Page 287 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

the Trieu Son Tay harnlet on rnakeshi{t nylon rafts consisting of a l. 6
rneter square of plastic. Each group had two or three larger nylon
rafts to carry its weapons across the river,

A{ter crossing the river three of these groups sneaked
along the Citadel wall to attack the First lnJantry Division headquar-
ters in the Mang Ca area while the f ourth attacked the An Hoa gate's
watchtower, The latter group succeeded in blasting the watchtower,
the nearby bunker on top of the Citadel, and storrned the gate. The
other groups irnrnediately followed the fourth group and consolidated
for the attack on the 1st Infantry Division C ornrnand c ornpound in
Mang Ca, but were pinned down there by the compound defenders. The
f ollowing rnorning when friendly APC-backed r:elief forces carne, the
enerny withdrew into adjoining houses and divided thernselves into
two wings - one fighting the relief force and the other defending their
retreat route through the west gate.

From the west side of the Citadel they launched an
assault on the Tay Loc airfield, the Irnperial Palace and the Citadel
itself, with three battalions, including a sapper battalion (minus one
company) and two infantry battalions (short one cornpany). They con-
ducted the assault frorn rnany directions with cornpany sized or larger
units which :

Attacked the An Hoa bridge and the Chanh Tay gate.
In-filtrated the Citadel through the drainage duct systern,
Attacked the Tay Loc airfield frorn the west side o{ the church,
Reached Cuong De Street through drainage ducts.
Cccupied the western wall of the Citadel.
Moved on the Irnperial Palace.
Attacked up Yet Kieu Street to seize the tall flagpole.
Occupied the southwestern area of the Citadel and the Dong Ba rnarket
place (this group detailed one platoon to seize the Chieu Hoi building,
the Court of Appeals building and the In-forrnation service building.
Attacked the Regional Force cornpany guarding the Bach Ho bridge.
Seized civilian sarnpans and junks to rnove to the Bai Dau area to block
governrnent relief force s.
Attacked with a battalion sized force to seize An Hoa vi1lage.

The regirnental cornrnander of the 6th enerny Regt led
the rnain effort hirnself . As stated previously, a1I the above rnentioned
objectives, except for the Tay Loc airfield and the ordnanc€ area,
easily fell into enerny hands. The enerny relied or. the strength of the

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