Page 205 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

In the 5th Airborne Battalion zone of action, at Tap
Thanh Pagoda, big fires were still seen with huge colurnns of srnoke
and flarnes. The paratroopers had to revert to the tactic of rnoving
to the objective by creeping, jurnping and clirnbing ower lows of
houses to avoid enerny fires sweeping the open streets, Only after
they reached the surrounding area of the pagoda did they rnake contact
with the enemy.
This built-up area thickly covered with trees offered
vantage ground to the enerny. The paratroopers did not request artil-
lery or air support because they were afraid of causing rnore casual-
tie s arnong the people,
At night the enerny received rnore reinforcernents and
intended to take advantage of darkness to penetrate in srnall groups
into Saigon through Cau Moi Bridge, Ten of the rnernbers of these
groups were killed during their infiltration atternpt.

To deal with such enerny reinforcernent tactics and
critical terrain features which favored the defenders the paratrooPers
had to call for artillery and air support, At 1l otcLock on 4 June the
skyraiders truck the enerny violently, Following the air attack two
Airborne Cornpani.es rnoved to break through the enerny defensive
line but were stopped about 50rn frorn the line of departure.

As in the previous night the enetny atternpted to escaPe
but their efforts were in vain and they lost 3 rnen killed i.n their
atternpt.
According to Captain Tran Van Son, a staff officer, the
rnain intention of the enerny was to rnake ewery effort to sneak to the
south i. e. to push a deep thrust into Gia Dinh. A prisoner of war
revealed that his cornrnanding officer told hirr: Saigon had fallen into
their hands, His unit was assigned the rnission to relieve their
victorious cornrades in the city. To explain why they had been barred
by the paratroopers on their infiltration route their cornrnander said
that these \rere but srnall groups of opposition forces. Jhe sarne
pri.soner also disclosed that the cornrnitted enerny unit was BattaLion
K.3 of the Dong Nai Regirnent and that 2 other battalions were stil1
in this area.

On the rnorning of June Znd three flights of fighters
dropped ordnance on the area around Tap llhanh Pagoda. Large bornbs
shook the earth. knrnediately following the bornbing attack the Para-

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