Cable No. 75 from Brother Tho [Le Duc Tho] to Brother Tuan [Van Tien Dung]

The other day I sent you a cable discussing the decision by the Politburo and the Central Military Party Committee on implementing Plan 1 in the immediate future, and I am sure you now understand. The extent of the development of your attack has now reached the proper level and you should not advance further. Instead, you need to quickly regroup and consolidate your forces and establish solid defenses for the newly captured areas. We are now making powerful attacks in the northern provinces, and it is certain that the enemy will be defeated quickly and will be forced to withdraw back down to the interior as we had anticipated. After the enemy is defeated up in the north, the dry season in the sector in which you are now advancing will still continue for some time, and we will be sending forces down from up here to advance into that sector and sweep away what is left of the enemy. For that reason, you need to immediately realign your forces so that when I arrive our lead element will be able to move out immediately so that we can implement Plan 1 as quickly as possible; if they begin moving earlier, that would be even better. Currently the situation is developing very favorably for us, and it is advancing by leaps and bounds, so at this time when the enemy is frightened, confused, and suffering large-scale disintegration, we must seize the moment by moving even faster.

Naturally it will take some time to complete Plan 1, but we must begin immediately. Therefore I am providing you with this additional information so that you have a clear understanding of the decision that has been reached by the Politburo and the Central Military Party Committee and so that you can immediately begin making complete and comprehensive preparations.

As for the rest of Tran’s forces [Translator’s Note: probably referring to Tran Van Tran’s 341^st Division], there are still a small number of them left that have not been able to move further south because their vehicles were taken away and requisitioned for other purposes. Tell your people to make arrangements for the rest of these forces to move out immediately so that they can arrive there in time to participate in the fighting. To leave them just sitting there indefinitely is not a good idea.