The Vietnam War was an ode to ancient Chinese teachings. The US was a far superior fighting force, but we were used to fighting wars of attrition, where two armies fight each other in skirmishes that build up to large battles. By definition, this style of warfare is costly, both in terms of human life and military equipment and funding. Look at WWII and all the people who lost their lives to stop the Axis, and all the money that was poured into it.
Meanwhile the Vietcong and Vietminh fought in guerrilla style sneak attacks, using trickery and the element of surprise to weaken morale and slowly but surely diminish the American forces. Realizing that to fight the US head up in large battles would be suicide, they chose instead to play to their own strengths to negate the vast strength the US military held. At the same time the continuous loss of life to an invisible enemy weakened the resolve of soldiers and the civilians stateside. When public morale wavers, so does any war effort. No country can fight a war without the support of its own populace.
The Tet Offensive was truly the turning point of the war. Happening on Tet, or the the day of the Vietnamese New Year, it caught the South Vietnamese and the US completely off-guard. The gruesome precision with which the attack was carried out, almost simultaneously between dozens of N.Vietnamese and US command posts and military installations, was effective at first. However, the attacks abandoned the guerrilla warfare the Vietcong had prospered off of to that point. The Tet Offensive ended with massive casualties for the communist forces.
In spite of this, the Offensive crushed the resolve of the American command and further inspired hatred towards US military involvement in Vietnam in the general public. It would be the eventual cause of the end of the war, although neither side could truly be declared a winner. The ironic factor of the war, was that the US Revolution was won by guerrilla attacks weakening the superior British force and turning the public against the war, due to the fact that many felt the money was being wasted. In the same way we won our independence, failing to see the effectiveness of our own historical tactics nearly won the communist Vietcong there's.
Source: History Textbooks, Documentaries, and Personal Thoughts
|