Monday, May 1, 1972
Report Last NVA Div. Poised At DMZ
Officials clearly expect the North Vietnamese army to coordinate stronger thrusts against South Vietnam with the resumption of peace talks in Paris.Military sources reported elements of the North Vietnamese 325-C Division have been located within 10 miles of the DMZ. The rest of the division is said to be strung out for about 100 miles, but could close up within a few days.U.S. warplanes are expected to try to knock out the division's tanks and artillery as they move up.Pentagon experts say the only divisions left behind in North Vietnam are training units.The 12 other North Vietnamese army divisions are listed as already engaged in South Vietnam, Cambodia and Northern Laos.For this reason, Dr. Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's national security adviser, believes the North Vietnamese have no significant replacements left in their homeland to make up for battle losses.Military authorities are watching for possible disengagement to two North Vietnamese divisions -the 312th and the 316th -from the secondary campaign against Royal Lao forces in Northern Laos and their commitment to the South Vietnamese offensive.Analysts say they look for even bigger North Vietnamese efforts this week in the northernmost provinces of South Vietnam, where the cities of Quang Tri and Hue are seriously threatened.Also, the analysts said, the North Vietnamese can be expected to redouble their attacks in the Central Highlands, apparently aimed at taking the provincial capital of Kontum. And they forecast intensified North Vietnamese assaults in the region further south on the approaches to Saigon.American officials are monitoring with particular concern the performance of the South Vietnamese First Division defending Hue, ancient capital of Vietnam. This division long has been regarded as South Vietnam's best. If it should be defeated, Pentagon confidence in the ability of the South Vietnamese army likely would be shaken.In an official assessment last week, the Pentagon said the South Vietnamese forces had acquitted themselves very well and had blunted the enemy offensive in the northernmost region below the DMZ as well as near Saigon.That was before the new North Vietnamese assaults aimed at Quang Tri and Hue. There have been no new official appraisals.Kissinger says he thinks the North Vietnamese offensive, which began March 29, will run its course by July 1.If it does not succeed, Kissinger feels, the North Vietnamese will not be able to protect what is left of the Viet Cong structure in South Vietnam, nor will they be able to launch another major attack on South Vietnam for perhaps two years.Meanwhile, U.S. reconnaissance has found an increase in the amount of shipping in Haiphong, with about two dozen ships unloading at North Vietnam's principal port, or waiting to be unloaded.Since it takes five weeks or longer for Russian and East European vessels to make the long voyage from European ports to North Vietnam, the assumption is that Russia was aware of North Vietnam's intentions to launch its big spring offensive and shipped out additional supplies and equipment for North Vietnam in preparation.Some specialists said the presence of more ships in Haiphong harbor could also indicate difficulties in unloading, particularly since U.S. bombers badly damaged a major petroleum storage depot near Haiphong in mid-April."Report Last NVA Div. Poised at DMZ", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Monday, May 1, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.