00:00November 14th, 1965, the Drang Valley. Machine gun fire tears through elephant grass while
00:06mortar rounds explode in the red dirt and American soldiers call desperately for air
00:11support. Hundreds are dead and hundreds more are injured. But let's change one thing.
00:16Hovering above landing zone x-ray is something no one understands. An AH-64 Apache attack
00:22helicopter from 2020 dropped into a battle it wasn't built for. So what happens when the most
00:27advanced attack helicopter on earth is unleashed during one of the bloodiest firefights in Vietnam?
00:33Can it turn the tide of war or is it just one chopper and way over its head? The Apache roars,
00:39its twin turbine engines screaming. It's got armor plating designed to withstand up to 23 millimeter
00:44cannon rounds, a nose mounted M230 chain gun, 1200 rounds of 30 millimeter ammunition, 16 hellfire
00:52laser guided missiles with eight kilometer range and 76 70 millimeter hydro rockets split between
00:59four pods. But what really makes it terrifying is its sensors. It's got thermal imaging, target
01:05acquisition systems that can track 256 threats simultaneously, and a helmet mounted display
01:11that points the chain gun to wherever the gunner looks. In 1965 terms, it's the firepower of a
01:18squadron guided by technology of the distant future. The Apache cruises at 165 miles per hour and tops
01:25out at 182. Its combat radius is 300 miles on internal fuel or enough for three hours of continuous
01:32operations, and its composite armor can take small arms fire without a mark. Even the rotor blades are
01:38built to survive 23 millimeter hits. But it's not invincible. Those turbines guzzle fuel, its ammunition
01:44is finite with no resupply in 1965. And if the North Vietnamese concentrate enough firepower,
01:50even an Apache can fall. Speaking of the North Vietnamese, they've got three full regimens in this
01:56fight. The 32nd, 33rd, and 66th. We're talking about 4,000 battle hardened soldiers who know this
02:03jungle like the back of their hands. They've got AK-47s, RPD machine guns, 82 millimeter mortars,
02:09and most dangerously, the will to accept massive casualties for their cause. Their commander,
02:15General Chu Hui-man, has one strategy. Get close and stay close. Grab them by the belt buckle,
02:22they call it. Hug the Americans so tight that their artillery and air support become useless.
02:28It's worked before, it'll work again. These are professionals who've practiced one thing for
02:33years, killing Americans. They move through the jungle like ghosts, set up interlocking fields of fire,
02:39use the terrain to funnel enemies into kill zones. And when they attack, they come in human waves
02:45designed to overwhelm any defense. The Apache's radio crackles with desperate calls. Broken arrow,
02:51broken arrow. The universal distress signal when a unit is about to be overrun. The Apache surges
02:56forward, rotors beating the humid air. Below, Charlie Company's perimeter is buckling. 200 Vietnamese
03:02soldiers charge across open ground. AK's blazing, ready to overwhelm the American position.
03:07The M230 chaingun swivels to life. Through the helmet-mounted display, the gunner paints the
03:13attacking wave with 30-millimeter high-explosive rounds just by looking at them and pressing the
03:18trigger. Bodies disintegrate in clouds of red mist. The assault line wavers, breaks, and scatters.
03:2440 Vietnamese soldiers are torn apart in six seconds of sustained fire. Thermal sensors sweep the
03:30battlefield, revealing three more battalions massing in the treeline. Radio antennas, map cases,
03:35officers pointing. It's a command group clustered together and convinced they're invisible in the
03:41distant canopy. No idea they've already become the next target. A hellfire missile leaves the rail,
03:47and its laser designator locks steady on the command post, eight kilometers away. 18 seconds later,
03:53the entire post evaporates in a ball of flame and shrapnel as the Mach 1.3 missile finds its target.
