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The Siege of Plei Me (Vietnamese: ''bao vây diệt địch ở Pleime'') (19–25 October 1965) was the beginning phase of the first major confrontation between soldiers of the communist North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and the U.S. army during the Vietnam War. The lifting of the siege by South Vietnamese forces and American air power was followed by the pursuit of the retreating North Vietnamese from 28 October until 12 November, setting the stage for the Battle of Ia Drang. Plei Me was an isolated U.S. Special Forces and Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) camp in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam defended mostly by Montagnard tribesmen. ==Background== Plei Me camp was established in October 1963 by the United States Army Special Forces south of Pleiku city and less than from the Cambodia border in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Plei Me was one of many Special Forces camps scattered around the Central Highlands and charged with gaining and maintaining the support of the Montagnards for the South Vietnamese war effort and gathering intelligence about the infiltration into South Vietnam of North Vietnamese soldiers along the Ho Chi Minh trail.〔''Vietnam Studies: U.S. Army Special Forces, 1961-1971'' (1989), CHM Publication 90-23, Department of the Army. http://www.history.army/milBOOKS/Vietnam/90-23/tab5.htm, accessed 8 April 2015〕 In 1965 the camp was manned by more than 400 CIDG soldiers—local Montagnard irregulars, mostly members of the Jarai ethnic group. Many of them had families living just outside the camp. 12 American soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group and 14 Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces assisted and advised the Montagnards. At the time of the attack on Plei Me, about 300 Montagnards, the 14 Vietnamese, and 10 Americans were inside the camp, the others were on patrol or stationed at nearby listening posts.〔Garland, John M. ''Stemming the Tide, May 1965 to October 1966'' (2000), United States Army in Vietnam, Center of Military History, United States Army, p. 99〕 The camp itself was under the control and command of II Corps Command. Brigadier General Chu Huy Man of the PAVN was tasked with destroying special forces outposts as a prelude to capturing Pleiku city, the headquarters of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in the II Corps region, and gaining control of Highway 19 which led from Pleiku to the coast of South Vietnam. The ARVN had 9 battalions (about 4,500 soldiers) of combat troops stationed in Pleiku. Anticipating a PAVN offensive to capture Pleiku and Highway 19, the United States had stationed the 1st Cavalry Division at Camp Radcliff near the town of An Khe in September 1965. The 1st Cavalry Division was composed of three brigades with at total complement of eight battalions. The 1st Cavalry utilized the new tactic of relying on helicopters to transport soldiers and supplies, for medical evacuations, and aerial rocket artillery.〔Garland, pp. 95-96; ''1st Cavalry Division Association - Interim Report of Operations, First Cavalry Division, July 1965 to December 1966,'' ca. 1967, Folder 01, Box 01, Richard P. Carmody Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University, pp. 15-19, accessed 8 Apr. 2015. General Man had under his command the 32nd (or 320th) and 33rd Regiments of the PAVN army, comprising about 4,200 men,〔, p.112〕 with another regiment, the 66th, becoming available by early November. The 32nd Regiment had been operating in II Corps since January 1965; the 33rd Regiment had arrived in September;〔Vinh Loc, p.45〕 and the 66th Regiment was expected to arrive by November 1965. General Man's offensive was to be launched by December 1965 with all the three regiments. The staging areas were located in the Chu Pong massif on the Vietnam-Cambodian border. II Corps Command, in coordination with Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, planned to use B-52 airstrikes to destroy the three PAVN Regiments once they concentrated at the assembly areas: "The Chu Pong base was known to exist well prior to the Pleime attack and J2 MACV had taken this area under study in September 1965 as a possible B-52 target."〔, p. 9〕 However, General Man decided to launch the attack earlier on October 19, 1965, with only two Regiments (the 32nd and the 33rd), apparently before the 1st Cavalry troops became combat ready. His battle "plan consisted of three phases: 1) The 33rd Regiment would surround Pleime and harass the defenders, exerting enough pressure to force II Corps to send a reaction force; 2) The 32d Regiment would ambush the relief column and destroy it; 3) Both Regiments would combine force to overrun and destroy the Camp itself".〔Vinh Loc, p.47.〕 II Corps Command had to hold off the use of B-52 airstrikes, and came up with a revised plan which consisted of repulsing without destroying the two attacking Regiments, then looking for the chance to use the airstrikes against all the three regiments as initially planned. 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「Siege of Plei Me」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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