Guerrilla Warfare and War of Attrition (1965)
Guerrilla Warfare is better known as a hit-and-run type of attack. It focuses on destroying critical targets with minimal casualties and precision.
The Americans went into Vietnam expecting to fight large battles and conquer enemy territory to achieve victory. This was how the war was fought for a while until 1965. In 1965 Ho Chi Minh and the other leaders of North Vietnam decided to change their attack strategies against the United States troops. Instead of sending large amounts of troops to attack a point and have both sides suffer extreme casualties, they proposed that the northern Vietcong troops use guerrilla warfare. They also moved their bases because American spotter planes were extremely abundant. They were much more careful hiding their "safe bases" than usual because of this. They developed an elaborate system of tunnels to connect nearby bases and remain undetected. These tunnels were more than 200 miles long and were designed to keep guerrilla troops undetected. If they were to be abandoned, they were first booby trapped.
In 1965 Vietcong also troops were starting to be equipped with light and heavy machine guns that made taking down United States helicopters relatively easy. In addition to their new weapons, they acquired land mines which were very effective against tanks and infantry.
The Americans went into Vietnam expecting to fight large battles and conquer enemy territory to achieve victory. This was how the war was fought for a while until 1965. In 1965 Ho Chi Minh and the other leaders of North Vietnam decided to change their attack strategies against the United States troops. Instead of sending large amounts of troops to attack a point and have both sides suffer extreme casualties, they proposed that the northern Vietcong troops use guerrilla warfare. They also moved their bases because American spotter planes were extremely abundant. They were much more careful hiding their "safe bases" than usual because of this. They developed an elaborate system of tunnels to connect nearby bases and remain undetected. These tunnels were more than 200 miles long and were designed to keep guerrilla troops undetected. If they were to be abandoned, they were first booby trapped.
In 1965 Vietcong also troops were starting to be equipped with light and heavy machine guns that made taking down United States helicopters relatively easy. In addition to their new weapons, they acquired land mines which were very effective against tanks and infantry.