To the East of Saigon, our forces, with Army Corp 4 as the core force, restlessly and vigorously attacked the adversary units stationed at Bien Hoa Airport and the Headquarters of the III Corps Tactical Zone. On the early morning of April 29, the adversary had to evacuate aircraft from Bien Hoa Airport to Tan Son Nhat Airport and moved the Headquarters of the III Corps Tactical Zone to Go Vap, near downtown Saigon.
From the Southeast, our Infantry Division 3, which was attached to Army Corps 2, launched strong attacks on Ba Ria Town and Vung Tau City. At 4 p.m. on April 29, all of Vung Tau City was liberated.
    |
 |
|
Tanks and infantry troops attack the adversary’s Dong Du Military Base (Cu Chi), backing our troops to attack Tan Son Nhat Airport and Headquarters of the Joint General Staff of the Saigon Army (Photo taken by Le Trung Hung at Vietnam News Agency) |
Meanwhile, three penetration elements of Infantry Division 304 successfully thrust into Saigon and opened fire on several targets of the Saigon Government. At 10 a.m., forces of the division destroyed the adversary’s military base of Nuoc Trong and controlled its neighborhoods. In the face of strong determination to victory, the attacking forces fought and seized the Long Binh Military Base, facilitating the maneuver of armored and infantry elements of Army Corps 2 along Bien Hoa - Saigon Highway.
On the Western front, our Army Corps 3 was supported by local armed forces in Tay Ninh and Infantry Division 316, eliminated 46th and 49th Regiments and an armored unit of the 25th Infantry Division of the Saigon Army. Our forces totally controlled the Trang Bang Military Sub-section and liberated Go Dau Ha and the periphery of Cu Chi on the early morning of April 29.
In the Cu Chi underground tunnel site, our Infantry Division 320 maneuvered and positioned forces on the battlefield through the night of April 29. At 5.30 a.m. on April 29, the unit opened fire on the adversary’s Dong Du Military Base, where the 25th Infantry Division’s Headquarters was located. The adversary’s Commander of the base, Brigadier General Ly Tong Ba, mobilized all of his forces, including two infantry battalions, three armored battalions as well as firepower units, reconnaissance units and training units with total strength of 3,000 troops, to fight back drastically. At the Northwestern beachhead, Battalions 1 and 3 of Regiment 48 of Infantry Division 320 failed to break through the adversary’s defense three times, even though they were closely supported by artillery and tanks. At the Southwestern beachhead, Infantry Regiment 9 also encountered difficulties. The unit could only break through six of the nine wire systems of the adversary. Furthermore, the unit had to share part of its strength to fight back the adversary’s reinforced battalion with armored attachments, which moved to Dong Du from Trang Bang.
Against this backdrop, the Command of our Infantry Division 320 sent the reserved force of Regiment 48, including Infantry Battalion 2 and a tank company to reinforce Battalion 1 at the Northwestern beachhead. The reinforcement attacked and controlled the adversary’s engineer section and training site, creating a springboard to assault the Headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division. Given an opportunity, Battalion 1 and Battalion 3 launched offensives on the adversary’s base in two flanks. After one hour of fighting, our forces destroyed the adversary’s defense posts. Our Infantry Regiment 48 and parts of Infantry Regiment 9 controlled the 25th Infantry Division’s Headquarters. Commander of the adversary’s base, Brigadier General Vo Tong Ba, and his aides disguised themselves as civilians and ran away into local rubber plantations, but they were eventually arrested by local guerrillas. At 11 a.m. on April 29, Infantry Division 320 completely controlled the adversary’s Dong Du Military Base, opening the door to Saigon from the Northwest.
The defeat of the adversary’s Dong Du Base helped our Infantry Division 316 wipe out most of the defensive posts in the outer defensive line of the Saigon Army from Cu Chi to Go Dau. Meanwhile, our Infantry Division 10 reinforced by Infantry Regiment 64 of Infantry Division 320, Commando Regiment 198, and an artillery battalion, attacked adversary garrisons in Saigon’s suburbs and prepared forces for a massive offensive on several targets important to the Saigon Government in the city center. At the same time, Infantry Division 10 also sent two elements to penetrate into downtown Saigon. The First element included Regiment 24, Tank Brigade 273 and an artillery battalion. The element maneuvered pass Cu Chi and destroyed the adversary’s defensive forces there, including tanks and armored cars. The element moved along Road 1, in cooperation with Regiment 64 and a commando battalion to fight adversary forces stationed at the two strongholds at Bong Bridge. After controlling Bong Bridge, the element attacked the adversary’s Quan Nam Fortress, the Headquarters of Quang Trung district and Vinatechco Textile Factory. It then positioned itself at Ba Queo Roundabout, waiting for further orders.
On April 29, the second element consisting of Regiment 28, Tank Brigade 273, two artillery battalions and an engineer battalion attacked Sang Bridge. But the bridge was too weak for tanks to cross, so the element and the reserve force of Regiment 66 had to go back to Ba Ri and move along Provincial Road 8 to Bong Bridge and Tham Luong Bridge. When the element arrived, it joined other forces to maneuver toward Tan Son Nhat Airport and the Headquarters of the Joint General Staff of the Saigon Army.
To the North, Army Corps 1 completely seized the adversary garrisons in Tan Uyen On the night of April 29. Infantry Division 320B of the Army Corps assigned Regiment 27 to maneuver along the Tan Uyen-Bung road to Lai Thieu while Regiment 48 moved along the Ong Linh - Khanh Van road to Eastern Lai Thieu.
With the motto “Pushing the adversary away to advance on,” our forces bypassed insignificant adversary posts to move forward to Saigon. But during their 60-km maneuver from Tan Uyen to Lai Thieu, they had to stop to fight back Security Battalions 321, 346 and 317 of the Saigon Army, which tried to intercept our forces’ movement. There were fierce battles between the two sides at Binh Chuan, Thuan Giao junctions as well as Bung, Tan Hiep. Sometimes, dozens of our troops were killed and injured in just one battle.
From the West and Southwest of Saigon, on the night of April 29, Regiment 3 of Infantry Division 9 of the Liberation Army deployed to Ba Lac and along the Dai Han dyke, 2km North of Ba Hon. Meanwhile, Regiment 28, Regiment 24 and the local infantry battalion of Long An province moved to Can Gioc, Hung Long, ready to enter Saigon.
Although our forces had to conduct maneuvers and fight in difficult terrain of rivers and mud, the Western and Southwestern flanks basically finished their assigned tasks after three days of fighting. They destroyed the adversary’s Hau Nghia - Vam Co Dong defensive line, moved all forces and equipment next to Saigon and were ready to fight the adversary garrisoned inside Saigon, oust the Saigon regime, and liberate the South.
Written by Lap Thanh
Translated by Thu Nguyen