None of their business actually, as the Sino soviet split already happened. NV is at USSr's side so it will be plausible that they wont do a thing
AHC/WI: Make South Vietnam win the Vietnam War with a POD after 1968
- Thread starter delariva
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- 1968 cold war vietnam war
I assume you believed the same thing about Korea? Oh, dearie, dearie, me. Events proved that the Chinese were very interested in events on their border... I don't doubt we would have seen another Chinese force crossing the border... That was what the US Government quite frightened of.
After 1968? Just bomb rush everything.
And I mean everything. Remember "strategic bombing" against Nazi Germany in WW2? Now do it again, but combine with actual intel on the ground (read: commando teams) and naval raid. The target is to kill everything Vietnamese have - how is immaterial and should be left to the field commanders.
Working with China would help. By 1968, the Sino-Soviet split has started affecting Viet Nam, so the geo-politics angle should also be played.
That, and the OP should define the "win" condition for the US (who cares about Saigon regime? The US must win, or at least not-lose, first)
And I mean everything. Remember "strategic bombing" against Nazi Germany in WW2? Now do it again, but combine with actual intel on the ground (read: commando teams) and naval raid. The target is to kill everything Vietnamese have - how is immaterial and should be left to the field commanders.
Working with China would help. By 1968, the Sino-Soviet split has started affecting Viet Nam, so the geo-politics angle should also be played.
That, and the OP should define the "win" condition for the US (who cares about Saigon regime? The US must win, or at least not-lose, first)
What the northern members of the Vietnamese Workers Party want is for the southern members to not split over the issue of being killed by Diem in 1959. How prescient of them to do so six years before yanks.
I encourage you to learn what the phrase “and then sink the boats” means in US dolchstosslegende. Because you are danger close to that.
I'm confused by all the responses saying "oh the US should've just bombed them more" when the amount of ordnance dropped was already excessive. It was more than three times as much as the amount used in WWII and still proved insufficient to break the North's resolve, so at a certain point you just have to admit it's not a reliable method on its own. To be honest, I don't think 1968 is a viable POD for a South Vietnamese victory; by that point you might be able to manage a partition only as a best-case scenario.
marathag
Banned
Dropping 20 tons of bombs on 'suspected truck park' did little of military value, and blew up villages who wanted nothing to do with either side.
1972 Linebacker II targeting was far, far different, no bombing grid squares of jungle, but actual military targets that had been off limits since 1964
I think maintaining the partition would be considered a victory, particularly compared to OTL.
Anyways to keep the USA in the game long enough for a change in Chinese leadership (which could potentially stop sending supplies to the NVA and Vietcong) I'd say at the very least avert My Lai. The decision to leave wasn't so much a result of the military situation on the ground in Vietnam as a political one, and murdering children did not endear the war to the American public. Yes, there was opposition beforehand, and there were people who defended My Lai, but My Lai had even many supporters of the war become very uncomfortable with what was happening. It's common for people to talk about averting the coups against Diem (granted that's pre-1968), but I think that overlooks or at least downplays the reasons Kennedy refused to block the coups. Diem's persecution of the Buddhists was simply unacceptable and publicly known. If not stopped, it too would have eroded American public support for the war. The primary issue isn't military defeats, it's winning in a way that would acceptable to the American people. The American public is not going to tolerate a repeat of the Philippine-American war.
The Chinese were quite prepared to act in their own interests, split or no split. Mao commanded the PLA to enter North Korea off his own bat, without consulting Stalin. He'd have been prepared to do the same in North Vietnam up until about 1969 when the effects of the Cultural Revolution became apparent. More than likely he'd have put a stop to the efforts of the Red Guards and it wouldn't have affected the PLA quite as badly.