Battle of Phuoc Long - Fall of Phuoc Long

Fall of Phuoc Long

To halt the North Vietnamese onslaught at Phuoc Long, Lieutenant General Du Quoc Dong need at least one infantry division and one unit of armoured cavalry, however South Vietnamese infantry divisions based in I Corps were not allowed to be deployed, without the approval of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. On December 29, realising that the district of Phuoc Long was in serious danger of being overrun, General Cao Van Vien asked President Nguyen Van Thieu to approve a plan to defend Phuoc Long, which was prepared back in October 1974. Short afterwards General Cao Van Vien only received a short message from President Nguyen Van Thieu, which advised Lieutenant General Du Quoc Dong not to make discretionary decisions, as well as to keep boosting the morale of the South Vietnamese soldiers at Phuoc Long.

While ARVN Lieutenant General Du Quoc Dong was desperate to find additional reinforcements, the North Vietnamese were making their way towards Phuoc Long and Phuoc Binh between December 27 and December 30, 1974. On the afternoon of December 30, North Vietnamese army units took up their positions in the following order: the 165th Regiment was positioned on the south and south-eastern areas of Phuoc Binh, the 141st Regiment was positioned along provincial road no. 2 in the north and northwest leading towards Phuoc Binh, the 271st Regiment blocked Route 309, the 16th Regiment moved from Tay Ninh to the north of Song Be, the 78th Special Forces Battalion gathered near the foot of Ba Ra mountain, while the 2nd and 209th Regiments were placed in reserve. In addition to the units above, the North Vietnamese 4th Army Corps was strengthened with one artillery company equipped with 130 mm artillery guns, and two armoured companies with 14 T-54 tanks.

On December 31, 1974, as Lieutenant General Du Quoc Dong received President Thieu’s message, the North Vietnamese began their final assault on the district of Phuoc Long with the 165th Regiment, the 141st Regiment, the 3rd Battalion and several local Viet Cong units leading the attack. However, due to the slow deployment of the 78th Special Forces Battalion and the 271st Regiment, South Vietnamese artillery guns at Phuoc Long were able to respond to initial North Vietnamese assaults, by pounding North Vietnamese positions around Ba Ra mountain. Furthermore, the ARVN 1/7th Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, also attacked the North Vietnamese 5th and 6th Battalions, both belonging to the 165th Regiment, at the foot of Ba Ra mountain. As a result, the 141st Regiment had to attack the administrative centre of Phuoc Binh by itself, while 165th Regiment was forced to stop in order to deal with the South Vietnamese counter-attack. At 1 pm on December 31, North Vietnamese Major General Hoang Cam sent four T-54 tanks to support the 141st Regiment, but one of the tanks was put out of action when it hit a landmine. The 141st Regiment, with three remaining T-54 tanks in support, were able to force their way into the centre of Phuoc Binh and capture the local airfield. By 3 pm, the administrative centre of Phuoc Binh had fallen, and the ARVN 2/7th Regiment was pushed back towards Soui Dung.

Meanwhile on the evening of December 31, the South Vietnamese air force had flown more than 50 bombing sorties against North Vietnamese positions at the foot of Ba Ra mountain, temporarily stopping attacks from the North Vietnamese 78th Special Forces Battalion. The North Vietnamese responded to South Vietnamese air attacks by rolling out their long-range anti-aircraft guns, which stopped South Vietnamese pilots from hitting North Vietnamese positions until the next day, and allowing the 78th Special Forces Battalion to capture Ba Ra mountain. The capture of Ba Ra mountain enabled North Vietnamese army units to occupy the high ground areas surrounding Phuoc Long, where they could direct artillery fire against South Vietnamese positions. Throughout the day on January 1, 1975, the South Vietnamese air force conducted a further 53 bombing sorties, again temporarily delaying the North Vietnamese attack on Phuoc Long. By the end of the day, South Vietnamese pilots claimed to have set ablaze 15 North Vietnamese tanks. On the other side, the South Vietnamese army lost eight 105 mm and four 155 mm artillery guns during the initial North Vietnamese assault on Phuoc Binh. And, by the early hours of January 2, 1975, all of Phuoc Long was within range of North Vietnamese artillery.

