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Title:
Assessment of General Thang's performance as IV Corps Commander and of the situation in the delta as of 15 March 1968
Date of Creation:
March 17, 1968
Date of Declassification:
January 30, 1987
Type of Document:
Intelligence information cable
Level of Classification:
NOT GIVEN
Status of Copy:
SANITIZED
Pagination, Illustration:
11 p.
Abstract:
The situation in the delta provinces (IV Corps Tactical Zone) of South Vietnam is not as critical in mid-March as it was in mid-February, but it is as crucial and will continue so for the next two months. Major General Nguyen Duc Thang has begun to revitalize IV Corps since his assumption of command on 29 February. General Thang describes his plans and program were the one word "offensive", and from the day of his arrival has been pushing subordinate military leaders to go on the attack. General Thang's program calls for the mobilization of all resources to destroy the Viet Cong (VC) main force units, protect lines of communication, restore the regional forces and popular forces, press forward with the revolutionary development program and push the recovery effort. Regarding civilian mobilization, General Thang says that civilians must undertake civil defense measures including the building of shelters and must organize to care for refugees. During February the Government of Vietnam was losing the war psychologically in the delta, but it now appears that General Thang has succeeded in reversing the post-Tet trend of the war in the delta. VC morale is currently very vulnerable to a sudden reversal of the war and could quickly crack if the VC could be persuaded during the next two months that they will not achieve victory in either the short or long run. To inflict a psychological defeat on the VC there must be aggressive and effective offensive operations against the VC main force units, attacks against VC supply lines and penetration of their base areas.
Indexing Terms:
Declassified Documents Reference System Location:
1987-001214
Link to Full Text: