- hace 2 días
Categoría
📺
TVTranscripción
00:001968
00:03It is the bloodiest year of the Vietnam War
00:07American tanks are caught up in the thick of the fighting
00:10There's a common misconception that tanks
00:13were not used very much in Vietnam
00:14The tank commander said
00:17Bring it to the left, bring it to the left
00:18Start shooting
00:20To win the war
00:23the Americans unleashed the military might
00:25of their armored forces
00:26Our two tanks put out savage firepower
00:32But the North Vietnamese fight back
00:35sending their own tanks into battle
00:36Next thing I remember seeing
00:40was a round coming toward us
00:43Now North and South fight to decide the fate of Vietnam
00:49Tank versus tank
00:51In the final phase of the war
00:53the North Vietnamese armor really did prove decisive
00:56The city of Huey in central Vietnam
01:08The city of Huey in central Vietnam
01:22With its historic citadel and temples
01:27Huey has long been revered by the Vietnamese people
01:30as the old imperial capital
01:33and a center of their culture
01:35But today many buildings lie in ruin
01:41Riddled with shell and bullet holes
01:46Scarred by the fighting
01:50during what the Vietnamese people call
01:52The American war
01:53The American war
01:591968
02:01War is raging in Vietnam
02:03As forces from North and South
02:05battle for control of the country
02:07Since 1954 Vietnam has been divided into North and South
02:15along the 17th parallel
02:17The North is led by Ho Chi Minh
02:19The North is led by Ho Chi Minh
02:20who is fighting to unify all of Vietnam
02:24The partition of the country into two parts
02:26which the leaders in the North
02:27primarily Ho Chi Minh
02:28simply refused to accept
02:30It was always their goal to reunite Vietnam
02:32as a single country
02:33More than just a national conflict
02:35The fighting in Vietnam is also a front line
02:38in the global cold war
02:39between America and Russia
02:41The American interest in the Vietnam war
02:45was directly related to the cold war
02:48It was to prevent Soviet influence in Asia
02:52They thought if South Vietnam fell
02:54next to fall would be Indonesia and the Philippines
02:56and all of Asia would become communist
02:58By 1965 American leaders believe
03:04the only way to stop Ho Chi Minh's fighters
03:06is by committing U.S. ground forces
03:08to Vietnam
03:12On March 8th
03:13a small expeditionary force of 3,500 marines
03:16and two platoons of tanks
03:18lands at Danai
03:22The Americans are caught up
03:23in wave after wave of guerrilla attacks
03:25by the communists
03:28Ambushes
03:31Rocket propelled grenades
03:33and land mines inflict heavy casualties
03:40on the Americans
03:41The American tanks weren't ready
03:43for the Vietnam war in 1965
03:47but the broader point has to be made
03:49the American military establishment wasn't ready
03:51In an effort to crush the enemy
03:55the U.S. increases its troop levels
03:57to half a million
03:58while its armored force grows
03:59to hundreds of tanks
04:00From 1965 to 1968
04:04the American numbers and tanks increased
04:06in South Vietnam
04:08because they believed the communists
04:10were going to launch more conventional operations
04:14Northern commanders are indeed preparing a large offensive
04:18In 1968 they will attack all across South Vietnam
04:21during the lunar new year holiday known as Tet
04:25and the Americans will now have the opportunity they want
04:32to destroy the enemy with their overwhelming firepower
04:36They believed that they could bring the communists
04:40to a conventional battle
04:42they could defeat them
04:43January 1968
04:49a fateful year the Vietnam War begins
04:53In Hue City the streets are crowded
04:57with Vietnamese celebrating the new year
04:59And amongst them are thousands of communist fighters
05:04who have infiltrated the city disguised as civilians
05:08January 31st
05:12Explosions rock the city
05:15The Tet Offensive begins
05:1875,000 communists attack villages and cities across South Vietnam
05:25And nowhere is the fighting more fierce than the city of Hue
05:29American and South Vietnamese defenders are overwhelmed
05:33as guerrilla fighters appear out of nowhere
05:36Within a day the communists control much of Hue
05:41The city Hue had particular symbolic importance to the South Vietnamese
05:45as it was the ancient capital of the country
05:48American and South Vietnamese reinforcements rush to the sea
05:52including M-48 tanks from the Marine Corps' 3rd Tank Battalion
05:58We'd always trained that we were going to be in the jungle
06:00and we were going to be in the scrub
06:02and in this third world country and all of a sudden we're in a city
06:04I got there and some of the buildings were burned up
06:11and there were fires going on in the city
06:13and they actually were fighting street by street and house by house
06:17And they'd call us and say,
06:19OK, saddle up!
