On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the “Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air” victory, the People’s Army Newspaper launched the column “On this day 50 years ago” to give an overview of the main developments and outstanding achievements of the Vietnamese troops and people during 12 day-and-night combat in late 1972 against the U.S. Air Force’s air raids on Hanoi, Hai Phong, and other Northern provinces and cities.
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Missile troops ready to destroy B-52 stratofortresses of the U.S. Air Force in late 1972 (A file photo) |
At 10:30 on December 17, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered air raids on Hanoi, Hai Phong and some provinces and cities in Northern Vietnam (coded Operation Linebacker II). The purpose of this strategic air raid was to destroy our economic and defense resources, cut off aid from socialist countries, and prevent the reinforcement of weapons and food from the North to the South of Vietnam in order to cut the support for the Southern liberation forces and at the same time terrorize Northern people in an effort to break their spirit and carry out its intention of putting pressure on our government on the negotiating table at the Paris Conference, and flaunting its military strength, deterring progressive forces and other countries that supported Vietnam.
With the intention of "bringing the North back to the stone age," the U.S. imperialists mobilized 193 B-52 strategic bombers (accounting for nearly 50% of the existing U.S. B-52s); 1,077 tactical aircraft, six aircraft carriers, over 50 tanker aircraft and some types of service aircraft such as remote jammers, strategic and tactical recce aircraft, command aircraft, aircraft in charge of communication, navigation, and emergency, and 60 other warships of all kinds.
Earlier, at 08:00 on December 17, 1972, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army Van Tien Dung ordered all air defense forces in the North to shift the combat readiness posture to the highest level to prevent the U.S. Air Force’s attacks from the 20th parallel and beyond. The Command of the Air Defense - Air Force Service gave instruction to its affiliated units that "The situation is very urgent, units need to keep their troops ready to fight, develop plans to add ammunition to missiles, ensure the highest technical coefficients of weapons and equipment, and smooth communication and put units on alerts to inspect them.”
The troops and people in the whole Northern Vietnam were promptly put in combat readiness posture and determined to defeat the U.S. imperialists’ strategic air raid.
Translated by Mai Huong