Page 157 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968
P. 157

Unable to resi6t, the intruders tried to fLee but seven of
       thern were shot dead and six individual  weaPons taken. Another Viet
       Cong group 6tarting frorn the corner of Tran Quy and Pho Co Dieu
        streets tried to assault the local police station but fel] into an arnbush.
       Six were killed and five taken prisoners.
                        In the Sixth Precinct beside the clash reported at Binh
        Thoi the enernyrs  pressure  wa6 ao intense that in the rnorning the local
        inhabitant  s started evacuating the area. Following thi6,  VC           Presence
       becarne more acutely {elt in the Sixth, Seventh' and Eighth Precincts.
       Especially in thislast area enetny gunners had eet up mortar  poBitiong
       frorn which they could fire  on the city.  Although no rnajor actions  were
        reported  during the day, it was feared the enerny had infiltrated enough
        men to cause further trouble.

                        In surnrnary for the 14 hours from 0400 hours to 1800
        hours of the Fifth of May 1968, 32 cornmuniste were killed,  25 captured
        and ?0 weapons confiscated.  On the side of police six riot policernen
        rnade the suprerne sacrif ice.
        6 Mav 1968. The enerny opened  another front at the Bay Hien inter-
        gection  near the airport.  An enemy unit had         Penetrated    this area fol-
        iowing Village  Road 14, Ho Tan Duc and Le Van Duyet Streets, to
        arrive at the cemetery of the French Army.  But thie comrnunist  unit
        was to be completely destroyed  by an airborne element moved in from

        B ien Hoa,
                        In the afternoon by I800 hours a VC sapper group again
        appeared at Level Croaeing  Number Six shooting  to death a US service-
        man who happened  to ride hie Honda motorcycle through the area. An
        operation  was immediately launched  reaulting in the death of three of
        the Viet Cong but the communiet6  continued to hide in houeee border-
        ing the r ailway I  track,

                        Meanwhile  the fighting continued in Thi Nghe, although
        at a lesser degree of intensity. OnIy in Binh Thoi was it growing more
        gerious in spite o{ airpower that ground troops had to call in'  In the
        evening Colonel Darn Van Quy Special,Assistant  to General Loan,was
        rnortally wounded  while inspecting the troops in the area of Minh
        Phung and Phu Larn.
                        During the night enelny gunners again shelled  the city.
        Warheads  felL in  seweral  places especially  on Nguyen Canh Chan
        Street near the Cho Quan Electricity Cornplex, the Taxi Terrninal



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