What were the strengths and weaknesses of the vietcong?

Answer 1

The main strength of the Vietcong(VK) was their skill at guerrilla warfare. This form of warfare brought the american army to its knees, just as it brought the British to their knees during the american revolution. The idea behind Guerrilla warfare is that you use surprise attacks from hidden positions to suprise and confuse your enemy. You also demoralize the opposing army an incredible amount, as they cannot see the enemy and how many have died in their retaliatory attacks. The VK were also assisted in this form of warfare was the tunnel system. The VK had hundreds of miles of tunnels running throughout Vietnam without the Americans knowledge. They could often times attack from behind american lines and devastate the american's position while losing very few men themselves.

The main weakness of the VK would be the lack of adequate air support. While it is true that China and the USSR did supply variants of their workhorse fighter the MiG, the VK were extremely vulnerable to napalm strikes by american Phantom jets. Their fighters were often times shot down as many pilots were quite inexperienced. The VK could sometimes counter these Phantoms with the USSR SAM site. it launched what was often called 'an exploding telephone pole' at the american fighters and was relatively accurate.