ARVN troops and U. S. advisers and air power successfully defeated communist forces.

ARVN had no tanks, the NVA communist forces had two armored regiments.

Although exact numbers are difficult to ascertain, it is safe to say that several million people served in the South Vietnamese armed forces, the vast majority of them in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN )— between 1956 and 1975.

In 1963, in the Battle of Ap Bac, ARVN forces delivered airborne troops by helicopter and air drop.

Between 1 and 3 April, many of the refugees just landed at Cam Ranh reembarked for further passage south and west to Phú Quốc Island in the Gulf of Siam, and ARVN forces pulled out of the facility.

" All U. S. forces were placed on maximum alert and similar orders were issued to all ARVN units.

Local militia or ARVN forces, supported by the National Police, usually drove the attackers out within two or three days, sometimes within hours ; but heavy fighting continued several days longer in Kontum, Buôn Ma Thuột, Phan Thiết, Cần Thơ, and Bến Tre.

Fighting in the city came to a close only after a fierce battle between the ARVN Rangers and PAVN forces on 7 March.

The city was not declared recaptured by U. S. and ARVN forces until 24 February, when members of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 1st ARVN Division raised the South Vietnamese flag over the Palace of Perfect Peace.

In what became known as the Battle of Dai Do, the North Vietnamese clashed savagely with U. S. Marine, Army, and ARVN forces before withdrawing.

One notable event occurred on 18 June when 152 members of the Viet Cong's Quyet Thang Regiment surrendered to ARVN forces, the largest communist surrender of the war.

The most significant immediate effect of the coup was the Cambodian Campaign of April-July 1970, in which the South Vietnamese army ( ARVN ), backed by US troops, entered eastern Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces operating there.

These elite units served as raiders against American / ARVN troops, and infiltrated spearheads during the final Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975 – where they seized key road and bridge assets, destroyed installations, attacked command and control nodes located deep inside enemy territory, and otherwise helped the PAVN's rapid mobile forces advance.

During the summer of 1967, heavy contact with PAVN forces in the area prompted the launching of Operation Greeley, a combined search and destroy effort by elements of the U. S. 4th Infantry Division, the U. S. 173rd Airborne Brigade, and Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) 42nd Infantry Regiment and Airborne units.

They were joined by two First Air Cavalry battalions ( the 1 / 12 and 2 / 8th Cavalry ) and ARVN forces consisting of the four battalions of the 42nd Regiment and the 2nd and 3rd Airborne Battalions.

This strategy was successful, as evidenced by the ability of ARVN forces to repel a full-scale NVA Easter Offensive in 1972 with US aerial support.

Subsequent congressional action banned further U. S. ground intervention outside the boundaries of South Vietnam, so the next major drive, Operation Lam Son 719, would have to be based on ARVN ground forces, U. S. air and artillery support, and U. S. advisory and logistical assistance.

When US forces commenced redeployment operations, many of the M48A3 Pattons were turned over to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) forces, in particular creating the ARVN 20th Tank Regiment ; which supplemented their M41 Walker Bulldog units.

It was implied that during the USMC and ARVN attack, North Vietnam's forces had rounded up those individuals whose names it had previously collected and had them executed or sent North for reeducation.

Each hamlet was given a radio with which to call for ARVN support, but in fact ARVN forces were unreliable in responding to calls for help, especially when attacks occurred after nightfall.

** The first official large unit action of the Vietnam War took place when two companies of the ARVN 23d Division were ambushed by a well-organized Vietcong force of several hundred identified as the " 2d Liberation Battalion ".

As the high command of the ARVN worked closely with the American advisers, Nhu used the combat police and Tung's Special Forces, who took his orders directly from Nhu.

Separate ARVN operations took place in the Parrot's Beak area.

The 25, 000-man ARVN force, which U. S. planners had considered half the necessary size, took admitted 25 % casualties, which some estimates put as high as 50 %.

The ARVN took a stand at An Loc, led by CG Nguyen Van Minh, which was shortly surrounded by PAVN troops.

The elite, all-volunteer ARVN 3rd and 9th Airborne Battalions joined the action, attacking the hill from another direction.

The 2 / 3 ARVN reached the crest of Hamburger Hill around 10: 00, ahead of the 3 / 187th, but was incredibly ordered to withdraw from the summit, under the pretense that allied artillery was to be directed on to the top of the hill.

Some advisors worked with regular ARVN units and formations, while others worked with the Montagnard hill tribes in conjunction with US Special Forces.

