Proud of Vietnam!

The magnitude of the victory was engraved in history with the pride of the Vietnamese people: the victory of "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air".

The Hanoi Medical Factory's self-defense forces day and night raised their vigilance and practiced combat readiness to destroy American planes. Photo: Historical documents

The plot of American imperialism

On December 14, 1972, US President Richard Nixon approved the military campaign “Linebacker II” to massively bombard Hanoi, Hai Phong and several localities in the North of our country. The goal of this campaign was to bring the capital Hanoi back to the “Stone Age” in order to force our Government to sit down and negotiate in a way that was favorable to the US imperialists.

To serve the military campaign “Linebacker II”, the US imperialists mobilized the largest force since World War II. The US imperialists used 193 B-52 strategic bombers (accounting for nearly 50% of the US B-52s at that time) with a frequency of 663 sorties; and 1,077 tactical aircraft (accounting for more than 1/3 of the US tactical aircraft at that time and equal to the total number of tactical aircraft of the UK and the Federal Republic of Germany combined), with a frequency of 3,920 sorties.

In addition, the US imperialists also mobilized a large number of remote electronic jamming aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft, low-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, high-altitude manned reconnaissance aircraft, high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, etc. At the same time, many modern, state-of-the-art aircraft carriers and warships were used by the US imperialists to serve this campaign.

The US bases on Guam, Thailand, Japan, and the Philippines also worked at full capacity to serve this strategic bombing campaign. To unify command, the US imperialists established a provisional command stationed at Utapao base (Thailand) under the direct command of the US Strategic Air Command and the US Department of Defense.

After many upgrades in military technology, the US empire is confident that with electronic technology, the US Air Force will completely blind the radar system and neutralize our entire air defense system. The US empire also believes that the B-52 aircraft can crash due to weather or technical problems but cannot be shot down. Therefore, American pilots are propagandized that the B-52 is "invulnerable" and that B-52 bombings are "walking around in the open".

Anti-aircraft missile troops during the days of the “Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air” battle. Photo: Historical documents

During the last 12 days and nights of 1972 (from December 18 to 29, 1972), Hanoi, Hai Phong and a number of cities and towns in the North had to endure an estimated 20,000 tons of bombs of destruction and annihilation by the US imperialists. In the capital Hanoi alone, the US imperialists used 444 B-52 sorties and thousands of tactical aircraft sorties, dropping more than 10,000 tons of bombs, destroying many neighborhoods and villages, destroying 5,480 houses, nearly 100 factories, enterprises, schools, hospitals, train stations, killing 2,380 civilians, and injuring 1,355 others. According to US military historians, during the 12 days and nights of bombing Hanoi, the amount of bombs and ammunition dropped on this place was equivalent to 5 atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in 1945.

However, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee, with the Vietnamese courage and intelligence, after 12 days and nights of fighting, the army and people of the North shot down a total of 81 aircraft of all types, including 34 B-52 aircraft, 5 F111 aircraft, 21 F4 aircraft, 12 A7 aircraft, 1 F105 aircraft, 4 AD6 aircraft, 1 HH-53 helicopter, 1 drone, and captured many enemy pilots. Among them, the army and people of Hanoi achieved the greatest feat of shooting down 32 aircraft (including 25 B-52 aircraft).

General Vo Nguyen Giap, at that time Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People's Army, commented: "If the number of B-52s that crashed was 1-2%, the US could still handle it. If the number of B-52s that crashed was 6-7%, the White House would be shaken. If the rate of B-52s that crashed was over 10%, the US would lose." At the end of the campaign, the number of B-52s shot down by the Vietnamese air defense and air force was 34 out of a total of 193 that the US mobilized (loss rate was 17.6%).

As General Vo Nguyen Giap had said, General George Etter, Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Air Force, confessed in the US Air Forces Magazine on December 30, 1972: “The loss of B-52 strategic aircraft and crew was extremely heavy, a stunning blow to the Pentagon’s planners.” In his memoirs, US President Richard Nixon also confessed: “My worry these days is not the waves of protests and harsh criticism at home and abroad, but the heavy loss of B-52 aircraft.”

On December 30, 1972, the US Government was forced to unilaterally declare a halt to bombing North Vietnam from the 20th parallel and request the resumption of the Paris negotiations. The US empire then had to agree to sign the Paris Agreement (January 27, 1973).

According to this Agreement, the American invaders had to withdraw from Vietnam. In the book “No More Vietnams”, US President Richard Nixon bitterly realized: “The peak of the escalation of the war in Vietnam was when we sent B-52s to bomb Hanoi and Hai Phong on Christmas Day in 1972. But we failed and had to sign the Paris Agreement”.

Reasons for victory

President Ho Chi Minh commented: “Today’s war is complicated and extremely difficult. Without using the full strength of the people in all aspects to respond, it is impossible to win…”. But he also affirmed: “No army, no weapon can defeat the spirit of sacrifice of an entire nation”[1]. Therefore, entering the resistance war against the US to save the country, he emphasized the need to: “Motivate the entire people to unite to fight the US”.

