More About The 1968 Tet Offensive

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so that he could launch the
attacks on the first three days of the lunar new year while the Chinese
troops were still feasting and not ready to organize their defense.

Those who claimed the similarity between the two campaigns certainly did
not know the whole truth, but jumped into conclusion with wild imagination
after learning that the North Vietnamese attacking units also celebrated
Tet "one day ahead" before the attacks.

In fact, the Tet Offensive broke out on the Tet's Eve - in the early
morning of January 30, 1968 at many cities of Central Vietnam, such as Da
Nang and Qui Nhon, as well as cities in the central coastal and highland
areas, that lied within the Communist 5th Military Region.. The other
cities to the south that included Saigon, were attacked 24 hours later at
the small hours of January 31. Thus the offensive lost its element of total
surprise that every tactician has to respect.

But It surprised me that some in the American media were still unaware of
such ...

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surprise. By some reason, the North Vietnamese Army
Supreme Command was not aware of the fact that there were different dates
for Tet between North and South Vietnam. Therefore, most NVA units in the
Communist 5th Military Region - closer to North Vietnam - probably used
North Vietnamese calendar, and conducted their attacks in the night between
Jan 29 and 30, while their comrades farther to the south attacked in the
night from Jan 30 to 31.

Many in the intelligence branch of the South Vietnamese Armed Forces were
well aware of the reason why the Communist forces launched their attacks at
two different dates. Information from sources among NVA prisoners of war
and ralliers about the ...

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