06:20And we'd jump in the tanks and take off
06:21The M-48 Patton is ideal for tank-on-tank combat
06:27with a 90-millimeter gun and 110 millimeters of frontal armor
06:33But on city streets it is vulnerable to anti-tank weapons fired at close range
06:43Urban combat is always nasty because you're fighting at extremely close ranges
06:47It's like fighting in a three-dimensional maze
06:49We got to a corner of a street
06:54I'm looking through this tiny little periscope
07:00All of a sudden, kind of in the distance, I see a couple figures running
07:06The tank commander said,
07:07Where? Bring it to the left! Bring it to the left!
07:09He said, Bring it further to the left and start shooting!
07:12And nine times out of ten, you didn't even know what you're shooting at, you just shoot
07:24We'd have this five minutes of crazy action and then we'd pull back
07:29But in Huey, there is no front line to pull back from
07:33The fighting is everywhere
07:34We'd park the tanks and wait for the next call to action
07:42And I didn't want to get out of the tank the first time
07:45Because the Vietnamese were all around
07:47Tanks in particular are vulnerable because any place that you have open windows
07:53Open doorways, rubble of buildings
07:56The tank can be attacked from ground level, the tank can be attacked from above
07:59Two tanks were next to each other, two tank crewmen who had been out, they were all sitting around
08:08The North Vietnamese mortar came in right in between the two tanks
08:15And took two or three of the guys out
08:20Of the 14 or 15 crewmen that went up there that first day, almost every one of them had been medevaced out
08:27And had been replaced by somebody else
08:31And had been replaced by somebody else
08:38When you came in country in a combat zone like Vietnam
08:41They give you a little time to kind of acclimate and you get some orientation as to what to expect
08:46But there was no time for that with Tet
08:48We found out that we were going to be going in the way
08:52And we walked in and that's where we first found the vehicle
08:54That's the tank that I wound up on
08:57We were basically replacing the crew that got hit
08:59And I found myself as a replacement gunner
09:03It was in pretty horrible shape
09:05It was to be expected, you know, the tank commander had basically had his face taken off
09:10So there was blood around the tank commander's cupola and you could see it inside the turret
09:13The interior of the tank might be covered, the blood, body parts, things like this
09:19But they just stuck you in that tank and you kept going
09:22So I thought, oh my god, what's going to happen now?