03:59The coordinated assault loses its brain before it even begins, and half the battalion commanders
04:04suddenly go silent. The Apache shifts position, disappearing behind a ridge line only to pop up
04:10two kilometers away. More heat signatures bloom on the thermal display. This time,
04:14it's mortar teams setting up to pound the American landing zone. The rocket pods adjust,
04:19and a dozen hydro rockets streak toward the mortar. The ridge erupts in overlapping explosions and
04:25secondary detonations as stationary mortar rounds cook in the inferno. The battle transforms into
04:31something the Vietnamese have never experienced. Every time they mass for an attack, death arrives
04:35from above. The chain gun chatters in short, efficient bursts. Rockets appear at unimaginable
04:40speeds and from unexpected angles. Hellfires turn fortified positions into smoking craters before they
04:47know they've been spotted. The jungle that has always been their shield becomes transparent. Hidden
04:53soldiers become sitting ducks. The Vietnamese try to adapt, spread formations, multi-directional
04:59attacks, but the Apache moves too fast and hits too hard. It races from sector to sector at 150 miles
05:05per hour and seems to already be wherever the threat concentrates. That distinctive sound of its
05:11rotor becomes the stuff of nightmares for the Vietnamese, now struggling to simply catch their breath.
05:16By noon, the entire dynamic has reversed. Instead of surrounding the Americans and picking them off,
05:21the Vietnamese are pulling back, trying to break contact and recoup. Meanwhile, thermal imaging
05:26tracks their retreat. The fleeing soldiers glow white hot against the cool jungle floor. Rockets
05:31slam into retreating columns. The chain gun picks off stragglers. Soldiers abandon weapons to run faster.
05:37Unit cohesion collapses entirely. They came expecting casualties, but not like this. It seems like there
05:42isn't a fight to be had, but the Apache has its limits. Fuel gauges drop toward empty. Ammunition
05:47counters tick ever downward, and 800 rounds of 30 millimeter, 40 rockets, and six hellfires have been
05:54spent. It fights hard, but it can't last. The Apache banks east toward Camp Halloway, and its ground
06:00crews scramble to jerry-rig fuel connection. JP-4 flows into empty tanks. It's not the modern JP-8 the
06:06Apache was designed for, so the engine efficiency will be reduced, but it will have to work. The biggest
06:11problem is 30 millimeter rounds, and hellfires won't exist for another 20 years. It'll have to
06:16make the most of its remaining firepower. Day two barely arrives when the Vietnamese attempt their
06:21favorite tactic, a night assault. In 1965, darkness was their domain, as American firepower became clumsy
06:27in the black. 2,000 soldiers amassed for an attack at 0200 hours. They don't quite understand that the
06:33Apache sees heat, not light. The gunship lifts off in pitch darkness. The sound of its engine sends
06:39shivers through the Vietnamese ranks, but they press on. The night hasn't let them down yet. This will be
06:45a first. Through the FLIR display, the battlefield glows with Vietnamese soldiers creeping through
06:50elephant grass. Every movement, every gesture, every weapon is visible. The first rocket salvo catches
06:56them in the open, one after another fire in rapid succession, followed quickly by the chaingun which
07:02sweeps back and forth, guided by thermal crosshairs. The night attack dies before it reaches the
07:07American perimeter. 2,000 men are dead, wounded or running for their lives, finally realizing they
07:13can't understand what they are fighting. By dawn of the third day, the Battle of Ladrang is over.
07:18Bodies carpet the approach routes to Holloway without ground forces needing to fire a single shot.
07:24General Mann orders full withdrawal. His regiments have lost over 2,000 men, double historical casualties,
07:30and American losses remain minimal in the dozens instead of hundreds. The Apache settles onto landing
07:36zone x-ray one final time. Ammunition exhausted and fuel tanks nearly dry, it's run its course.
07:42Still, for three days in the Ladrang Valley, one modern helicopter would absolutely dominate the 1965
07:48battlefield, save hundreds of American lives, and shatter enemy formations with ease. It was impressive,
07:55no doubt, but wars aren't won by single weapons. The Apache can't be everywhere, it can't stop every
08:01ambush or secure every village, and it definitely can't last the entire war. Or what do you think
08:07would happen? And if you're curious, what would happen if a modern destroyer fought in World War II?
08:12Check out the video on screen now. Thanks for watching.
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