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The Battle of Hat Dich (3 December 1968 − 19 February 1969) was a series of military actions fought between Australian and New Zealand forces of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) and the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Under the codename Operation Goodwood, two battalions from 1 ATF deployed away from their base in Phuoc Tuy Province, operating against suspected communist bases in the Hat Dich area, in western Phuoc Tuy, south-eastern Bien Hoa and south-western Long Khan provinces as part of a large allied sweep known as Operation Toan Thang II. The Australians and New Zealanders conducted sustained patrolling throughout the Hat Dich and extensively ambushed tracks and river systems in the Rung Sat, occupying a series of fire support bases as operations expanded. Meanwhile, American, South Vietnamese and Thai forces also operated in direct support of the Australians as part of the division-sized action. On 6 February 1969, two additional battalions from the Thu Duc VC Regiment were reported to have entered the Hat Dich area and 4 RAR/NZ was subsequently redeployed with tanks and APCs in support, resulting in the heaviest contacts of the operation. The fighting lasted 78 days and was one of the longest out of province operations mounted by the Australians during the war. Although there were few major actions, the fighting resulted in heavy Viet Cong and North Vietnamese casualties and forced them to abandon their permanent bases in the Hat Dich, as well as disrupting their preparations for an upcoming offensive during Tet. Immediately following the operation the Australians were redeployed to block the approaches towards key US and South Vietnamese bases in Bien Hoa, Long Binh and Saigon in anticipation of the 1969 Tet offensive, during Operation Federal. ==Background== 1968 was a turning point in the war in Vietnam. Losing more than 45,000 killed—against South Vietnamese (ARVN) and allied losses of 6,000 men—the Tet offensive had been a tactical disaster for the communists.〔.〕〔.〕 Regardless, prior to Tet American commanders and politicians had talked confidently about winning the war, arguing that General William Westmoreland's strategy of attrition had reached the point where the communists were losing soldiers and equipment faster than they could be replaced.〔 Yet the scale of the fighting, and the surprise and violence with which the offensive was launched, had shocked the public, contradicting such predictions of imminent victory. Confidence in the military and political leadership collapsed, as did public support for the war in America. Ultimately, Tet was a publicity and media triumph for the communists, and Hanoi emerged with a significant political victory.〔.〕〔.〕 The offensive had a similar effect on Australian public opinion, and caused growing uncertainty in the government about the determination of the United States to remain militarily involved in Southeast Asia.〔.〕 Amid the initial shock, Prime Minister John Gorton unexpectedly declared that Australia would not increase its military commitment in Vietnam beyond the current level of 8,000 personnel.〔.〕 The war continued without respite however, and between May and June 1968 1 ATF was again deployed away from Phuoc Tuy in response to intelligence reports of another impending offensive. The Australians subsequently took up positions north-east of Saigon during Operation Toan Thang I to interdict communist lines of communication, fighting a series of significant actions over a 26-day period that became known as the Battle of Coral–Balmoral.〔.〕 On 10 June 1968, General Creighton Abrams had replaced Westmoreland as commander of US and Free World Military Forces in Vietnam and the change in command had resulted in a change in both the concept of the war and its conduct.〔.〕 Abrams directed that the allied main effort would switch to protecting population centres, rather than searching for and attempting to destroy North Vietnamese and Viet Cong main force units as they had done previously.〔.〕 Equally, the prosecution of the war would increasingly be handed over to the South Vietnamese under a policy of Vietnamization, with the Americans aiming to keep North Vietnamese and Viet Cong units off balance to prevent them from interfering with resupply and reinforcement until the South Vietnamese could fight the war on their own. For the Australians the change in allied strategy foreshadowed a return to the pacification of Phuoc Tuy Province.〔.〕 Operations outside the province over the previous eighteen months had been costly, and of the 228 Australians killed and 1,200 wounded during the war to that point almost two-thirds had been killed since January 1967.〔〔147 Australian soldiers were killed in Vietnam between January 1967 and 30 June 1968, with 62 killed and 310 wounded in the first six months of 1968 alone. See .〕 From July, 1 ATF completed a number of search-and-clear operations along the northern border areas and west of their Tactical Area of Responsibility in Phouc Tuy province.〔.〕〔.〕 From the Nui Thi Vai and Nui Dinh hills in the west of the Phuoc Tuy, thick jungle stretched north to the junction of Bien Hoa and Long Khanh provinces, in an area known as the Hat Dich. Like the May Tao mountains in the north-east and the Long Hai hills in the south, these areas of mountains and jungle had been used extensively by the Viet Cong as base areas for many years.〔.〕 The Hat Dich was used by the Viet Cong because of its proximity to Saigon, as well as the important South Vietnamese and US base areas in the Long Binh−Bien Hoa complex.〔.〕 The Viet Cong had been using the northern border regions—including the Thua Tich and Courtenay Rubber Plantation—to link their base areas in the May Tao Mountains in the north-east with the sparsely populated but heavily vegetated Hat Dich area in the west.〔〔 Over time, Australian operations in these areas usually resulted in contacts with varying size groups, including Viet Cong Main Force and occasionally North Vietnamese Army units, and ultimately led to the destruction of the communist transit and training camps, as well as a series of bunker systems and logistic storage facilities.〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Hat Dich」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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