This type of warfare was extremely effective against American troops. Ho Chi Minh knew that pitched battles between Americans would not work so he avoided these unless the Viet Cong held an advantage. He called for these hit and run tactics so they would reduce the build up of enemy troops. To also counter enemy build up Minh would step up recruitment and infiltrate South Vietnam. He recruited young teenagers that were pressured by shame to join the army making them far less confident than the American troops. The Viet Cong had regional forces that only fought within their district but occasionally grouped together to make a large scale attack. They also followed the Chinese guerrillas by keeping their bases safe. It was the highest priority to keep the bases well protected and hidden from enemy troops because they provided area for training soldiers and place to stay when the war got bad. The plan to hide the bases were difficult because of the American spotter planes that were being used to find these bases. A solution to this was to create underground tunnels that connected the bases. These tunnels were amazingly helpful in planning offensive attacks on bases take over by the enemy. Through these tunnels they conducted attacks and …show more content…
This trail was a route to enter South Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh trail were a series of trails mainly used to transport troops, food, and equipment. The trail was so well hidden and protected because of the jungle surrounding the trail. The trail was 1,000 km long that ran along Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnamese border. There were fake trails made just to fun fuse American troops. There were many people needed sometimes up to 40,000 people to keep the trail open. The trail was another important strategy that was used to win the war. A big tactic used by the U.S. to counteract the strategy was their use of chemical warfare. Napalm was a chemical that when mixed with gasoline was capable of releasing large amounts of carbon monoxide. This made the air more poisonous making it more dangerous than a normal bomb. This again was not effective against the Vietcong because they fought in a different style. The Vietcong fought in a guerrilla style warfare which caused Napalm to be not as destructive as Americans hoped. Defoliants were chemicals that removed the leaves from trees and plants the most common one used was called Agent Orange. These were herbicides that were sprayed across vegetation by the U.S. air force. This tactic was mainly used to counter the Viet Cong tactic of using forests for cover. By using this chemical weapon it killed many plants and crops such as forests and