09:26All I remember is the platoon commander telling us what to expect
09:29You know, this was not tank country, he says, we're going to be going down the streets
09:32In an urban environment, tanks suffer the disadvantage that they're constrained to the roads and areas they can move through
09:42So the communists could more easily lay ambushes in areas where they believed the tanks would go
09:49Guys might be hanging out the window, trying to drop a satchel charge on top
09:54If somebody's firing at you with heavy weapons out in front, you're basically stuck in the street and all you can do is back up
10:07The tank goes a lot slower than the stuff he's firing at you
10:12Days after the armored reinforcements arrive, the Americans still cannot dislodge the communists from Huey
10:20The United States was concerned about public opinion in the Battle of Huey
10:25In that having the Vietnamese communists seize the city for a period of time was embarrassing
10:31As the fighting drags on, US commanders worry that images of tanks destroying the historic city will anger the American public
10:40The rules of engagement in Huey were more restrictive because it was an urban area
10:46And one of the odd things about this war came home to me as fact
10:51I had heard about it, but I thought it was just the veterans kind of putting on the new guys
10:55They were telling me that sometimes they found themselves in a firefight and had to request permission to fire back
11:01I said, no, that doesn't happen
11:06I was going down a street and I just happened to be looking through a gunner's scope at a window in a building and I saw this flash
11:12And a branch from a tree just flew off, like something had hit it
11:20I'm looking at this building
11:23Drivers saw the weapon, but I didn't know what he had
11:26The RPGs were the North Vietnamese primary anti-tacker weapons
11:30They were essentially a reusable grenade launcher, but it was absolutely deadly to crews
11:33I tell the tank commander, let me put a round in here, he says, no, wait
11:40For what?
11:42He has to call in and request a submission to fire
11:46Had visions of 900 rocket-propelled grenades all pumping holes into the tank and turning it into a deceitful
11:52The tank kind of slowed down
11:53The tank commander got his permission and before he had the word fire out of his mouth and put a hole in the building
12:12The communists are finally driven from Hue
12:15But much of the city lies in ruins
12:18American casualties are high and confidence in a swift victory in Vietnam is shaken
12:24The American public opinion was the great casualty of the Tet Offensive
12:30Prior to the Tet Offensive, American politicians said, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel
12:37We are about to defeat the Vietnamese communists
12:39The fact that the Vietnamese communists could launch a major offensive across South Vietnam
12:47Suggested that the light was nowhere near the end of the tunnel
12:5240,000 South Vietnamese civilians are casualties of the Tet Offensive
12:57And over 45,000 communist fighters are dead or wounded
13:00Yet Ho Chi Minh's forces still fight on other battlegrounds
13:07Where they hope to turn the tide of war
13:17The remote mountains of central Vietnam
13:19A rusting American tank recalls fierce battles that raged here in 1968
13:23A reminder that the North Vietnamese were entering a new phase of the war
13:27With a new weapon, their own tanks
13:32The NVA had tanks as early as 1959
13:36However, they were in a school
13:39They didn't employ their tanks in battle until 1968
13:43At that point, the NVA were equipped with the PT-76
13:49It was a Soviet-made tank
13:51An amphibious tank
13:53It was useful to infiltrate South Vietnam
13:56So they could move them from North Vietnam
13:58Through the number of watercourses they would have had to cross
14:01And now the NVA will use their tanks to spearhead a major attack
14:05And now the NVA will use their tanks to spearhead a major attack
14:08To seize the large American combat base at Khe Sanh
14:16They will infiltrate from North Vietnam through Laos
14:18And across the border along Highway 9
14:20And attack Khe Sanh
14:22It was believed that the overrun of Khe Sanh
14:24Would be a prelude to a much larger operation
14:27To take parts of the northern provinces of South Vietnam
14:30And now the NVA will use their tanks to spearhead a major attack
14:33To seize the large American combat base at Khe Sanh
14:35To take parts of the northern provinces of South Vietnam
14:39Had they been able to take the northern provinces
14:43It would represent a discernible victory
14:50Highway 9, South Vietnam, January 1968
14:56The NVA begin their advance along the highway
15:00NVA infantry and tanks will attack their main objective Khe Sanh
15:06First they must take a small U.S. Special Forces base
15:10Which guards the route just 10 kilometers away at Long Vy
15:14The North Vietnamese mass nearly 2,000 troops
15:19And 16 tanks to attack Long Vy
15:22Defending the base are just 24 American Special Forces soldiers
15:26Supported by 450 local mercenaries
15:31Well we got a call from the captain at Long Vy
15:34That said okay Long Vy
15:36Go ahead and bring your troops on in
15:38We're going to disperse you around the perimeter
15:39So that we can defend this camp
15:41He said the other night
15:43That there was some tanks over in Laos
15:46He said he thought there was about 3 or 4 of them
15:50And I said okay why are you telling us?
