Saigon, April 2: Virtually all northern and central areas of South Vietnam were in National Liberation Front hands to-day after the latest in a week of stunning Government reverses.
After military sources reported the loss of Nha Trang and Tuy Hoa and the apparent abandonment of Cam Ranh and Da Lat, the country’s entire central coast to within 160 km of Saigon had passed into NLF control.
The picture was just as bleak for the administration in adjoining Cambodia following the reported capture of the ferry town of Neak Luong — which gave the Red Khmers full control of the Mekong river.
The formation of a new “war cabinet” seemed in the offing in Saigon after Premier Tran Thien Khiem submitted his resignation. He agreed to stay on until the new Cabinet came into being.
Nha Trang, 320 km north-east of Saigon, was command headquarters for one of the country’s four military regions. Its loss meant that four of the country’s five biggest cities had fallen to the NLF in little more than a week. The others were the former U.S. fortress Da Nang, the sacred former imperial capital of Hue and the key coastal city of Qui Nhon.
Nha Trang and Tuy Hoa, further north, which also fell to-day, were crammed with legions of refugees. Reported abandoned and probably lost to-day were Cam Ranh, once the Americans’ major harbour in the Vietnam war, and Da Lat, the last provincial capital held by the Government in the Central Highlands.
Published – April 03, 2025 02:20 am IST