Strategic Relevance of Hills
The strategy in Vietnam was that of attrition, who would break first, and this was clearly evident during the hill battles. A hill can be a very advantageous and strategic location during a war. Since the elevation is higher than that of the surrounding area, a position atop of the hill can provide a large vantage point from whence direction and movement can be monitored by an advancing force. A hill also provides a very daunting task for the enemy who has to climb the hill, wearing out the unit, and then try to fight “upwards” which is a very big disadvantage. The NVA were masters of camoflauge and used the vegetation cover on the hills to conceal their positions from airstrikes and also from the U.S. military infantry units as part of their tactical strategy. This is significant because it allowed the NVA to stay competitive with the superior firepower of the U.S. Firebases were commonly constructed on top of a hill in Vietnam which provided artillery support for the infantry such as the case with Hills 76, 88, and 707. It also made logical sense for a heliport to be located on a hill as well since the helicopter would not have to descend into the dangers of the valleys below. The hills where a heliport was noted in Where We Were in Vietnam were: Hill 29, 40, 59, 60, 65, 69, and 76. The topography of hills also breaks up any sort of linearity to a battlefield and also can weaken conventional warfare styles. What this means is that a guerilla style of warfare was commonly encountered by the US forces, a style they were not accustomed to and thus sometimes led to high casualty numbers. Since the NVA were usually the ones occupying a hilltop position, they forced the American forces to alter their conventional style of warfare and make them try to fight an “invisible” army. This greatly benefited the NVA as they could undertake isolated sneak attacks on the advancing Americans as well as force them into close proximity fights. This would deter the Americans from calling in airstrikes in order to prevent friendly fire. This also forced the Americans to abandon some of their heavy weaponry and use lighter arms and weaponry. The NVA clearly had followed Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Mao Tse-Tung’s philosophies in the sense that they realized they had inferior weaponry but forced the opponent to play at their level. They were also very disciplined and patient, waiting to attack at just the right moment, especially with guerilla style attacks, which kept the Americans off rhythm. They also realized when they were about to receive heavy casualty losses and then would retreat off the hill. The American forces were sloppy with their approach and preparation for the Vietnam War in regards to understanding the enemy they were fighting and also Western military theory in regards to Clausewitz’s On War. Sun Tzu iterated that one must know the enemy and know yourself to avoid being cast into numerous battles. The Americans did not know their enemy and relied on tactics that had worked for them in previous wars. However, what works in one battle will likely not work in the next, that is the ever changing face of war. We may have been too cocky and self assured that our superior weaponry could easily handle the NVA.
A common occurrence in the Vietnam War was that once the American forces conquered a hill, they would soon abandon it. Why was this? The NVA were very smart to use the hills to their advantage. They would often “bait” the American forces to try and overtake the hilltop position. They knew that the Americans would take a strong headed approach and take the bait even though the hilltops were sometimes of no strategic importance. This was an ill-fated approach because when the American public would find out that many American lives were lost in taking these hills, which offered little strategic advantage, and were quickly abandoned, support for the war quickly diminished. Clausewitz strongly warned that there is a need for a Trinitarian relationship between the people, government, and army. Perhaps the NVA realized the most effective way to weaken the American forces was by weakening the American support of the war. Even though the NVA would suffer more human casualties, in a sense they were still winners for the fact that they effectively disrupted the political dynamic and civilian support in America. Another reason the American forces would rapidly abandon hills was that the hills were often far away from a populated location and so a position on the hill was of no particular advantage. In such cases, the hills served as a distraction and a way to divert, or thin out American forces. Hamburger Hill as well as the Hill Fights in Khe Sanh were very publicized and scrutinized by the American people and are examined closer in their self-titled pages on this website.
A common occurrence in the Vietnam War was that once the American forces conquered a hill, they would soon abandon it. Why was this? The NVA were very smart to use the hills to their advantage. They would often “bait” the American forces to try and overtake the hilltop position. They knew that the Americans would take a strong headed approach and take the bait even though the hilltops were sometimes of no strategic importance. This was an ill-fated approach because when the American public would find out that many American lives were lost in taking these hills, which offered little strategic advantage, and were quickly abandoned, support for the war quickly diminished. Clausewitz strongly warned that there is a need for a Trinitarian relationship between the people, government, and army. Perhaps the NVA realized the most effective way to weaken the American forces was by weakening the American support of the war. Even though the NVA would suffer more human casualties, in a sense they were still winners for the fact that they effectively disrupted the political dynamic and civilian support in America. Another reason the American forces would rapidly abandon hills was that the hills were often far away from a populated location and so a position on the hill was of no particular advantage. In such cases, the hills served as a distraction and a way to divert, or thin out American forces. Hamburger Hill as well as the Hill Fights in Khe Sanh were very publicized and scrutinized by the American people and are examined closer in their self-titled pages on this website.