Realising that the South Vietnamese defenders were in danger of being destroyed, ARVN Colonel Do Cong Thanh quickly reorganised all his units. Subsequently, the headquarters of Phuoc Long district was moved to Camp Le Loi, the 340th Security Battalion had to defend the bridges at Suoi Dung, and the 2/7th Regiment took up their positions along the main streets of Tu Hien 1 and Tu Hien 2. As a result, the South Vietnamese were able to put up fierce resistance, thus delaying the advancing North Vietnamese army for another 24 hours. On the morning of January 2, 1975, North Vietnamese artillery bombarded South Vietnamese positions in Phuoc Long for about an hour, to pave the way for further assaults from the 141st, 165th and 271st Regiments. In the south of Phuoc Long, the 165th Regiment successfully captured the South Vietnamese camp of Doan Van Kieu, in the west the 141st Regiment clashed with the ARVN 1/9th Regiment at Ho Long Thuy, and in the southeast the 271st Regiment were able to secure Tu Hien 1 and Tu Hien 2.

On the morning of January 3, elements of the 141st Regiment made their way into the district of Phuoc Long, only to find the town isolated. The North Vietnamese 4th Army Corps then decided to bolster the strength of the 141st Regiment, with one battalion taken from the 201st Regiment. To deal with the North Vietnamese, Lieutenant General Do Quoc Dong attempted to land the 8/5th Infantry Division in the district of Phuoc Long using helicopters, but fierce anti-aircraft fire from the North Vietnamese 210th Air-Defence Regiment forced South Vietnamese helicopters to turn around. At the same time, South Vietnamese air force transport planes also tried to drop ammunition supplies for South Vietnamese soldiers in the northern areas of Phuoc Long, but the ammunition load landed in the wrong place and was captured by North Vietnamese soldiers. Due to the heavy artillery barrage, the South Vietnamese headquarters at Phuoc Long was heavily damaged with the district’s deputy commander dead of his wounds, while the commander of Phuoc Binh suffered severe injuries.

On the morning of January 4, the South Vietnamese air force resumed their attacks on North Vietnamese columns, forcing North Vietnamese units to slow their attacks. In his last-ditch effort to save Phuoc Long, Lieutenant General Du Quoc Dong ordered the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion to be airlifted into action. But as soon as the first group of the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion landed on Dac Song, they were quickly decimated by North Vietnamese artillery, with the unit suffering losses equivalent to two companies. The North Vietnamese 4th Army Corps command immediately responded by ordering the 16th Regiment to secure Dac Song and the nearby bridge at Dac Lung, pursuing the surviving elements of the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion. However, by that stage South Vietnamese defence lines in Phuoc Long had narrowed, leaving only the administrative centre and the local markets still under South Vietnamese control, while most of the town had fallen to the North Vietnamese army.

On January 5, the North Vietnamese 165th and 201st Regiments continued their encirclement of the Phuoc Long administrative centre, as well as shelling key targets in the area. On the following day, the North Vietnamese 4th Army Corps command sent the 201st Regiment, along with ten additional tanks, to reinforce the units already fighting in Phuoc Long. And to cut off the South Vietnamese route of escape, Cach Mang and Dinh Tien Hoang streets were blocked. At 8 pm on January 6, the last South Vietnamese defensive post, occupied by the surviving elements of the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion, was captured by the North Vietnamese. During the night a small number of South Vietnamese soldiers who had survived the battle were evacuated from Phuoc Long. At the battle’s conclusion, the North Vietnamese claimed they had captured 2,444 prisoners, including 26 officers, 5,000 small arms of various kinds and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition.