| 320th Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1951-present |
| Allegiance |  Vietnam |
| Branch | Vietnam People's Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Nickname | Đồng Bằng (Delta) |
| Engagements | First Indochina War Battle of the Day River Operation Bretagne Operation Mouette Operation Castor Vietnam War Operation Kentucky Operation Lancaster Battle of Khe Sanh Easter Offensive Battle of Kontum Cambodian-Vietnamese War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Văn Tiến Dũng |
The320th Division orĐồng Bằng Division (Vietnamese:Sư đoàn Đồng Bằng, Delta Division) is aformation and one of the six original "Steel and Iron Divisions" of thePeople's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). It was established in January 1951.[1]: 149
The Division was the target ofOperation Mouette, launched on 15 October 1953, with the aim "to fix and destroy a major element of the Chu Luc beforeGiáp could deploy it."[1]: 221 The route for theViet Minh betweenThanh Hoa and theRed River Delta contained a crossroads at Lai Cac which was targeted by the operation. Seven Mobile Groups (Groupes Mobiles) were deployed with river and amphibious units; tank units (largely theM24 Chaffee);half-tracks and paratroopers at designated landing sites, after counter-intelligence misled the Viet Minh into defending the wrong locations.[1]: 221 GM 2 and GM 3 took Lai Cac and established a camp. The night of 18 October saw heavy counterattacks, which the French resisted. The13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade held out all night against one Viet Minh battalion. This initial action was followed by two weeks of probing by GM 4 and paratrooper units. These columns fought major engagements in the surrounding countryside against the Division, particularly on 2 November. The French withdrew overnight on 6–7 November.[1]: 222 The French claimed over 1,000 Viet Minh killed and 2,500 wounded, while 182 were captured, along with "500 infantry weapons, plus 100 bazookas and recoilless guns and 3,000 mines."[1]: 222 Windrow notes that this would amount to one third of the Division.
The Division's 48th Regiment was stationed atĐiện Biên Phủ when the French launchedOperation Castor, however after some small skirmishes the Viet Minh abandoned the valley rather than engaging the French paratroops.[1]: 239
In late December 1953 General Giáp ordered the Division to infiltrate into the Red River Delta and assist Viet Minh local regiments to increase the pressure on the French in this region while he concentrated his forces for theBattle of Dien Bien Phu.[1]: 280 They were sent to disrupt the region betweenHanoi andHaiphong, behind theDe Lattre Line.[2] French forces from Cochinchina and Annam were sent northwards to interdict this.[2] The French further claimed that they were put out of action for at least two months.[2]: 170–2
On 23 August 1965, the PAVN General Staff ordered the Division to split into 320A Division and 320B Division.[citation needed] This section details the history of the 320A Division.
On 1 November 1967, the Marines launchedOperation Kentucky as part of the continuing operations to secure theVietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) aroundCon Thien. The operation concluded on 28 February 1969, the Division and324th Division lost a total of 3,839 killed and 117 captured while the Marines lost 520 killed.[3]: 449
The Division played a supporting role in theBattle of Khe Sanh, largely tasked with keepingRoute 9 fromCa Lu to theKhe Sanh Combat Base closed.[3]: 64 On 24 January 1968 elements of the 320th ambushed a Marine convoy betweenDong Ha andCamp Carroll and then ambushed the relief force from the2nd Battalion 9th Marines killing nine Marines.[3]: 119–20 The subsequent Marine clearing operation, including the "Battle of Mike's Hill", lasted until 29 January and resulted in 21 Marines killed and 130 PAVN killed and six captured.[3]: 121–6
In early March 1968 following an action atMai Xa Thi, prisoners revealed that the Division was moving into theCửa Việt region to replace the 803rd Regiment which was moving further south intoThua Thien Province.[3]: 242
