Page 318 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Zone cornpound. The Battalion Z/42 alone suffered 15 killed and 20
wounded in action. Those friendly trooPs killed included 2 rural deve-
loprnent (RD) cadrernen and 6 policernen, who were rnernbers of the
countryr s para-rnilitary force s,

Enerny side : about 500 killed, 38 captured, one surren-
dered and 151 assorted weapons seized. Airstrikes accounted for a
larger part of the enerny killed rnostly on hi6 retreating routes, The
enerny casualties rnay run higher, as those listed here did not include
those inJlicted by Arnerican units stationed in the city.

C.- THE DAKTO BATTLE
The enerny began his offensive on this district town
called Dakto or Tan Canh about 50 krns northnorthwest of Konturn
city, out of srnall-group infiltrations into town early on the rnor:li.ng
of Jan 28 or two days before Tet Day, Arnong others, one enemy
platoon r.lras cornpletely wiped out aoon aJter infiltration. A1I of its
weapons were seized. It was arnbushed by an eight-rnan arrny unit
with M79 grenade launcher s.
Actually, this district town has two alrnost di.stinct
sections i one called Tan Canh, rnostly inhabited by rnilitary dependents
and a srnall nurnber of tradespeople, with about 2, 000 civilian people;
the other is the Dakto adrninistrative a-nd rnilitary base sorne three krns
up north. lneide Tan Canh town, the 42nd Regirnent set up its field
cornrnand, and this area was called Tan Canh sensitive area. Tan
Canh town lies at the foot of a hiII, on top of which was the sensitive
area corrlpound, guarded by only one army squad of about 12 men.
Dakto town had, arnong other thing6, a poLice station handling civilian
security affair s.
The enerny had atternpted to raid both these arrny and
police bases on the sarne rnorning of Jan 28, with a cornpany of his
Battalion Z/174. He was detected accidentally by a few governrnent
troops. Alerting'the duty offi.cer, Lt Nien, 6ent out six rnen led by
Master Sergeant Ngo to ccinfirm the fact. The group rnoved downhill
in a jeep to the rnarket place, where enerny troop6 were last spotted.
He stationed his rnen on both sides of the rnarket and called for two
rrrore rnen with M79 grenade launcher s. The jeep was used to run uP
and down the hill, where the cornrnand headquarters of the 42nd
Regirnent v/as Btationed, to bring in rnore grenades and also to rnislead
enemy intelligence, The plan worked beautifully, as the enerny with-
drew soon after Sgt Ngors srnall arnbush party opened fire frorn both

-3Zt-