Battle of Phước Long

Decisive battle of the Vietnam War

The Battle of Phước Long was a decisive battle of the Vietnam War which began on December 12, 1974, and concluded on January 6, 1975. The battle involved the deployment of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 4th Army Corps for the first time, against determined units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in Phước Long in Bình Phước Province near the Cambodian border (to be distinguished from the other Phước Long in Bạc Liêu Province, south of Saigon), under the command of Lieutenant General Dư Quốc Đống. On December 12, 1974, the PAVN 4th Army Corps launched their campaign against Phước Long aiming to achieve three key objectives. Firstly, North Vietnamese leaders wanted to test the reaction of the United States Government, to see if they would actually uphold former President Richard Nixon's promises of military retaliation against North Vietnam. Secondly, PAVN field commanders wanted to test the combat readiness of the ARVN. And thirdly, the North Vietnamese wanted to solve their logistical problems once and for all, by capturing the district of Phước Long and the important transportation routes around it. The PAVN campaign proved to be a major success, because the fall of Phước Long showed that the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War was truly over, especially when the United States Congress repeatedly voted against additional aid for South Vietnam. Militarily, the victory at Phước Long also enabled the North Vietnamese to expand their logistical routes from the Central Highlands of South Vietnam to the Mekong Delta, which placed enormous pressure on the South Vietnamese military. Route 14, which ran through the district of Phước Long and other key military zones, was an important North Vietnamese transportation route which linked the Ho Chi Minh trail with other Communist occupied territories in South Vietnam. For that reason, regular units of the ARVN in Phước Long were able to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines. Due to the vulnerability of their supply lines in Phước Long and the surrounding areas, the PAVN in Lộc Ninh and in the Central Highlands, often found themselves isolated from their comrades in the southern provinces of South Vietnam. The PAVN attempted to sever this route during the Battle of Quang Duc from 30 October to 10 December 1973 but were repulsed by the ARVN. Like during the Easter Offensive the strongest units of the ARVN in III Corps could be deployed to defend Phước Long from potential attacks, which included three infantry divisions (5th, 18th and 25th) and two armoured units (2nd and 7th Armoured Brigade). In an emergency the 18th Infantry Division based at Biên Hòa could reach Phước Long in the shortest period of time, and the next closest unit was the 5th Infantry Division based at Bến Cát. In addition, Lieutenant General Dư Quốc Đống could have access to the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion and more than one hundred helicopters, mainly UH 1 Huey and CH 47 Chinook models. While air support could come in the form of fighter bombers from the 3rd and 5th Air Divisions of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF), based at Tan Son Nhut Air Base and Bien Hoa Air Base. On December 14, the 271st Regiment of the PAVN 3rd 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 managed to penetrate the South Vietnamese defensive line around Bù Đốp, and by 11.30am the 271st Regiment successfully overwhelmed the Bù Đốp military zone. On the same day, after a night of encirclement, the PAVN 165th and 201st Regiments, both drawn from the 7th Infantry Division, established control over the Vinh Thien area and the Bu Dang administrative centre after more than two hours of fighting. Two days later General Dư Quốc Đống tried to reinforce Phước Long with a regiment from the ARVN 18th Infantry Division, but President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu overturned General Đống's decision on the basis that all deployments at the regimental level must be made by Thiệu 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 ARVN units arrived at their destination, the PAVN had already encircled the Don Luan military zone, so it was within range of the formidable PAVN long range artillery guns. Even though the ARVN received extensive air support they could only send one company into Đồng Xoài, so Brigadier General Lê Nguyên Vĩ was forced to withdraw his forces from the area. Meanwhile, on the evening of December 31, the RVNAF had flown more than 50 bombing sorties against PAVN positions at the foot of Ba Ra mountain, temporarily stopping attacks from the PAVN 78th Special Forces Battalion. The PAVN responded to RVNAF attacks by rolling out their long range anti aircraft guns, which stopped RVNAF pilots from hitting PAVN positions until the next day, and allowing the 78th Special Forces Battalion to capture Ba Ra mountain. The capture of Ba Ra mountain enabled PAVN units to occupy the high ground areas surrounding Phước Long, where they could direct artillery fire against ARVN positions. Throughout the day on January 1, 1975, the RVNAF conducted a further 53 bombing sorties, again temporarily delaying the PAVN attack on Phước Long. By the end of the day, RVNAF pilots claimed to have destroyed 15 North Vietnamese tanks. On the other side, the ARVN lost eight 105 mm and four 155 mm artillery guns during the initial PAVN assault on Phước Bình, and, by the early hours of January 2, 1975, all of Phước Long was within range of PAVN 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 Phước Long district was moved to Camp Le Loi, the 340th Security Battalion had to defend the bridges at Suoi Dung, and the 2/7th Battalion 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 PAVN for another 24 hours. On the morning of January 2, 1975, PAVN artillery bombarded ARVN positions in Phước Long for about an hour, to pave the way for further assaults from the 141st, 165th and 271st Regiments. In the south of Phước Long, the 165th Regiment successfully captured the ARVN camp of Doan Van Kieu, in the west the 141st Regiment clashed with the ARVN 1/9th Battalion 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 Phước Long, only to find the town isolated. The PAVN 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 PAVN, Lieutenant General Do Quoc Dong attempted to land the 8/5th Infantry Division in the district of Phước Long using helicopters, but fierce anti aircraft fire from the PAVN 210th Air Defence Regiment forced the helicopters to turn around. At the same time, RVNAF transport planes also tried to drop ammunition supplies for ARVN soldiers in the northern areas of Phước Long, but the ammunition load landed in the wrong place and was captured by the PAVN. Due to the heavy artillery barrage, the ARVN headquarters at Phước Long was heavily damaged with the district's deputy commander dead of his wounds, while the commander of Phước Bình suffered severe injuries. On the morning of January 4, the RVNAF resumed their attacks on PAVN columns, forcing them to slow their attacks. In his last ditch effort to save Phước Long, Lieutenant General Dư Quốc Đống ordered the 81st Ranger Battalion to be airlifted into action. But as soon as the first group of the 81st Ranger Battalion landed on Dac Song, they were quickly decimated by PAVN artillery, with the unit suffering losses equivalent to two companies. The PAVN 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 Ranger Battalion. However, by that stage South Vietnamese defence lines in Phước 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 PAVN. On January 5, the PAVN 165th and 201st Regiments continued their encirclement of the Phước Long administrative centre, as well as shelling key targets in the area. On the following day, the PAVN 4th Army Corps command sent the 201st Regiment, along with ten additional tanks, to reinforce the units already fighting in Phước 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 ARVN defensive post, occupied by the surviving elements of the 81st Ranger Battalion, was captured by the PAVN. During the night a small number of ARVN soldiers who had survived the battle were evacuated from Phước 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 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition.

