When geography determines the outcome of the Vietnam war

Trees speaking Vietnamese has been a big part of the American culture from 1960s until now. The American military being such a strong military got defeated in Vietnam with tens of thousands of troops killed there. The spirit of the Vietnamese in combatting the invasion is remarkable. However, the result of the war is already determined geographically.

Vietnam's geography is very suited for guerrilla warfare. There are mountains in the North, rainforests in the middle and south, and the inly place where troops can unfold and large war could take place would be the Hong river delta in the North and the Mekong river delta. However, controlling these two places doesn't mean controlling the whole country. The vast majority of the lands in the country are tropical lowlands with mountains in between. The S form of the country made it extremely hard for the troops to expand and fully enforce their power. Rather, the Americans would have to fight with an overwhelming Vietnamese troops in number between tropical forests with rainy and wet weather. The trees and high grass along with bushes provide natural cover to the Vietnamese where they can hide there with their camouflage and shoot while the Americans from places that Americans would have never expected. The bushy environment made it really easy for the Vietnamese to hide given their familiarity with the environment while the Americans have rarely any experience fighting scattered battles with the Vietnamese. The only way Americans can run their supplies is through roads which are surrounded by tropical forests. The small amount of forces guarding the supplies are no match to the overwhelming Vietnamese force and would lose their supply which would cut off a lot of the troops in the frontline. The geography is also suited for surprise attacks. Oftentimes, the Americans wound need to walk a long distance in muddy hills and tropical rainforests with small scattered harassment that is slowly wearing off the moral of the Americans. Finally, as a group of Americans are about to reach the target, the Vietnamese started to fire from all around surrounding the Americans. They can hide in the bushes, hide in the swamps, or famously speaking Vietnamese on the trees while the Americans can't even find where their enemy are.

Another factor is the mountainous geography of Vietnam. The mountains in Vietnam is not high, but the troops and construction cannot lay out properly which limits the American supply route. There are two problem for the Americans when they are encountering the mountain. The mountains have severely limited the supply of the Americans]. The Americans have to build roads and tunnels across the mountains with clashes dragging the construction. Even if the roads are being built, their ability to transport supply and reinforcement is questionable given that the roads need to be very thin enable to suit the mountains and a big road would need a overwhelming amount of manpower and financial support that America can't give. The small supply route would also be harassed by the Vietnamese frequently while the troops guarding cannot find where and who their enemy are. Thus, the Americans later uses air support and helicopters to transport supply and reinforcement given the instability of their ground supply route. Another problem of the mountains in Vietnam is the hardship it creates when fighting. The valleys of the mountain is the only way Americans can march since American solider are not ninjas. However, the trees and the bushes gives the Vietnamese convenience in attacking the Americans from surrounding areas while giving cover to the Vietnamese. The valleys create an environment where the Americans are stuck while the Vietnamese could attack from uphill position. With higher position, even the least advanced weapons can create an effect of advancement since the bullets and cannons rain down and cover the Americans downhill which make no time for the Americans to prepare

. Overall, The geography of Vietnam has been a gift for the country when facing an invasion. The mountains the the tropical forests have been helping Vietnam for thousands of years in Its history. Vietnam has been a gifted ground for guerrilla warfare where the enemy troops cannot fully enforce their power while the locals can use their bushes and forests as cover while dragging their invaders into the mud of warfare.