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Imagine that you are going with other soldiers through the jungles of Vietnam on another mission. You move cautiously, looking carefully under your feet and listening to the sounds of the jungle. Suddenly you hear rustling behind you. You stop breathing and hear your own heartbeat. Your only hope now is that it's the Viet Cong, because, strangely enough, armed enemy soldiers were the safest thing you could find in the jungle. After all, both you and your comrades already knew very well that American soldiers were actually being killed in Vietnam.
Americans were so afraid of the jungle because it was full of all kinds of traps. They could have had a bow like this on the string. One of the varieties fired horizontally into a soldier's sheepskin coat. In addition, the Otkong people installed vertical bows in the recesses, which shot upwards and hit the lower limbs. Another type of trap on the stretcher fell from above. It was a terrible, heavy mace, equipped with long spikes. If you were unlucky enough to hit such a stretch, it would literally blow your head off or at least aim for the heart itself. Therefore, it was vital to look down at your feet all the time But serious injuries awaited even under ordinary leaves.
One careless step and the soldier finds himself in the clutches of a panja, crushed by leaves. The Kongo soldiers stuck sharply sharpened bamboo sticks into the hole, but not too long so as not to accidentally kill an enemy soldier. Marine Frank Garbart was one of many who fell into the pangea trap. Він відчув гострий біль у нозі, а наступним його спогадом було, як він кричав від болю на землі. The structure of the trap resembled a trap, so it was impossible to simply pull your leg out of it The soldier would have received a much more terrible wound. It took more than one hour to free one wounded man from the trap. After that, transport him to the medical center. Therefore, although the trap did not
kill the soldiers immediately, it incapacitated several at once. The constant threat of mutilation weighed on the soldiers and demoralized them. Just imagine having half your unit mowed down by those damn traps. Ви розлючені і хочете помститись за кожного, хто кричить від болю. Just at this moment, the order arrives to capture the village. On the morning of March 16, 1968, three platoons of the American army entered the village of Sonmai, where they expected to engage in battle with a large battalion of partisans from Vikonivka.
The Americans expected the village to be riddled with insidious traps and danger lurking around every corner. But instead, the soldiers found only unarmed local elderly people and children who offered no resistance. To avenge their fallen, the soldiers began shooting the locals, and there was no stopping them. The soldiers even destroyed livestock, cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks. They approached the homes of locals and ordered them to come out. If no one came out, they threw a grenade into the house. In just four hours, the military killed at least three hundred civilians, including not a single man of military age.
Різанина закінчилася тільки, коли військові у спостережному вертольоті, що вели розвідку, побачили тіла загиблих та палаючі хати. After a brief confrontation, the scouts convinced their colleagues to stop the killings and return to base. This war crime was tried to be covered up, but it nevertheless became public and the perpetrators were convicted, including for crimes against humanity. However, the negotiations for this turned out to be quite soft. Thus, one lieutenant was sentenced to only three years of house arrest.
Схоже на чергову підступну пастку від конгівських генералів. Demoralize the enemy and force him to act from the mountains in order to incapacitate even more soldiers through military tribunals. And these were not all the forbidden techniques in Congo's arsenal. Yet the two sides in that war were in completely different conditions. Imagine that you are a US Army soldier trained for months. You were given the most modern weapons, an M16 rifle, an MK2 grenade, and a brand new Smit and Vesson machine gun You are covered by snipers with M40s, Sheridan and M60 heavy tanks, and your Thunderchf fighter bomber, armed with missiles and a rotating cannon, is always ready for strike bombing. The
Otkongovists were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, F1 grenades, and improvised explosive devices. The heavy equipment was Soviet and Chinese-made, and it was significantly inferior to American equipment. Із забезпеченням боєприпасами були великі труднощі, але відконгівцям вдавалося конфісковувати зброю американців, а також збирати розкидані снаряди, що не розірвалися, щоб використовувати порох у своїх цілях. In just one year, they managed to collect about 20,000 tons of unexploded ordnance. It seems incredible that with such a difference from the Congolese, they were able to hold their ground for years and intimidate the heavily armed Americans. It was their ingenious traps that gave them the advantage
, and the claws were just the beginning. South Vietnamese soldier, Lieutenant Tran Quoc Gung, remembered for the rest of his life how his comrade, after a careless step, lost his balance and simply disappeared. This is because the Odkong people placed tiger pits near the trails. The trap was camouflaged from above, and as soon as the soldier stepped on it, he would lose his balance and slide down, right onto a sharp bamboo stick that pierced his body through and through. Absolutely nothing could be done to save the unfortunate man. A less painful, but much longer death awaited anyone who broke away from the group and fell into a trap net.