15:52Tanks had never been used in the South Vietnamese War before
15:57And what was going over in Laos was their business
16:00So when we moved in
16:02We established our position
16:04Started digging bunkers and everything
16:08The North Vietnamese artillery in the mountains
16:11Begins firing on Long Vy Special Forces base
16:14They could look right down on top of us
16:16So they were putting some pretty effective fire on us every night
16:19February 6th 1968
16:24Night falls over Long Vy
16:30And so at this point we feel like this may be it
16:35The communists are about to unleash their attack
16:40Leading the assault will be PT-76s from the NVA's 198th Tank Battalion
16:46The PT-76 is a Soviet designed light tank with a crew of three
16:54It's armed with a 76.2 millimeter main gun
16:59But it has only 17 millimeters of frontal armor
17:03When the North used tanks at Lang Vy for the first time
17:07It represented the beginning of a shift in their strategy
17:10They were prepared to blend conventional operations with guerrilla operations
17:17As the PT-76s reached the perimeter wire of the base
17:22The sudden appearance of so many NVA tanks catches the Americans by surprise
17:27The sergeant in the bunker with me, he said,
17:30Sir, I only got one thing to tell you
17:32We got tanks in the wire
17:33Listen, are you serious? Tanks in the wire? Let's go, man!
17:40All of a sudden, I'm like, whoa!
17:44Look at this! That's a Russian tank, man! It's a PT-76!
17:49The Americans scramble from their bunkers
17:52And ready their main anti-tank weapon
17:54The 106 millimeter recoilless rifle
17:57And then boom!
17:59The 106 goes off
18:00They knocked out the first tank
18:04Opened the breach, put in the second round
18:05Knocked out the second tank
18:07Put in a round, knocked out the third tank
18:11But the Americans are soon out of ammunition for the 106s
18:24Just as the NVA sends more tanks into the attack
18:27The Americans fire mortars to try and stop the second wave of tanks
18:33But the NVA press on
18:38A PT-76 tank bears down on Longreer
18:44And so I dropped down below the wall, you know?
18:48I had a light anti-tank weapon
18:50And I open it up, pull the safety out
18:56The M-72 light anti-tank weapon, or LAW, fires a 66 millimeter high-explosive anti-tank round
19:04That should penetrate the armor of a PT-76
19:16Click it and I throw it down, give me another one
19:18The law is proving unreliable
19:20And the PT-76 tank is closing
19:22So I tried three of these things, and they wouldn't fire
19:27So the third one, I lined up the site right at the very front where I thought the driver would be on the tank
19:35And I go, boom!
19:38And I can watch the round, it's going down through like that
19:42And hits right where it may, boom!
19:44Boom!
19:46And goes, pshhh!
19:48Straight up in the air
19:53I'm like, it's not supposed to do that
19:56The rocket bounces harmlessly off the PT-76
20:00Now the tank crew turn their attention to the American bunker
20:04And then the tank stops, like, clunk
20:07And he goes, hmmm
20:13Starts moving his big barrel towards us, you know
20:18And I thought, it's time to get out of this bunker
20:54Los Estados Unidos de los Special Forces fall back to their last defendable position.
20:58The Tactical Operations Center, or TOC.
21:01Which is this underground bunker, where all the radios and the command signals go out and everything.
21:08The NVA lose no time in pressing home their attack on the defenders in the Tactical Operations Center.
21:14And sure enough, we hear a tank.
21:18And here he comes.
21:19Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
21:21But the Americans have learned a lesson about the PT-76.
21:25And I said, I think we can kill him from the side.
21:28I said, don't shoot him in the front, it don't work.
21:30We fire that law on that tank.
21:35Boom.
21:39So we knocked that one out, and here comes one behind it.
21:47And so I fired.
21:51But it doesn't kill it.
