The role of nail, wood and bamboo for defense efforts in Guerilla Warfare: A lesson learned from Vietnam War

The role of nail, wood and bamboo for defense efforts in Guerilla Warfare;

A lesson learned from Vietnam War

by Ir. Ade Muhammad, M.Han

Background

The Cold war era during 1945 – 1990, it’s creating many tensions all over the world. The Two Blocks of US lead Democratic-Liberal states against Soviet Union lead Socialist-Communist states. They were never involving with direct war, but instead they have been conducted indirect war for more than 4 decades in many countries.

When the  conflict in Vietnam raising from 1954 - 1960 with intense insurgency to the democratic area of South Vietnam, since the after effect on defeated France in Dien Bien Phu 1954 and possibility of Communization in South East Asia with the Domino Theory. US Government under President Lyndon W Johnson was using the incident of Gulf Tonkin (August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox being shot by the North Vietnamese torpedo boat) as justification to involve directly to “Prevent Communist Spreading” in the South East in general and the South Vietnam in particularly.

Since then, the US involved directly and the numbers for US troops deployed to Viet Nam during the same period were quite different; 2,000 in 1961, rising rapidly to 16,500 in 1964. They also brought the latest technology weapon system in to Viet Nam War theatre.

The Viet Nam War officially started on the morning of January 31, 1965.

Ho Chi Minh’s Strategy

Just before the insurgency 1954, Ho Chi Minh stated, "Do not engage in military operations; that will lead to defeat. Do not take land from a peasant. Emphasize nationalism rather than communism. Do not antagonize anyone if you can avoid it. Be selective in your violence. If an assassination is necessary, use a knife, not a rifle or grenade. It is too easy to kill innocent bystanders with guns and bombs, and accidental killing of the innocent bystanders will alienate peasants from the revolution. Once an assassination has taken place, make sure peasants know why the killing occurred."

This Grand Statement known as "Armed Propaganda."

Then the General Vo Nguyen Giap set out the detailed of that Armed Propaganda into Military Strategy and Tactics.

The main principle of the application in Armed Propaganda is to depleted enemy’s stamina, morale and motivation. This cannot achieved by only using common weapon such a gun, but need more innovative idea to applied this principles to work.

One of their operational methods is “injuring the enemy more important than killing the enemy”.

This was following logic that one injured enemy will bother other at least other 2 people. Not mention the fear impact that could be spread amongst the platoon and higher units.

Application of the Strategy

This method becoming operational in several way and techniques using non expensive materiel and this way could give highly Value for Money.

Guerrilla warfare also needs to rely on the advantages of environment because they cannot spend much ammo and important supplies due the Asymmetric Warfare condition they face. Meanwhile the enemy enjoyed the benefit of abundance by supply and has a great number of sophisticated weapon systems that support their military operation.

After short of time the innovation began to spread amongst the guerilla’s unit and they rely heavily with simple things such as nail, wood and bamboo to make a trap system.

One of the most popular is “Panji Trap system”, using mainly of board of wood and stick with lines of nails or little bamboo spear and place it to the most unsuspected place. Then it will wound heavily on foot of patrolled infantry and success created fear also increasing depression amongst US infantry soldiers.

North Vietnamese Guerilla forces (or Viet Cong) used also lots of other mean of trap, such as mine or grenades. But often these activities limited by short supply from Hanoi, then they improvised more freely with more traditional traps (the US Soldier called a Booby Trap) with easy to find materials.

They used the Booby Trap usually to defend the perimeter of temporary base, depo’s and suspected enemy’s patrol trail. They distributed along that places, and comeback later for calculating the remaining booby traps and reports to their base. They could predict the enemies’ movement with how many booby traps became active.

For the closing, the booby traps example we can see in the next pages.

Manufacturing Panji Traps. Long nails or lengths of thin steel rods, hammered flat at the ends then filed into a barbed shape, then hammered through blocks of wood.

Side-Closing Panji Trap: The most basic trap. Very cheap to make and very common. Basically a small hole covered with leaf litter, the victim's foot is impaled when stood on.

Side Closing Trap: The side closing trap consists of two wooden slats, each studded with spikes, sliding along a pair of guide rods, and controlled by heavy rubber bands. When the prop holding the slats apart is dislodged, the slats spring together impaling the portion of the body passing between them

Spike Board: The spike board is used with a pit and consists of a treadle board, one end of which is spiked. When a man steps on the treadle, the spiked end flies up striking him in the face or chest.

Door Trap: Two lengths of bamboo with the cross section heavily spiked and is suspended above the door or opening via a trip wire. When the wire is tripped the trap swings down impaling the victim.

Whip Trap: Bamboo whips are constructed of a length of green bamboo with spikes (normally bamboo) attached to one end. The bamboo pole is bent and held in an arched position by a catch device triggered by a trip wire stretched across the track. When released, the bamboo pole whips back into the straight position impaling the person triggering the trap.

Tiger Trap:  The tiger trap or deadfall consists of a weighted, spike-studded board. The actuation is usually by means of a trip wire stretched across the path or track underneath the trap.

Venus Fly Trap: Consists of a rectangular frame work with overlapping barbs emplaced in a pit, on trails or a rice padi. Can be made from a metal container which is sunk into the ground

The Signs of Warning: These are the special sign of warnings for a friendly soldier of Viet Cong to avoid the traps.

Epilogue

These efforts end with the glorious result for Viet Nam Nation. On April 30, 1975 the Viet Nam People’s Army invades the Saigon and won the war.

They proven be able to defend them self with the most simple things and have the strong mind to synthesize it into Grand Strategy.

Hopefully we could learn something from Viet Nam War lesson and using it to enhance our way of thinking for National Defense purposes.

The philosophic lesson of the Viet Nam War shown that, the true weapons are from inside the mind of the human and the strong spirit of the Nation.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview.html

http://www.5rar.asn.au/weapons/boobytraps.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_casualties

http://www.bookrags.com/history/vietnam-war/sub30.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby_trap

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/army/p/giap.htm

http://www.vwam.com/vets/tet/tet.html