The 1975 spring offensive (Vietnamese: chiến dịch mùa Xuân 1975), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 (Vietnamese: Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy mùa Xuân 1975) was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vietnam War that led to the capitulation of Republic of Vietnam. After the initial success capturing Phước Long Province, the North Vietnamese leadership increased the scope of the People's Army of Vietnam's (PAVN) offensive and captured and held the key Central Highlands city of Buôn Ma Thuột between 10 and 18 March. These operations were intended to be preparatory to launching a general offensive in 1976.

Following the attack on Buôn Ma Thuôt, the Republic of Vietnam realized they were no longer able to defend the entire country and ordered a strategic withdrawal from the Central Highlands. The retreat from the Central Highlands, however, was a debacle as civilian refugees fled under fire with soldiers, mostly along a single highway reaching from the highlands to the coast. This situation was exacerbated by confusing orders, lack of command and control, and a well-led and aggressive enemy, which led to the utter rout and destruction of the bulk of South Vietnamese forces in the Central Highlands. A similar collapse occurred in the northern provinces.

Surprised by the rapidity of the ARVN collapse, North Vietnam transferred the bulk of its northern forces more than 350 miles (560 km) to the south in order to capture the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon in time to celebrate their late President Ho Chi Minh's birthday and end the war. South Vietnamese forces regrouped around the capital and defended the key transportation hubs at Phan Rang and Xuân Lộc, but a loss of political and military will to continue the fight became ever more manifest. Under political pressure, South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu resigned on 21 April, in hopes that a new leader that was more amenable to the North Vietnamese could reopen negotiations with them. It was, however, too late. Southwest of Saigon IV Corps, meanwhile, remained relatively stable with its forces aggressively preventing VC units from taking over any provincial capitals. With PAVN spearheads already entering Saigon, the South Vietnamese government, then under the leadership of Dương Văn Minh, capitulated on 30 April 1975.

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  • Cromalin [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    ok, but i know people can survive those temperatures (if they have good shelter, with heating and electricity and all that, and some die anyways) so it isn't a big deal.

    idk what i'm talking about, but this all feels right to me

    more seriously, nuclear war kills more than that in the initial blasts. hiroshima and nagasaki killed 200k, with weaker bombs that were hitting less densely populated areas. with hundreds of bombs hitting every single place that could remotely be called a population center? no shot. the only hope for humanity if one side starts nuking everything is that they aren't retaliated against on the principle of "what do i care, i'm dead anyways" and the aggressor lives with some infrastructure intact and enough people to repopulate the earth when 90% of them die because of the impacts on global trade and the climate.

    honestly that might be the only way humanity isn't extinct in 200 years

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      ok, but i know people can survive those temperatures (if they have good shelter, with heating and electricity and all that, and some die anyways) so it isn’t a big deal.

      how will they have heating and electricity with all that emp and the collapse of global supply chains tho

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        EMP isn't as much of a factor with nukes detonated at an altitude that maximizes damage to structures on the ground. It'd still be a factor, but the EMP would miss plenty of stuff. To properly make use of EMP effects you want to detonate at a pretty high altitude.

      • Cromalin [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        we should invest in a massive /s emoji

        (read my spoilers bit as well)

      • keepcarrot [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The most populated places on Earth are in warm places, so really the problem is staying cool and food supply.

        • Cromalin [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          i mean, we're talking about potentially thousands of nukes being launched, wouldn't nuclear winter be relevant, even if there are large chunks of the world where no bombs go off?