Word: saigon
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...proposition was tested again as U.S. and Vietnamese aircraft fought to save an outgunned ARVN force from what would be Giap's first important victory of the campaign: the capture of An Loc (pop. 40,000), the capital of Binh Long province, which is 60 miles north of Saigon via the French-built Highway...
...Saigon government, it was imperative that ARVN prove itself able to defend a city that in normal times and good weather, is only a two-hour drive from the capital. The Communists have so far been frustrated in their attempts to capture the old imperial capital of Hue or the city of Quang Tri farther north, and it is believed that An Loc was to have been the seat of a provisional Viet Cong government. It should not have been a difficult target. In Binh Long province, the chief ARVN force was the 10,000-man 5th Division, a weak...
...Washington and Saigon hope, though they are not convinced that this is the case. In fact, both American and South Vietnamese commanders on the scene tend to agree that some major fighting still lies ahead. So far, the North Vietnamese have committed no more than half of their 100,000 troops in the South to battle, and they have yet to challenge ARVN where it is weakest, in the Central Highlands. For their part, the South Vietnamese have virtually no reserves to call on should the Communist drive spread to another front...
Three Offensives. How long would the North Vietnamese drive continue? In Tet '68, the Communists pursued a series of three offensives, each of which faded after five or six weeks as supplies were exhausted and losses from U.S. counteroffensives mounted. Ranking U.S. officials in Saigon expect a similar pattern this time around. In their view, the current fighting will begin to fade in three to four weeks, as the North Vietnamese withdraw to their sanctuaries to regroup and resupply. Despite the onset of the monsoon rains, which are due to begin in most of the country next month...
TIME Correspondent David DeVoss was with the 20,000-man relief column of South Vietnamese troops on Highway 13 last week as they tried to break through an NVA blockade to reach the provincial capital of An Loc, 60 miles north of Saigon. His report...