Page 160 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Road 45 and Phu Tho, the situation quieted down for a while but a
Ranger group rnoving to Binh Thoi was to rneet with strong enerny
resistance in the aJternoon. Rornbers and helicopter gunships were
irnrnediately dispatched against the enerny in a raid that clirnaxed
with the explosion of 700-pound bornbs. By the light of {lares the
Rangers assurned full control of the Binh Thoi area a little before
rnidnight,

The I l th day of May was to rnark the beginning of the
a1lied counterattack in Saigon. It also was to be rernernbered by the
creation o{ the Student Division for the protection of the capital city,

I Z Mav 1968. With the Rangers in cornplete control of the Fifth and
Sixth Precincts friendly troops launched a rnajor attack against
enerny positions on the othe: side of the rrYrr Bridge. The fight
continued all rnorning but by noon the al1ies were in control of the
area. This wictory elirninated the last cornrnunist troops fighting
in this part of the city.

At nightfali enerny gunners fired a few SZmm rnortar
rounds that landed in a srna1l alley leading to Do Thanh Nhan Street.
Sorne hours later they also raided the highway bridge near Saigon and
partly darnaged the bridge.
The following day the situation in the capital and outlying
areas had returned to norrnal. After a week of intense fighting in
Saigon the following casualty figures were recorded on both sides.

A total ol ?509 cornrnunist troops were killed and ZZI
captured by US and South Vietnarnese troops. 405 enerny troops were
elirninated by Saigon Police and another 68 were killed by the Regional
and Popular Forces who also took ten prisoners. In all a total of
Z98Z intruders were killed and ?31 captured.

Against these battle casualties the allied cornrnand
recorded 57 US fatalities and 333 Arnerican wounded, Seventy govern-
rnent troops were killed and 303 wourrded while 65 policernen lost
their lives and 306 were hospitalized, The Regional and Popular
Forces Cornrnand put its losses at eight killed and 37 wounded. Over-
all allied casualties were 210 dead and 979 wounded.

3scor,Tn PERToD
In this second period there were two fronts. One was in
Saigonrs northern suburb of Gia Dinh while the other was in the

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