21:58They can't go anywhere, it knocked the track out.
22:01So now they're swinging the gun around.
22:04So I still have a law on my shoulder.
22:06And I went ahead and fired it.
22:07Another PT-76 is destroyed.
22:08The relentless NVA tank attack closes in on Longrier and the defenders.
22:20Another tank comes out.
22:26And here we go with the old...
22:28So I knew what was fixing to happen.
22:34Desperately short of anti-tank weapons, Longrier heads into the talk to look for more.
22:40So I took off downstairs.
22:42Just as I get to the bottom...
22:47Vroom!
22:50And the concussion knocked me through the entrance.
22:56So that was pretty much the beginning of the end for us.
22:59The NVA tanks have overrun Lang Vey.
23:05Trapped in the talk bunker, the Americans refuse to surrender.
23:09I mean, they were hanging through the holes, throwing a hand grenade and shooting instead.
23:13And all of a sudden...
23:19This tank pulls up on top of this bunker.
23:25We can see the dirt falling off the seats going...
23:28Driving a several-ton steel beast and pivoting it over and over again above the bunker...
23:39...was likely, in their minds, to have caused a surrender.
23:51But Lang Vey's defenders hold out in the bunker.
23:53In an act of desperation, they call for an airstrike on the NVA...
23:58...who are on top of their own position.
24:03Such decisions are never taken lightly.
24:07They're going to engage in something that might sacrifice...
24:11...their own lives for a greater good.
24:17The dangerous tactic pays off...
24:19...as the aerial strikes force NVA tanks and infantry to pull back...
24:24...and allow the American-led troops to escape.
24:31On February 7th, the North Vietnamese finally take Lang Vey.
24:38They lose seven tanks in the attack...
24:41...but prove their armor can be decisive against the Americans.
24:44With Lang Vey eliminated, the NVA now focus their attack...
24:49...on the large American base at nearby Khe Sanh.
24:53In Khe Sanh, the survivors from Lang Vey, including Longrier, are arriving.
24:59Of the 24 American special forces, 21 are casualties.
25:04But they find they have traded one version of hell for another.
25:12Khe Sanh is under an intense artillery barrage...
25:15...with shells landing every 10 seconds.
25:18In early 1968, Khe Sanh was surrounded.
25:23It had been isolated by North Vietnamese forces...
25:26...immediately prior to the Tet Offensive...
25:28...and subjected to a prolonged bombardment.
25:32The North Vietnamese besieged Khe Sanh...
25:35...trapping some 6,600 marines...
25:36...and South Vietnamese troops...
25:37...and a detachment of M-48 tanks.
25:38I volunteered for a tank assignment...
25:39...and volunteered to go to Khe Sanh.
25:40I volunteered for a tank assignment...
25:41...and volunteered to go to Khe Sanh.
25:42The siege of Khe Sanh to me, personally...
25:43...was, I hope, the closest I'll ever get to Khe Sanh.
25:48I volunteered for a tank assignment...
25:49...and volunteered to go to Khe Sanh.
25:54The siege of Khe Sanh to me, personally...
25:56...was, I hope, the closest I'll ever get to Khe Sanh.
25:59Advancing on the American base...
26:01...is a battalion from the NVA's 325C Division...
26:04...numbering some 600 troops.
26:06The siege of Khe Sanh to me, personally...
26:07...was, I hope, the closest I'll ever get to Khe Sanh.
26:09Advancing on the American base...
26:10...is a battalion from the NVA's 325C Division...
26:12...numbering some 600 troops.
26:13They prepare to assault the outpost on Hill 64...
26:16...near the west end of Khe Sanh Combat Base...
26:17...in a position known as the Rock Quarry.
26:18The Rock Quarry was a knoll...
26:19...where there were two tanks...
26:20...one of Khe Sanh.
26:21...and a position known as the Rock Quarry.
26:22The Rock Quarry was a knoll...
26:23...where there were two tanks...
26:24...one of the Khe Sanh.
