Army of the Republic of Vietnam

**Dev. Status** | 80% In-game

*"Oh, a storm is threat'ning,*
*My very life today,*
*If I don't get some shelter,*
*Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away."*

- *"Gimme Shelter"* by The Rolling Stones, popular on troop-run radio in Vietnam
Mockingly referred to as Allied Wannabes, the **Army of the Republic of Vietnam**, often abbreviated as the **ARVN**, is the local army in South Vietnam and so desperately wants to be like the Allied forces that it would laughable if they weren't so good at it.

## Background

### The Imitators

It is not inaccurate to say that the ARVN worships the ground the Allies walk on. They adorn their vehicles and uniforms with Allied eagles and it is very common to see nose-art of Tanya on the sides of their tanks. The ARVN tag along on every military operation they can with the intent of learning all there is to know about warfare from the Allies, and to their credit they are catching on very quickly.

They have been assured a position in Allied command once the war is over and already there is an overwhelming number of applications from the country's youth to join the Peacekeepers.

### Au Revoir, Indochina

France had been involved in the region that would become Vietnam since 1858, when Napoleon III seized the area known as Cochinchina under the guise of "protecting Catholic missions". This began a long and lopsided period of colonial rule, where French rules essentially upended centuries of monarchy and divided the country into three disparate regions; Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina. Of course, colonial rule breeds colonial resistance, and for decades the Vietnamese fought against their French colonizers as best they could. It was noted, however, that the Catholic missionaries were often critical of the French ruling style and called for greater unity between the colonizers and colonized. Despite these efforts, the French rule was long resented. France continued to manufacture or capitalize on conflict after conflict, seizing ever more territory until the Soviet arms buildups could no longer be ignored. By the 1940s, a growing nationalism had taken root in Vietnam and refused to die. Supported by Soviet arms and advisers, the French and other soon-to-be Allied Nations knew it was a plan to draw support away from European theaters. What these communist rebels underestimated was the skill and training of the French colonial forces. Trained to relatively high standards, the local French-aligned forces were capable of holding their own against the rebels long enough that, with the post-war collapse of many powers, France decided that enough was enough. Following the long and brutal battle of the Dien Bien Phu airbase, the French withdrew and stipulated that Vietnam be divided. As in Korea, the Viet Minh communists seized the north and created the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The more capitalistic south transformed into the Republic of Vietnam, and from the start realized that it had a problem.

### Kiss My Ballot Box

Ngô Đình Diệm was chosen as the perfect man to lead the south post-partition. American officials supported his posting due to three factors; his anti-communism, his Roman Catholicism, and his ability to fluently speak English. With the sudden influx of 200,000 Catholic refugees from North Vietnam immediately prior to the divide, Diệm found himself in a prime position to appoint himself the real leader of the Republic of Vietnam. However, military might was still found in the hands of a French-trained officer corps who understood that war with the north would only be complicated by a slowly growing insurrection in the south of communist agitators. This was compounded by the calls for a return to the monarchy by emperor Bảo Đại, and as the 1955 October referendum closed attacks were reported on Đại supporters by Diệm campaign workers. It was clear that when he won 98.2% of the vote, Diệm's government was hopelessly corrupt.

Yet somehow Diệm was still kept in power by the American government. He dismantled much of South Vietnam's organized crime, and initiated a program by which isolated villages would be "resettled" into secured and protected areas from the communist rebels. Despite what appeared to be steps towards progress, reports streamed out of South Vietnam that Diệm was also using his power to prevent whistleblowers from voicing their dissent and arresting all political opponents. Worse, Diệm was becoming known worldwide for his government's oppression of the country's Buddhist majority. He outlawed the flying of Buddhist flags and banners, and at a protest on June 3rd, 1963, protestors were attacked with tear gas, attack dogs, and finally a chemical mixture similar to Agent Orange. The entire policy came to a head when Lâm Văn Túc, aka Thích Quảng Đức, burned himself alive in protest. In retaliation, Diệm had loyal forces start raiding and attacking Buddhist temples.

By now many ARVN officers were tiring of Diệm's policies. The Strategic Hamlet Program only made local farmers more interested in the Viet Cong, and urban discontent brewed into a volatile mixture. The United States, France, and Catholic Church were all now tired of the growing-insanity behind Diệm's rule, and a secret ACIN cable, #243, was sent authorizing Allied representatives to "influence" a possible shift in leaders in South Vietnam if Diệm continued to refuse any attempt at reform. By then many ARVN generals had formed plans for their own coup, and on the night of November 1st, 1963, Diệm and his brother who led the raids on the Buddhist temples were arrested and told they would stand trial. Yet en route, both prisoners were stabbed, shot, and killed by Major Nguyễn Văn Nhung, who himself was found dead during a second coup.

### Junta? Hardly Knew Her!

After the coup, control was quickly consolidated in the hours following. One of the most skilled groups doing their work was the **Biệt Động Quân**, AKA the ARVN Rangers. Their officers, trained to Peacekeeper standards at Ft. Benning, GA, were able to successfully hold their lines and bases against small uprisings and insurgencies against the South Vietnamese government. Not only charged with specialized missions to root out communist insurgency within the nation, the Rangers were also merged with the Civilian Irregular Defense Group to provide border security to try and stamp on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other smuggling routes. Recognizable by their distinctive unit patch of a growling jungle cat, their commanders managed to hold the countrysides together as Saigon soon fell into coup after coup in the months following Diệm's assassination. The instability in the capital was becoming a liability to the Rangers' duties, and the corruption in the regular army and other services meant that the Rangers were often left to sink or swim on their own. Desperate to staunch the bleeding, the Rangers made a bold move.

