"(PLAF) and People's Army of Vietnam soldiers were members of the Labor Party of Vietnam, the old name of the Communist Party of Vietnam. However, People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF) and People's Army of Vietnam forces held different flags. The PAVN soldiers carried flags of the Northern government. The People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF) troops held flags of Viet Cong. The PAVN was under the leadership of the North while National Liberation Front of South Vietnam army was under the leadership of the Viet Cong. After the collapse of South Vietnam, the People's Liberation"
"up by the rulers of North Vietnam to conduct the insurgency in South Vietnam. The NLF also included fully armed formations- regional and local guerrillas, and the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF). The PLAF was the ""Main Force"" – the ""Chu Luc"" or ""full-time"" soldiers of the NLF's military wing. Many histories lump both the NLF and the armed formations under the term ""Viet Cong"" or ""VC"" in common usage. Both were tightly interwoven and were in turn controlled by the North. Others consider the Viet Cong or ""VC"" to primarily refer to the armed elements. The term PAVN (People's"
"Here the count was of communist forces in South Vietnam. While then chiefly the Viet Cong (VC), i.e., forces of the National Liberation Front (NLF), it also included forces coming from North Vietnam: the People's Army of Viet Nam (PAVN). This article addresses the Order of Battle (O/B) not for any single engagement of the war, but rather for the overall strength of communist forces in South Vietnam at the time, e.g., 1967. Determining the O/B number for VC and PAVN forces was complicated by the wide range of personnel involved, especially among VC. There were trained and equipped 'regular"
"People's Army (VPA or PAVN, but also known as the North Vietnamese Army or NVA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Vietnamese NLF guerrilla fighters allied with the PAVN, known in the America as the Viet Cong, meaning 'Communists Traitor to Vietnam') against United States troops and the United States-backed by South Vietnamese Government ARVN (Republic of Vietnam soldiers). During the War, the North Vietnamese transported most of their supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail (known to the Vietnamese as the Truong Son Trail, after the Truong Son mountains), which ran through Laos and Cambodia. As"
"Republic (South Vietnam). These forces included the 'liberation army' directed by the National Liberation Front (NLF), a.k.a. the Viet Cong (VC), which first became active in the late 1950s, and the PAVN, the army of its northern sponcer. The nucleus of VC forces consisted of returning communist cadre from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). In 1954 these cadre had evacuated to the north after the Geneva Accords ending the First Indochina War. Also involved were ""stay behind"" communist cadre, and others who wanted an armed revolution to overthrown the government of South Vietnamese (GSV). The Viet Cong were"
"regular North Vietnamese army. During the war, communists and anti-war activists insisted the Việt Cộng was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of Hanoi. Although the terminology distinguishes northerners from the southerners, communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958. The headquarters of the Viet Cong based at Memot came to be known as Central Office for South Vietnam or COSVN by its MACV and South Vietnamese counterparts, a near-mythical ""bamboo Pentagon"" from which the Việt Cộng's entire war effort was being directed."
"rival Vietnamese forces as the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War). The U.S. intervention with the greatest ramifications was in Indochina. Between 1954 and 1961, the administration dispatched economic aid and 695 military advisers to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), which was battling the National Liberation Front (NLF) guerrillas. The NLF drew its ranks from the southern peasantry and was backed by North Vietnam, which in turn was backed by the Soviet Union and China. The RVN was later absorbed by its communist counterpart to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Today, Vietnam is one of the world's four remaining Communist"
"Viet Cong and Vietnam People's Army logistics and equipment The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) used well-organized logistics methods to supply and equip their fighting forces. This logistics organization helped greatly in their war against the American and South Vietnamese military during the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong's full-time soldiers were referred to as the ""Main Force"" (""Chu Luc""). The National Liberation Front (NLF) was a united front designed to encourage non-communists to support the insurgency in the south. The term NVA identifies regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army as they were commonly"
"forces, and, on the other side, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (more commonly called the North Vietnamese Army, or NVA, in English-language sources), and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, more commonly known as the Viet Cong in English language sources), a South Vietnamese communist guerrilla force. Daniel Ellsberg contends that U.S. participation in Vietnam had begun in 1945 when it gave support to a French effort to reconquer its colony in Vietnam, a nation which had just declared independence in August 1945. Indochina was a French colony during the 19th century. When the Japanese"
"the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge. Between 1969 and 1973, Republic of Vietnam and US forces bombed Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge. Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot's then second in command, Nuon Chea. NVA"
"Army of Vietnam), identifies regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army or NVA as they were commonly known by their Western opponents. Collectively, both forces- the southern armed wing and the regulars from the north were part of PAVN. Terms such as ""NLF"" and ""VC"" or ""NVA"" and PAVN"" are used interchangeably due to their widespread popular usage by both South Vietnamese and American military personnel and civilians, and common usage in standard histories of the Vietnam War. The formation of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) lies in the communist dominated resistance to the French –"
