In a potential people’s war to defend the Motherland, beside preparatory study and training for small and medium-scale combat in combination with traditional fighting methods to cause partial damages for enemy force, it is essential to make investment in study and training activities on modern, large-scale combined arms warfare to strategically defeat the enemy at critical times, creating strategic turning point to end the war.

A battle for the strategic destruction of the enemy is one of the most fundamental concepts of warfare. Only the strategic destruction (or major destruction) of the enemy force can lead to a major development on the battlefield and the conclusion of the conflict. Discussing the value of a battle for the enemy’s strategic destruction in Central Highland Campaign (1975), General Hoang Minh Thao wrote: “The rule of fighting for the strategic destruction of the enemy and the strategic decisive battle was successfully applied in the Central Highland and continued to be employed aggressively in Hue – Da Nang Campaign. And finally, that rule was utilised and promoted to the highest level in the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

It is widely known that a war often consists of a combination of combat operations of different scales and forms, including engagements aim for the strategic destruction of the enemy. However, in each conflict, depending on combat scenarios and conditions, the opposing forces, and the posture as well as the capability of the allied force, the blow for enemy strategic destruction can be carried out at different levels. Looking back at many wars in world history, victories were often secured by the armies that delivered a well-executed blow for the strategic destruction of their enemy. For example: The strategic destruction of German Army Group B in the Battle of Stalingrad caused by the Red Army’s counteroffensive marked a new turning point in World War II; the Red Army’s victory in the Battle of Kursk, including the largest tank engagement in history, enabled the Soviet forces to launch strategic offensives on the entire Eastern Front, inflicting heavy casualties for German forces, leading to the victory of Battle of Berlin, and concluding the war.

In the struggles against foreign invaders throughout the history of our nation, one of the fundamental causes for our victories was the application of diverse, flexible and artful military operation at different scales and levels in combination with the art of “taking small to defeat big, using less to fight more, utilise weak to combat strong”. Our unique military art was the reason for many victories in decisive battles for the strategic destruction of the enemy. Most notable battles were: Bach Dang (981), Nhu Nguyet (1077), Chuong Duong, Thang Long, Tay Ket, Van Kiep (1285), Bach Dang (1288), Tot Dong – Chuc Dong (1426), Chi Lang – Xuong Giang (1427), Ngoc Hoi, Dong Da (1789), etc. All of them were the battles that caused major casualties for the enemy, fundamentally turning the tide of the war. In the era of Ho Chi Minh, in our Resistance War against French Colonialism, we won many engagements that led to the strategic destruction of the enemy force, and the most significant one was the historic Dien Bien Phu Campaign, in which our force completely destroyed the enemy fortified stronghold group, forcing the French to sign Geneva Accords to end the war. After that, in our Resistance War against U.S. Imperialism, having to fight against an enemy with far superior economic and military power, equipped with the most advanced weapons and equipment at the time, we applied diverse and flexible combat tactics and fighting methods. Thanks to various operation directly engaging the U.S. forces with key battles and decisive battles, we were able to completely destroyed many U.S. battalions, inflict heavy casualties on U.S. brigades and divisions, and defeat the enemy’s strategic combat plans, making the enemy gradually weakened, bogged down and defeated. In particular, with the extraordinary victory of our historic Air Defence Campaign late 1972, also known as “Hanoi – Dien Bien Phu in the air”, U.S. Imperialists had to sign the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 and withdraw their troops home. In combats against Saigon puppet troops (with strong support from the U.S.) at the later stage of the war, we carried out strategic operations to destroy multiple enemy divisions, scattering their army corps, creating favourable strategic opportunities for us to successfully conducted the strategic decisive Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

