerny trenches, continued to direct their
fire at the Cornrnunists who then were behind every tornb in the big ce-
rnetery. The opposing troops were go close to one another that they
could see one anotherrs face. The Viet Cong were a curious rnixture o{
black and white clad elernents with sorne of thern half naked,

'rknrnediately at the start oI the battle it becarne evident
the Viet Cong were MainForce troops well equipped with such weapons
as B.40 rocket launcherg and other collective arrrrs, Their individual
weapons were rnostly AK.50ts, which are newer and better version of
the AK. 47. AII this firepower did not prevent the Rangers frorn
surging ahead once rnore and occupying a srnall verrnicelli factory.

r!But here the troops under the cornrnand of Lieutenant
Xuan were to meet with strong enerny resistance, The Viet Cong had
two heavy machineguns which were silenced by a series of M, 79 grena-
des personally launched by the company cornrnander. (ttre l,t. Z9 is a
large egg-ehaped grenade with an incornparable degtructive power),
rrln epite of intense pounding of their position,the VC rna-
chinegunnere refused to budge,creating the feeling arnong the Rangers
they had been chained to their arms, Meanwhile a bare 20 yards sepa-
rated the gunners on both sides as they continued to fire at each other.
rrSeeing red at what he called Viet Cong stubbornness,
Private Tran Dac Hiep of the reconnaissance section,without regard for
his personal safety,took over the M,79 launcher and directed it at the
Viet Cong position in a house. In the other position in a house, a Viet
Cong saw Hiep and, with an AK, 50, tried to stop hirn, Both firedatthe
garne tirne and both collapsed s irnultaneou s 1y, Hiep was kil1ed lly a
bullet that went through his heknet and the Viet Cong was slain along
with his rnachinegunner friends.

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