Guerrilla Warfare and War of Attrition
An example of a typical Viet Cong tunnnel complex
In Vietnam, America faced a war that was completely unlike any war that they had been involved in before. This was mainly due to the strategy of the Viet Cong and the NLF: guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla warfare is when a smaller force than another army attacks with hit and run tactics, using their knowledge of the country and hidden bases to wear down an opposing force. Operating out of bases that included vast, complex systems of underground tunnels, the Viet Cong would strike US forces using hit and run tactics, ambushes, and booby traps. The traps that the Viet Cong created were insidious and effective in causing casualties and in crippling the morale of the United States soldier, due to their skill in hiding the traps and the lethality and terror inherent in the traps. In addition, the fact that the average guerrilla in the Viet Cong appeared to be an average villager compounded the terror that the marines felt in facing the traps and ambushes, for they did not know what villagers were “friendly” towards the United States, and this feeling, in addition to the ambushes and unfamiliar tactics, led the United States into a war of attrition. A war of attrition is when one side hopes to wear down the other by destroying soldiers and material to the point of collapse, instead of winning decisive battles. Due to its superior numbers and resources, the US was hopeful as to the outcome of a war of attrition, however this style of warfare caused horrendous casualties on both sides, and led to a backlash from the public at home. It was mainly to the casualties from this style of warfare that the anti-war sentiment grew in the United States, eventually leading to the end of the war.