As for the (potential) Patriotic War in the future, when discussing the topic of battle for the strategic destruction of the enemy, there are many different opinions, however, most of them agree with the idea of conducting small and medium-scale operations to cause attrition and partially destroy the enemy force to weaken and pin them down. This “consensus” is not without reason, it is very difficult for us, which only have to cause strategic destruction to a potential enemy which is supported by its allies and mainly uses advanced weapons while we only have inferior weapons and equipment and do not have the support from socialist countries like the previous liberation wars. However, many believes that it is necessary to cause strategic destruction to the enemy at critical points and only strategic destruction is able to defeat the enemy’s plan to achieve quick victory and other strategic schemes; and even if the enemy is weakened and bogged down, its strategic destruction is still required. Compared with previous liberation war, in a future war for the defence of the Motherland, we will have more favourable conditions to cause strategic destruction to the enemy, because we are prepared in terms of capabilities and resources; in which military capability is the most significant factor, and the fighting power of the People’s Army plays the key role. Regarding combat strength, in the previous liberation wars, we had to build our forces from small to large formations, and mainly fought ground battles. Today, from the beginning, we already have strong units, especially strategic manoeuvre contingents that are elite, compact, strong, mobile and equipped with modern hardware, particularly the Navy, Air Force – Air Defence and other forces. These are the main forces responsible for fighting battles that cause strategic destruction to the enemy. In terms of battlefield disposition, in the past we had to fight to gain more ground and population. Today, we have the land, the air, the sea, islands, etc. We have complete control over a unified country with defence posture already well-prepared in peacetime (including the preparation for destroying the enemy strategically at critical points) and can be further complemented in wartime. There are also concerns about the enemy’s potential air, naval and cyberspace superiority, however, wartime lessons have shown that the one who controls the ground is the winner. Concerns about the enemy advanced weapons are well-founded, but such weapons have certain limitations and no matter how modern the weapons are, they must be operated by humans, therefore the human factor still has the decisive role in the battlefield.

In a future war, we may not have external supports like in the past. This is a challenge, but it is the self-determination spirit, domestic capabilities, and the efforts of our Party, State, and People are the decisive factor for the ultimate victory. From the arguments mentioned above, it can be seen that, beside small and medium-scale combats fought with traditional methods, in a future war, we will have certain conditions to initiate large-scale combat operations to inflict major casualties to the enemy at strategic locations. Therefore, it is necessary to create conditions and opportunities for large-scale battles to destroy critical contingents of the enemy, defeating its strategic plans; in general, we should mainly conduct small and medium-scale operations in combination with strategic, decisive operations at selected time, locations and battlefields.

In a war to defend the Motherland, we should conduct widespread and constant combat activities at all scales to set up battlefield disposition and opportunities to launch modern strategic combined-arms operations and campaigns, focusing on key and decisive battles to destroy multiple battalions, several brigades of the enemy and inflict major casualties to their divisions. In fighting against an aggressive enemy which also has supported from their allies, only the destruction of such scale can create strategic impacts to defeat their strategic plan and destroy their fighting spirit. General Hoang Minh Thao once said: “In the age of high-level industrialisation, modern warfare requires us to have the essential and imperative ability to conduct combined-arms and joint combat operation”. Our Party’s 13^th Congress Resolution also stipulated that, in 2030 Vietnam “will be a developed country with modern industry and high income per capita”. This is the key condition for us to build a modern Vietnam People’s Army capable of conducting modern combined-arms and joint combat operations.

To effectively fight a battle for the strategic destruction of the enemy, there are several fundamental objectives to realise: (1). Adhere to the strategy of all-people national defence and people’s warfare, proactively make preparation in peacetime, build all-people national defence capability that is comprehensive in terms of resource, force strength and posture; attach importance to building robust defence networks in provinces, cities and military regions. (2). Focus on the development on onsite forces and strategic mobile forces; in which the strategic mobile forces must be elite, compact, strong, manoeuvrable, modern including strong infantry and mechanised infantry divisions, contingents of the Navy and Air Defence – Air Force and modernised brigades of combat arms, which are the main forces in fighting major operations and campaigns for the strategic destruction of the enemy. (3). Proactively prepare combat disposition throughout the entire country, focusing on building a robust all-people defence posture in combination with solid all-people security posture and “people’s heart and mind” posture. (4). Attach importance to the deployment of strategic materials at critical areas where strategic operations are planned, be ready to transform all-people defence posture into people’s warfare posture. (5). Develop strategic combat plans and conduct training and exercise in accordance to these plans; in which focus on improving commanders’ leadership and management skills, and the ability to create and seize strategic combat opportunities; organise, utilise, and deploy forces; and combine the combat activities of onsite units and strategic mobile contingents in fighting battle for the strategic destruction of the enemy. (6). Push ahead the study and development of military arts on people warfare in combination with the study of small and medium-scale combat operations, and of the synergy between traditional fighting methods and modern combined-arms and joint operations.

Lieutenant General, Associate Professor, Dr. TRAN THAI BINH