"Central Office for South Vietnam Central Office for South Vietnam (abbreviated COSVN ; ), officially known as the Central Executive Committee of the People's Revolutionary Party from 1962 until its dissolution in 1976, was the American term for the North Vietnamese political and military headquarters inside South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was envisaged as being in overall command of the communist effort in the southern half of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), which included the efforts of both People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the Viet Cong, and the People's Revolutionary Party. Some doubted its existence but in"
"the northern Democratic Republic of Vietnam, with other assistance rendered by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact communist satellites, along with neighboring People's Republic of China and North Korea. Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1965 with the landing of United States regular forces of Marines, followed by Army units to supplement the cadre of military advisors guiding ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) southern forces. A regular bombing campaign over North Vietnam was conducted by offshore U.S. Navy airplanes, warships, and aircraft carriers joined by Air Force squadrons through 1966 and 1967. Fighting peaked up to"
"Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force The Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force (Vietnamese: ""Cãnh Sát Dã Chiên"" – CSDC), also designated Police de Campagne by the French and variously as National Police Field Force (NPFF), Field Police or Field Force for short by the Americans, was a paramilitary élite branch of the Republic of Vietnam National Police (Vietnamese: ""Cãnh Sát Quốc Gia"" – CSQG). Active during the Vietnam War, the CSDC operated closely with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1966 to 1975. The CSDC was created"
"the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong guerrilla insurgent force in South Vietnam, many joining due to the promises of female equality and a greater social role within society. Some women also served for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong intelligence services. The deputy military commander of the PLAF, the armed wing of the Viet Cong, was a female general, Nguyễn Thị Định. All-female units were present throughout the entirety of the war, ranging from front-line combat troops to anti-aircraft, scout, and reconnaissance units. Female combat squads were present in the Cu Chi theatre. They also fought in"
"Armed Forces (PLAF) but became more popularly known as the Viet Cong (VC). The NLF/VC took in not just armed guerrillas but served as a broad front for a variety of groups opposed to Diem. While much propaganda was expended in presenting armed elements opposed to Diem as independent and spontaneous, all communist forces in the field - from village guerrillas, to Main Force Units and NVA regulars were under a single command structure set up in 1958, and controlled by Hanoi. The North stiffened the early NLF effort in four ways: By 1964 the VC, supported by smaller numbers"
"the South Vietnamese military. During the early stages of the Communist summer campaign, Viet Cong forces in Quảng Ngãi Province successfully destroyed a South Vietnamese task force, led by the ARVN 51st Infantry Regiment, in the village of Ba Gia. Following their victory at Ba Gia, the National Liberation Front (known in America as Viet Cong) turned its attention to the Mekong Delta region. To prepare for their next offensive, Major-General Le Trong Tan was given the task of directing Viet Cong military operations in the provinces of Phước Long, Bình Phước. For the first time, the newly created Viet"
"Viet Cong The Việt Cộng (), also known as the National Liberation Front, was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army – the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF) – that fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War, eventually emerging on the winning side. It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled. Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were attached to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the"
"Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF). The PLAF was the ""Main Force"" – the ""Chu Luc"" full-time soldiers of the NLF's military muscle. Many histories lump both the NLF and the armed wing under the term ""Viet Cong"" in common usage. Both were tightly interwoven and were in turn controlled by the North. Others consider the Viet Cong to primarily refer to the armed elements. The term PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) identifies regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Collectively, both forces – the southern armed wing and the regulars from the north were part of PAVN, and are treated"
"War. Located about 60 km northwest of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), the Viet Cong (NLF) used the complex system tunnels to hide and live during the day and come up to fight at night. Throughout the Vietnam War, the Communist Party closely supervised all levels of the conflict. The bulk of the VC/NLF were initially southerners, with some distinctive southern issues and sensibilities. Nevertheless, the VC/NLF was associated with the Northern Lao Dong Party which furnished it with supplies, weaponry and trained cadres, including regular NVA/PAVN troops. The Southern Communist party, the Peoples Revolutionary Party (PRP) organized in 1962,"
"General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army. The military flag of the PAVN is the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with the words ""Quyết thắng (Determination to win)"" added in yellow at the top left. During the French Indochina War (1946–1954), the PAVN was often referred to as the Việt Minh. In the context of the Vietnam War (1959–1975), the army was referred to as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). This allowed writers, the U.S. military, and the general public, to distinguish northern communists from the southern communists, or Viet Cong. However, both groups ultimately worked under the"
"Viet Cong and PAVN strategy, organization and structure During the Second Indochina War, better known as the Vietnam War, a distinctive land warfare strategy and organization was used by the National Liberation Front (better known as the Viet Cong or VC in the West) and the People's Army of Vietnam or NVA (North Vietnamese Army) to defeat their American and South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) opponents. These methods involved closely integrated political and military strategy – what was called ""dau tranh.""<nowiki> </nowiki>The National Liberation Front, (NLF) was an umbrella of front groups, sympathizers and allies set"
