ABSTRACT
The policy of emphasizing political struggle and adherence to the conditions of the Paris Agreement aroused fervent opposition among some insurgent leaders in the South, and many flagrantly disregarded the orders. Opposition politicians in Saigon clamored for the resignation of Nguyen Van Thieu and began to explore the possibility of a peace candidate such as the popular but enigmatic general Duong Van Minh. By the evening of the twenty-ninth, Saigon was surrounded as by a vise and Hanoi's main force units, in the words of Van Tien Dung, were poised like a "divine hammer" held aloft, awaiting the word to launch the direct assault on the city of Saigon. The predominantly military character of final campaign has led some observers to downgrade the political significance of the Communist victory and assert that takeover of the South was a military conquest, pure and simple. The demand had little significance, for plans called for total evacuation by the twenty-ninth in any case.
