No Angels Came: The Battle of Dai Do, May-April 1968

Following the Tet Offensive, the forces of the South Vietnamese Communist’s NLF (National Liberation Front) were devastated. However, the war’s momentum had clearly shifted in favor of the Communists, and the military leaders in Hanoi strongly believed that maintaining the battlefield pressure against the US and ARVN forces was needed now more than ever. One of the first areas to feel the effects of the continued Communist offensive effort was in I Corps, just south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated North and South Vietnam. The PAVN’s 320th Infantry Division, that had been guarding the coast north of the DMZ from a threatened US invasion (Operation Cisco/Durango City) moved south and successfully infiltrated positions guarded by the ARVN’s 2nd Infantry Division. Occupying fortified and concealed bunker complexes constructed earlier, the PAVN units were ideally placed to launch attacks along the crucial Bo Dieu River that could cut-off a significant portion of I Corps from other units protecting Hue and in the northern section of the Central Highlands. To restore the integrity of I Corps and eliminate the Communist threat, the US 3rd Marine Division, along with elements of the ARVN 2nd Infantry Division engaged in what was another costly and bitter battle; one that sowed more doubts back in the USA that the war in Vietnam was not just unwinnable, but one that could very well be lost by the US military. Perhaps you can do as well or better? —description from the designer