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What was for the United States a struggle against creeping Communism in Southeast Asia was for the people of North Vietnam a "great patriotic war" that saw its eventual victory against a military Goliath. The story of that conflict as seen through the eyes—and the ideology—of the North Vietnamese military offers readers a view of that era never before seen.

Victory in Vietnam is the People's Army of Vietnam's own account of two decades of struggle, now available for the first time in English. It is a definitive statement of the Vietnamese point of view concerning foreign intrusion in their country since before American involvement—and it reveals that many of the accepted truths in our own histories of the war are simply wrong.

This detailed account describes the ebb and flow of the war as seen from Hanoi. It discloses particularly difficult times in the PAVN's struggle: 1955-59, when Diem almost destroyed the Communist movement in the South; 1961-62, when American helicopter assaults and M-113 armored personnel carriers inflicted serious losses on their forces; and 1966, when U.S. troop strength and air power increased dramatically. It also elaborates on the role of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the Communist effort, confirming its crucial importance and telling how the United States came close to shutting the supply line down on several occasions.

The book confirms the extent to which the North orchestrated events in the South and also reveals much about Communist infiltration—accompanied by statistics—from 1959 until the end of the war. While many Americans believed that North Vietnam only began sending regular units south after the U.S. commitment of ground forces in 1965, this account reveals that by the time Marines landed in Da Nang in April 1965 there were already at least four North Vietnamese regiments in the South.

Translator Merle Pribbenow, who spent several years in Saigon during the war, has sought to render as accurately as possible the voice of the PAVN authors, retaining much of the triumphant flavor of the text in order to provide an uncensored feel for the Vietnamese viewpoint. A foreword by William J. Duiker, author of Ho Chi Minh: A Life and other books on Vietnam, puts both the tone and content of the text in historical perspective.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Half title, Series info, Title page, Copyright
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  1. Table of Contents
  2. pp. v-viii
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  1. Foreword: The History of the People’s Army
  2. William J. Duiker
  3. pp. ix-xvi
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  1. Translator’s Preface
  2. pp. xvi-xx
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  1. List of Terminology
  2. pp. xxi-xxiv
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. xxv-xxvi
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  1. Part I. Building the People’s Army into a Regular, Modern Armed Force: Maintaining and Developing Revolutionary Armed Forces in the South, 1954–1960
  1. 1. Urgently Reorganizing Our Forces: Preparations to Deal with a New Enemy
  2. pp. 3-19
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  1. 2. The People’s Army Begins to Build a Modern, Regular Army: Maintaining Our Armed Teams in South Vietnam
  2. pp. 20-48
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  1. 3. The Development of Our Armed Forces during the General Uprising Movement: The Birth of Transportation Group 559
  2. pp. 49-70
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  1. Part II. Intensifying the Work of Building a Modern, Regular Army, Expanding Our Massed Forces in South Vietnam, and Defeating the “Special Warfare” Strategy of the American Imperialists, 1961–1965
  1. 4. Developing Forces, Building a Battle Posture, and Preparing for a New Struggle
  2. pp. 73-90
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  1. 5. Increasing the Combat Strength of Our Main Force Mobile Troops and Developing Our Massed Troops on the Battlefields of South Vietnam
  2. pp. 91-122
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  1. 6. Intensifying Massed Combat Operations: Fighting alongside the Entire Population to Defeat the American Imperialist “Special War” Strategy 123
  2. pp. 123-150
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  1. Part III. The People’s Army of Vietnam Simultaneously Fights and Conducts Force Building and, Together with the Entire Population, Defeats the “Limited Warfare” Strategy of the American Imperialists, 1965–1968
  1. 7. Rapidly Expanding Our Forces and Continuing the Offensive: Initial Victories over the Americans
  2. pp. 153-172
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  1. 8. Increasing Our Combat Power: Defeating the American Expeditionary Army in South Vietnam and the American Air Force in North Vietnam
  2. pp. 173-205
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  1. 9. The People’s Army, Together with the Entire Population, Conducts the General Offensive and Uprising of Tet 1968
  2. pp. 206-233
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  1. Part IV. The People’s Army of Vietnam Launches Large-Scale Combined-Arms Operations and, Together with the Entire Population, Partially Defeats the U.S. Imperialists’ Strategy to “Vietnamize” the War, 1969–1972
  1. 10. Maintaining Our Main Force Elements in South Vietnam, Conducting Counterattacks and Offensives, and Developing a New Strategic Posture
  2. pp. 237-257
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  1. 11. Increasing Our Ability to Conduct Combined-Arms Operations and Intensifying Counterattacks and Offensives in the Three Nations of Indochina, 1970–1971
  2. pp. 258-282
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  1. 13. Air Defense and Air Force Units Conduct an Anti-Aircraft Campaign: Defeating the B-52 Strategic Bombing Raids Conducted by the American Imperialists
  2. pp. 311-330
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  1. Part V. The Formation of Strategic Army Corps: The Entire Nation Urgently Prepares and Launches the Spring 1975 General Offensive and Uprising, Bringing the Resistance War against the United States to Save the Nation to a Victorious Conclusion, 1973–1975
  1. Conclusion
  2. pp. 428-450
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 451-476
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 477-494
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  1. Back Cover
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