Page 65 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

The battle for Saigon

Cornrnunist troops attacked Greater Saigon - Saig,:n, Gia-
Dinh, and Cholon - at exactly 0200 hours of the first day of the Year of
the Monkey.
Firecrackers were still exploding in parts of the city at
this hour of the night when late revelers began to hear gunfire. For
city-dwellers, however,there was littl.e difference between thern and it
was generally thought that the fun was still on. So'.ne of the Saigonese
recognized the gunfire and explosion of grenades but this awareness did
not disturb thern because they disrnissed thern as rrone of those things
in a state oI warrr.

l{hen the sun rose the following rnorning everything
seerned norrrral throughout the big rnetropolis. Thousands of people
still flocked to the streets, going to places o{ worship or to the hornes
of acquaintances. Little by little, however it dawned on the citizens
that "sornethingrr was in the rnaking although rnost people still stuck
to the belief that it rnight sirnply be a coup dretat such as they had
witnes s ed in the past.

Only at eight orclock that fate{ul rnorning did Radio Saigon
broadcast an order proclairning rnartial law throughout the land. The
order was signed by Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky acting on order
frorn President Nguyen Van Thieu. He denounced the attack as an
intolerable violati-on of the truce understanding.
The people, however, rnaintained their doubts until it
was certain that the Cornrnunists had in fact assaulted the capital. The
attackers took advantage o{ the practically uncontrolled rnovernent of
goods and rnen in and out of the rnetropolis to in{iltrate troops and
war rnateriel into the big city.

In the first hours o{ their offensive the Comrnunists
concentrated their ef{orts on the following key installations. :
rThe headquarters of the Vietnarnese Arrned Forces at
Tan Son Nhut, which they penetrated by forcing their way through
Gates Four and Five. The intruders were successful in the first few
hours but were later blocked when reinforcernents arrived.

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