Timeline, July 5th

[David]

HISTORICAL:
July 5, 1885: As General de Courcy negotiates in Hue, soldiers of the regent, Thuyet, attack French soldiers who resist. Thuyet then flees with Ham Nghi.

July 5, 1887: The French seize Hue with an expeditionary force of 40,000 men.

PREBELLUM:
July 5, 1944 (15th day of the 5th month, Year of the Monkey [Giap Than]): Cdt Fran?ois de Langlade, who has parachuted into Tonkin on de Gaulle's orders to meet Jean Decoux, the Vichy-appointed officer in charge, is dissuaded from the meeting by General Mordant.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 5, 1967 (28th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): During Operation Bear Claw, US Seventh Fleet Amphibious Force conducts a helicopter assault 12 miles inland at Con Thien.

July 5, 1967 (28th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): The 155th AVN lifts 1,450 troops of the 23rd ARVN Division into four landing zones along Highway 14 between Duc Lap and Gia Nghia in the south central highlands.

July 5, 1967 (28th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): An SAS patrol ambushes an enemy party, killing 4 VC and capturing documents, weapons and a diary.

July 5, 1968 (10th day of the 5th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than])(US Counteroffensive Phase V): A six-man SAS patrol is engaged by a VC force of eighty men, northwest of Xuyen Moc. The patrols withdraws and extracts by helicopter under heavy fire. Thirteen enemy are killed.

July 5, 1970 (3rd day of the 6th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): Operation Texas Star update: At Firebase Ripcord, nightly probing ground attacks against Ripcord's perimeter as well as against Company D, 2/501st (which is surrounded at the base of Hill 805 in the valley below Ripcord) continue.

July 5, 1973 (6th day of the 6th month, Year of the Ox [Quy Suu]): The weekly average for major contacts in I Corps in the last 20 weeks has been only 1.25, with minor contacts during July down to 20 per week (and averaging 55 over the last 20 weeks). In contrast, the weekly average in IV Corps is over 130, and in the Delta over 5. ARVN casualties in I Corps are between 15 and 20 KIA per week, but in IV Corps there are over 80 KIA per week on average. 46% of the attacks by fire in South Vietnam since the cease-fire have occurred in IV Corps during this time, 30% in I Corps.

15% percent of the attacks by fire in South Vietnam since the cease-fire have been in III Corps, and things have been the most quiet in II Corp, which has seen 9% of the country's attacks by fire. In II Corps, there have been an average of 3.25 major contacts per week during the last 20 weeks, and 60 minor contacts per week over the same period of time.; and in III Corps during the same period, an average of 1.25 major contacts and 67 minor contacts per week.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1978 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Horse [Mau Ngo]): Vietnam launches a major offensive against Kampuchea. US sources estimate that up to 80,000 Vietnamese troops are committed.

July 1979 (6th month and supplemental month, Year of the Goat (Ky Mui]): PAVN establishes its General HQ, Front 478, at Chamka Morn in Phnom Penh to conduct a counter-insurgency campaign. Cambodia is divided into four military regions (MR), each corresponding to a PAVN front. MR4, in western Cambodia, falls under Front 479. Based at Baria Toek Thla Airport in Siem Reap, this front faces the greatest resistance threat. MR5, which covers the northeast, falls under Front 379 in Stung Treng. MR7, in the east, is under Front 779 in Kompong Cham. MR9, along the coast, falls under Front 979. In addition, PAVN establishes a Special Military Administrative Zone around Phnom Penh, and Naval Zone 5 off Cambodia's coast. PAVN's occupation force will briefly reach 224,000 men in 1979, then stabilize at an average of 170,000-180,000 troops, including 11 combat divisions for the remainder of its ten-plus year occupation of Cambodia. Up to eight divisions will operate along the border in a wide arc, venturing forth in the dry season (December to June) and pulling back to established garrisons during the monsoon (July to November). Combat divisions make up less than 2/3 of PAVN's total strength, the remainder being HQ and support personnel.

ONGOING OPERATIONS:
SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1972 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive:
- Operation Lam Son 72 (6/28-9/16/72) (18th day of the 5th month through 9th day of the 8th month): In Thua Thien Province, ARVN 1st Division troops at FSB Checkmate are subjected to heavy enemy attacks during which the fire base is overrun and retaken several times during the month; the South Vietnamese Airborne Division and Marines continue advancing on Quang Tri City; the three provinces south of the Hai Van Pass were able to maintain reasonable control despite the low strength of friendly forces.
- The Chu Pao Pass area is cleared and the highway between Kontum and Pleiku opens to commercial traffic in early July. However, the enemy continues to harass traffic with sporadic attacks by fire and Route QL-14, although open, remains insecure.
- A total of six enemy regiments are reported in northern Dinh Tuong Province, about 65 km southwest of Saigon. After taking Kompong Trabek, NVA forces, probably elements of the 9th Division, supported by local Khmer Rouge units, are tightening control over Route QL-l from the Parrot's Beak area to Neak Luong on the Mekong River. By July 2 (22nd day), only two towns in the area remain under National Khmer control, Neak Luong and Svay Rieng. The series of heavy engagements between the NVA and South Vietnamese troops in the Elephant's Foot area in Military Region 4 continue; NVA continues to put pressure on QL-4, the supply route between the Delta's rice bowl and the nation's capital, while launching a series of coordinated attacks on the towns of Sam Giang, Cai Be and Cai Lay in Dinh Tuong Province from mid-May through mid-July; the attacks are driven back by territorial forces with strong support from U.S. tactical air and helicopter gunships.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1979 (6th month and supplemental month, Year of the Goat (Ky Mui]): The Vietnamese have consolidated control over all major Cambodian towns and cities. PAVN forces in Cambodia reach a high of 224,000 in 1979, and then stabilize at an average of 170,000 to 180,000 troops, including 11 combat divisions. Up to eight divisions operate along the border in the dry season (December to June) and pull back to established garrisons during the rainy season (July to November).

July 1981 (6th and 7th months, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): The beginning of the rainy season forces the Vietnamese to pull back from the border town of Pailin, which they have occupied since May in response to Khmer Rouge advances at Phnom Malai.

July 1982 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dog [Nham Tuat]): Some 20,000 PAVN troops are sent home in the first major troop rotation since 1978. Taking their place are fresh troops, many of them southern draftees sent to complete basic training in the forward bases of understrength divisions.

July 1983 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Boar [Quy Hoi]): The Khmer Rouge increase their attacks on PAVN garrisons during the rainy season.

June-July 1984 (5th, 6th and 7th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): PAVN rotates its troops again, sending home three brigades and replacing these with an estimated 14,000 fresh troops, many of whom are sent to reinforce the weakned 5th Division. (Osprey)

July 1985 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Ox [At Suu]): This year as the rainy season begins ten PAVN combat divisions remain in Cambodia, all of them understrength, some with as few as 5000 troops. Meanwhile, the non-Communist resistance is recovering from PAVN's most recent dry season offensive.

July 1986 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Tiger [Binh Dan]): During this summer, PAVN withdraws Divisional Group 98 from Cambodia, replacing some of the troops with fresh men.

July 1988 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dragon [Mau Thin]): PAVN has moved the bulk of its combat troops inland, with PRK Cambodian troops increasingly deployed on the border.