Battle of Phuoc Long - Prelude

Prelude

The North Vietnamese military opened its campaign against Phuoc Long on December 12, 1974, using the 4th Battalion of the 165th Infantry Regiment to attack a South Vietnamese outpost located on Route 14, which was defended by a single South Vietnamese security company. On the same night the military zone of Bù Đốp was also attacked by a company of Viet Cong special forces from the Phuoc Binh area. During the next few days the South Vietnamese army managed to recapture its positions along Route 14, but they could not clear the main road. On December 13 ARVN Colonel Nguyen Thong Thanh inspected the Route 14 area, and decided to raise the level of alertness from code ‘yellow’ to ‘orange’ for all South Vietnamese installations in the area. Due to the heavy rain which flooded the main roads leading to Phuoc Long, the North Vietnamese decided to postpone further attacks which were planned to take place on December 13.

On December 14, the under strength 271st Regiment of the North Vietnamese 302nd Division launched their attack on the ARVN 362nd Security Battalion, also based in Bù Đốp. After two hours of fighting nearly all members of the 2/271st Regiment had sustained injuries, but the 271st Regiment managed to penetrate the South Vietnamese defensive line around Bu Dop, and by 11.30am the 271st Regiment successfully overwhelmed the Bu Dop military zone. On the same day, after a night of encirclement, the North Vietnamese 165th and 201st Regiments, both drawn from the 7th Infantry Division, began asserting their authority over the Vinh Thien area and the Bu Dang administrative centre after more than two hours of fighting.

On December 15, soldiers from the North Vietnamese 429th Special Forces Regiment attacked Bu Na, which was defended by one South Vietnamese company from the 363rd Security Battalion, and an artillery platoon. The 363rd Security Battalion, with strong support from South Vietnamese air force fighter-bombers based at Bien Hoa, fought back fiercely in their attempt to defend Bu Na. However, by the end of the day South Vietnamese defenders around Bu Na gave up, when reinforcements from Phuoc Long failed to arrive due to the closure of Route 14 by the North Vietnamese army. On December 16, Lieutenant General Du Quoc Dong flew out to Phuoc Long to assess the situation around the area, and to bolster the defences of Phuoc Long with the 2/7th Regiment, from the ARVN 5th Infantry Division. On the same day, South Vietnamese Colonel Do Cong Thanh also organised a number of counter-attacks against North Vietnamese positions around Route 14, which connects with the Bu Dang area, but on each on occasion they were pushed back by local Viet Cong units who guard the area.

Several days later on December 22, the South Vietnamese 341st Security Battalion at Bố Đức was attacked for the second time by the North Vietnamese 165th Regiment. Subsequently, South Vietnamese units at Phước Tín, Phước Quả, and Phước Lộc were also overwhelmed by the North Vietnamese. The South Vietnamese army attempted to stage a counter-attack on Bo Duc, but they were easily defeated by the North Vietnamese 6/165th Regiment, as a result all surviving South Vietnamese units retreated back to the Ba Ra area to lick their wounds. Two days later General Dư Quốc Đống tried to reinforce Phuoc Long with a regiment from the ARVN 18th Infantry Division, but President Nguyen Van Thieu overturned General Dong’s decision on the basis that all deployments at the regimental-level must be made by Thieu himself. As a result, Lieutenant General Dư Quốc Đống had to order Brigadier General Lê Nguyên Vĩ to reinforce the areas around Đồng Xoài with units taken from the ARVN 5th Infantry Division. However, by the time regular units of the South Vietnamese army arrived at their destination, the North Vietnamese had already encircled the Don Luan military zone, so it was within range of the formidable North Vietnamese long-range artillery guns. Even though the South Vietnamese received extensive air support they could only sent one company into Đồng Xoài, so Brigadier General Le Nguyen Vi was forced to withdraw his forces from the area.

At 5.37am on December 26, 1974, the North Vietnamese 141st Regiment opened their attack on the South Vietnamese base at Don Luan from four different directions, after 15 minutes of artillery bombardment from supporting artillery units. Due to the strong presence of North Vietnamese artillery, South Vietnamese artillery units at Don Luan were simply overwhelmed. In addition, the high calibre anti-aircraft guns used by the North Vietnamese 20th Air-Defence Battalion also limited the effectiveness of the A-1 Skyraider and the A-37 Dragonfly, used by the South Vietnamese air force to support the ground troops. At 10.30am all South Vietnamese units at Đôn Luân capitulated and Major Đặng Vũ Khoái, commander of the 352nd Security Battalion, was captured at Suoi Rat along with his junior officers. Towards the end of the day, the North Vietnamese 141st Regiment also captured other South Vietnamese installations at Ta Be, Phước Thiền, and a helicopter base.

In just two weeks the North Vietnamese army had managed to punch several holes in the defensive line of South Vietnam’s III Corps, with the capture of Bù Đốp, Bù Na, Bù Đăng and Đôn Luân. For the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the lost of four important outposts in III Corps was a severe blow, especially with opposing North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces controlling all main roads leading to the district of Phuoc Long such as Route 14, Route 7, and the provincial roads 1 and 2. The South Vietnamese army, based at the administrative centre of Phuoc Binh and Phuoc Long, suddenly found themselves surrounded by the strong and well-equipped North Vietnamese 4th Army Corps.