The Ho Chi Minh Trail
During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese supplied their troops by trails through Laos and Cambodia. This trail became to be known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail and is considered one of the reasons that the North Vietnamese were able to win the war.
History
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was first formed during the First Indochina War. Colonel Vo Bam of North Vietnam was tasked to “Organizing a special military communication line to send supplies to the revolution in the South and create conditions for its development.” (Prados, 1999, p 9) The purpose of the trail was to bypass the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The trail went by many names such as special trail and reunification trail before it was commonly referred to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Over the years during first and second Indochina Wars, the trail took many different paths. At first, the trail stayed within Vietnam, but moved into Laos when they realized that the US would have too many issues to deal with if they chose to enter into Laos. In 1961, the Laotian government gave the North Vietnamese permission to expand their trail into their country. (Prados, 1999)
Originally, the trail was supposed to be secret and everyone taking the trail was told to not leave a trace that they were even there. However, over the years, the trail transformed from several small trails with rough terrain that were difficult to traverse to a vast network of trails and roads that extended over 12,000 miles. (Prados, 1999) Eventually trucks were able to traverse the roads and by 1970, over ten thousand tons of supplies were being transported through them. Along these trails there were thousands of explosives placed along these trails. (Prados, 1999) By the end of the war “People’s Army fighters, men, women, defused 56,750 unexploded bombs and destroyed 12,670 magnetic ones, not to mention 81,500 antipersonal mines” (Prados, 1999, p 374).
US Response
When the United States entered the war, they were aware of the trail’s existence and the threat it posed. They had two primary problems when it came to the trail. First, they didn't entirely know where the trail was. Second, they didn't have a viable solution for stopping it.
The US knew that the trail existed and that the North Vietnamese were using it to resupply and reinforce their troops. The problem was that the location of large amounts of the trail were unkown. The routes that the North Vietnamese were using were so rugged and difficult to pass through, that the US couldn't find them. As the war went on and the trails became larger, they became easier to find. (Prados, 1999)
From the beginning, the US knew that the Ho Chi Minh Trail was going to be a problem. Any good war strategy knows to cut off the supply line of any army. The US wasn't able to cut off the trail because it was mostly in Laos. Over the course of the war, the US tried many different strategies to stop the trail and they were all in vain. The first strategy was to make the borders “water tight”. The idea was to have the entire border between South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia guarded so that the North Vietnamese couldn't get through. This proved to be very difficult because the North Vietnamese would come through areas that were difficult to traverse and weren't guarded. (Prados, 1999)
The US often thought about invading Laos so that they could cut off their supply line. They never did this for three reasons. First, invading another country would be too costly and they would have to fight another war against the Laotians. Second, the Vietnam War was unpopular back home and starting another conflict with another country would have been a terrible decision. Finally, if the US were to have entered Laos, the Ho Chi Minh Trail would have extended back into Thailand, the North Vietnamese had moved it back in the past, there was no reason that they wouldn't do it again. (Prados, 1999)
The main strategy the US used to combat the North Vietnamese along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, was recruiting Hmong people or Montagnards in the CIA’s Secret War in Laos. Paired with the CIA and Special Forces such as the Green Berets, they would split up into “mobile strike forces” and attack the Viet Cong in Laos where the majority of US troops were not allowed to be in. They also knew the land better than both the US and the North Vietnamese which gave them an advantage. (Prados, 1999)
History
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was first formed during the First Indochina War. Colonel Vo Bam of North Vietnam was tasked to “Organizing a special military communication line to send supplies to the revolution in the South and create conditions for its development.” (Prados, 1999, p 9) The purpose of the trail was to bypass the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The trail went by many names such as special trail and reunification trail before it was commonly referred to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Over the years during first and second Indochina Wars, the trail took many different paths. At first, the trail stayed within Vietnam, but moved into Laos when they realized that the US would have too many issues to deal with if they chose to enter into Laos. In 1961, the Laotian government gave the North Vietnamese permission to expand their trail into their country. (Prados, 1999)
Originally, the trail was supposed to be secret and everyone taking the trail was told to not leave a trace that they were even there. However, over the years, the trail transformed from several small trails with rough terrain that were difficult to traverse to a vast network of trails and roads that extended over 12,000 miles. (Prados, 1999) Eventually trucks were able to traverse the roads and by 1970, over ten thousand tons of supplies were being transported through them. Along these trails there were thousands of explosives placed along these trails. (Prados, 1999) By the end of the war “People’s Army fighters, men, women, defused 56,750 unexploded bombs and destroyed 12,670 magnetic ones, not to mention 81,500 antipersonal mines” (Prados, 1999, p 374).
US Response
When the United States entered the war, they were aware of the trail’s existence and the threat it posed. They had two primary problems when it came to the trail. First, they didn't entirely know where the trail was. Second, they didn't have a viable solution for stopping it.
The US knew that the trail existed and that the North Vietnamese were using it to resupply and reinforce their troops. The problem was that the location of large amounts of the trail were unkown. The routes that the North Vietnamese were using were so rugged and difficult to pass through, that the US couldn't find them. As the war went on and the trails became larger, they became easier to find. (Prados, 1999)
From the beginning, the US knew that the Ho Chi Minh Trail was going to be a problem. Any good war strategy knows to cut off the supply line of any army. The US wasn't able to cut off the trail because it was mostly in Laos. Over the course of the war, the US tried many different strategies to stop the trail and they were all in vain. The first strategy was to make the borders “water tight”. The idea was to have the entire border between South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia guarded so that the North Vietnamese couldn't get through. This proved to be very difficult because the North Vietnamese would come through areas that were difficult to traverse and weren't guarded. (Prados, 1999)
The US often thought about invading Laos so that they could cut off their supply line. They never did this for three reasons. First, invading another country would be too costly and they would have to fight another war against the Laotians. Second, the Vietnam War was unpopular back home and starting another conflict with another country would have been a terrible decision. Finally, if the US were to have entered Laos, the Ho Chi Minh Trail would have extended back into Thailand, the North Vietnamese had moved it back in the past, there was no reason that they wouldn't do it again. (Prados, 1999)
The main strategy the US used to combat the North Vietnamese along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, was recruiting Hmong people or Montagnards in the CIA’s Secret War in Laos. Paired with the CIA and Special Forces such as the Green Berets, they would split up into “mobile strike forces” and attack the Viet Cong in Laos where the majority of US troops were not allowed to be in. They also knew the land better than both the US and the North Vietnamese which gave them an advantage. (Prados, 1999)