Battle of Ban Me Thuot

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Buôn Ma Thuột
partof=Vietnam War


caption=Evacuation of ARVN soldiers at Buôn Ma Thuột
date=March 10-March 12, 1975
place=coord|12|40|45|N|108|2|28|E|type:city|display=inline,title
Buôn Ma Thuột, Đắk Lắk Province, Vietnam
result=• Decisive North Vietnamese victory
• Evacuation of the Central Highlands
• Deterioration of South Vietnamese defences
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Pham Van Phu
commander2=Văn Tiến Dũng
strength1=4,000
strength2=25,000+
casualties1=
casualties2=The Battle of Buôn Ma Thuột was part of North Vietnam's "Campaign 275" to capture the Central Highlands following the victory at Phuoc Long on January 6, 1975.

Buôn Ma Thuột was selected as the first objective during the Central Military Party Committee session on January 9. In order to achieve their objectives, General Võ Nguyên Giáp put emphasis on secrecy and surprise to force the South Vietnamese army to defend the northern areas of the Central Highlands, as major North Vietnamese units would launch diversionery attacks elsewhere.

Campaign 275

To keep all upcoming military operations secret, radio signals were kept silent and the only radio broadcasts made were misleading messages intended to suggest that General Van Tien Dung would attack Pleiku. The beginning of "Campaign 275" was signalled by North Vietnamese attacks in Binh Dinh and Pleiku Provinces on March 4. In Binh Dinh the ARVN "47th Regiment" struggled against the ever growing strength of North Vietnamese artillery and rocket strikes, the artillery positions supporting the "47th Regiment" were overrun and destroyed. ARVN Fire Support Bases 93 and 94 were heavily bombaraded before the "4th Ranger Group" and the "2nd Armoured Cavalry Brigade" were able to conduct clearing operations along Route 19.

On March 8 the "9th Regiment" of the VPA "320th Division" battled with the ARVN "45th Regiment" at Thuan Man, resulting in the permanent blockage of Route 14 by the Vietnam People's Army "320th Division". On the next day another North Vietnamese attack was launched in Quang Duc Province, where the ARVN 53rd Infantry Regiment was overrun. The diversionary attacks in Quang Duc convinced Major General Pham Van Phu that the main battle would take place in Đắk Lắk Province, so the "72nd" and the "96th Ranger Battalions" as well as the "21st Ranger Group" were sent to Ban Don.

The Battle

Finally at 1:55AM on March 10, the Vietnam People's Army launched a violent artillery barrage on the city of Buôn Ma Thuột and Phung Duc airfield.

By morning the "320th VPA Division" had penetrated the city and the ARVN managed to throw back Communist assaults on Hill-559 and Phung Duc airfield. At around mid-day North Vietnamese infantry supported by armour had moved into the southern sector of Buôn Ma Thuột, where heavy fighting took place resulting in the loss of five North Vietnamese tanks. General Phu's attempt to reinforce Buôn Ma Thuột with two Regional Force Battalions from Ban Don failed under heavy enemy fire. Fighting at the airfield destroyed twelve aircraft belonging to the 2nd and 6th Air Divisions, and only three helicopters were managed to be flown out.

The "23rd ARVN Division" continued their resistance around Buôn Ma Thuột along with the "2nd Company", "4th Company", "8th Armoured Cavalry", "1st Battalion", "53rd Infantry", "243rd" and "242nd Regional Forces". On March 11, the North Vietnamese consolidated their control over the city. On March 12 the worn down ARVN soldiers and their families were evacuated.

Major General Pham Van Phu were ordered to Cam Ranh on March 14 to meet President Nguyen Van Thieu. During the meeting President Thieu revealed and outlined his plans to retake Buôn Ma Thuột, under this plan Phu would make use of what is left of his units from Kontum and Pleiku Province, and the "22nd Division" from Binh Dinh Province. However, due to the deteriorating stength of the South Vietnamese military, Buôn Ma Thuột was never retaken as the Communists continued their push south.

Aftermath

The Central Highlands consists of Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai, Kontum and Lâm Đồng Provinces has always been an important strategic military staging area and whoever control the Central Highlands will have the advantage. For that reason, the South Vietnamese military had always maintained a heavy military presence there. After the fall of Buôn Ma Thuột, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered the northern provinces to be abandoned to 'lighten the top and keep the bottom'. The South Vietnamese army went into panic as soldiers and their families flooded the main roads in a mass exodus towards the coast. There was total collapse of South Vietnamese morale.

References

*Caputo, Philip (2005) "10,000 Days of Thunder: A History of the Vietnam War". Atheneum Books, USA.

*Dougan. C, Doyle. E, Lipsman. S, Martland. T, Weiss. S (1983) "The Vietnam Experience: Setting the Stage". Boston Publishing Company, USA.