Wreckage of a B-52 plane crashed on Hoang Hoa Tham Street (Hanoi). Photo: Historical documents.

As early as 1966, when the US B-52 bombers bombed the North of our country, President Ho Chi Minh instructed the air defense - air force to find a way to fight the B-52. On September 17, 1967, after a long period of research and identification, the combat crew of Battalion 84 - Missile Regiment 238 shot down a B-52. This was the first time we shot down the "Super Flying Fortress" of the US imperialists.

On December 29, 1967, President Ho Chi Minh again assigned the task to the Commander of the Air Defense - Air Force, Phung The Tai: "Sooner or later, the US imperialists will send B-52s to attack Hanoi, and only when they lose will they admit defeat. We must anticipate the situation as soon as possible to have time to prepare."

The “Red Handbook” entitled “The Missile Troops’ Way to Fight B-52” was published in a timely manner, summarizing the experience of nearly 7 years of confronting B-52, finding good ways to fight, suitable to the actual conditions of our weapons and equipment. Based on this document, on October 31, 1972, the Air Defense - Air Force held a staff conference to discuss and disseminate ways to fight B-52.

On November 24, 1972, General Van Tien Dung - Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army approved and approved the plan to attack B-52 to protect Hanoi and Hai Phong of the Air Defense - Air Force and ordered the completion of preparatory work tasks before December 3, 1972.

Dong Xuan Knitting Factory's self-defense forces practiced techniques to intercept American planes. Photo: Historical documents

In early December 1972, the First Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party, Le Duan, commented: "To put pressure on us, sooner or later the US will send B-52s to bomb Hanoi. Our army and people, with the core being the Air Defense - Air Force, must resolutely defeat their plot." Therefore, under the leadership of the Party, the army and people of the North have made careful preparations in all aspects, ready to confront the "Linebacker II" campaign of the US imperialists.

The rational use of existing weapons and close coordination between the Radar Unit, the Air Defense Missile Unit, the Air Defense Artillery Unit, the Fighter Air Force, the air defense force of the local army and the militia created an air defense network, so that American aircraft could destroy them regardless of the altitude, direction, or time frame. In addition, the cadres and people of the entire North were also organized and mobilized to the maximum to serve the combat. This is truly a unique feature of Vietnamese military art, demonstrating the combined strength of people's war.

As for destroying the B-52, our Army knew how to use interference to detect them, even though the B-52 was heavily jammed. The Air Defense Missile Corps relied on that to shoot down 29 B-52s out of a total of 34 B-52s shot down. There were even 2 Missile Regiments (H61, H57) that had never "encountered" the B-52s before, but thanks to the correct application of the B-52 fighting handbook, they achieved the achievement of shooting down 24 B-52s. Therefore, General Vo Nguyen Giap commented: "We were able to defeat the American B-52s due to many reasons, among which, this book contributed very importantly" and the General also emphasized: "One of the decisive factors for victory is to have a good fighting method and be well trained".

Mig-21 squadron learns from the experience of shooting down F4 aircraft supporting forces attacking B-52, December 27, 1972. Photo: Historical documents.

Lieutenant General Le Van Tri - former Commander of the Air Defense - Air Force commented: "Finding a way to fight the B-52 was a process, a collective effort, from the agencies above the Ministry, from the Command and the agencies of the Service, the Service down to the base units. But first of all, it was the effort of the brothers sitting in the cabin, in front of the oscilloscope, the gunners and control officers, the commanding officers and the technical staff, despite the bombs and bullets, persistently using the engine room and oscilloscope screen as the battlefield. With modern weapons from the Soviet Union, with the knowledge acquired from school, along with intelligence and courage, they contributed to creating effective ways of fighting". Head of the Soviet expert delegation Anatoly Ivanovich Khiupenen also commented to the Air Defense - Air Force Command: "Giving missile weapons to our Vietnamese friends means giving them to creative minds and golden hands".

The victory of “Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air” is the victory of the people’s war strategy, of the people’s air defense strategy; it is the victory of the creative military art of our Party and Army. In the book “The Air War in Indochina” published in the US, there is a famous assessment by Professor Neil Seehan: “The victory of the Vietnamese people is an unparalleled example of the total victory of human intelligence over machines”. General Vo Nguyen Giap commented: “This is the greatest victory, the most outstanding feat of the people’s war in the socialist North, defeating the destructive war of the US imperialists… The heroic people and army of Hanoi, the people and army of the North smashed the strategic raid of the US Air Force, established a glorious “Dien Bien Phu in the air”, contributing significantly to the victory of the Paris Agreement”.

Therefore, the victory of “Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air” contributed to firmly protecting the socialist North, maintaining the revolutionary achievements that had been won, creating a fundamental strategic shift in the situation of the resistance war against the US to save the country, contributing to liberating the South and unifying the country.

[1] Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, volume 4, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p. 89