Rebel Troop Movements in And Around Saigon
The insurgent plans were based on three main task forces. The first consisted of two battalions of marines and a company of M-113 armoured personnel carriers. Two battalions of airborne troops regarded as being pro-Diệm were moved to Bình Dương Province to the north of the capital and replaced with the two marine battalions. The marines and the paratroopers were South Vietnam's strategic reserve and were usually deployed near Saigon for protecting the regime against any coups.
Another task force consisted of the 6th Airborne Battalion, which was based in Vũng Tàu around 70 km southwest of the capital, and a trainee battalion, supplemented by 12 APCs from the armor school at Long Hải. The final task force consisted of the 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment of the 5th Division of Colonel Thiệu. The troops involved in the operations in Saigon began preparing to move into the capital on the evening before the coup and in the early morning. The second task force moved in from the southeast and converged with the other two moving in from the north, and some rebel elements from the 7th Division from the southwest.
By noon, thousands of rebel soldiers had assembled on the city's outskirts, checking equipment and weapons and receiving last-minute orders. Three marine battalions in tanks and armored cars had moved toward the Saigon city center to spearhead the revolt, and some of the 7th Division had arrived from the Mekong Delta to cut the main road from the south into Tân Sơn Nhứt Air Base. The enlisted men did not know the truth behind their mission, nor did many lower-ranking officers; the senior officers told them that they were crushing a police revolt. One airborne lieutenant was suspicious, and as they moved into the suburbs, a colonel revealed that their objective was the Cộng Hòa Barracks of the Presidential Guard. When the lieutenant asked "Who is the enemy and who our friend?", the colonel retorted "Anyone who opposes us is the enemy".
The task forces were used to man various parts of the city, guarding the howitzers to be used in the siege of loyalist installations, and to protect the headquarters Colonel Thiệu. Đính had 20 tanks brought to his III Corps headquarters at Camp Le Van Duyet. In all, the conspirators had 40 forty tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
Read more about this topic: 1963 South Vietnamese Coup
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