Page 298 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

north Vietnarn. The other was a local c ornrnunist guerrilla, who sur-
rendered hungry and tired after two days of hiding in an underground
draining duct.

The city slowly returned to norrnal. But on the night
of Feb 10, the enerny launched an assault on the Rornan Catholic
Harnlet of Duong Loc, about 12 krns north ol the city' This harnlet had
long been a target of cornrnunist carnpaigns of terror and destruction'
It was norrnally defended by a PF Platoon which was strengthened that
night by rnany students on Tet horne vacation. The enerny c ornrnitted
his K8 Battalion plus two regional guerrilla cornpanies to the attack'
His attack began around five rninute s Past rnidnight but it was unsuc-
cessful in breaking through the solid defense perirneter, which was
heavily defended with directional, fragrnentary type clayrnore rnines
and rnanned by deterrnined rnilitiarnen and civili.an people. The actual
gunfight did not occur until 0800h'the following rnorning and lasted
for one hour until rnost defenders ran out of arnrnunition and withdrew.
A srnall rnilitia elernent led by Duong Minh Hoang was wiped out
fighting a desperate rear guard battle to help the other rnilitiarnen
escape unhurt frorn the storrning enerny.
Yet the enerny was unable to occupy the harnlet because
of the stubborn guerrilla tyPe resistance of the harnlet residents, the
rnany booby traps and intricate alleyways inside the harnlet and, last
but not 1east, artiJ.lery support. He was cornpelled to Pull out of the
harnlet soon aJter dark. Six rnilitiarnen were kil1ed, a few others
abducted, while the enerny su-ffered a larger nurnber of casualties'
I Corps Cornrnander Gen. Hoang Xuan Larn helped the harnlet people
rebuild their defense force to a considerable extent soon after that
battle,
An arnateur writer, Le Nguyen Phuong, rnade the
f ollowing cornrnents on the 1968 Tet counter offensive in Quang Tri :
rr Tribute should. be paid to the spirit of alertness of the Quang Tri
province governrnent, which had tirnely prepared the local people
ernotionally and physically to cope with the enerny offensive since the
enemy pressure began to rnake itself heavily felt on the frontline areas
near the city. Quang Tri was fortunate enough to be supported by two
airfields, Dong Ha and Ai Tu, which could support each other in case
either of thern was put out of action" Furtherrnore, the Ai Tu airfield
had a USAF engineer unit, which in tirnes of need could becorne an
effective fighting elernent to helP the city. What had squarely been
behind the enernyrs inability to rnass in{iltrate the city was the tirnely
and effective airstrikes provided by these two airfieldsrr.

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