Page 245 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Flue

The battle of Hue lasted 26 days. It was the bloodiest
and rnost destructive battle in the offensive, This was true not only
because of the fighting but also because of the rnass rnurders by the
Cornrnunists.In these rnass rnurders thousands of innocent civilians
were buried alive. It was a terrible nightrnare for the population of
Hue, The whole city was rnarked by the passage of death and no house
was left untouched by the war, As a rnatter of fact the. sufferings of
the residents of Thua Thien Province were indescribable and have
been the subject of rnany rnowing stories in the press, This docurnent
only deals with the rnilitary aspect of the battle.

A. - GENERAL DEVELCPMENTS
Hue was very rnuch alive on the eve of the New year.
The Dong Ba rnarket was crowded with people, Many strangers were
noticed strolling arnong the crowds. No one apparently paid rnuch
attention to thern or thought anything unusual rnight happen in their
peaceful c ity.

The sarne thing occured to prices in Hue as in Saigon,
Two weeks bef ore Tet goods f ound aknost no custoi.r.jer s even though
prices were rather low. Then the sudden buying spree which rnarked
the last days of the year caused a sharp increase in the prices of
various c ornn-roditie s.

Throughout Tetrs eve and New yearrs Day {irecrackers
exploded alrnost endlessly and people went about their custornary
visits to relatives as if nothing were to happen.

On the rnorning of New yearrs Day Brigadier General
Ngo Quang Truong, cornrnander of the First Infantry Division, along
with rnernbers of hi6 staff were present at a flag-raising cerernony
y
at Phu Van Lau which rnarked the c orni.ng of the ear of the Monkey.
Shortl.y after the cerernony he received reports frorn the I Corps
Headquarters that Viet Cong had attacked the towns of Nha Trang and
Qui Nhon, as well as the I Corps Headquarters, the night before.
The General irnrnediately put his troops on full alert and rernained
at the Division C ornrnand headquarters for the night. Although cornply_
ing with the order, the troops could not believe that an enerny attack

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