Led by Gen. Ngô Quang Trưởng, the Rangers seized power in Saigon and decreed that the military needed to launch immediate interior offensives against enemy positions. Taken aback by the sheer speed and skill that the Rangers accomplished their coup, the regional military commanders and government officials agreed and carried out their missions. Though not entirely eliminating the threat, the South Vietnamese government was able to breathe for a short time as World War III raged around them.

By now, Trưởng's government was starting to crack down on dissidents. A career military man, Trưởng realized that the country needed to solidify against the threat of communism from North Vietnam. The Allies agreed, but before they could send funding the Empire of the Rising Sun attacked. Once more, Trưởng was forced to do what he needed to and crack down hard. Political dissent was obliterated, opposition to the government clamped down and silenced. Though accused of being no better than the men before him, Trưởng found that trying to explain his actions only made his detractors all the more vocal. Which, in a strange way, probably made his government thankful for the Tet Offensive.

### Offensive Gestures

Tết had traditionally been a period where all sides on the Vietnam War called a short truce to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Trying to relieve some of the people's tensions, the South Vietnamese government tried to encourage festivities and happiness in the cities and provinces. Unknown to them, Hồ Chí Minh's government had been undergoing certain changes. Militants had seized key positions of power, and thanks to the distractions of ACIN during World War III were preparing a massive offensive against the South. This wasn't to say that the ARVN intelligence didn't realize that something was happening, but the fact was that their intelligence methodology didn't account for bold movements, merely the assessment of what the enemy was capable of. And even by the most liberal estimates, an all-out attack on Saigon was ludicrous.

When the Tet Offensive began, the first signs of something happening were simultaneous communist uprisings in major cities like Quảng Trị, Huế, and Đà Nẵng. While this meant that the festivities were not going to be quite so successful, the military government at first didn't think much of the issue. Then there was a report of a massive NVA army pouring across the border moving South to Quảng Trị, and all hell broke loose. Soon city after city was being assailed internally from the Viet Cong and being overrun by mechanized communist forces. Despite the best efforts of the Rangers and greater South Vietnamese military, the NVA continued to press ever southward, deep into the heart of the south. Border garrisons were soon turned into skeleton watchposts as ever-urgent reports reported that the communists were bulldozing all opposition. A failed stand at Ninh Hòa revealed that the NVA had split, half of the force seizing Ban Mê Thuột as the rest obliterated the garrison at Nha Trang. Caught between two massive forces and with the Allies still reeling from WWIII, the South Vietnamese Ranger leadership vowed to fight to the end.

Mercifully for them, by the time the communists were closing on Biên Hòa the Allies had managed to form a carrier group capable of destroying the communist supply lines and acting in concert with ARVN forces trapped behind the enemy advance. While many have questioned how the Allies were able to raise such a force, the simple truth is that the attack on Tokyo was so massive that the reserves were simply shuttled to South Vietnam once it was clear that Saigon could fall.

Quickly reconstituting, South Vietnamese officials noticed in the weeks after the assault that there was an upsurge in recruitment for the Rangers. Press photos of Ranger platoons holding out against NVA waves and Viet Cong uprisings captured the minds of many South Vietnamese youths, and in the weeks following the Rangers were soon easily able to reconstitute much of their losses while still keeping a valuable core of experienced vets to plan and advise.

Now, with the rise of the Viet Cong, the Rangers are going back to their initial missions to root out and destroy their insurgent enemies. Patrolling the highlands and borders, along the rivers and in the jungles, the Rangers are quite possibly the only force in South Vietnam trying to hold everything together. Luckily for them, their leadership has now started to realize that without the Allies, they're as good as "re-educated". Yet the government must run, and if certain areas run more effectively with corruption, so be it. Survival first, reform once there is the luxury of time.

## Army

*"What do the Allies know about war? They've never had to truly fight for their very survival. If they wanted to, they could sweep through Vietnam in a wave, but they don't. We fight as we do because we fight for our nation's very survival. They want to keep the moral high ground. They can have it. We will take the tactical high ground and call down air strikes on our enemy."*

- ARVN General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, when called out by Allied observers for "cruel treatment of enemy combatants".

### Structures

 File:IconARVNlocked.png | MACV Compound | Allied forward operations base, monitors ARVN efforts and diverts Peacekeeper forces and financial support depending on the battle's current Escalation Level.

### Peacekeeper Reinforcements

These forces can be called upon during Minor Faction Deathmatch. When the going gets tough for the ARVN, they call on assistance from a strike team of elite Allied peackeepers, whose equipment has been modified to suit Vietnam's environment. Entirely air-mobile and well armed, this force is perfect for clearing the VC out with a mixture of tear gas and incendiary.

### Reinforcement Packages

 File:IconARVNPeacekeeperSentinel.png | Interception Flight
 File:IconARVNJavelin.png | Suppression Force

### Deathmatch Protocols

After gaining ground, the ARVN can utilize Reservist support whilst fighting the Vietcong. The results (For the Vietcong) are devastating.

 File:ProtocolARVNNapalmStrike.png | Napalm Strike | A Reservist Hawker is sent to the target area. It then releases Napalm to the area below it, utterly annihilating enemy infantry and foliage in the target area. Recharges every three minutes.

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