26:25...and one in back of each other...
26:26...kind of hidden from the enemy.
26:27February 8th, 1968.
26:28In the early hours of the morning...
26:29...NVA's 325C Division...
26:30...numbering some 600 troops.
26:32They prepare to assault the outpost on Hill 64...
26:35...near the west end of Khe Sanh Combat Base...
26:36...in a position known as the Rock Quarry.
26:38The Rock Quarry was a knoll...
26:41...where there were two tanks, one in front of...
26:44...and one in back of each other...
26:46...kind of hidden from the enemy.
26:48February 8th, 1968.
26:52En las primeras horas de la mañana, NVA soldados close en el perimetro de Americano.
27:00We would come out very voraciously at night looking for an enemy with our Xeon scope.
27:10They dug trenches and tunnels leading up to our lines until they were 50 to 100 meters from our trenches and our lines.
27:23NVA soldiers crawl silently forward to place explosives under the barbed wire.
27:30They could melt through our lines like a hot knife through butter.
27:38Of course, we didn't know what was coming.
27:40And now NVA commanders give the signal to attack.
27:52And I distinctly heard the bugle and I knew what it meant.
27:59And saw the flares.
28:05It is the signal to detonate dynamite and blast holes in the perimeter wire.
28:10NVA machine guns and mortars begin firing into the base.
28:21We were hit with a barrage of artillery mortars.
28:25NVA infantry storm up the hill towards the American positions.
28:30It was Alpha 1-9's outpost that was on Hill 64.
28:37And they were being overrun.
28:39The Marines pull out of their bunkers and withdraw.
28:42The NVA reached the top of Hill 64, intent on destroying the American positions.
28:51But there was just a couple things that were in the way of it, and that was two tanks.
28:54In places like Kaesong, tanks couldn't hold ground, but they could certainly try to prevent someone else from taking them.
29:06The American tanks maneuver behind the enemy attackers, but are forced to fire on their own positions, now held by the NVA.
29:15So we've got to put some heat in there, and that's what the tank commander, and that's what the gunner were screaming and yelling and calling for.
29:21We fired a dozen, a dozen and a half rounds.
29:29And we put many of those right into the same bunkers that our troops were in only minutes before.
29:40Our tanks put out savage firepower.
29:45The counterattack forces the NVA to withdraw.
29:49But not before they demolish the American bunkers.
30:03In the battle for Hill 64, the North Vietnamese lose 150 dead.
30:09Tanks played a critical role in the siege of Kaesong.
30:15We displayed to the enemy that we could be at any point that they would choose, and that we could be there in a matter of moments.
30:29The NVA lose thousands of men attacking Kaesong.
30:33The siege is finally lifted in April, but soon after, the Americans withdraw altogether from the base that they had fought so hard to keep.
30:481968 is the deadliest year of the war for the United States, with over 15,000 Americans killed in combat.
31:02The death toll fuels the anti-war movement, with protests erupting throughout the U.S. and around the world.
31:091968 does represent a turning point for the American will to fight.
31:14What the American public discovered was that they were going to have to pay a much greater cost to save South Vietnam from the communists.
31:28And it's at that point that the American public began to turn in much larger numbers than it had before.
31:35While the United States grows weary of the war, the North Vietnamese remain determined to continue fighting and defeat their enemies.
31:42New offensives are planned, and tanks will be crucial as the communist campaign to unite the country expands.
31:50Ho Chi Minh's guerrilla fighters are now a modern army, ready to take on the most powerful nation on earth.
31:561969. To replenish their forces in South Vietnam, the NVA moved troops, supplies, and tanks to the south via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
32:17A series of routes running thousands of kilometers through the jungles.
32:23The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the nickname of the communist route for communications, logistics, and infiltration into South Vietnam.
32:30To disrupt the enemy's supply chain, the Americans have a line of fire bases along the Ho Chi Minh Trail...
32:40...from which to attack the communists.