They were also well camouflaged on the ground. And if you took a careless step, you would instantly find yourself suspended at a height, completely helpless and vulnerable to the enemy. The only way to escape is if your own people notice you in time, otherwise you will be captured or die a slow death. Однією з найбільших переваг від конгівців було те, що вони дуже добре знали місцевість. Although primitive, cleverly placed traps proved more effective than conventional weapons. And precisely because the Confederates were mostly ordinary farmers and had only sporadic military training, the Americans were more afraid of traps than of them. On top of everything, despite
advanced weapons and good training, American soldiers had no clear military objectives. In addition, their combat capability was extremely adversely affected by the subtropical climate with heavy rains. The very nature of Vietnam was a trap, as US soldiers constantly had to wade through jungles, swamps and rice fields that were infested with malarial mosquitoes, ticks, leeches, fire ants and poisonous snakes. This forced the Americans to resort to desperate measures. In January 1962, Operation Runchhand began, which lasted until 1971. As part of it, chemical reagents were sprayed over the jungles of Vietnam for years, which were
supposed to destroy jungle vegetation and were also toxic to humans. Безпосередньо постраждали більше 3х млн в'єтнамців, а наслідки вплинули на здоров'я багатьох наступних поколінь. In southern Vietnam, mangrove forests, which occupied 500,000 hectares, or 60% of the jungle, were completely destroyed. American troops destroyed more than half of the banana, rice, and potato crops. But even scorched earth tactics could not break the spirit of the Congolese and bring the Americans a quick victory. Вони лише змусили ворога вдатися до ще більш диявольської винахідливості. Since the Soviets were doomed to lose in open battle, they had no choice but to develop fundamentally new tactics.
You finally made it through the impenetrable jungle without falling into the traps of the Congolese and reached a village near Ho Chi Minh City. There are no locals in sight, everything seems quiet. Maybe this village has already been cleared? You dare to enter one of the houses, but opening the door was a big mistake. You have fallen into a door trap. Above the doors of houses, the Kong people hung bamboo sticks connected in a U-shape with many sharp spikes. At the top end was a weight similar to the handle of a mousetrap. The mechanism was connected to a stretcher, and the first person to touch it would catch the spikes with their lower body, which would be dispersed by gravity. But even if there was no trap door, it was too early to relax.
While retreating, the Viet Cong often left behind food and water, and due to hunger and thirst, American soldiers sometimes forgot about the treachery of the enemy. In the late 1960s, there were several incidents where American soldiers tasted regular rice and were poisoned. The pro-Congressmen used poisoned food and water to intimidate, among other things, their fellow defectors. Для цього використовували отрути від різних тварин, які могли зробити останнім кожен прийом їжі чи води для зрадників та їх сімей.
Against this background, the can of soda looked quite safe, because it was securely packaged. But that was just an illusion. Всередині нерідко траплялася граната, чека якої була прив'язана одним кінцем до кілка, іншим до чеки. The grenade was hidden in a jar. And it doesn't matter what the soldier does. He will pick it up, hoping to drink it, or kick it with all his might. But where exactly did the Kongivtsi retreat from with their traps? A 32 km drive from Ho Chi Minh City is a structure that played a crucial role in the Viet Cong guerrilla war. The
Kuchi tunnels stretched at a depth of several dozen meters. Essentially, a whole underground fortress. Rooms were dug into the ground on several levels, connected by long, narrow tunnels. Their walls were very reliable because they were made of clay. And to prevent the rooms from flooding, deep wells were dug into which rainwater flowed. На різних поверхах були лікарні, кухні, склади, казарми і навіть друкарні. The partisans stocked up on water and food for months, so they could hide from any shelling. But this life was not comfortable at all. Despite the ventilation shaft system, it
was still very stuffy in the tunnels, and operations were performed without anesthesia in the hospital premises. Using the most primitive means, it's hard to even imagine the smell that was there, especially since they sterilized the tools on the pans, perhaps even the same ones used to cook the food. The lighting was very dim, powered by hand generators, and classrooms were set up right there for children who were helping their parents in the guerrilla war. The dead were buried in the same way, placed in an embryonic position in recesses in the wall and covered with a layer of clay. In the tunnels, you could not only hide from the enemy, but also conduct defense from them. Американців дуже
злило, що вони ніяк не можуть викороти від конгівців із тунелів. Due to the complex structure and considerable length of the air bombardment, only part of the passages could be destroyed, and the Vietnamese quickly made detours. When the Americans sent dogs into the tunnels, they returned wounded, if they returned at all. Therefore, the US Army created a special unit of fighters who were supposed to penetrate the tunnels and destroy the enemy in them. The most flexible and thin soldiers, no taller than 165 cm, were selected for the tunnel rat squad, because the passages were very narrow, sometimes no more than 60 cm. And claustrophobia was the least of the dangers that awaited the tunnel rats underground.
