Page 75 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968
P. 75

Airborne Division which ernployed two task forces. Task Force Two,
           including the Sixth and Eighth Battalions  had within its tactical area of
            responsibilitythe  regions o{ Ba Queo, Phu Tho Hoa, Ba Diern and Tan
           Phu. Task Force Three, including the First  and Third Battalions,  had
           the suburbs of Co Loa, Xorn lvj.oi and Go Vap. The cornrnander  o{ Zone
            rrArr  also had at his disposal an artillery  battalion and a group of
           armo red cars,

                            Zone B.  Zone     ttBr  was the responsibility  of tl e South
           Vietnarnese  Marine Corps and carne under the operational  control of
           the Marine Task Force B reinforced by arr ;rtillery  batt.rlion and an
           arrnored group. Zone        trBrr  included the areas oi Gia Linh, Thu Duc
           and the Bien Hoa Highways.
                           Zone C. Zone      ttCtt,  which included sorne of the relaf rvely
           rnost secure parts of the Capital,  was the responsibility  of tire          police.
           It included  the First,  Second,  Third,  Fourth and F i{th        precincts.
           Saigon Police elements, reinforced by tield  nolice, had the rnission
           of rnounting police operations  to seperate  Cornrnunist elernents frorn
           the population.
                            Zone D,  Zone     ttDtt   was the responsibility  of the Ranger
           cornrnand and was unde.r the operational  control of the Fifth Ranger

           Group. This group included four battalions:The 33:th in Binh Thoi and  ,"'
           Cau Tre,  the 38th in Minh Phung,  the 4Ist in           phu-Dinh    and the 30th
           in Blnh Dong. The Rangers had within their TAOR the Sixth, Seventh,
           and. Eighth Preci.ncts. They also were reinforce<t  by the Fifth Arrnored
           Group and a river  patrol group  as well as a reconnaissance corrrpany.
           The river patrol group operated on the Kinh Doi Canal.
                           Zone E.  Zone     ttEtt,  including the sprawling Tran Hung
           Dao Carnp and sorne of the neighboring  populated  areas, was the res-
           ponsibility  of the 10ca1 garrisons.  The troops, in addition to their sta{f
           responsibilities, were organized  into cornpanies  and battalions for the
           defense of this rnost irnportant  installation,  They had the assistance
           of the Battalion  of Honor Guards, an  MP Cornpany, an M.41 Tank
           Group, an arrnored group and a group of reconnaissance  cars.
           The organization of these {orces was based on the following criteria:
           each cornpany was to include Il8  men and four such cornpanies  were
           to cornprise a battalion which also was to have a headquarter group
           o{ ten rnen. Four such battalions  rnade up a group which then would
           include  I928 rnen. On this basis rnost people serving at headquarter€
           had to directly take part in the dclence of their installation with the


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