Easter Offensive

The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 Spring–Summer Offensive (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Xuân–Hè 1972) by North Vietnam, or the Fiery Red Summer (Mùa hè đỏ lửa) in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against a force consisting of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the United States military between 30 March and 22 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. This conventional invasion (the largest since the crossing of 300,000 Chinese troops across the Yalu River into North Korea during the Korean War) was a radical departure from previous North Vietnamese offensives. The offensive was designed to achieve a decisive victory, which even if it did not lead to the collapse of South Vietnam, would greatly improve the North's negotiating position at the Paris Peace Accords. The U.S. high command had been expecting an attack in 1972 but the size and ferocity of the assault caught the defenders off balance, because the attackers struck on three fronts simultaneously, with the bulk of the PAVN. This first attempt by North Vietnam to invade the south since the Tet Offensive of 1968, became characterized by conventional infantry–armor assaults backed by heavy artillery, with both sides fielding the latest in technological advances in weapons systems. In the I Corps Tactical Zone, North Vietnamese forces overran the ARVN’s defensive positions in a month-long battle and captured Quảng Trị city, before moving south in an attempt to seize Huế. The PAVN similarly eliminated frontier defense forces in the II Corps Tactical Zone and advanced towards the provincial capital of Kon Tum, threatening to open a way to the sea, which would have split South Vietnam in two. Northeast of Saigon, in the III Corps Tactical Zone, PAVN forces overran Lộc Ninh and advanced...