Page 253 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Arnerican Marines were helilifted into the city to
reinforce the Z/5 U.S. Battalion on the right bank of the perfurne
River at1600 hr. on Feb. 10. This was the first such rein{orcernent
since the Hue battle began. The helili{t was finally cornpleted satis-
factorily despite very bad weather. Another Marine unit rnoved by
truck into the city frorn Phu Bai at the sarne tirne. The Local officials
and people becarne optirnistic as they witnessed all these rein-forcing
troop rnovernents.

In the afternoon of Feb, 10, an LCU of the Vietnarnese
Sea Junk Force arrived by the Teachersr Training School and picked
up a cargo of supplies frorn the first Division C ornrnand headquarters
which was on the left bank of the Perfurne River. These supplies
were then ferried to the rnilitary installations of the Thua Thien Sector
on the right bank.

In the section north of the Perfurne River three Viet-
narnese airborne battalions and four infantry battalions were closing
in on an enerny force firrnly entrenched arnong bunkers and battle-
scarred houses. The Gia Hoi section was still under enerny control as
was two-thirds of Phan Boi Chau street. Friendly troops advanced
cautiously within the Cltadel since the enerny stil1 held rnany vantage
points. The search-and-destroy operation was rnade rnore difficult
because the enerny chose to hide arnong the people and their dwellings.

The c ornrnander of the First Infantry Division faced
a difficult choice on whether to execute slow, careful house-to-house
{ighting or to engage in a swift stearnroller operation. The forrner
would save civilian lives and property but would cost extra friendly
casualties. The latter could result in a swifter liquidation of enerny
pockets of resistance but would entail sizeable hurnan and rnaterial
losses for the trapped civilians,
On the rnorning of Feb. 12 an advance reconnaissance
unit of the Marine Battle Group A was helilifted into the Citadel.

At 1800h. a US Marine unit crossed the Perfurne Riwer,
landed on Bao Vinh quay and started to rnaneuver into the Citadel. On
the rnorning of Feb. 13 the landing operation of US Marines on Bao
Vinh continued. This was the fir st tirne in the Hue battle that Arneri-
can Marines engaged the enerny inside the Citadel as they were rein-
forcing Vietnarnese troops. They were warrnly wel-corned by the
people,

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