Content provided in partnership with
Government Industry
1968 Ad
Parameters, Summer, 2005
General Nguyen Hue made his plans carefully. The foreigners were holding the cities of his beloved Vietnam, but he was not about to despair. Although vastly outnumbered, the Vietnamese general felt that a surprise attack against the foreigners occupying his land could be successful. When could maximum surprise be attained? As he thought this over, he considered Tet.
Tet is the great holiday of the Vietnamese year. Officially the start of the Chinese lunar new year, it is a grand religious, patriotic, vernal, and family holiday rolled into one. It is also everyone's birthday. The week-long celebration was a national holiday and customarily a time for family reunions. In previous years, even the war had abated during that week for a holiday cease-fire.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
Such a diverting relaxation of tension could also mean a relaxation of vigil. To General Hue, it looked like the ideal time to launch his surprise attack. His soldiers, disguised as peasants returning home for family reunions and celebrations, had no trouble infiltrating enemy lines. Weapons were concealed in carts filled with flowers for the forthcoming festivities, as the Vietnamese troops slowly worked their way into position for the surprise attack.
At a preplanned signal, during the height of the Tet celebration, General Hue launched his surprise attack. He achieved a great success--one of the most signal victories ever won by Vietnamese forces.
And that's the way it was on 29 January 1789, as the Vietnamese liberated Hanoi from the Chinese.
Source: Richard J. Sommers, ed., Vignettes of Military History, Volume Ill (Carlisle, Pa.: US Army Military History Research Collection, now the US Army Military History Institute, February 1982), Vignette No. 110, contributed by then-Colonel Donald C. Odegard, drawn from Dave Richard Palmer, Summons of the Trumpet (San Rafael, Calif.: Presidio Press, 1978).
COPYRIGHT 2005 U.S. Army War College
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Reference
- Academe
- African American Review
- African Arts
- African Studies Review
- Afro-Americans in New York Life and History
- Alabama Heritage
- Alabama Review
- American Mathematical Monthly, The
- Anglican Theological Review
- Annals of Dyslexia
- Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ)
- Auk, The
- Australian Journal of Anthropology, The
- Christian Century
- Natural History