The Easter Offensive (Chiến dịch Xuân hè 1972 in Vietnamese) was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, the regular army of South Vietnam) and the United States military between March 30 and October 22, 1972, during the Vietnam War. This conventional invasion (the largest offensive operation since 300,000 Chinese volunteers had crossed the Yalu River into North Korea during the Korean War) was a radical departure from previous North Vietnamese offensives. The offensive was not designed to win the war outright, but to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the ARVN as possible, to improve the North's negotiating position as the Paris Peace Accords drew towards a conclusion.
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| - The Easter Offensive (Chiến dịch Xuân hè 1972 in Vietnamese) was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, the regular army of South Vietnam) and the United States military between March 30 and October 22, 1972, during the Vietnam War. This conventional invasion (the largest offensive operation since 300,000 Chinese volunteers had crossed the Yalu River into North Korea during the Korean War) was a radical departure from previous North Vietnamese offensives. The offensive was not designed to win the war outright, but to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the ARVN as possible, to improve the North's negotiating position as the Paris Peace Accords drew towards a conclusion.
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| Strength
| - 200000(xsd:integer)
- Total ARVN: 742,000
US Forces: US Air Force
- US 7th Fleet
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| Commander
| - II Corps: Ngo Dzu
- B-2 Front: Tran Van Tra
- B-3 Front: Hoang Minh Thao
- I Corps: Hoang Xuan Lam
- III Corps: Nguyen Van Minh
- Tri-Thien-Hue Region: Van Tien Dung
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| Caption
| - North Vietnamese Type 59 tank captured by South Vietnamese 20th Tank Regiment south of Dong Ha.
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| Casualties
| - 250(xsd:integer)
- US estimate: 40,000–75,000 killed, ~60,000 wounded or missing
- PAVN claim: 213,307 killed and wounded, 13,000 captured.
- More than 1,000 tanks and APCs destroyed
- hundreds of aircraft and helicopters shot down
- US claim: ~10,000 killed, 33,000 wounded, 3,500 missing
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| Result
| - North Vietnamese tactical victory.
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| - The Easter Offensive (Chiến dịch Xuân hè 1972 in Vietnamese) was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, the regular army of South Vietnam) and the United States military between March 30 and October 22, 1972, during the Vietnam War. This conventional invasion (the largest offensive operation since 300,000 Chinese volunteers had crossed the Yalu River into North Korea during the Korean War) was a radical departure from previous North Vietnamese offensives. The offensive was not designed to win the war outright, but to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the ARVN as possible, to improve the North's negotiating position as the Paris Peace Accords drew towards a conclusion. The US high command had been expecting an attack in 1972, but the size and ferocity of the assault caught the defenders off balance because the attackers struck on three fronts simultaneously with the bulk of the North Vietnamese army. This first attempt by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to invade the south since the Tet Offensive of 1968 became characterized by conventional infantry/armor assaults backed by heavy artillery, with both sides fielding the latest in technological advances in weapons systems. In the I Corps Tactical Zone, North Vietnamese forces overran South Vietnamese defensive positions in a month-long battle and captured Quảng Trị city before moving south in an attempt to seize Huế. PAVN similarly eliminated frontier defense forces in the II Corps Tactical Zone and advanced to seize the provincial capital of Kon Tum, which would have opened the way to the sea, splitting South Vietnam in two. Northeast of Saigon, in the III Corps Tactical Zone, PAV forces overran Loc Ninh and advanced to assault the capital of Bình Long Province at An Lộc. The campaign can be divided into three distinct phases: April was a month of PAV advances; May became a period of equilibrium; in June and July the South Vietnamese forces counterattacked, culminating in the recapture of Quảng Trị City in September. On all three fronts of the offensive, initial North Vietnamese successes were hampered by high casualties, inept tactics, and the increasing application of U.S. and South Vietnamese air power. One result of the offensive was the launching of Operation Linebacker II, the first sustained bombing of North Vietnam by the U.S. since November 1968. Although South Vietnamese forces withstood their greatest trial thus far in the conflict, the North Vietnamese accomplished two important goals: they had gained valuable territory within South Vietnam from which to launch future offensives, and they had obtained a better bargaining position at the peace negotiations being conducted in Paris.
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