Page 345 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

this arrnor counterattack was hit by the enerny's deadly rockets. The
enenry seerned to have been caught off balance. Sorne of these arrnor
vehicles blocked the way to further enerny assaults while the others
scoured the sugarcane fields for possible enerny survivors.

Prior to daylight no further assaults were launched by
the enerny in this sector of the city. The enerny,however, refused to
pull out of the residential areas at this tirne,
The situation on other fronts within the city also irnpro-
ved, A11 enerny assaults were thrown back except for those against
the city jail and the RF-PF Training Center. These were overrun by
the nurnerically euperior force and fire power of the enerny shortly
after the offensive began during the night. The enerny flew a flag on
the hilltop training center and stood his ground waiting for the coun-
teiattack frorn the city defenders.
Air strikes were provided right after daybreak and ene-
rny troops {aded into neighboring civilian populated areas for cover,
Arrned helicopters strafed the jait which had been overrun around
0510 hours. Sorne 540 prisoners were freed by the enerny but a nurnbet
o{ thern were recaptured by governrnent troops, The straling o{ the
jail cost the enerny forty killed. There were 21 prisoners killed and
2I wounded. The enernyrs assault on the sarne jail earlier in the night
cost its defenders six kil1ed and eleven wounded. The bulk of the RF
garrison at the jail pulled out in the face of the superior enerny force.
The enerny alsc' suffered heavy casualties in-flicted by the
gunships in the airfield perirneter areas. He had attacked the airfield
and the adjoining position of the 4th Regirnent. The de{enders equipped
with the newly supplied MI6 autornatic rifles, delivered such surpri-
singly strong firepower against the enerny that it threw his ranks into
disorder and rolled back his hurnan wave assaults. The enerny seerned
to have been unaware of this new irnprovernent. The rear base o{ the
3/4 BattaUon was overrun at one point and of its 20 defenders only
three escaped wounds, Seven were killed and ten wounded. The three
survivors joined the Regirnent's ZZ tta^sportation troopers ied by
.
Master Sergeant Tran Quang Tu. After overrunning this rear base
the enerny assaulted the Regirnental headquarters which was defended
by these ZZ rnen plus the three survivors, The enerrly was stopped and
pinned down by these Z5 rnen, These rnen occupied all the existing
bunkers and fought with rnachineguns, light rnachineguns and grenades.
Around 0500 hours a building of the 3/4 Battalion's rear base caught

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