On 2 January 1963, the Battle of Ap Bac was fought between the South Vietnamese under John Paul Vann and the Viet Cong under Hai Hoang during the Vietnam War.
Why did it happen?
Following the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, Vietnam was divided into two halves: North and South. Beginning in November 1955, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower began sending US military advisors to South Vietnam to train the army there. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy sent 400 American troops to train the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) in guerrilla tactics to fight the Viet Cong – a guerrilla group formed by North Vietnam in 1959. In addition, masses of US military equipment in the form of helicopters and armoured personnel carriers were sent to assist the ARVN in their efforts against the Viet Cong. By November 1962, a large force of Viet Cong guerrillas had established itself in the Mekong Delta, 40 miles southwest of Saigon. In late December, a combined US-South Vietnamese army was sent to the village of Ap Bac to seize a Viet Cong radio transmitter near the village itself.
Who was involved?
The South Vietnamese force at Ap Bac numbered 1,400 infantry, 13 armoured personnel carriers, 15 helicopters and 2 aircraft. From the air, Lt. Col. John Paul Vann surveyed the battle from his Cessna O-1 ‘Bird-Dog’ aircraft. The plan was to land one infantry battalion to the north of the village of Ap Tan Thoi while two battalions would advance from the south to block any Viet Cong attempt to withdraw in that direction. From the west, a column of M113 armoured personnel carriers would provide support to ARVN forces who would move into the villages to strike the Viet Cong guerrillas. The eastern flank would be left open to provide space to hit the retreating Viet Cong forces with aircraft. The Viet Cong themselves numbered 350 guerrillas and adopted a camouflaged defensive position among the treeline with their commander, Hai Hoang, positioned at the village of Ap Bac.
What happened?
At 7.30am on 2 January 1963, South Vietnamese infantry from the 1st Civil Guard Battalion approached Ap Bac from the south, only to be met with small-arms fire from Viet Cong guerrillas hidden within the treeline. With these forces pinned down, American advisor John Paul Van ordered helicopters to land infantry reinforcements to the west of the treeline, only to be met by small-arms fire from the Viet Cong. Five helicopters were lost during this part of the battle. At the same time, Vann ordered an A-1 Skyraider bomber to conduct an airstrike against the Viet Cong using napalm. However, due to faulty intelligence, it missed its intended targets and bombed the surrounding villages instead. To rescue the stranded infantry reinforcements, Vann ordered a column of APCs to approach the western treeline, only for them to be met with Viet Cong small-arms fire and grenades, who killed the machine-gunners and forced the APCs to withdraw. Finally, Vann ordered the South Vietnamese to conduct a parachute drop to the north to seal in the Viet Cong forces. Unfortunately, the paratroopers landed too close to the Viet Cong positions where they incurred heavy casualties from machine-gun fire. Having inflicted heavy casualties on the South Vietnamese, the Viet Cong withdrew during the night. While they lost only 18 killed and 39 wounded, the South Vietnamese suffered 83 killed, 108 wounded and 5 helicopters lost.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Ap Bac was a major Viet Cong victory. The battle was spectacular since for the first time, Viet Cong guerrillas armed with only light weapons managed to defeat a vastly superior army equipped with helicopters and armoured vehicles supplied by a Western power. The defeat of South Vietnamese force at Ap Bac encouraged North Vietnam to begin planning for a full-scale war against the South. In addition, the battle showed to the American public that US troops were needed in Vietnam to halt the spread of Communism. In the words of Charles E. Kirkpatrick:
“After Ap Bac, Americans increasingly lost hope that Vietnamese armed forces could win their own war, lost faith in the ability of the Saigon government to pursue the war competently, and grudgingly began to conclude that American combat troops would be needed” (Kirkpatrick, 1990).
Bibliography
David, Saul. War: The Definitive Visual History. New York, Dorling Kindersley, 2009.
Head, William P. "THE MARCH TO OBLIVION: THE DEFEAT AT AP HAMLET AND THE AMERICANIZATION OF THE VIETNAM WAR." Journal of Third World Studies 31, no. 2 (2014): 57-81. Accessed September 1, 2020. doi:10.2307/45195058.
Kirkpatrick, Charles E. “The Battle at Ap Bac Changed America’s View of the Vietnam War.” History Net. Last revised 1990. https://www.historynet.com/the-battle-at-ap-bac-changed-americas-view-of-the-vietnam-war.htm
Swanston, Malcolm. Mapping History: Battles and Campaigns. Royston, Eagle Editions, 2007.
Swanston, Malcolm. & Swanston, Alexander. History of Air Warfare. London, Amber Books, 2019.