The ARVN in Phước Long, under the command of Lieutenant General Dư Quốc Đống, used everything they had at their disposal in order to stop the PAVN onslaught. In their efforts to save Phước Long and other territories around the district, the South Vietnamese lost more than a thousand soldiers killed in action and 2,444 others were captured. The sacrifice of the ARVN in the battle was exemplified by the 250 men 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion, which lost more than 150 soldiers in their last ditch effort to save Phước Long. In the end, about 850 South Vietnamese soldiers were evacuated from the battlefield. In comparison to their South Vietnamese counterparts, the casualties suffered by the PAVN 4th Army Corps were relatively light with about 1,300 killed or wounded. In logistical terms the victory at Phước Long enabled the PAVN to connect their supply lines from the Ho Chi Minh Trail, with bases in the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta. At the same time, with a strengthened supply line which stretched from the north to the southern provinces of South Vietnam, the PAVN were able to apply additional pressure on the weakened ARVN already starved of American supplies.

In Hanoi, the capture of Phước Long provided the Communist leadership with clear answers about America's commitment to defend South Vietnam, as well as their willingness to re enter the conflict. The Battle of Phước Long not only gave North Vietnamese political and military planners a greater awareness of South Vietnam's dire military situation, but it also showed that the United States government were no longer interested in the survival of the Saigon regime. Thus, the optimism and confidence of the Hanoi regime was significantly strengthened, because they could finally destroy the Saigon regime and win the war once and for all. The lessons learned at Phước Long were put into practice during the 1975 Spring Offensive, which ultimately led to the political and military capitulation of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. In Saigon, the loss of Phước Long exposed the severe weaknesses of the ARVN. For General Cao Văn Viên, Chief of the ARVN, the military situation was clear: if South Vietnamese units could not hold their own against a single attack, there was no way they could ever stop a large scale invasion. To make matters worse, the United States Congress repeatedly voted against President Gerald Ford's request to give additional aid for South Vietnam. On January 10, 1975, President Thiệu called on the people of South Vietnam to pray for Phước Long, as well as renew their determination to retake the district. One month later, Thiệu reinforced his previous message by asking the people of South Vietnam to maximise their support of soldiers on the frontline, stabilise the country's internal situation, and increase economic production.