Page 336 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Quang Ngai

A. A FE1Y INTRODUCTORY NOTtrS

Quang Ngai city is hernrned between two rivers, the
larger Tra Khuc River in the north and the srnaller Ve River in the
gouth. Both are fordable for rnost of the year. In the western end of
the city there is an airfield capable of taking mediurn transport and
cargo planes. Sorne eight krns east of the city is the South China Sea.
On the eastern and western sides of the city are sugar cane fields.
At several places sorne of these fields thrust into the city itself giving
the city a semi-rural look. Towering over the city {rorn the northwest
and south respectively are Mont Ong and Mount But. These rnountains
are good key terrain {eatures which afford governrnent troops control
over the city as well as large expanses of {1at lands for several kilo-
rrreters around the city. An artillery platoon was positioned on top of
Mount But.

The old city was dernolished by the Cornrnunist Ied Viet
Minh in ihe early rnonths of the Indochina War in 1947. It was rebuilt
following its takeover by governrnent troops in the wake of the I954
Geneva Settlern.ent of the Indochina trVar. The rebuilt city was srnaller
than the original one which was believed to have been built at the turn
of the century.

The city sits astride National Highway No I and its rnain
street is coincidentally a small section of this highway which links
Saigon to Hanoi. This rnain street is also the cityrs business section
with concrete shops, offices and businesses lining both sides for
several kilorneters, First tirne visitors to the city would find it diffi-
cult to tell where the city proper ends on this "highway rnain streetrr.
The ends of the rnain street belong to the city's suburbs.

The people of the city were predorninently non-Cornrnu-
niet or anti-Cornrnunist. A large part of the population were followers
of thc Vietnarn Quoc Dan Dang and Dai Viet Quoc Dang nationalist
parties. The rernaining people were either governrnent ernployees or
butine s s rnen,
It was becauge of this dernographic background that the
enemy was not able to start trouble from inside the city during his

_339_