303 TANKS IN THE EASTER OFFENSIVE 1972: Vietnam War's Great Convential Clash

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New Vanguard series. Discusses how the armies of North and South Vietnam, newly equipped with pitting US M-48 medium and M-41 light tanks against their USSR T-54 and PT-76 rivals, fought the decisive armored battles of the Easter Offensive. North Vietnam launched a major 14-division, 1,200-tank attack in March 1972 against the South that became known as the Easter Offensive. Examines the tanks, armored forces and weapons that clashed in this little-known campaign in detail, using after-action reports from the battlefield and other primary sources to analyze the technical and organizational factors that shaped the outcome.

Despite the ARVN's defensive success in October 1972, North Vietnam massively expanded its armor forces over the next two years while U.S. support waned. This imbalance with key strategic misjudgments by the South Vietnamese President led to the stunning defeat of the South in 1975 when T54 tanks crashed through the fence surrounding the Presidential palace and took Saigon on 30 April 1975. .