Target Saigon 1973-75 Volume 3 - 9781912390199

The third volume in this series describes the final communist offensive against South Vietnam. The decision of President Nguyen Van Thieu to evacuate the Central Highlands spread panic among the population and the armed forces. That was part of a wider scheme that envisaged an extensive redeployment of South Vietnamese forces leading to the abandoning of nearly half of the country. This set up a chain reaction that would see the complete collapse of his country. The United States did not intervene again despite the situation spiralling out of control. Thieu played and lost. This volume details the disastrous evacuation of Hue and Da Nang, as well as the delaying fighting in the central coastal area. However, around Saigon, the remaining cornered South Vietnamese divisions offered a heroic resistance, although it was now too late. The North Vietnamese later recognised that they experienced some of the fiercest fighting of the entire war for the conquest of the capital of South Vietnam. Only the nomination of a neutralist President who had replaced Thieu, who fled into exile in Taiwan, spared the city the horror of the street fighting by accepting the inescapable and by proclaiming an unconditional surrender. In panic, the last Americans and westerners were evacuated by helicopters. As always, this volume is supported by a large number of previously unpublished photographs, colour maps and colour profiles showing camouflage and markings of tanks and aircraft. AUTHOR: Military historian and aviation-journalist, Albert Grandolini, was born in France and gained an MA in history from Paris I Sorbonne University. His primary research focus is on contemporary conflicts in general and particularly on the military history of Asia. Having spent his childhood in South Vietnam, the Vietnam War has been one of his main fields of research. 150 photographs, 5 maps, 18 profiles