Before the first descent, the fighters spent at least three months training to find and neutralize various traps. Вони працювали в парі. The first one descended underground and gradually passed on his route to his partner, who then drew a map of the dungeon. Sometimes a whole group would descend, but they would walk a few meters apart so that if one fell into the trap, the others wouldn't be hurt. Death lurked at every step and around every turn. Most often, the Wikonkhivs set traps in the tunnels in the form of pits, the bottom of which was abundantly covered with sharply sharpened bamboo sticks. And so that the victim suffered more, they were
often smeared with poison. Also, poisonous animals, mostly snakes, could often be found in the tunnels. The Vietnamese had encountered them since childhood, so they had no problem catching them and turning them into weapons. For example, a viper was tied to bamboo sticks and placed so that an outsider would definitely touch it. The snake would then bite the soldier on the face or neck, resulting in instant death. And that was just the beginning. The Viet Cong placed boxes filled with scorpions, centipedes, fire ants, spiders, and even hornets, to which wires were attached, in the tunnels. Якщо солдат зачіпав цей дріт, йому буквально на голову висипався весь міст коробки, і він зазнавав десятків болісних укусів комах.
However, the prolonged military confrontation with huge losses on both sides forced the Congolese to invent the most sadistic traps. You were lucky and didn't fall into the ranks of the tunnel rats, so you're sure to fall into the most painful traps, but in vain. And you don't even expect that you're about to have a limb torn off. In 1965, 70% of Marine casualties in Vietnam were due to booby traps using explosives. The most primitive, yet reliable, trap was a grenade. Їх ставили біля струмків, натягуючи дріт з обох боків русла.
This guaranteed that the soldier would touch the wire attached to the check and the grenade would detonate. The particular cruelty of such a trap was that everyone who followed the blown-up soldier was also injured. Another extremely simple and extremely painful trap consisted of a cartridge that was inserted into a piece of bamboo and a hole in which it was almost impossible to see the trap. Below lay a board with a peg driven into it. When a soldier stepped on the trap, it would contract and a cartridge would fire into the bamboo stump. But the most popular were the bear traps scattered throughout the forest. Найбільша
їхня небезпека у тому, що якщо жертва втрапить в один рефлекторно відстрибне чи впаде, вона неминуче втрапить у сховані поруч капкани і отримає рвану рану не тільки ноги, а можливо також життєнеобхідних органів. But that's nothing compared to the mine that's chasing you. Jumping Betty is a modification of a German anti-personnel mine used in open areas. Its detonator is triggered by footsteps. The mine flies out of the ground to a height of about a meter and explodes. This can kill several nearby soldiers and injure many more with shrapnel flying at high speed. One of the soldiers, Leonard Thompson, admitted that he was extremely demoralized.
According to him, literally every step could be the last because of traps and mines. But the scariest thing began when the Wikonkivs found the American camp at night. Вони підсовували отруйних змій та скорпіонів солдатами у рюкзаки та спальні мішки. Therefore, even at night, the soldiers could not relax. Marine John Harker recalls that when he was bitten by a snake in Vietnam, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. Within minutes, his hand went completely numb, and he could barely move it.
Harker's comrades managed to quickly apply a tourniquet and call a medical helicopter, so he remained alive. But if unlucky, Harker would be doomed to die in agony for several hours due to the effects of the poison. What could be worse? The Viet Cong were keen on making traps and improving them. Thus, a large claw trap appeared, which no longer caught just a foot or a leg up to the knee, but a person up to the waist. Long, pointed bamboo sticks inflicted wounds all the way to the groin, often damaging the most important male organ. But even that wasn't the worst part. Іноді палиці були змащені отрутою, дохлятиною або навіть лайном. A soldier caught in such a trap had to be evacuated as quickly as possible, because wounds infected in
such an insidious way are extremely dangerous. During the first day after infection, septic shock developed, from which only large doses of antibiotics could save But even despite this, the temperature rose to 40°. Then tachycardia appeared and blood pressure decreased. Without nutrition, the tissues of internal organs begin to die. If a soldier was not treated within the first three days, he was doomed. In total, more than 58,000 American soldiers died during this war and more than 300,000 were wounded. There are no statistics on exactly how many people were affected by the traps, but some researchers suggest that they could have caused up to a third of the total losses.
According to a 1967 report by the Department of Surgery, claw traps alone incapacitated 324 American soldiers for an average of three days. Цікаво, чи змінився би хід війни у В'єтнамі, якби американські вчені перехопили ініціативу у вигадуванні пасток і почали мститися. Back in the early 10th century, German confectioner Theodor Kaiser invented a sticky fly trap by experimenting with different variations of glue. If the US military picked up on this idea, they could well scale it up to a massive sticky trap for people.
Imagine how the Otkangists, trying to set their own traps, get themselves into trouble. If the glue is chosen correctly, it is simply impossible to get out until American soldiers arrive. How do you like the idea? And write in the comments which Vietnamese traps seemed the most insidious to you.
