Editing Ho Chi Minh trail (section)

=== Base areas ===
There were five large base areas in the panhandle of Laos (see map). BA 604 was the main logistical center during the war. From there, the coordination and distribution of men and supplies into South Vietnam's [[I Corps (South Vietnam)|Military Region (MR) I]] and BAs further south was accomplished.<ref name=Vongsavanh/>

* BA 611 facilitated transport from BA 604 to BA 609. Supply convoys moved in both directions. It also fed fuel and ammunition to BA 607 and on into South Vietnam's [[A Shau Valley]].<ref name=Vongsavanh/>
* BA 612 was used for support of the B-3 Front in the [[Central Highlands (Vietnam)|Central Highlands]] of South Vietnam.<ref name=Vongsavanh/>
* BA 614, between [[Savannakhet|Savannakhet, Laos]] and [[Battle of Kham Duc|Kham Duc, South Vietnam]] was used primarily for moving men and materiel into [[II Corps (South Vietnam)|MR 2]] and to the B-3 Front.<ref name=Vongsavanh/>
* BA 609 was important due to a fine road network that made it possible to transport supplies during the rainy season.<ref name=Vongsavanh/>

Human labour, pushing heavily laden bicycles, driving oxcarts, or acting as human pack animals, moving hundreds of [[tonne]]s of supplies in this fashion was quickly supplanted by truck transport—using Soviet, Chinese, or Eastern Bloc models—which quickly became the chief means of moving supplies and troops. As early as December 1961, the 3rd Truck Transportation Group of PAVN's General Rear Services Department had become the first motor transport unit fielded by North Vietnamese to work the trail and the use of motor transport escalated.<ref name=Pribbenow/>{{RP|127}}

Two types of units served under the 559th Group: "Binh Trams" (BT) and commo-liaison units. A "Binh Tram" was the equivalent of a regimental logistical headquarters and was responsible for securing a particular section of the network. While separate units were tasked with security, engineering, and communications functions, a "Binh Tram" provided the logistical necessities. Usually located one day's march from one another, communication-liaison units were responsible for providing food, housing, medical care and guides to the next way-station. By April 1965, command of the 559th Group devolved upon General Phan Trọng Tuệ, who assumed command of 24,000 men in six truck transportation battalions, two bicycle transportation battalions, a boat transportation battalion, eight engineer battalions, and 45 commo-liaison stations. The motto of the 559th became "Build roads to advance, fight the enemy to travel."<ref name=Pribbenow/>{{RP|170}}

There were nine Binh Trams between the dry season of 1967 to August 1968. An example is Binh Tram 31: 

{{blockquote|They took responsibility from the Mu Gia Pass to Lum Bum (Route 128) and all the roads from Route 12 to [[Kontum]], Route 129 from Ca Vat to Na Phi Lang. Within this BT there were: 25th and 27th Engineer Battalions; 101st and 53rd Truck Transport Battalions; 14th AAA Battalion; two infantry companies; 8th Guide Battalion (soldiers to take troops and trucks from one station to the next); three stores companies; a communications company; a medical care unit; three teams of surgeons; a quarantine unit; and a workshop to repair trucks.<ref name=Morris2006>{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Virginia|last2=Hills|first2=Clive A |title=A History of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, The Road to Freedom|date=2006|publisher=Orchid Press|isbn=9789745240766|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXluAAAAMAAJ|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>{{RP|164}}}}

[[File:Bike used in the Ho Chi Minh Trail.jpg|thumb|upright|Bicycle used by communist forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to transport supplies. [[National Museum of American History]], Washington, D.C.]]

The system developed into an intricate maze of {{convert|18|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide|order=flip}} dirt roads (paved with gravel and [[Corduroy road|corduroyed]] in some areas), foot and bicycle paths and truck parks. There were numerous supply bunkers, storage areas, barracks, hospitals, and command and control facilities, all concealed from aerial observation by an intricate system of natural and man-made camouflage that was constantly improved. By 1973, trucks could drive the entire length of the trail without emerging from the canopy except to ford streams or cross them on crude bridges built beneath the water's surface.<ref name=Nalty/>{{RP|295}}

The weather in southeastern Laos came to play a large role both in the supply effort and in U.S. and South Vietnamese efforts to interdict it. The southwest [[monsoon]] (commonly called the rainy season) from mid-May to mid-September, brought heavy precipitation (70% of {{convert|150|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on}} per year). The sky was usually overcast with high temperatures. The northwest monsoon (the dry season), from mid-October to mid-March was relatively dry with lower temperatures. Since the road network in the trail system was generally dirt, the bulk of supply transport, and the military efforts that they supported, were conducted during the dry season. Eventually, the bulk of the trail was either asphalted or hard packed, thus allowing large quantities of supplies to be moved even during the rainy season.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}}