Viet+Cong

=The Vietcong=

toc The Vietcong was the illegal southern communist party that operated in favor of the nouthern communist power and not the southern democratic powers. They generally fought with guerilla tactics, though they did posses regular combat units. Being communists the their primary supplier for weapons and the such was The Soviet Union which led to the Vietcong using the AK-47 or some variation of said gun. The group was formed in the 1950s area by former members of the Viet Minh, which was formed to repel French and then Japanese occupation, acting on orders from The Capital, Hanoi. the orraganisation was officially dissolved in 1977 after both countries combined to become one communist Vietnam.

=Origin=

The Vietcong came to power as a prevention method against invading and controlling forces originally France, then Japan, next was itself so to speak as that was what it was fighting, and during the same civil war, commonly known as the Vietnam War, America. They were remain, in 1954, in direct result of the Geneva Accord south. Due to the Sepreation of Vietnam The North felt it was necessary to leave a power force in The South. This force was of course the Vietcong. this force was meant to act as a pre-attack force that would allow the actual force to move in. =Vietnam War=

Beginnings
The Vietcong was used, by North Vietnam, to gain a base in South Vietnam. They as a whole believed in a war based attempt to gain control of any pro-democracy area. Areas such as South Vietnam, which they were convienently placed inside of. This made since for them to assault the country from the inside. They gained a foot-hold in South Vietnam and using this occupied it in the name of North Vietnam.

Guerilla Tactics
In general when speaking of the Vietcong the term guerilla war-fare comes up quite a bit. This was their main attack plan as they were low in numbers they had to use their superior knowledge of the terrain to win their battles. This worked out perfectly as most of the American troops were green and un-fit for a combat situation. Especially, it seems that the only reason America didn't actually lose was their fixation on numbers that allowed them to continue fighting. This resulted in a stalemate that lasted until the Tet Offensive.

Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a bold, reckless some would say, military move suggested by the North Korean general Nguyen Chi Thanh. This military movement moved the guerilla warriors from their natural warzone to a place where the Americans could match their skill. The attack was meant to surprise the American and though it worked for a while the americans eventually wizened up and were able to return the favor in full force. At the time the Americans had about 500,000 soldiers stationed in Vietnam during the offensive about 80,000 Viecong atacked over 100 towns all over South Vietnam. The offensive resulted in more harm than good, allowing many americans to be removed from Vietnam, resulting in the Vietnamization of South Vietnam. =Vietnamization=

Vietnamization was the attempt to get South Vietnam to fight its own war against the North. This was done to appeaze the doves in America who had been protesting the war since its start. It started small with the South Vietnamize doing little more than acting as field medics or transporting items to where they were needed. But as the war progressed the Vietnamese took on a much more active role in the retaking of their country, even fighting against the North. This was a good thing as they were more well aquanted with the enviorment, negating the Vietcongs advantage. They did enough to allow America to fully pull out of Vietnam. Though it all seemed for not as the South eventually surrendered and became communist, Allowing the Vietcong to completely control South Vietnam. =References=

Garraty, John A. __The Story Of America__ Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1994. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia wikipedia.org 2001-2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietcong About.com: Asian History 2009-2009 http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossarytz/g/VietCongGlos.htm