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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-01793 to 363-01802.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-01793 to 363-01802
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Title
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Article on Communist road building in Cambodia
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Description
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Original title: "roads." Keever's title: "Asphalt Highway from Cambodia, All-Weather Roads Boost Communist Supplies." Article by Keever on the road building of the Communists in Cambodia
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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SAIGON
APRIL 18-Communist forces have built sections of an
asphalt road from Cambodia directly into South Vietnam, only thirty
miles north of this capital city, informed sources report.
Further north in the Ashau Valley near Laos, the Communists
are continuing to bulldoze and spread gravel to make all-weather Foal
roads half-way between the Heo Chi Minh trail in Laos and the narrow
coastal cities of Danang and Hue.
These remarkable engineering feats are considered significant-
and exceptionally worrisome to Allied commanders here-for three redo
reasons $
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1.
De the firt time
The Communists now have all-weather roads for truck traffic
through-out the year, including during the monsoon rainy season, which varie
in time from region to region. In the past, Communist trucks were used
only in the dry season, with bicycles, oxcarts, human porters-and
sometimes a few elephants-moving supplies during the heavy rains.
"N
2. The Communists have established two supply routes into South
Vietnam--the traditional way of moving men and supplies from North
Vietnam into the northern half of the South-and second, supply
movements from Cambodia into the southern half of the South. "Most of
the supplies in the southern half of south viewhat (Corps Three and Corps
Four (the southern half of South Vietnam) that is the heavy weapons
and munitions used against Saigon during the Tet offensive, have come
directly over the high seas from Red China to Sihanoukville (bod
(Cambodian port)--and then ino directly into the South,"
source explained.
one informed
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A third supply route that appears to be becoming more pronounced is
seaborne infiltration long the milos of South Vietnam's
jungled ceeg coastline,
has yet to be established.
3.
swampy or
the so but the scope of this method is st
The Communists' "time-space factor" has improved considerably.
North Vietnamese troops can now be trucked from Hanoi into South Vietnam--
halfway down the length of the South--in one months, one reliable source
reported. Before it took them at least three months by foot.
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"By building roads is inside the South and bring larger forces
neer the Vietnamese cities, it means time and spe spa space-wise,
the
Communists are in a position to make surprise attacks against the urban
cities," one reliable source said.
"The Communists have a better time factor; they have an
imo improved logistical system...and they have enough military aid (from
Communist bloc countries) to overcome their logistical div difficulties."
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Thirty miles north of Saigon towards and around the little
village of Song Be, the Communists have built strips of asphalt highways/leadin
into the South from Cambodia, reliable sourcew sources report.
"The Communists were moving truck traffic along these roads--now
it's diminished somewhat since the Allied units spotted the road,"
source explained.
one
Further north, along and in the Ashau Valley, "the Communists
have devlo developed what I call a standpipe through Laos, and are now
pushing roads into South Vietnam. They are building a logistical system
y that can support larger forces--they are putting gravel on these
these roads, making them all-weather.
"In some cases the Communists have done this through
heavy jungle. The Americans first spotted the roads by ground
reconnaissance and heclit helicopter low-flying helicopter flights.
The aerial photos did not pick up the roads under the triple-canopy
of jungle. The Communists are using bulldozers to surface these
roads with gravel. In the North northern part of the country, they
haven't gone into asphalt yet."
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During 1967, the U. S. Marines and soe Special Forces
launched a number of unannounced raiding oporatin operations into the
Ashau Valley complex, but presumably had little sustained impact on
the road-building projects. In 1968, General William C. Westmoreland had
planned to build a number of Special Forces camps in the area to block
the roads on the ground, but the Tet offensive has stalled if not
eliminated these projects, reliable sources report.
BEEN
In the past several weeks, the Ashau Valley complex has
under intense bombardment by B-52 SAC bombers--sometimes several missions
a day. But, military sources here believe these heavy bombloads will
only slow-down, rather than st stop, the Communists.
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The improved Communist logistical system has both allowed and been
necessitated by the escalation of Communist weaponry in South Vietnam--all
the way up to field artillery howitzers.
Since the sur surprise Tet offensive American commanders and
officials have been both appalled and mystified by the Communist supply
system.
"The Communists have per performed the outstanding logistical
font of all time," one informed source explained. "It's the most
amazing thing I've ever seen. It will be fascinating to dig into this after
the war-how the Communists maintained their guerrilla and main force
units dispersed in enemy territory. It will make a fabulous book."
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This
In late 1967, officials here estimated the Communists required
two hundred tons a day to supply for combat their force of 350,000 man
in the South (100,000p political infrastructure, 100,000 guerrillas,
40,000 administrative troops, 16,000 regular and regional forces).
would have averaged two pounds per man per day--but many troops lived
off the land, off the peasantry, or their own ricefields and jobs.
Then, the offiTi officials estimated the Communists could not sustain
combat 1 for more than thirty days consecutive days, because units
were not given more than 30 day supply of combat necessities.
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Since the Tet offensive, this logistical estimate has
presumably jumped, but has not been released publicly.
For the Viet Cong, controlling the war in the southern one-h
one-third of the country, the logistical command structure is controlled
directly by COSVN (Central Office, South Vietnam). This supreme headquarters,
has an "economic and finance" section which controlls the whole network
of supply, transport, taxation Ten the people and production in the
areas that are Communist-dominated. Under this section section operates
several "councils", which were created in 1965, but which began to
Commun.S
operate furring fully in 1967. On one of these is the "forward
supply council" to move supp supplies to their tactical units. A second
is the "rear service council" to mass the supplies, organize the taxation
of the population, systematize their transport system, and expediting the
goods battle-wards.
