VENETIC

Death Valley

Since late 1967, the NVA 2nd Division has been based in the Quế Sơn Valley, 20 km south-west of Hội An. Previously they were deployed further north against the US Marines, and had gotten used to not having to worry about aerial surveillance, so they still do resupply missions during the day when necessary. The supply unit’s destination is a base camp in an area with three hills just north of the village of Quế Hiệp.

This part of the valley seems quiet until a patrolling FAC in a Cessna O2 Skymaster spots movement along the dirt road. He turns in for a closer look.

It’s a supply column, and they are clearly not civilians heading to the local market.

Clearly there is something going on in this locale, so the FAC radios in the co-ordinates and a ready reaction unit of the 1st Cavalry Division is sent in on a Search and Destroy mission.

The FAC circles in the distance, having radioed in to clear the LZ of any accidental air traffic or artillery fire, and the first platoon flies in to land in a clearing at the foot of the highest hill.

It seems like the obvious place to land - too obvious…

A battery of Type 96 25 mm AA guns reveals itself and opens fire.

The Hueys are sitting ducks, and they are all in a row.

The closest helicopter is hit first.

The burning helicopter crashes to the ground, landing on its side. Miraculously, the crew and some of the passengers manage to climb out and take shelter behind the wreck.

The AA guns then shift fire to the next Huey: it goes up in smoke.

It plummets to the ground: there are no survivors.

It is soon followed by the third Huey; here too there are no survivors.

Then the battery pins down the helicopter crew, with 25 mm shells whistling over their heads.

The helicopter crew then returns fire, opening up with an M-60 saved from the wreck.

One gun is hit and destroyed. And then the other too.

It’s some recompense for having lost 3 Hueys and nearly a whole platoon.

Having cleared the way, the next wave of Hueys comes in, intending to land to the left of the 2 destroyed AA guns at the foot of the hill’s rocky peak.

Bad move: two more 25 mm AA guns guarding that approach reveal themselves.

Their first target is too close to miss.

The lead helicopter is hit and starts smoking, but the pilot manages to make a hard yet safe landing and everyone gets out alive.

The squad immediately starts laying down fire.

Meanwhile, the second helicopter comes under fire from an NVA squad hiding in undergrowth below.

They let rip with everything they have: AK-47s, an LMG and an RPG.

The LMG hits the Huey and it goes up in smoke.

They then turn their attentions to the trailing helicopter, once again opening up with all their weapons.

They miss and the pilot is ordered to land in their vicinity. He wonders about the wisdom of this, but does as he is told.

Until the door gunner takes a hit from the same LMG crew that downed the other helicopter. The Huey is already on the ground and the grunts are about to pile out, but the pilot decides to abort the landing.

Up on the hill, the AA gunners are exchanging fire with the survivors of the other Hueys shot down.

They can’t match the volume of small arms fire coming their way and both guns and crews are destroyed.

The VC squad in the undergrowth on their flank advance to finish off the survivors from the helicopters.

Some of the survivors attempt to set up a perimeter defence in the direction of the road.

They are beaten back by an NVA squad sent in to seal up the LZ.

Littered with burning wrecks, the LZ is in chaos. With the situation on the ground being unclear, the FAC makes a pass over the zone to see what is going on. There are 2 Cobra gunships in the vicinity awaiting orders, but in the absence of a perimeter being established, they cannot attack the LZ without a clearly marked target.

The FAC is attempting to fire smoke rockets at the assaulting VC squad when he is met with a hail of 12.7 mm bullets from a machine gun unit positioned in-between the closest two hills.

Hearing bullets whistling past his cockpit, he decides to abort and escape the fire zone.

As he flies away overhead, in response to the approaching NVA squad, various grunts move through the nearby vegetation to hit them on their flank.

They fail to achieve surprise however. The NVA LMG team turns to fire back at them, and in the ensuing firefight several grunts go down.

At this point, the US commander threw in the towel. His Search and Destroy mission was in tatters with no visible means of support and there were more NVA closing in on him.

This scenario is loosely based on an incident that occurred on 13 November 1967 in the Quế Sơn Valley during Operation Wheeler, when the NVA’s 2nd Division sprung its first ambush against helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division, enticing them into an area where there were several 12.7 mm AA MGs concealed on a ridge. The action resulted in 8 helicopters being destroyed or heavily damaged. The tabletop is based on a part of the valley where there was action during the war (there are still bomb craters there), but the engagement is fictional. The outcome in this game was much the same though: accepting the bait offered by the NVA, the US commander was too blasé about the ability of his low-flying Hueys to defend themselves against AA fire in hilly country. The NVA commander positioned two scattered AA batteries on obvious approach routes to the base area and struck it lucky when the first and second waves of Hueys flew right into the fire zone of his heaviest AA unit. The triple hills actually made it very difficult to have anything even near 360 degree defence, and there were large gaps that could have been exploited if the US commander had been bolder in his choice of approach routes and landing zones.

Death Valley

Quế Sơn Valley

3 January 1968