After successively liberating Tuy Phong, Hoa Da, Phan Ly and Hai Ninh Districts, on the evening of April 18, 1975, our army attacked Phan Thiet. The enemy quickly disintegrated, laid down their weapons and surrendered to the liberation army.
At 9 am on April 19, 1975, the Military Management Committee took over Phan Thiet, marking the moment Binh Thuan Province was liberated.
At the Xuan Loc front, the battles took place fiercely. Division 341 captured the American advisory area, the information centre, the police station, the bus station and crushed the counterattacks of three enemy battalions to hold the occupied positions. Division 7 attacked in the east of the town. We and the enemy fought for each trench, house, and street corner.
The enemy sent Airborne Brigade 1, Infantry Regiment 8, Ranger Group 2, eight artillery battalions and two regiments of tanks and armoured vehicles to reinforce. The enemy mobilised 60-70 arrivals of aircraft to attack fiercely every day. In some places, they even used CBU-55 bombs with great destructive power, causing us significant damage.
The Regional Command and Corps 4 decided to change the way of fighting: attacking the units that were not yet firmly established on the outer perimeter, separating Xuan Loc from Bien Hoa, cutting off Route 2 to Ba Ria. The Corps' artillery fired fiercely at Regiment 43 and Regiment 48 of Division 18 of the Republic of Vietnam and Airborne Brigade 1, supporting the infantry to destroy each part of the enemy troops that rescue their accomplices. The mechanised artillery and portable artillery of Special Forces Group 113 continuously bombarded Bien Hoa Airport.
On the same day, Division 6 of Military Region 7, Regiment 95 captured the Tuc Trung and Kien Tan sub-regions, destroyed Regiment 52, repelled Cavalry Brigade 3 of the Republic of Vietnam, and occupied the Dau Giay Intersection. Route 1 from Bien Hoa to Xuan Loc was cut off, and Xuan Loc Town was surrounded and isolated.
On the night of April 19, 1975, Commando Battalion 197 and Battalion 23/Special Forces Regiment 429 attacked the Phu Lam Radar Centre, paralysing the centre's operations to organise resistance by the enemy.
From April 17 to 19, 1975, the Standing Committee of the Can Tho City Party Committee held an expanded conference to discuss plans for an attack and uprising in the city.
After 10 days of continuous advance, on April 19, 1975, Automobile Division 571 of Truong Son Command, with more than 1,000 vehicles, overcame a 1,200km stretch of mountain and forest roads, bringing the entire formation of Corps 1 to the Dong Xoai assembly point, both safely and six days ahead of schedule.
On the same day, the Command of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign gave preliminary orders to the Air Defence-Air Force Command to prepare for the air force to participate in the campaign. Receiving the mission, the Party Committee and the Military Command discussed and decided to use captured enemy aircraft and assigned the combat Air Force Command to organise the implementation.
On April 19, 1975, US Secretary of State Kissinger spoke out: "The political development in South Vietnam depends on the Vietnamese themselves, the US is ready to accept any solution they approve." On the same day, US troops in Military Region 4 evacuated.
