Hell in An Loc: The 1972 Easter Invasion and the Battle That Saved South Viet Nam

6. The Second Attack on An Loc

100 The landing of the paratroopers in the Doi Gio area added a new dimension to the battle of An Loc: it forced the enemy to try to capture the city before the rescuing units joined forces with the defenders. So, after only one day of recuperation and refurbishing, the enemy renewed their efforts to take An Loc. Following their usual tactics of “tien phao hau xung” (or first, artillery; next, assault ), the enemy unleashed a devastating artillery barrage on the city on April 15 from 4:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. causing multiple fires. Over 1,000 artillery rounds of all calibers slammed into An Loc. The NVA gunmen were specifically targeting the 5th Division and Binh Long Sector headquarters in the southern sector. At 6:00 a.m., the enemy’s 9th Division launched a two-pronged attack with the 272nd Regiment supported by a tank company in the north and northwest, and the 271st Regiment supported by another tank company in the west. At 7:00 a.m., the 272nd Regiment broke through the defensive positions of the 8th Regiment, which had to fall back to Hung Vuong Street, about 500 meters south of the original northern perimeter of defense. The 3rd Ranger Group also withdrew under heavy enemy pressure to establish a new defense line along Tran Hung Dao Boulevard, one block south of Hung Vuong Street. The enemy, however, didn’t seem to have learned from their past mistakes. This time, enemy tanks again penetrated deeper into Six The Second Attack on An Loc 101 The Second Attack on An Loc ARVN’s positions without infantry protection. The first tank was destroyed on Nguyen Du Street by the 36th Ranger Battalion. The second tank was hit by an Air Force rocket and burst into flames in the vicinity of the New Market. A third tank just entering Tao Phung Park was destroyed by the artillerymen from Battery C, 51st Artillery Battalion, executing a direct fire with the only usable 105mm howitzer. The fourth and fifth tanks were finished off by the soldiers of the 8th Regiment near the Old Market.1 Also this time, learning from the experience from the first attack, the defenders emerged from their bunkers and foxholes as soon as the NVA shifted their artillery barrage, and fired at close range at the enemy attacking infantry and tanks. The defenders used not only their organic M-72s to destroy the tanks, but they also put to good use the B-40 and B-41 rocket launchers captured from the enemy. Enemy tanks rolling in the streets without infantry protection were easy prey for the “tank-destroying teams,” which were hastily created and trained on order of General Hung right after the first attack . In his memoir, Gen. Mach Van Truong had nothing but praise for these teams who knew every corner, dead end, and back alley within the city and who chose the most propitious ambush sites to destroy enemy tanks rolling aimlessly on narrow city streets.2 By 10:00 a.m., the enemy and ARVN forces were engaging in furious close combat along the Hung Vuong–Tran Hung Dao line. With effective support from the audacious U.S. Cobra gunships pilots—who braved intense anti-aircraft fire to provide urgently needed assistance—the stubborn defenders were able to organize new defense positions along the above line. The attack on the west was blunted before it began. First, the enemy sent one sapper unit to open the barbed wire fence at the western gate to allow the tanks to attack ARVN positions on the defense perimeter. The sapper company was wiped out by elements of the 8th Regiment defending the northwestern sector; three prisoners were captured. Then, as the 271st Regiment and one tank company entered a plantation located four kilometers west of An Loc, and began to deploy in formations for the final assault, they were hit by a preplanned B-52 “box.” (In U.S. military jargon, one B-52 “box” is usually one rectangle of one by two kilometers 102 Hell in An Loc drawn on the intended target to be saturated with bombs from three B-52s, each B-52 carrying a 38,000-pound bomb load.) Due to heavy casualties, the 9th Division cancelled the 271st Regiment attack. A document captured afterward disclosed that at a meeting on April 17, the...