VENETIC

Attack on Firebase Airborne

13 May 1969

It is 3.15 a.m. and Firebase Airborne is illuminated by the occasional falling flare to assist in detecting any VC who may be in the vicinity.

There is movement in the bush downhill from the firebase.

A VC Sapper assault force from thje K-12 Sapper Battalion is quietly penetrating the firebase’s minefield, clearing the way.

They carefully clear a broad swathe through the minefield, metre by metre.

Meanwhile, 82 mm mortar rounds start falling on the firebase’s perimeter posts.

The minefield clearers are the spearhead for the rest of the Sapper unit.

Behind them is a company from the 6th NVA Regiment, waiting to enter the breach.

As the mortar rounds start falling, US artillery crews rush to man their guns.

Having cleared a section of the minefield, the Sappers begin work on the barbed wire.

This creates noise that gets some of them spotted in the dark, and some of them are suppressed by US fire.

Undaunted, the rest of the Sappers break through the wire and charge the perimeter defences.

A satchel charge is thrown that takes out the first perimeter post.

By now, the 105 mm howitzer crews have reached their guns and they start training them on the shadows coming up the hill.

A human wave assault is coming their way.

The Sapper spearhead unit assaults a second perimeter post, blowing it up with satchel charges.

Under the cover of darkness, they also creep up and assault one of the “Dusters” on the firebase perimeter.

The vehicle is knocked out by yet another satchel charge.

By now, the Sappers are well and truly through the wire and the NVA are close behind them.

A team of Sappers seeks to widen the breach by taking out the next perimeter post along.

They are met with inaccurate fire and knock out the position with another satchel charge.

The bulk of the assault however, is headed towards the 105 mm howitzer battery.

The most exposed howitzer crew opens fire over open sights.

Their heavy fire causes the attackers to go to ground, and the assault on the guns is halted.

Although the assault’s left flank pincer has stalled, on the right, the Sappers are in through the perimeter defences and move on to attack the first bunker, destroying it with thrown satchel charges.

They also encounter US resistance.

Unfortunately, it is short-lived.

The NVA assault in the centre skirts around the 105 howitzer battery, searching for a weak spot in the US defences.

By now it is 4.30 a.m., and one of the periodic illumination rounds shot by the firebase turns night to daylight.

The defenders start slowing the advance.

But they are outnumbered.

The still-falling illumination round exposes the VC advance through the centre to the end 105 mm howitzer, which opens fire.

The VC Sappers leading the advance in the centre find themselves taking heavy casualties.

Their ranks are greatly depleted by the heavy artillery fire.

By now the illumination round has fallen, and behind them are even more men, who use the cover of darkness to keep on coming.

The NVA commander also uses the darkness to set up a surprise for the end 105mm howitzer, should another flare fall that turns darkness into daylight.

By now, the assault through the centre has breached the first row of bunkers, signalling the start of the firebase being overrun.

In spite of the close range, spotting is erratic due to the darkness, and VC casualties are comparatively light.

On the assault’s right side, the VC Sappers make way for an NVA platoon, which assaults a Duster from its flank under cover of darkness.

Belatedly, the Duster crew rotate their turret and open fire.

NVA casualties are minimal though.

An RPG team opens fire from close range and takes out the Duster.

Hearing activity, the end 105 mm howitzer on the VC left flank opens fire, causing casualties among the HMG unit deployed to cover this threat.

The middle HMG team is suppressed by the heavy fire.

Meanwhile, the VC Sappers begin blowing up the firebase’s stores.

And any buildings in their path.

Fed up with the harrassing fire from the end 105 mm howizter on his left flank, the VC commander orders it to be assaulted.

Sappers rush the gun, get in close, and engage the crew in close combat.

The crew is overrun.

Sappers keep the second 105 mm howitzer gun crew’s heads low by firing at them from the newly-seized position.

Meanwhile, more bunkers are getting blown up with satchel charges.

And the Sappers’ flamethrower unit is deployed.

On the right flank of the assault, the NVA platoon that took out the Duster is now flanking the remaining perimeter posts and assaulting them en masse under the cover of darkness.

On the left flank of the assault, a Sapper team creeps around in the dark, past a watch tower, looking for dead ground so they can assault the second 105 mm howitzer in the dark.

They demolish a watch tower on the way. The VC goal seems to be not to leave a stick standing in the firebase.

On the right flank, the VC Sapper flamethrower team incinerate bunker after bunker; they are by now abandoned as the remaining US troops have pulled back.

Another Sapper team has reached the firebase’s radio tower and starts laying demolition charges.

It too goes up in smoke.

The Sapper team on the hunt on the left flank manages to sneak up to the second 105 mm howitzer in the dark and destroys it and its crew with a satchel charge.

While the flamethrower team continues burning everything it sees.

By 6.00 a.m., most of the firebase is in flames.

Using what little darkness there is left, the VC commander withdraws his force before dawn to avoid being caught out in the open by US aircraft.

It was a major victory for the VC force, facilitated by erratic shooting by the US troops due to darkness and bad rolls. This was the second firebase assault scenario I have played and shows just how bad things get if the VC Sappers make a substantial breach through perimeter defences.

This scenario was adapted by me for play with Crossfire and Incoming rules from the book “Screaming Eagles at Hamburger Hill” by Mark Fastoso, 2003. The illumination rounds featured in the scenario were a good idea; it was just a shame that the US player did not successfully roll for more of them as the outcome of the battle may have been substantially different.