Page 439 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

The Cornmunist rniirtary zones were defined on a geo-
graphical basis for comrnand and logistics reasons. Mosi of the zone:
stretch along the border and the coast to rnove supplies easier frorn
the Ho Cl'ri Minh Trai1, the neigboring countries and the sea. Usually
under each zone cornrnand was a hier.archy of province, district and
village cornrrrissioners, 7,one 4 in particular had no provincial corn-
rnissioners whose job was assurned b). the zone c ornrnand. itseU.
In view of their general offensive and gerreral uprising
the Cornrnunists ir-r the III Corps Area decided to disband Zone I in
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the eastern area, Zone 4 (Saigon Gia Dinh) and part of Zone Z and.
reorganize thern into l0 sub-zones wliicir i.ncluded 5 sub-zones i.n
charge of the 5 army wings encircling Saigon. The leorganizatiorr
was cornpleted early in November 1967. The territories of the 5 srib-
zones encircling Saigon included : Saigon city, Cl'rolon, Gia Dinb
(the {orrr-re r Zone 4) and the connected provinces of Long An, Hau-
Nghia, Binh Duorrg and Bien l{oa. These sub-zories wez.e placed
under the direct cornrnand of :
-ueen
the C entra1 O{f ice of South Vietnarr }rad set up
as refuge and logistics bases for the offensive agairrst the capital.
They irrcluded :

- Sub-zone l rrorth o{ Saigon with the Boi Loi and
Bung Cong areas as base for operations toward the northern part o{
Saigon.
- Sub-zone 2 to the west and southwest of Saigon with
the Varn Co Dong area as base for operations toward Ba eueo, the
western part of Saigon and the Phu Larn area.
- Sub-zone 3 to the sout.h with the southeast part of
Ben Luc and the Nha Be river as base for operations against Saigonrs
rrYrr Rridge and Khanh Hoi areas.

- Sub-zone 4 to the east of the capital with the Giong
Cng To and IIiep Binh areas as base for operations toward the High-
way and Rinh Loi bridges.
- Sub-zone 5, northeast of Saigon, with the norrhwest
part of Tan Uyen as base for operatiols toward the west of Thu Duc
or the Highway and Binh Loi bridges through the Bung intersections
and Hiep Binh viilage.

As far as the I Corps area was concerred it was

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