Page 470 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

roonthtly incornes often higher than the salary of a government o{ficial'
Manpower ivas rnuch needed for the construction of houses designed for
rent to Arnericans, and for other activities connected with the allied
logistLcs and support operations, providing opportunities for Vietna-
rnese laborers to earn an easy living for thernselves' In the rneantirne
those workers with a fixed salary becarne needy under the crushing
rnonetary voluroe launched on the rnarket leading to a devaluation of the
Vietnarne se piaster.

The South Vietnarnese econorny be{ore the 1968 Tet
of{ensive was one of apparent prosperity rnostly to the benefit of fwo
categories of people : firstly the business go betweens, and the
Iaborers, either skilled or unskilled, who had been able to find jobs
easily and earned rnuch rnore rnoney than they were used to, and
secondly, those who faced no problerns created by the increase of
prices as they had reached a standard of living higher than ever
before.
The econornic factor is vital in the li{e of hurnan beings'
Prosperity causes no discontent while hunger forces people to strug-
gle for a change. In preparing for their general offensive of 1968, the
Cornrnunists did not realize that what they called the poorer class in
South Vietnam had actually been enjoying prosperity and the richer
class had becorne richer, while the petit bourgeois people, who
su{{ered most under the econornic circurnstances, rernained the
strongest anti-cornrnunist elernents of the cornrnunity. The cornrnunist
plan for a general popular uprising, thus, could not rnaterialize'

B. - TACTICS
A Cornrnunist docurnent dated Feb' 9, 1968 captured in
Danang - a report to the Cornrnunist Cornrnand ol Zone 5 - listed the
enernyrI shortcornings in the Tet general offensiwe' These were
regional shortcornings but they were typical of the nationwide pattern :

- The Cornrnunists adrnitted that their forces inside
the cities were not strong enough to helP the attacking forces frorn
outside reach their goals;

- The cornbat capabilities of the ARVN had been over-
estirnated by the attacking forces. Therefore, they dared not deploy
larger contingents (I).

(1) This contradicts the YC strategic view that underestirnated the
ARVN strength.

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