Clash of Warriors — Season 1, Episode 23: Giap vs Westmoreland - Tet Offensive

Episode synopsis

By the beginning of 1968, the war in Vietnam had reached stalemate. The US had deployed half a million men, massive firepower, and every hightech weapon in its armoury, but the Vietcong guerrillas and their North Vietnamese backers did not seem to realise that they should have been beaten. Then on 31 January, as the Tet Festival began, Communist forces co-ordinated by the legendary Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap launched a major offensive against every major city and military base in South Vietnam. At last the commander William Westmoreland had an enemy he could see and fight conventionally. He won the campaign, but the US lost the war. Popular opposition escalated, Westmoreland was replaced, and peace talks began a few months later.

About Clash of Warriors

A documentary on some of the key campaigns and battles of the 20th century, seen as a match-up between the two sides' commanders. We see the strategies, tactics, personality traits and events that made one commander victorious.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Patton vs von Kluge - Normandy Breakout
• E2Bradley vs Model - Battle of the Bulge
• E3Stilwell vs Honda - Burma
• E4Rommel vs Montgomery - El Alamein
• E5Alexander vs von Arnim - Tunisia
• E6Halsey vs Kurita - Leyte Gulf
• E7Manstein vs Vatutin - Kursk
• E8Vandegrift vs Hyakutake - Guadalcanal
• E9Harris vs Kammhuber - Strategic Bombing
• E10MacArthur vs Yamashita - Philippines
• E11Dayan vs Amer - Six Day War
• E12Eisenhower vs Rundstedt - D-Day