Page 196 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968
P. 196
The battle north of the Capita!
(Frorn May 25th to June 18th, 1968)
This battle actually started on the night of May 23rd but
only on May 25th did i.t really break out.
Since the night of May 25th the enerny had stealthily in-
filtrated into Harnlet 7 in Gia Dinh. They did not fire a shot. The
operation Sector Police force had contact with thern when they reached
Long Van and Tap Thanh Pagodas. There wa6 an exchange o{ fire. As
a result, 4 policernen were killed including l first lieutenant,
On the rnorning of May Z4th lt.e population in the province
was in alarrn. Due to the police cordon to search for hidden enerny
troops Gia Dinh rnarket was closed. Le Quang Dinh street frorn Bach
Dang intersection to Binh Hoa intersection was also closed to traJfic.
Many refugees frorn Harnlet 7 took shelter in Gia Dinh rnarket. At
0900 hours on May Z4th another firefight took place in the above areas.
The enerny was widely dispersed and hid in the houses in vicinity of
the pagoda,
The flow of refugees when they got dose to Cau Bong
Bridge, Le Van Duyet Street burst into the ground of the Tuberculo6is
Hospital or lingered near Gia Dinh Inforrnation Office,
It \/as reported that in Hiep Binh Harnlet on the bank of
the Saigon River there were indications of a concentration of enerny
troops consisting of the VC Dong Nai Regirnent which intended to
penetrate into the Capital by crossing the river.
On May 24lh in the a-{ternoon, the crowd of refugees
ernerging frorn Tap Thanh Pagoda grew larger and larg€r. People of
all ages and sexes huddled together trying to cross a lane which was
then the rrNo Manrs Landrr separating the {riendly and enerny controlled
areas,
At Dong Ong Co no contact rvith the enerny was rnade
when friendly troops began to search the area. It appeared that the
few scattered VC ce1ls had escaped secretly through the cordon ring.
How strong were these cells and when had they infil-
trated ? According to Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Thong, Marine
trGroup Arr Cornrnander, the enerny departing frorn An Phu Dong had
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