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In armored battles the mobility and heavy firepower of armored units often compensated for tactical mistakes. Some battles were extremely close, and caused changes to be made in operational procedures. One of these occurred in the III Corps Tactical Zone in 1966 as the 1st Infantry Division, probing into War Zone C, triggered a series of engagements on a dirt track called the Minh Thanh Road. Operating with South Vietnamese forces, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division mounted a series of operations in eastern War Zone C during June and July 1966. The purpose was to open Route 13 from Saigon to Loc Ninh in Binh Long Province and to destroy elements of the 9th Viet Cong Division. The 9th was reported to be massing to seize the province capital of An Loc and several district capitals. By the end of Operation EL Paso II in early September 1966, five major engagements had been fought, and all three regiments of the 9th Viet Cong Division had withdrawn into sanctuaries deep in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, leaving behind some 850 dead. Highly effective counterambush tactics [66] based on the firepower and mobility of armored forces were developed during three of the five engagements. These battles showed that armored cavalry with air and artillery support could more than hold its own against a numerically superior force, giving airmobile infantrymen time to join forces with the cavalry to defeat an enemy ambush. The first of the three U.S. engagements took place when Troop A, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, was ambushed by the 272d Viet Cong Regiment on 8 June 1966, north of the Ap Tau O bridge on National Highway 13. (See Map 6, inset.) The Viet Cong were deployed along a five-kilometer stretch of road in positions extending well beyond the length of the cavalry column. When the ambush was sprung most of the American troopers were able to reach a small clearing near the head of the column, where, with the help of artillery and air support, they desperately fought off the Viet Cong for four hours. When the battle ended, the enemy had lost over one hundred dead and four taken prisoner, as well as thirty individual and twelve crew-served weapons. Although successful the cavalry had made mistakes. Since original estimates of the enemy force were low, supporting fire was used primarily against the Viet Cong in the fighting positions near the cavalry force and other enemy forces were left free to maneuver. Although an infantry reaction force was committed toward the end,, it did not arrive in time to be a decisive factor. After the commander and other principals had analyzed the battle, cavalry communications were changed and coordination of air and artillery was improved. Plans for reinforcement by airmobile infantry were developed to ensure quick arrival of reaction forces designed to fight off the main attack and to provide troops for blocking the enemy withdrawal routes. Lessons learned on 8 June paid dividends on 30 June when the 271st Viet Cong Regiment attacked Troops B and C, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, farther north along Highway 13 near Srok Dong. This time, when the ambush hit Troop B, Troop C rapidly maneuvered to reinforce. Coordination of fire support had vastly improved and tactical air and artillery were immediately and effectively employed. The relief force arrived in time to engage the Viet Cong before they could withdraw, while exploitation forces were inserted behind the enemy as far west as the Cambodian border, where another engagement took place. Enemy losses were heavy-270 dead, 7 taken prisoner; 23 crew-served weapons, and 40 small arms captured. Encouraged by the two earlier successes of the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, Major General William E. DePuy, 1st Infantry Division commander, directed development of a plan to lure the enemy into [67] MAP 6
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[68] attacking an armored cavalry column. Colonel Sidney B. Berry, Jr., 1st Brigade commander, prepared a two-phased flexible plan that could be easily modified for attacks on either Route 13 or the Minh Thanh Road. Five possible enemy ambush positions were selected during the planning, and, as it turned out, the site selected as the most likely was where the enemy struck. To increase the chances that the enemy would attack, rumors were circulated for the benefit of Viet Cong agents that a small armored column would escort an engineer bulldozer and several supply trucks from Minh Thanh to An Loc on 9 July. The true size of the force, called Task Force DRAGOON, was a well-kept secret; actually it was composed of Troops B and C, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, and Company B, 1st Battalion, 2d Infantry. Phase I, a deception plan involving an airmobile feint, covered the movement of artillery and supporting forces. The infantry forces that were to attack the flanks of the ambush and block withdrawal routes had to be in position to act quickly if the ambush occurred. The 1st Brigade began positioning these forces on 7 July, with infantry and artillery at Minh Thanh, more infantry and artillery just north of Minh Thanh Road, and an infantry battalion near An Loc. (Map 6) The trap was set. At 0700 on 9 July 1966 Phase II started as the task force moved south from An Loc on National Highway 13, turned southwest on Minh Thanh Road, and arrived at Checkpoint Dick at 1025 without incident. There were artillery and air preparations on the western side of the bridge at Checkpoint Dick to soften up possible enemy concentrations. Following the air strikes, the 3d Platoon, Troop C, supported by covering fire, moved across the bridge with two engineer minesweeper demolition teams. A quick check was made for demolition charges and mines but no evidence of an enemy attempt to sabotage the bridge was found. Since the cavalrymen were now only 1,500 meters from the site selected earlier as the most likely ambush location, tension among the troops mounted. The Troop C commander directed the 1st Platoon to cross the bridge, pass through the 3d Platoon, and advance down the road toward Minh Thanh. As the 1st Platoon moved past the 3d Platoon, a planned air strike was made near Checkpoint Tom while a CH-47, a helicopter with four.50-caliber machine guns, a 40-mm. grenade launcher, and two 7.62-mm. machine guns, struck the area southwest of Checkpoint Tom. There was no return fire. At 1100, midway between Checkpoints Dick and Tom, the crew of the lead vehicle of the 1st Platoon spotted ten Viet Cong running across the road. Minutes [69] later when ten more crossed, the 1st Platoon's lead tank blasted them with canister. The tank fire brought an almost unbelievable volume of enemy fire on the entire Troop C column. The enemy had taken the bait. At the beginning the 1st Platoon took the brunt of the enemy fire; the commander of the lead tank was killed. Within a few minutes the platoon leader reported his scout section out of action, and a little later he himself was wounded. As the platoon began to draw back under the heavy pressure, the platoon sergeant, who had taken command, moved to the front of the column to get the lead tank remanned and fighting. He directed the M132, a flamethrower, to send liquid fire into the enemy positions on the north side of the road. Two of the 1st Platoon's M113's were hit and burst into flames. The 1st Platoon now had two tanks and four M113's firing at the enemy. The 2d Platoon, leading with an M48A3 tank, closed rapidly on the 1st Platoon and deployed in a herringbone formation, concentrating its fire to the north side of the road.2 The 3d Platoon, heavily engaged as soon as the first rounds were fired, could not move forward to join the 1st Platoon and a 300-meter gap existed between the two platoons. The Viet Cong were unable to take advantage of the gap, however, because of the intense fire. Tracked vehicles along the entire column were firing as rapidly as possible, continuing to jockey for position and avoid the enemy antitank fire while artillery fire and air strikes hit the enemy positions. The task force commander ordered Troop B forward to relieve the enemy pressure and called for more artillery and air support. At first the enemy's main attack had seemed to come from the south, but it was soon apparent that the enemy force was concentrated to the north side of the road. The plan for infantry reinforcement was put into action while the cavalrymen fought. When Troop B closed on the tail of Troop C, the fighting intensified. Within forty-five minutes the tanks had fired more than 50 percent of their canister and the M113's were nearly out of .50-caliber ammunition. Several Troop B tracked vehicles filled the 300-meter gap between the 2d and 3d Platoons of Troop C, and one platoon was assisting the lead element of Troop C. With Troop B well disposed throughout the length of the Troop C column, the squadron commander ordered Troop C to

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