Page 250 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

First Engineer Battalion one kilorneter south of Hue., They algo rnain-
tained their preasure on the Tay Loc area, the Citadel, the Flagpole
area, the adrninistrative sector and the Dong Khanh high school. That
night the enerny overran the city prison and freed about 2,000 prison-
ers of all categories. This added rnore conJusion to the situation in
Hue. The freed prisoners, arrned by the enerny, roarned the streets
and cornrnitted acts of reprisal.
During the fiJth night of Tet the enerny burned a rnili-
tary fuel depot at the Dinh rnarket one kilorneter northeast of Hue'
Scattered enerny actions were rePorted around the base carnp of the
Illth Transportation Battalion at An Cuu.
You rnay recall that Lt. Col. Phan Yan Khoa, Chief
of Thua Thien province, concurrently Mayor of Hue, was reported
rnissing during the first days of the enerny offensive. He was at first
believed to have been rnurdered by the enerny. Actually he escaped
unhurt. At tirne s he had to disgu:'se hirnself as a hospital patient.

The actual counterattack by friendly forces did not
begin until the fiJth day of Tet.
The cornbined Vietnarnese - Allied operation was con-
ducted as f ollows :
- The Arnerican forces, consisting of the 2/5 Marine
Battalion with three cornpanies and an arrnor battalion, started out frorn
the MACV cornpound while the RAY Battle Group, consisting of two
Marine cornpanies, set out frorn the An Cuu bridge. Their rnission
was to clear the right bank of the Perfurne River.

- The Vietnarnese forces, consisting of the First Air-
borne Battle Croup with three battalions and one arrnor Squadron initi-
ated their action frorn north of the Citadel. The 9th Airborne Battalion'
helili{ted frorn Quang Tri to the Mang Ca carnp on the aJternoon of the
fourth day of Tet, also rnaneuvered into the Citadel. TheFirst Air-
borne Battle Group, rein{orced by elernents of the f irst Infantry
Division, was to clear the left bank of the Perfurne River.

Another friendly force took position northwest and
southwe6t of Hue. This was the First U' S. Air Cavalry Division
which had rnoved frorn An Khe in the pre-Tet days i.n order to as6i6t
with the rnilitary situation at Khe Sanh.
ARVN trooPs reoccupied half of the Citadel airfield

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