32:44One of the most isolated is Ben Het Special Forces Camp.
32:53Located in South Vietnam's central highlands, near where the Ho Chi Minh Trail runs through neighboring Laos and Cambodia.
32:59Ben Het was an important objective.
33:03Because of its location, had they been able to take Ben Het, it would have opened the door to operations that might cut the country in two.
33:11The base occupies three hills, with the west hill nearest the trail.
33:18It's protected by the tanks of B Company from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment.
33:26In early 1969, NVA commanders decide to assault Ben Het.
33:33Spearheading the attack on the base are up to ten PT-76 tanks.
33:42The NVA believed that tanks would play a decisive role at Ben Het.
33:47March 3rd, 1969.
33:54Three M48 tanks are dug in on the west hill, protecting Ben Het fire base.
34:00We had them dug in, they were in trenches, you know.
34:03All that was sticking out was a gun tube and what have you.
34:06As night falls over the base, all is quiet.
34:10Until the Americans hear engine noises coming from across the nearby border.
34:17Special Forces Unit had a team out with one of their lieutenants.
34:24And they reported that there was tanks moving down around the area between us and the borders.
34:31We got our night vision scopes out and devices started looking.
34:38We saw the PT-76s out there.
34:44The first tank-on-tank battle of the Vietnam War is about to begin.
34:50To be honest, we're surprised overall that it was coming our way.
34:56Ben Het does represent a tank-on-tank action.
34:59By accident.
35:03I have difficulty believing the North Vietnamese would employ a PT-76 against an M48.
35:14Two PT-76s are quickly knocked out.
35:20But the third closes on the American tanks.
35:25And opens fire.
35:28The next thing I remember seeing was a round coming toward us.
35:35The closer it got to us, the bigger that round looked.
35:41It looked to me like he was going over.
35:47But it didn't.
35:48It hit the loader's hatch.
35:54And when it did, it blew a tank commander out of the cupolas.
36:00It blew me off the back deck.
36:02He and I wound up 15, 20 foot behind the tank.
36:07It cut the lower two crewmen, who were to my left, half in two, each one of them.
36:14Half of them on the back deck, the lower half on the ground.
36:19The PT-76 shell has killed and wounded the crew of the M48, putting it out of action.
36:26The remaining U.S. tanks pummel the NVA attackers.
36:33Finally, the communists withdraw.
36:39At the first break of dawn the next morning is when they saw at least two tanks had been destroyed.
36:54Though the North Vietnamese will launch more infantry and artillery attacks in the months that follow, they fail to capture Ben Het.
37:04But the tank-on-tank battle fought here marks a deadly escalation in the conflict.
37:09The use of tanks by the NVA represents an increase in the NVA's confidence and ability to wage conventional war.
37:18By July 1969, more than 40,000 Americans have died in Vietnam.
37:28And there is still no end of the war in sight.
37:39On September 2nd, North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh dies.
37:46But his dream of a united, independent Vietnam lives on.
37:52You can kill ten of our men for everyone we kill of yours.
37:57But even us, those ox, you will lose and we will win.
38:02The Americans start peace talks with the North Vietnamese and announce they will begin pulling out their troops.
38:08We have adopted a plan, which we have worked out in cooperation with the South Vietnamese,
38:14for the complete withdrawal of all U.S. combat ground forces.
38:19The American tankers had been among the first to arrive in South Vietnam.
38:24When the U.S. believed they could win a swift victory with their overwhelming firepower,
38:30now they are amongst the first to head home.
38:32As North Vietnam moves from guerrilla to conventional warfare,
38:38their tankers prepare to play a greater role in their fight to unite the country.
38:43And as the American war is ending, the fighting in Vietnam enters its decisive phase.
38:501972. Most American forces have withdrawn from Vietnam, leaving the South alone to defend itself.
39:04Because of the American withdrawal, the South Vietnamese economy was weaker.
39:10They didn't have as much money to spend on their own defense.