"Republic of China in the Vietnam War The Republic of China (Taiwan), commonly known as Nationalist China supported South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) during the Vietnam War. Both were anti-communist Asian nations fighting against rival communist regimes, the People's Republic of China and North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam). From November 1967, the ROC secretly operated a cargo transport detachment to assist the US and the ROV. It was based on existing formation of the 34th squadron of ROC Air force. The unit's strength included two cargo aircraft, seven flight officers and two mechanics, even though a higher number of"
"official Vietnamese history of the war states that ""The Liberation Army of South Vietnam [Việt Cộng] is a part of the People's Army of Vietnam"". Viet Cong The Việt Cộng (), also known as the National Liberation Front, was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army – the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF) – that fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War, eventually emerging on the winning side. It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized"
"combating the spread of communism. The North Vietnamese Central Military Commission ordered the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army to jointly ""annihilate a part of the enemy's main force units"" in South Vietnam between December 1964 and March 1965. Prior to this announcement, units of the North Vietnamese Army had not participated in the war in South Vietnam. Nguyễn Văn Trỗi was executed by firing squad in South Vietnam. A Vietnamese electrical worker and Viet Cong urban guerrilla, he was captured after trying to assassinate Secretary of Defense McNamara and future ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. who were visiting"
"their positions in Lộc Ninh. In December 1971, following the defeat of South Vietnamese forces during Operation Lam Son 719, North Vietnamese leadership in Hanoi decided to launch a major military offensive against South Vietnam. In what became known as the Easter Offensive, the combined PAVN and VC forces employed combined arms tactics using heavy weapons that were a radical departure from the low-intensity guerrilla warfare of previous years. Although North Vietnam eventually used the equivalent of 14 army divisions, its leaders did not seek to win the war outright. Rather, their objective was to gain as much territory and"
"Minh rebels ending the First Indochina War, creating the nations of North and South Vietnam along the 17th parallel. The Vietnam War began shortly thereafter and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by such communist allies as China and the Soviet Union, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. North Vietnam initiated and maintained an insurgent campaign in the South under the National Liberation Front (NLF), otherwise known as the Viet Cong (VC), and provided NLF members with medicine, weapons, and training. Simultaneously, the North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times"
"(NLFSV; ""Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam""). Many writers shorten this to National Liberation Front (NLF). In 1969, the Việt Cộng created the ""Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam"" (""Chính Phủ Cách Mạng Lâm Thời Cộng Hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam""), abbreviated PRG. Although the NLF was not officially abolished until 1977, the Việt Cộng no longer used the name after PRG was created. Members generally referred to the Việt Cộng as ""the Front"" (""Mặt trận""). Today's Vietnamese media most frequently refers to the group as the ""People's Liberation Armed Forces of South"
"formed the overall Communist fighting forces and auxiliaries, largely under a unity of command, active in South Vietnam. They were the subject of an ongoing debate within American intelligence, specifically, MACV and the civilian CIA sharply differed in their O/B appraisals of the VC. A complicating factor for an O/B was the composition of the VC and the PAVN. Regularly uniformed, 'conventional' soldiers were often called (in the parlance of the American military in Vietnam) 'main force' units. The majority of PAVN units were such, but only a disputed fraction of VC units were 'main force'. Troop designations used by"
"built in overlapping, duplication and redundancy made it resilient and able to adjust to defections, captures or deaths among its members. While the North Vietnamese and their allies made elaborate attempts to camouflage the organizational arrangements that drove the war, it is important to note that both the armed Viet Cong (properly the PLAF), and the regular troops of the NVA were ultimately one joint force. Each had its distinct local characteristics, recruitment paths, resource bases, and missions, but collectively they were controlled as one by Hanoi, and are treated as such in official communist histories of the war. Viet"
"South Vietnamese Popular Force During the Vietnam War, the South Vietnamese Popular Force (""nghĩa quân"") (sometimes abbreviated RF/PF or PF) consisted of local militias that protected their home villages from attacks by first Viet Cong forces and later by People's Army of Vietnam units. Originally called the Civil Guard and the Self-Defense Corps, they were integrated into the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1964 and placed under the command of the Joint General Staff. The Popular Force was one of two broad groups of militia, the other being the Regional Forces (""địa phương quân""). The American forces referred"
"the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, (North Vietnam) at nearly 320,000 troops. The logistical support provided by China allowed for continuous operations by the North Vietnamese forces, regardless of American-led attempts to stop the flow of resources down the ""Ho Chi Minh trail"" to South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam). American forces were unable to retaliate against Chinese targets, as it was believed that by doing so, America would invite retaliation by Soviet forces in another theater. There are persistent stereotypes about Vietnam veterans as psychologically devastated, bitter, homeless, drug-addicted people, who had a hard time readjusting to society, primarily because of"
"battle forces in South Vietnam were the NLF army, not the People's Army of Vietnam. If a PLAF unit has the same name with a NVA unit, the PLAF name will be added the letter of B after the number. People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam The People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF), or Viet Cong's army, was the official army of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. The PLAF forces were independent of the People's Army of Vietnam. The PLAF was unofficially established after 1954 and was recognized as main battle forces in South Vietnam"