Editing Viet Cong (section)

===Fall of Saigon===
{{further|Fall of Saigon}}
In response to the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war movement]], the U.S. Congress passed the [[Case–Church Amendment]] to prohibit further U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in June 1973 and reduced aid to South Vietnam in August 1974.<ref>Karnow, pp 644–645.</ref> With U.S. bombing ended, communist logistical preparations could be accelerated. An oil pipeline was built from North Vietnam to VC headquarters in [[Lộc Ninh, Bình Phước|Lộc Ninh]], about {{convert|75|mi}} northwest of Saigon. (COSVN was moved back to South Vietnam following the Easter Offensive.) The Ho Chi Minh Trail, beginning as a series of treacherous mountain tracks at the start of the war, was upgraded throughout the war, first into a road network driveable by trucks in the dry season, and finally, into paved, all-weather roads that could be used year-round, even during the [[monsoon]].<ref name="Kar672-74">Karnow. pp. 672–74.</ref> Between the beginning of 1974 and April 1975, with now-excellent roads and no fear of air interdiction, the North delivered nearly 365,000 tons of [[Materiel|war matériel]] to battlefields, 2.6 times the total for the previous 13 years.<ref name="Whitcomb">{{Cite web |last=Whitcomb |first=Col Darrel |title=Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People's Army of Vietnam, 1954–1975 (book review) |url=http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/bookrev/pribbenow.html |work=Air & Space Power Journal |date=Summer 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207103945/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/bookrev/pribbenow.html |archive-date=February 7, 2009 }}</ref>

The success of the 1973–74 dry season offensive convinced Hanoi to accelerate its timetable. When there was no U.S. response to a successful PAVN attack on [[Battle of Phước Long|Phước Bình]] in January 1975, South Vietnamese morale collapsed. The next major battle, at [[Battle of Ban Me Thuot|Buôn Ma Thuột]] in March, was a walkover. After the [[fall of Saigon]] on April 30, 1975, the PRG moved into government offices there. At the victory parade, Tạng noticed that the units formerly dominated by southerners were missing, replaced by northerners years earlier.<ref name="Porter-26"/> The bureaucracy of the Republic of Vietnam was uprooted and authority over the South was assigned to the PAVN. People considered tainted by association with the former South Vietnamese government were sent to [[Re-education camp (Vietnam)|re-education camps]], despite the protests of the non-communist PRG members including Tạng.<ref name="Porter29">Porter, p. 29</ref> Without consulting the PRG, North Vietnamese leaders decided to rapidly dissolve the PRG at a party meeting in August 1975.<ref name="Porter28">Porter, p. 28.</ref> North and South were merged as the [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam]] in July 1976 and the PRG was dissolved. The VC was merged with the [[Vietnamese Fatherland Front]] on February 4, 1977.<ref name="Porter29"/>