The first official large unit military action was on September 26, 1959, when the Vietcong ambushed two ARVN companies.

The second heaviest losses were during the U. S. Army's final offensive of the war, operation Dewey Canyon II ( Dewey Canyon II was an operation in support of the ARVN Lam San 719 Operation, in which the code 719 meant the year 1971 along Route 9 ), when the cavalry's remaining Sheridan Squadrons met near disaster on the Lao border during the early months of 1971, in particular the 1st Squadron of the 1st Cavalry Regt.

Amid religious protests that garnered worldwide attention, Diệm lost the backing of his U. S. patrons and was assassinated, along with his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu by Nguyễn Văn Nhung, the aide of ARVN General Dương Văn Minh on 2 November 1963, during a coup d ' état that deposed his government.

Six waves of ARVN tear gas and attack dogs failed to disperse the crowds, and finally brownish-red liquid chemicals were doused on praying protesters, resulting in 67 being hospitalised for chemical injuries.

On 18 November, on Hill 1416 northeast of Tan Canh, the ARVN 3 / 42nd Infantry found the PAVN 24th Infantry Regiment in well-fortified defensive positions.

The area bordered ARVN III Corps tactical zone He preannounced the operation in a speech on April 30.

North Vietnam made a major conventional attack on the South, for which the U. S. provided major air support under Operation Linebacker I, which enabled the ARVN to regain substantial control.

Type 59 tank in Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum, captured by ARVN troops in South Vietnam on 4 July 1972.

ARVN commanders were initially under direct orders by President Ngo Dinh Diem to avoid pitched combat at all costs, allowing the NLF ( VC ) forces ( known around the world as the Viet Cong, or simply " VC ") to train and grow without significant opposition, despite losing several leaders to CIA search and destroy squads which relied heavily on rocket attacks using attack helicopters.

At the strategic level, by late 1965 the ARVN and the South Vietnamese government had rallied after appearing on the verge of collapse and the threat against Saigon had subsided.

It this role it proved a major challenge to the ARVN, with the 275th Regiment successfully ambushing the South Vietnamese 52nd Ranger Battalion near Binh Gia on 11 November 1965.

In this it seems that the Australians likely upset the Viet Cong plan, perhaps moving faster than the ARVN and US troops that they had previously fought, and what followed appears to have been an encounter battle as the two advancing forces clashed on open ground in a meeting engagement.

In Phuoc Binh sub-sector, the Viet Cong 272nd Regiment were able to overrun South Vietnamese government positions within 25 minutes, and they claimed to have killed 115 South Vietnamese soldiers in the process At 9 am on May 11, the ARVN 34th Ranger Battalion was airlifted into Hieu Phong, a small town located about 14 kilometres away from Phuoc Binh in the south-east.

At around 11: 55 am the last remaining soldiers of the ARVN 1st Battalion were discharged near the original landing zone in Thuan Loi, and they too were put out of action within three minutes of touching down on the field.

Late in the afternoon on June 10, the U. S. 118th Aviation Company was joined by other elements of the 145th Combat Aviation Battalion in their final sorties for the day ; airlifting the ARVN 52nd Ranger Battalion from Phuoc Vinh into Dong Xoai, with the objective of recapturing the road junction and the Special Forces Camp.

At 3: 20 pm the ARVN 52nd Ranger Battalion were discharged on a landing zone about 3 kilometres south of Dong Xoai.

Just before the ARVN 7th Airborne Battalion landed on the battlefield, the Viet Cong had intercepted a radio conversation between the aforementioned unit and the 52nd Ranger Battalion in the district centre ; several months earlier the 7th Airborne Battalion was involved in the battle at Binh Gia, so they vowed to avenge the loss of their comrades.

After the defeat of the ARVN 7th Airborne Battalion, U. S. General William Westmoreland concluded that the Viet Cong still had the strength to continue the attacks on Dong Xoai.

The three armored squadrons continued their three-pronged advance 16 kilometers deep into the Kampuchean territory before they veered south toward Hậu Nghĩa, and helicopters debarked troops unexpectedly on enemy positions, while other ARVN units conducted rapid operations into the region between Đức Huệ and Gò Dầu Hạ.

After that battle, Beckworth temporarily disappears from the story, while Col. Mike Kirby leads a team of Green Berets, Montagnards ( Degar ), and ARVN soldiers on a top-secret kidnap mission capturing a very important NVA field commander, who lives, eats, and drinks very well, in a guarded mansion, while the common people go hungry, cold, and naked.