Battle of Xuan Loc

Overview

The Battle of Xuân Lộc was the last major battle of the Vietnam War that took place at Xuân Lộc, Biên Hòa Province. Over a period of 12 days between 9 and 21 April 1975, the outnumbered South Vietnamese attempted to stop the North Vietnamese forces from overrunning the town and breaking through towards South Vietnam's capital, Saigon. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) committed almost all their remaining mobile forces, especially the 18th Division, under Brigadier general Lê Minh Đảo, to the defence of the strategic crossroads town of Xuân Lộc, hoping to stall the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) advance. The battle ended when the town of Xuân Lộc was captured by the PAVN 4th Army Corps led by Major general Hoàng Cầm.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Xuân Lộc was the last major battle of the Vietnam War, fought over twelve days in April 1975 as ARVN forces attempted to block the final North Vietnamese advance on Saigon. The ARVN committed nearly all its remaining mobile forces, anchored by the 18th Division under Brigadier General Lê Minh Đảo, to hold the strategic crossroads town against a substantially larger PAVN force of roughly 40,000 troops. Despite inflicting an estimated 5,000 casualties on the attacking PAVN 4th Army Corps, the outnumbered defenders—estimated at 25,000–30,000—could not prevent the town's fall. The capture of Xuân Lộc by Major General Hoàng Cầm's forces opened the route to Saigon, removing the last significant obstacle before the South Vietnamese capital and effectively signaling the imminent collapse of the Republic of Vietnam.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)