Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972: The Vietnam War's great conventional clash

The Easter Offensive in 1972 saw North and South Vietnam clash in armored battles, with 1,200 tanks on each side using cutting-edge weaponry like the U.S. TOW and Soviet 9M14 Malyutk anti-tank missiles. Despite the ARVNs defensive success, North Vietnam expanded its armor forces, leading to the stunning defeat of the South in 1975 when T54 tanks crashed through the Presidential palace and took Saigon.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 48 pages
Publication date: 17 February 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The armies of North and South Vietnam engaged in pivotal armored battles during the Easter Offensive, equipped with modern Soviet and US tanks and weaponry. Tired of fighting against Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese regulars, the United States had withdrawn nearly all its forces from Vietnam by early 1972. In response, North Vietnam launched a massive fourteen-division attack in March 1972, aiming to halt the expansion and improvement of South Vietnamese forces under the U.S. "Vietnamization" program. The assault was spearheaded by 1,200 tanks, while Saigon's newly equipped armored force countered with U.S. medium tanks. This resulted in fierce fighting between major Cold War-era U.S. and Soviet tanks and mechanized equipment, including M-48 medium and M-41 light tanks, pitting them against their T-54 and PT-76 rivals in various combat environments. Both sides employed cutting-edge weaponry for the first time, such as the U.S. TOW and Soviet 9M14 Malyutk wire-guided anti-tank missiles.

This volume delves into the tanks, armored forces, and weapons that clashed in this little-known campaign, using after-action reports from the battlefield and other primary sources to analyze the technical and organizational factors that shaped the outcome. Despite the ARVN's defensive success in October 1972, North Vietnam significantly expanded its armor forces over the next two years, while U.S. support waned. This imbalance, coupled with strategic misjudgments by the South Vietnamese President, led to the stunning defeat of the South in 1975 when T54 tanks crashed through the fence surrounding the Presidentia.

Weight: 170g
Dimension: 184 x 247 x 8 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472849021