Thursday, June 1, 1972
Reds Hurting At An Loc; Drive Apparently Blunted
By Spec. 4 Allen Schaefer
LAI KHE, Vietnam --There have been no champagne toasts to celebrate victory, and American advisers here still talk with cautious tones of optimism, but it appears that the Communist drive to conquer An Loc has been blunted.For the last two days the provincial capital 60 miles northwest of Saigon, usually the target of 2,000 to 8,000 rounds of mortar and artillery fire daily, has been receiving a relatively light pounding from North Vietnamese army gunners."There is a strong indication the NVA are in bad need of supplies and that they are low in manpower," said a top American adviser in the Third Regional Assistance Command (TRAC) Tuesday.He said remnants of the enemy force are engaged in blocking Highway 13 about 10 miles south of An Loc against the advance of the ARVN 21st Div.The senior military adviser said the Communists have thrown almost everything in their arsenal at defenders of the city but that troops from III Military Region, with the help of tactical air strikes and B52 sorties, have crippled the NVA forces in the area of An Loc."The crisis at An Loc is over," said the adviser. "In fact, we felt the battle had been won when the ARVN withstood the ground attacks on April 19 and in the middle of May."He said sporadic enemy ground assaults in the city recently have been repulsed with little trouble.Nonetheless, elements of the 21st Div. have been struggling to break through the NVA roadblock 18 miles north of Lai Khe along the highway for more than a week, meeting heavy resistance from small knots of determined infantrymen entrenched in one and two-man bunkers. The bloody fighting has produced heavy casualties for both sides.The monsoon season, due in the An Loc region a month ago, has finally arrived, and its torrential rains will hamper tactical air strikes and B52 missions.At the same time, the bad weather will hinder the NVA resupply lines and their survival in bunkers.Even though the South Vietnamese column driving up from the south is temporarily stalled, the establishment of a fire support base two weeks ago in Tan Khai, five miles south of An Loc, has bolstered the ARVN offensive position, according to the TRAC adviser.He said resupply for the tiny village astride the highway is no problem and that ground attacks on the South Vietnamese position there pose no threats.To the north, units of the 15th Reg. are within half a mile of linking up with An Loc defense forces."It's no longer a fear that the job of opening up the road can't be accomplished," said the adviser to the 21st Div., "it's just the frustration that it can't be done faster.""Reds Hurting at An Loc; Drive Apparently Blunted" by Spec. 4 Allen Schaefer, published in the Pacific Stars and Strips Thursday, June 1, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.