Battle of Ba Gia

Battle of Ba Gia
Part of the Vietnam War
The Ba Gia victory monument in Quảng Ngãi Province.
Date May 28–July 20, 1965 Location 15°10′23″N 108°40′01″E / 15.173°N 108.667°E / 15.173; 108.667 Ba Gia, Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam Result Viet Cong victory
Belligerents
South Vietnam	Viet Cong
Commanders and leaders
Nguyễn Chánh Thi Nguyễn Thọ Lập[1]	Chu Huy Mân Lê Hữu Trữ[2]
Units involved
I Corps 51st Infantry Regiment Two Artillery Battalions RVNN Marines 3rd Marine Battalion ARVN Rangers 37th Ranger Battalion 39th Ranger Battalion	1st Infantry Regiment[3][4] 45th Independent Battalion Quảng Ngãi Province Command [vi] 48th Local Force Bn.[2] 83rd Local Force Bn.
Strength
2,500	2,000
Casualties and losses
VC claim: 1,350 killed or wounded 360 captured 467 surrender 18 helicopters destroyed[5] 14 trucks destroyed 370 weapons captured (28 - 31 May)[6]	ARVN claim: 556 killed[7] 20 weapons recovered

The Battle of Ba Gia was a major battle that marked the beginning of the Viet Cong's (VC) Summer Offensive of 1965, during the early phases of the Vietnam War. The battle took place in Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam, between May 28–31, 1965.

Following the victory of VC forces in the Battle of Bình Giã earlier in the year, the North Vietnamese leadership in Hanoi decided to intensify their war effort in order to defeat the American-backed Government of South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese war effort received a major boost in the first half of 1965, when the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China stepped up the delivery of military aid, which included the deployment of military specialists and other personnel to train North Vietnam's armed forces. The North Vietnamese decision to intensify the war culminated in the Summer Offensive of 1965, which aimed to destroy the regular divisions of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in large-scale battles, and pin down the elite units of the ARVN strategic reserve. In Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam, the VC kick-started their summer campaign by attacking elements of the ARVN 51st Infantry Regiment during the early hours of May 29, 1965. In the days that followed, the VC destroyed an entire ARVN Task Force to mark a successful start to their summer campaign.