On 29 April the Division attackedAn Binh, north ofĐông Hà, this drew two battalions of theArmy of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 2nd Regiment,1st Division into a running battle and the1st Battalion 9th Marines was sent into support the ARVN resulting in a 7 hour long battle that left 11 Marines, 17 ARVN and over 150 PAVN dead.[3]: 292 The following day the3rd Battalion 9th Marines arrived to support the Marine/ARVN force and was ambushed north ofCam Vu, 20 Marines and 41 PAVN were killed.[3]: 293 Also on 30 April, a PAVN unit opened fire on aUnited States Navy Clearwater patrol from entrenched positions nearDai Do, 2.5 km northeast of Đông Hà. It was later discovered that four PAVN Battalions including the 48th and 56th from the Division had established themselves at Dai Do.[3]: 294 TheBattle of Dai Do lasted until 3 May and resulted in 81 Marines and over 600 PAVN killed.[3]: 295–304 The Division engaged U.S. and ARVN forces elsewhere around Đông Hà from 4–6 April, on the evening of 6 April the2nd Brigade 1st Cavalry Division was deployed into Tru Kinh and launchedOperation Concordia Square. On 9 April the 1st Battalion,5th Cavalry Regiment was ambushed by a division unit resulting in 16 U.S. dead for the loss of 80 PAVN. On 10 April a night attack north ofNhi Ha was broken up by air, artillery and naval support, 159 PAVN were killed. After this the Division broke into small groups and was moving back towards the DMZ, from 9–17 May the 2nd Brigade reported killing 349 PAVN for the loss of 28 killed.[3]: 306
While it seemed that the Division had abandoned their attempts to take Đông Hà this was just a temporary lull. On 22 May a unit from the Division ran into a company from3rd Battalion 3rd Marines between Con Thien andGio Linh and was caught in the open by Marine artillery and air support.[3]: 308 East of Con Thien the1st Battalion 4th Marines encountered another PAVN unit setting off a two-day battle as the PAVN tried to escape back through the DMZ resulting in 23 Marines and 225 PAVN killed.[3]: 308–9 On 25 May in actions at Dai Do and Nhi Ha 350 PAVN were killed.[3]: 309 In two actions at Tru Kinh on 26 May over 56 PAVN were killed for the loss of 10 Marines, while the ARVN killed 110 PAVN north ofThuong Nghia.[3]: 309 On 27 April the Marines killed 28 PAVN and by 30 May the Division was attempting to escape through the Marine and ARVN cordon. Total PAVN losses in the second Battle of Đông Hà were over 1,000 killed.[3]: 309–10
On 12 August 1968, a deserter from the 64th Regiment revealed that the Division had once again crossed the DMZ and was moving to positions near Cam Lo. In response to this the 3rd Marines deployed north of theCam Lo River on 13 August and engaged the 8th Battalion of the 64th Regiment, killing 43.[3]: 397 The operation continued until 26 October resulting in over 1,500 PAVN killed for the loss of less than 200 Marines.[3]: 405–6
In early 1970 the 320B Division was converted from a training division to a mobile division subordinate to the PAVN High Command.[4]: 265
In 1971, the Division, together with the304th and308th Divisions formed part of the PAVN B-70 Corps based in southern Laos.[5] The entire B-70 Corps opposed ARVN forces duringOperation Lam Son 719. By 19 March the Division's 64th Regiment was operating east of Ban Dong/A Luoi (16°38′06″N106°25′48″E / 16.635°N 106.430°E /16.635; 106.430) in an attempt to prevent ARVN withdrawal along Route 9.[6]: 113
During theEaster Offensive of 1972 the Division was involved in theBattle of Kontum attacking the ARVN fire support bases betweenDak To andKontum.[4]: 294
On 20 January 1973 during theWar of the flags period before theParis Peace Accords came into effect on 28 January 1973, the Division attackedĐức Cơ Camp and by the next day seized the camp.[7][4]: 306
During theBattle of Ban Me Thuot on 8 March 1975 the Division capturedChư Sê and Thuan Man northeast ofBan Me Thuot cutting Highway 14.[4]: 368 On the night of 16 March the Division was ordered to pursue the ARVN and civilians from theCentral Highlands who were withdrawing down Highway 7 towards the coast and by the next day the Division's 64th Regiment had cut Highway 7 atCheo Reo,blocking the retreat in what became known as the "Highway of Tears".[4]: 375–6
On 29 March 1975 the PAVN formed3rd Corps comprising the10th,316th and 320th Divisions, the 675th Artillery Regiment, the 312th Anti-aircraft Regiment, 198th Sapper Regiment, 273rd Tank Regiment, 545th Engineer Regiment and the 29th Signal Regiment under the command of Major GeneralVũ Lăng. The Division then proceeded down Highway 7 intoPhú Yên Province, capturingTuy Hòa on 1 April.[4]: 394–5 The Division then went back up Highway 7 and then down Highway 14.[4]: 400 The Division then attacked the ARVN25th Division base at Dong Du northwest ofSaigon.[4]: 417
As part of the 3rd Corps, the Division participated in theCambodian–Vietnamese War.
Today it remains part of PAVN 3rd Corps.
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