Cable from X2 [Pham Hung] to the Ba Dinh Party Current Affairs Committee [Central Office for South Vietnam – COSVN], Reply to Cable No. 46/B19

The situation is developing very favorably, just as Ba Dinh [COSVN] anticipated, and the pace of the development is faster than previously anticipated, both from the standpoint of the enemy’s decline as well as from the standpoint of the new victories we have won. On many fronts these victories have already exceeded our goals. However, our only knowledge of the situation is based on the reports the different Regions have sent back to the Central Committee. Because we are far from the battlefield, even though we have not been away for very long the situation has progressed very rapidly, so it is difficult for us to provide full and comprehensive opinions. For that reason, we (Brothers Hai and Tu [Pham Hung and Tran Van Tra]) would like to present the following ideas as our contribution to the Current Affairs Committee as it conducts its initial review of the first month of Phase 1 of the dry season campaign:

1. After working with Quang Trung [the Politburo], we can clearly see that the direction of the missions, the major activities, and the major objectives that Ba Dinh [COSVN] set forward in the dry season campaign plan as well as in the plan for the entire year of 1975 were correct.

COSVN Directive No. 8 correctly presents in a concrete manner the content of Resolution 21 and of the Dien Bien’s [Central Military Party Committee] resolution that was approved by Quang Trung [the Politburo]. At present, the progress of Phase 1 of the dry season campaign has enabled us to see even more clearly the extent of the enemy’s decline on the military, political, and diplomatic fronts, and we can see that the level of victories we have achieved have in many places exceeded the goals that we had set. The situation is continuing to develop in our favor, and if we aggressively work to overcome the weaknesses and shortcomings that we have repeatedly described for some time now, the situation will progress by leaps and bounds. We already have a firm understanding that our focus is on gaining additional population and on gaining control of the territory in the lowlands, and it is correct that we have raised this task to be our first priority. We need to step up our efforts in this direction even more in order to be able to build three powerful fists (main force, rural, and urban) in order to have combined strength to use to continuously attack the enemy and to continuously strengthen our own forces in all respects in a process that will continue until we achieve complete victory.

With respect to the goals for the dry season, we need to readjust them to adapt them to the actual situation (do not be satisfied with the goals that we set forward previously and that we have already achieved, but also do not subjectively [over-optimistically] raise the goals so high that they do not reflect the balance of forces between ourselves and the enemy in each individual location) so that in both spirit and content we actively overcome problems and shortcomings, vigorously attack the enemy, and continuously gain new victories. In parallel with attacking the enemy, we must also pay the utmost attention to building our own forces in all respects, including building powerful armed forces and powerful political forces in all three areas [mountain jungles, rural lowlands, cities] and building solid liberated zones that develop step by step in accordance with a people’s democratic regime.

Ba Dinh [COSVN] has already issued directives to our Party chapters on these issues, but you must ensure that these issues are promulgated and understood thoroughly right down to the grass roots level and that they are put into practice through the revolutionary actions of the masses of the population as they rise up to defeat the enemy’s pacification program and overthrow the U.S.-Thieu regime to secure independence, freedom, prosperity, national reconciliation, and true peace.

I wanted to provide the above summary so that you can confidently direct and control our movement properly.

2. Our purpose in reviewing the events of December 1974 and conducting a preliminary review of the first month of Phase One of the dry season campaign is to be able to direct and guide the upcoming Phase Two properly and to gain a firm understanding of all aspects of the situation so that we can understand the level of success that we are capable of achieving during the entire dry season so that we can then provide guidance to the different local areas to enable them to achieve the greatest possible success during the entire dry season. In that way, we will achieve Ba Dinh’s [COSVN’s] stated desire of achieving the vast bulk of the goals of the 1975 plan during the dry season. If we do that, we will have created extremely favorable conditions for ourselves to be able to achieve even greater victories during the 1975 rainy season and the situation will develop in an extremely favorable manner for us as we move into 1976, and we will make our plans after we review the actual developments in the situation and determine the balance of forces between ourselves and the enemy at the end of the 1975 dry season.

The center of attention and the focal point of our battlefield during Phase Two of this dry season is the sector belonging to F5 [5^th Division] and Group 3 [3^rd AKA 303^rd Division]. For that reason, we must concentrate our leadership and guidance properly to ensure that it is truly excellent in that sector. As for the other battlefields, they will strive to follow the plan that has already been approved with the goal of achieving the greatest possible victories.

3. The opinions laid out above also contribute, in part at least, to the task of conducting a review of 1974 in order to draw practical, realistic conclusions for the entire year of 1975. After we receive the outline you are sending and if we have any further ideas, we will provide them to you later. Make sure that you take the greatest care to keep both our strategic intentions and our intentions and plans for each individual battlefield totally secret. We will try to make it back in time to be able to celebrate the Tet Lunar New Year at home [with you].

I wish you all good health and I hope that all local areas achieve great victories.

When Brother Sau Nam [Le Duc Anh] arrives to meet with Ba Dinh [COSVN] you should pass this message on to him to ensure that we make good preparations on the military front.