The Vietnam War was an invasion of Vietnam by the United States in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century. It has had a profound impact not only on Vietnam itself, but also on the world situation. The Vietnam War, which originated as a struggle for the unification of Vietnam, was originally a struggle between the North and South Vietnamese regimes, while South Vietnam received strong support from the United States. Let this civil war turn into a local war. The 1966 raid was a symbolic event in the war, demonstrating the brutality and unpredictability of war.
Beginning in 1955, the Vietnam War broke out, and at first the United States only provided weapons, ammunition and financial support to South Vietnam, but South Vietnam was very uncompetitive, holding the most advanced weapons and fighting the most difficult battles. Seeing that the huge amount of investment was in vain, the United States could not sit still, and immediately invaded in person, sending a large army to invade Vietnam brazenly. In the early days of the war, the US military did not take much advantage, and even though the US military had a well-trained army and sophisticated weapons, in the face of Vietnam's complex combat environment, the strike effect was not obvious, but on the contrary, it suffered huge losses.
In a 1966 campaign, the U.S. Army sent a powerful air assault division to prepare a surprise attack on a strategic target in northern Vietnam. This is also the first time that the United States has applied helicopter gunships to the battlefield on a large scale. The operation involved more than 130 helicopters and 1,400 special forces, including UH-1, CH-47 Chinook and CH-53. They planned to land in a distant and remote unfamiliar area to surprise the North Vietnamese army.
However, the U.S. military did not expect that the North Vietnamese army had been in ambush for a long time at the place where they were about to land, and had prepared a large armed force to deal with the attack. When U.S. helicopter gunships approached the target area, they met with fierce resistance from the North Vietnamese army. More than 300 anti-aircraft machine guns fired at the same time, and a dense rain of bullets covered the entire air assault division. In this unexpected ambush, the US military suffered a great blow, 200 people were killed in an instant, and 30 helicopters were also beaten into a sieve.
This raid caused huge losses to the US military and a great psychological blow. The ambush of the North Vietnamese army showed that they had a strong tactical awareness and strategic ability. Taking advantage of the terrain and intelligence, they carefully laid traps and waited for the arrival of American troops. At the same time, it also shows the firm will and fearless fighting spirit of the North Vietnamese army in the face of aggression, they were not intimidated by the strength of the American army, but bravely resisted and won the battle.
This raid has also triggered a rethinking of the US military's war strategy and military deployment. It is a reminder that in a war, no party is in full control of the situation, and the situation can change in an instant. Even if you have advanced weapons of war, if you don't pay attention to intelligence collection and analysis, as well as careful observation of the enemy's situation, you will also end up in defeat. And the biggest reason why the United States lost the Vietnam War was because of its conceit.