I served with a mech infantry outfit fighting NVA on the DMZ. The Infantry school taught the 4 F,s Find em, fix them, fight, them and finish them. We strove to finish them all right, but not necessarily by fire and maneuver. We relied upon our usually excellent FO,s and FDC’s (now FISTS) for REAL close in arty and close air support. We had FOs who could bring 155 by sound to within 75 meters of the FEBA and 105s to 50 meters. Corp arty with 8” SP would be available for longer distances.
The NVA sought to negate this advantage by pulling it in real close and using their pocket artillery B40 and RPG-7 rockets, giving them a big explosive advantage in close at 40 meters or so (arming distance) over our 40MM grenade launchers. But being Mech infantry, we often had M48A3 tanks on hand firing 90MM canister, HE, beehive and flechette rounds point blank, along with the 50 cals and M60s on the ACAV 113 APCs.
It worked pretty good for the most part. Body count was often pretty HUGE. They wouldnt give up though despite all that. The remnants would go back across the LAOtian border rfit and return for another go.
I salute you and your service, sir. I was mech infantry a generation after you, but I never faced anything more dangerous than down-range Ft. Carson. We were still using 113s - they were great for hauling gear, but I would not have wanted to be in one under fire.
You mentioned the NVA wanting to keep things close - I'd read about Giap preaching to "grab the enemy by the belt." It makes sense from their perspective. One of our NCOs was a Vietnam combat vet and he mentioned a firefight where one of the NVA was hit be a 40mm grenade that hadn't traveled far enough to arm.