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(normass/deepe)
The logistical command structure for all Communist troops
ope operating under the direct control of Hanoi in the norther northern
two-thirds of South Vietnam is still unknown, reliable sources report.
Once inside South Vietnam, the supplies move from the bora
border areas generally eastwards towards the major population centers--
and those lateral logistical lines are in turn connected with each other
by vertical corridors.
Starting from the northernmost provinces of the South, the
following pattern emerges.
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Cess.c
The supply trails moving directly across the demilitarized zone'
mostly clandestinely, or else "around the hook" from North Vietnam through
Laos by truck into the Ashau Valley, south of Khe Sanh, From Ashau Valley,
the Communists are building or re-constructing three roads--one directly towas
tos towards Danang, one road east and northeast towards Hue and one
ma
road to end up north of Hue. Two of these roads are being gravelled
and all are about 25-30 miles deep inside South Vietnam--roughly half way
between the Laotian border and the South China seacost. In the third case,
the Communists are thought to be simply rebuilding and widening a direct
dirt provincial road between Laos and Hue that was built by the French years
ago.
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This logistical corridor system supplies the four North Viette
Vietnamese Army divisions ao along the demilitarized zone)
-324B, 341,
3250, 304-plus two Viet Cong divisi sions and two Viet Cong
autonomous regiments, as well as many sapper and commando units along the
coastal cities of the five northern provinces.
South of the five northern provinces, in the zone called
NETWORKS
the Second Vietnamese military corps area, the Communists have established
a number of logistical corridors-schemes of trails mad and networks of
infiltration routes, cutting in from Cambot Cambodia and Loas into the
provinces of Kontum, Pleiku and Quang Duc. Inter-connecting coffiers
have been built hacked out of the jungle to link these three corridors with
with each other. These three major trunk line corridors in turn link up with
"bda "bridgeheads" or staging areas, moving eastwards towards the
especially Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces on the coast.
coastal regions,
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In the Second corps area, these logistical corridors supply
four North Vietnamese army divisions-numbers 1, 3, 5 and 10--and a
number of sapper and commando units around Plick Picku Pleiku, An Khe,
Cam Ranh Bay and Qui Nhon,
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In the elevel pr eleven provinces around icon--the Third Vietnamese
military corps-the Communists are known to have improved thei considerably
their logistical system between Cambodia and South Vietnam, They
have implemented logistical axis inside South Vietnam, moving lateri
laterally in a west-to-east direction. And, these axes in turn link
up with the highland corridors, in a north-south direction, with the
second military corps.
Once inside the Third Corps, the supplies are leapfrogged from
one base area to another-each base in succession moving closer to sai gon
or other major population concentrations. Hence, one unknown pattern
leapfrogs the supplies from the Cambodian border area into War Zone C in
the northwestern quarter of Tay Ninh province, to D Zone, through the
Song Be area, then to the intermediate base of Long Nguyen, to the Boi
Loi woods, to the Ho Bo woods and then the Rung Sat, the swampy area
southeast of the capital which constrol controls the ocean-going shipping
channel into Saigon.
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In the Third Corps area, these supplies are necessary for three
main-force divisions--the 5, 7, 9-but and innumerable provincial, commando
and sapper units.
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Route
From Cambodia into, South Vietnam to the South Vietnam border,
at least two paved highways are open and in good state of repair.
1 rpeat 1 reuns from the Cambodian capital of Phnom Phe Penh to wary
Zone C in Tayninh--and when open directly into Saigon. Route 7 repeat 7
runs from Phnom Penh to Mi Mot, north of War Zone C, in a French
rubber plantation spilling over both sides of the ub unmarked Cambod
ill-mrked Cambodian-South Vietnamese border. Mi mot is considered
by many officials to be the headquarters fro COSVN.
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In the Mekdon Mekong Delta provinces of the Fourth Military Corps,
south of Saigon, the logistical corridor generally runs east-west and
slightly northwards, from the provinces of Ang Gian on An Giang on the
the Cambodian border and Kien Giang province on the Gulf of Siam, up
to the Plain of Reeds area, into Long An province and then into Gia Dinh
province, the donut surrounding Saigon. Weapons and ammunition are diverted
and distributed along route through feeder trails and sampan routes
detla delta-vide.
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A short-out route into Saigon proper is considered to be developing
with supplies moving directly from Cambodia at the "eagle's beak,"
in Kien Thuong province, through the marshy Plain of Reeds into the
Saigon defense perimeter. American helicopters, flying special night
missions, have recently sunk a number of sampan convoys headed towards
Saigon from the direction of Cambodia. Some sampan routes are known
to lead from Cambodia directly into the outer environs and canals of
Cholon, the Chinese twin-city of Saigon.
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(Hanks
While this piece is really a news article, I suggest by
because of its length you might want to use it as a zeepager.
I don't
see how I can split it into two articles. We couldn't see anything to
file on the Hanoi shifts that the wire stories hadn't already cabled.
Also, in case the Pentagon correspondent is interested, I understand
American troops in South Korean, based north of the Imjun River,
now receiving combat pay, which would probably indicate the officials
view the situation as worsening significantly there. Regards Bev).
Bend reuter
are
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Date
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1968, Apr. 18
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Military roads; Vietnam (Democratic Republic). Quân đội; Strategy
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6297
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B32, F7
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections
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Language
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English
