I Corps () was a
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies grea ...
of the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. It is estimated to have suff ...
(ARVN), the army of the nation state of
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...
that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps of the ARVN. This was the northernmost region of South Vietnam, bordering
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
at the
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important a ...
(DMZ). These five provinces are
Quảng Trị Province, (
Khe Sanh,
Đông Hà
Đông Hà () is the capital of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. Đông Hà is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East–West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It lies on the North–South Railway (Reunificati ...
, Quảng Trị City),
Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, (Phu Bai, Huế City),
Quảng Nam Province, (
Đà Nẵng, Hội An),
Quảng Tín Province, (Tam Kỳ, Chu Lai) and
Quảng Ngãi Province, (Quảng Ngãi).
I Corps became operational in November 1957.
Among its formations and units were the ARVN
1st Division. The I CTZ, later Military Region 1, was partnered with the U.S.
III Marine Expeditionary Force
III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and d ...
and the
XXIV Corps.
Lam Son 719
General
Hoàng Xuân Lãm was given responsibility for the I Corps Tactical Zone in 1967. He coordinated the South Vietnamese
Operation Lam Sơn 719 offensive which aimed at striking the North Vietnamese logistical corridor known as the
Ho Chi Minh trail in southeastern
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
during 1971. Due to his political connections with President
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF), beca ...
, he was still serving as I Corps commander when the North Vietnamese launched the
Easter Offensive in 1972. Lãm was recalled to
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
on 2 May 1972 by Thiệu, who relieved him of his command, due to complaints regarding Lãm's fitness and competency as a general. He was succeeded as commander by
Ngô Quang Trưởng
Ngô Quang Trưởng (13 December 1929 — 22 January 2007) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Trưởng gained his commission in the Vietnamese National Army in 1954 and moved up the ranks over the next decade, mos ...
former commander of the 1st Division and IV Corps.
The
20th Tank Regiment, the first tank regiment in the ARVN, was formed at
Quảng Trị
Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà.
History
The Sino-Vietnamese name Quả ...
in 1971 equipped with the
M48 Patton.
1975 Spring Offensive
Military Region 1's forces disintegrated during the
1975 Spring Offensive
The 1975 spring offensive ( vi, chiến dịch mùa Xuân 1975), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 ( vi, Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy mùa Xuân 1975) was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vie ...
(the
Hue–Da Nang Campaign
The Hue–Da Nang Campaign was a series of military actions conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War, also known in Vietnam as the American War. The campaign was c ...
). The situation for the South Vietnamese in Military Region 1 had regained some stability after the defeat of a three-division PAVN push during late 1974. By early the following year, Military Region 1 fielded three infantry divisions (the 1st,
2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...
and
3rd), the elite
Airborne and
Marine Divisions, four Ranger Groups and the 1st Armored Brigade (established in 1969 to parent all the armored cavalry regiments in the MR). Until mid-March, the North Vietnamese had limited their offensive operations to attempts to cut Highway 1, the main north/south line of communication, between Huế and
Da Nang and between Da Nang and
Chu Lai. To confront the South Vietnamese, PAVN Brigadier General
Lê Trọng Tấn had amassed a force of the crack
2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...
,
304th,
324B,
325C and 711th Divisions and nine independent infantry regiments, three
sapper regiments, three armored regiments, twelve anti-aircraft and eight artillery regiments.
At a meeting in Saigon on 13 March President Thiệu was briefed on the military situation by Trưởng and another corps commander. Thiệu then laid out his plan for national consolidation. As Trưởng understood it, he was free to redeploy his forces to hold the Da Nang area. Trưởng was shocked to discover, however, that the Airborne Division was to be removed to III Corps (unknown to Trưởng at the time, the Marine Division was also already earmarked for redeployment with both units then forming a new national reserve).
General Trưởng was recalled to Saigon on 19 March to brief Thiệu on his withdrawal plan. The general had developed two contingency plans: The first was predicated on government control of Highway 1, which would be utilized for two simultaneous withdrawals from Huế and
Chu Lai to Da Nang; The second course presupposed PAVN interdiction of the highway and called for a withdrawal into three enclaves: Huế, Da Nang, and Chu Lai. This was to be only an interim measure, however, since the forces that withdrew to Huế and Chu Lai would then be sea-lifted to Da Nang by the navy. The president then stunned the general by announcing that he had misinterpreted his previous orders:
[Dougan and Fulghum, pp. 68–69.] The old imperial capital of Huế was not to be abandoned. Making matters worse, Trưởng discovered that his force was to be reduced by the removal of the Airborne Division.
Divisions
File:ARVN 1st Division SSI.svg, 1st Infantry Division
File:ARVN 2nd Division SSI.svg, 2nd Infantry Division
File:ARVN 3rd Infantry Division SSI.svg, 3rd Infantry Division
Notes
References
*Dougan, Clark, David Fulghum, et al. ''The Fall of the South''. Boston: Boston Publishing Company, 1985.
*
{{Authority control
Corps level formations of South Vietnam
Military units and formations established in the 1960s
Military units and formations disestablished in 1975