Battle of Hue City Dissertation or Thesis Complete

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Battle Analysis of the Battle of Hue City

The battle for Hue city took place over twenty-six days as part of the larger Tet Offensive, and examining this battle in particular will demonstrate some of the nine principles of war in great detail. In particular, by examining some of the problems presented to Marines in the Battle for Hue city and the ways in which they ultimately dealt with those problems will reveal how both sides of the battle enacted the nine principles of war to varying degrees of effect and success, and point out how the lack of certain principles resulted in the high rate of casualties and the length of the battle.

Before examining the particulars of the battle in more detail, it will be useful to note some aspects of Hue city itself, as a way of understanding the context of the battle. Nearly any critical work examining the battle begins with the layout of Hue city, because as Andrew Lawler notes, "there are two distinct parts of Hue City," with the older being "the interior -- the Citadel […] a walled fortress of the ancient empire, surrounded by a moat" that "covers roughly three square miles with towers, gardens, houses, markets, and pagodas-as well as the former imperial palace from the early 19th century" (Lawler 92). The rest of the city is "the modernized part […] which includes the university, stadium, hospital, prison, and government buildings," and "the Perfume River divides the city in two, with the Citadel to the north and the modern city to the south" (Lawler 92). As the battle drew on, the Marines would eventually fight their way through the south side before retaking the Citadel.

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Having understood the layout of Hue city, one may now move on to an analysis of the battle proper. As Lawler remarks, "the North Vietnamese had relied on speed and surprise to enter the city, and were quite successful" so that "their well-planned attack, combined with the poor communications and intelligence capabilities of the South Vietnamese and U.S. forces, allowed them to enter the city with virtually no resistance," exemplifying the principles of mass, offensive, and surprise by concentrating their forces at the necessary points and enacting an aggressive, surprising attack (Lawler 93). According to Norman Cooling, "Viet Cong sappers had infiltrated Hue on 29 January while the two NVA/VC regiments moved toward the city with 7,500 soldiers," so that by "31 January, the 6th NVA linked up with its guides and at 0340 seized a bridgehead into the Citadel" and "by 0800 the 4th NVA had also entered the Citadel, and shortly thereafter the VC flag was waving over the Imperial Palace" (Cooling 67). However, although "The North Vietnamese had orchestrated a sound plan of attack to enter the city […] once inside, they failed to secure the city's centers of gravity," demonstrating a lack of objective (beyond breaching the city) which led to their downfall. In particular, they failed "to knock out the An Cuu bridge, which connected the south side to the Marine Corps base at Phu Bai, along the main….....

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