39:14The North, however, strengthens its forces with help from the Soviet Union and Communist China,
39:23who supply them with powerful new tanks.
39:26Soviet aid allowed them to rebuild their forces for future operations.
39:33The North Vietnamese did believe that they could defeat the South in a conventional war in 1972.
39:38Spring 1972. The Communists launch a new offensive.
39:45The attack will be their largest of the war, and it will be spearheaded by hundreds of tanks.
39:51When people think of Vietnam in tanks, most people make the assumption it's jungle.
39:58But there were areas that were very, very good for the employment of tanks, particularly the northern provinces.
40:09The main tank assault falls on the border provinces, where the Communists believe the enemy is weakest.
40:15This was the first time the North Vietnamese used tanks en masse during the war in Vietnam.
40:20For the attack, the North Vietnamese field 30,000 troops and more than 150 tanks.
40:31Defending the northern provinces are nearly 30,000 South Vietnamese troops and dozens of M-48 tanks.
40:39March 30, 1972.
40:48The attack begins as N-V-8 troops swarm across the border into South Vietnam.
40:54With them come two regiments of armor, which includes the most modern tank they have, the T-54.
41:01The T-54 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank. Intended for tank-on-tank warfare, it's armed with a 100-millimeter main gun.
41:14And has nearly 10 centimeters of frontal armor.
41:20The N-V-8 plan to use their tanks to capture the provincial capitals of Quang Tri and Hue, giving them control of the northern provinces.
41:28In order to do so, they must cross a vital bridge over the Qua Viet River at the town of Dong Ha.
41:36The Dong Ha Bridge was important because it could handle armor traffic.
41:43Had it fallen into Communist hands, they would have been able to continue further south and get to Saigon.
41:50As the N-V-8 tanks close in on Dong Ha, the South Vietnamese army rushes its newly formed 20th Tank Battalion to defend the bridge.
42:01They have 42 M-48 tanks and are ordered to hold Dong Ha at all costs.
42:08The South Vietnamese tanks take up position on high ground overlooking the bridge.
42:13They wait for the N-V-8 tanks to come into range.
42:22As the N-V-8 tanks approach the bridge, they enter a killing zone.
42:31The South Vietnamese open fire with deadly accuracy.
42:35Eleven enemy tanks are hit.
42:43But a T-54 reaches the bridge and starts across.
42:49A lone South Vietnamese Marine aims to stop it with an anti-tank weapon.
43:08If the bridge is captured intact, the N-V-8 can advance to Quang Tri City.
43:14His first shot misses.
43:22He has one rocket left.
43:32His second shot jams the enemy's turret.
43:36The disabled T-54 pulls back.
43:46The defenders blow the bridge.
43:51Stopping the N-V-8 tanks from crossing.
43:56The communist offensive continues for another seven months.
44:07By which time the North loses hundreds of tanks.
44:12But they gain control of some 10% of South Vietnam.
44:16The Vietnamese communists believe the end was in sight.
44:19In early 1975, the N-V-8 mounts yet another offensive.
44:26Their tanks begin to attack southern positions
44:29and advance towards the capital, Saigon.
44:32April 30th, 1975.
44:36As the last Americans flee,
44:39tanks of the N-V-8's 203rd Armored Regiment roll into Saigon.
44:44One of the iconic images of the war
44:45is one of those tanks pushing down the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon.
44:52The Vietnam War is finally over.
44:55The entire country is now ruled by the communists.
45:00In the final climactic phase of the war,
45:02the North Vietnamese armor really did prove decisive.
45:04Over five million Vietnamese people die in the battles that raged in the war for Vietnam.
45:21The war cemeteries and memorials bear witness to the terrible price they paid
45:26to be unified and independent.
45:56That took the war's last with his royal balcony,
45:57that was not the sea of the cold.
45:58The long blazing scene
46:04is combined with that,
Sé la primera persona en añadir un comentario