March 25, 1975: Liberation of Hue city

On March 25, 1975, we liberated Hue city; the Politburo meeting met and determined to liberate Saigon and the entire South before the rainy season (May 1975). The Southern Support Council was established.

Liberation Army enters Ngo Mon Gate, in front of Hue Citadel. (Photo: Ngoc Dan/VNA)

On the morning of March 25, 1975, Regiment 101 (Division 325), Regiment 3 (Division 324) from the south, and units of the Tri-Thien Military Region from the north entered the center of Hue city.

On the western flank of the Hue front, on the way to pursue the enemy, the 4th Infantry Regiment of Military Region 5 advanced to the Sinh junction. To the south of Hue, the 3rd Regiment (Division 324) coordinated with tanks to occupy Mang Ca. The encirclement of the southern wings of Thua Thien-Hue province formed two directions, tightly clamping the enemy in Hue and Thuan An estuary.

At noon on March 25, 1975, all the troops of the 2nd Corps and the Tri-Thien Military Region from all directions advanced towards Hue, surrounded the city on all four sides and quickly entered the city center. From the two directions south and north of Hue, the leading force of the 8th Battalion was led by the militia, simultaneously with the attack of the 101st Regiment of the 325th Division, carried by the people and the grassroots forces using lam cars and motorbikes, advancing straight into the inner city.

On March 25, 1975, Hue city was liberated.

That same night, in the suburbs of the city, the Hue City Party Committee held a meeting to decide to mobilize the masses to rise up and coordinate with the armed forces to fight to liberate the entire province. Also on March 25, the districts of Phu Vang, Quang Dien, Phu Loc, and Huong Thuy were all liberated.

In Quang Nam, on March 25, 1975, the 38th Regiment of the 2nd Division, supported by tanks, attacked the Tuan Duong base, and the enemy quickly surrendered. At the same time, the 70th and 72nd battalions pursued the remaining enemy troops in the eastern region and Tam Ky town. The V20 and V14 Companies of Tam Ky district closely coordinated with the main force to pursue the enemy at Chu Lai airport and Ky Ha port, capturing and protecting the spoils of war.

In Que Son, on March 25, 1975, the enemy troops in the center of the district began to panic, many local military units and militiamen automatically disbanded. The puppet government mostly abandoned their posts and sought escape routes. The 51st Regiment of the 3rd Division of the Republic of Vietnam in Dong Mong, Da Ham, and Cam Doi began to retreat but still had engineers place dense anti-tank mines along Highway 105 to prevent us from pursuing them.

At 7:00 a.m. on March 25, 1975, the army and people of Duc Pho and Mo Duc districts surrounded and forced the surrender of two security battalions and the logistics unit of the 4th Regiment of the Republic of Vietnam, liberating Mo Duc and Duc Pho district towns.

At the same time, Battalion 81, Company 95 and the people of Binh Son took control of the district capital and Chau O town. We destroyed and disintegrated the 2nd Infantry Division of the Republic of Vietnam, the 11th Ranger Group and artillery and armored units, completely liberating Quang Ngai province.

Meanwhile, in Binh Dinh, at 5:00 a.m. on March 25, 1975, Regiment 2 and Regiment 141 entered the battle area and waited for orders to open fire on Lai Nghi - a fortified base of the defense line on Route 19, guarded by the 22nd Division of the Republic of Vietnam. The enemy discovered them and sent out forces to counterattack. The fighting here was fierce.

- In Military Region 8, on March 25, 1975, Division 8 attacked and destroyed the Canal 1 post in Thanh My commune, Nga Sau; Battalion 283 of the Military Region's special forces destroyed 2 posts in the northeast of Nga Sau, the Hau My intersection post, opening a large liberated area, connecting Cai Be (My Tho), My An, Kien Van (Sa Dec) districts and Region 4 (Kien Tuong). Local troops of Cai Be district coordinated with the main force of the region to support the guerrillas to destroy and force the withdrawal of 4 posts on Route 20 and 4 other posts in the south and north of Route 4. On Route 12, Regiment 3 of Division 8 successively destroyed the Ba Thua posts in Tan Ninh commune, 2 posts on the Khang Chien Canal and the Lo Ren intersection in My Hanh Trung commune, together with engineers attacking and cutting off the road in many sections.

On March 25, the Politburo affirmed that "the great strategic opportunity has come. It has never been more favorable than now, in the past 20 years. The Southern revolution has made great leaps, but this is a great leap of decisive significance" and resolved: "Seize the strategic opportunity, seize the maximum time, concentrate the efforts of the whole country, concentrate the fastest forces, weapons, techniques and materials on the main direction, act quickly, boldly, and suddenly attack the enemy so that they cannot react, liberate Saigon before the rainy season".

The Politburo and the Central Military Commission also approved the plan to liberate Da Nang and decided to establish the Da Nang Front Command. Comrade Le Trong Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, was appointed Commander and Comrade Chu Huy Man, Commander of Military Region 5, was appointed Political Commissar and Party Secretary. The Politburo also decided to establish the 3rd Army Corps, including units that had just fought in the Central Highlands; the Commander was Comrade Vu Lang, the Political Commissar was Comrade Dang Vu Hiep.

On the same day, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 241-NQ/TW establishing the Southern Support Council chaired by Comrade Pham Van Dong, Politburo member and Prime Minister. The Council has the following tasks:

1 - Mobilize and transport human and material resources from the great northern rear to support the battlefield;

2 - Solving problems of taking over newly liberated areas in the South;

3 - Direct and coordinate sectors and localities to implement the plan to support the South.

On March 25, 1975, the Central Military Commission and the General Command determined that the directive for Military Region 5 and Army Corps 2 must be: "Act boldly and unexpectedly to prevent the enemy from reacting, concentrate forces to destroy the enemy's large forces in Da Nang... win a decisive victory in this decisive battle, creating conditions for the next strategic decisive battle".

On the same day, the General Staff decided to mobilize a large part of the 1st Corps to participate in the campaign to liberate Saigon. The 308th Division acted as the Ministry's strategic reserve and protected the north.

On the night of March 25, 1975, the Military Region 5 Command was determined to liberate Da Nang according to the plan of quick attack and quick resolution. Meanwhile, in Tam Ky, Quang Ngai, soldiers of Division 2, Brigade 52, Artillery Regiments 572, Anti-Aircraft 573, and Armored Vehicle Regiments 574 rapidly advanced towards Da Nang. The Quang Da Provincial Party Committee, with comrade Tran Thuan as Secretary, mobilized the people of the entire province to rise up and coordinate with the main force to liberate their homeland.

At 6:00 p.m. on March 25, 1975, the Central Military Commission sent a telegram to the Regional Military Commission, comrade Tran Van Tra and comrade Pham Hung, Secretary of the Central Bureau, emphasizing: The great strategic opportunity has come. It is necessary to seize the maximum time, concentrate forces on key directions, act boldly and unexpectedly, and complete as soon as possible the great strategic determination set forth by the Politburo... It is necessary to make all levels more transparent, concentrate forces on the main targets.

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