1968 Viet Cong Battle Plan, Encounter at Mỹ Lệ, Cần Đước

A truly remarkable document, this is a manuscript map depicting a Viet Cong attack on South Vietnamese positions at Mỹ Lệ, Cần Đước District in Long An Province in September 1968. The encounter is presented as a decisive success for the Viet Cong forces.

A Closer Look

Though lacking scale and a clear orientation, the information at top clearly identifies this as the village of Mỹ Lệ in Cần Đước District. Blue pencil denotes the movements of Viet Cong (People's Liberation Armed Forces) while red represents the forces of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Different neighborhoods (xóm) and hamlets (ấp) of the village, some of which had been abandoned, are indicated, including the main part of the village centered around a temple. The map may have been drawn before the battle, laying out a plan for attack, but a box at top-right notes 'Battle results,' recording the number of casualties inflicted on the enemy as well as rifles and bullets captured. The notation at the end of the title CB B1/D1 likely refers to the units engaged.

The Battle of Mỹ Lệ

Mỹ Lệ is located about 16 miles south-southwest of the main part of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). As recorded here, Viet Cong forces launched their attack on September 12, 1968, in three prongs, with perhaps an additional rear attack noted at bottom-right. Not much information is available on this encounter in printed sources, but a brief North Vietnamese propaganda account translated in a daily report of the Foreign Broadcast Information Service stated that a Viet Cong attack at Mỹ Lệ on September 12 had inflicted more than 100 casualties on the 'puppet' 46th Regiment (25th Division) of the ARVN. In the preceding months, ARVN forces backed by the U.S. had recaptured much of the countryside around Saigon that had been lost in the Tet Offensive. The Viet Cong returned 'underground' and continued to launch ambushes and harassment attacks (such as this one), and conduct sabotage operations.

Publication History and Census

As a manuscript map, this is a one-of-a-kind production.