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Nixon urged the South Vietnamese President Thieu to order the ARVN to undertake an independent operation to demonstrate the new self- sufficiency. However, the first great military operation without the aid of American forces failed and many soldiers were killed by the communist troops from the north. This operation is known as LAM SON 19 and is named after a long time ago victory over the Chinese.
By 1971 Nixon and Kissinger were aware that the seeming implacable hostility of the People\'s Republic of China to the United States seemed to become weaker. The government in Beijing also showed a greater interest in quitting the war in Vietnam. For example they could stop the delivery of weapons to the DRV. These sympathies between these two countries greatly alarmed the leaders in Hanoi. So another military offensive, like the Tet Offensive, was planned and scheduled to begin on 30 March 1972. It should bring more military effort and perhaps a victory over the Americans. Until this time the North Vietnamese troops had reached a strength of more than 750000 soldiers. In opposite there were only 100000 troops remaining troops on the side of the allies. The circumstances augured well for a North Vietnamese Victory. On Thursday before Easter Sunday the DRV launched the offensive with heavy artillery barrages at the DMZ and they soon extended to the whole southern territory. President Nixon tried to counter the communist offensive by ordering massive shipments of arms and equipment to the South Vietnamese forces. What they called the \"Easter Offensive\" had become a big menace and so Nixon implemented the Operation LINEBACKER. The following bombing and blockade not only damaged the DRV\'s ability to carry on with its campaign, it heartened the ARVN troops, who fought with greater resolution than before. After a quarrel of more than one year both sides were exhausted and Hanoi proposed an end of the war and peace. After several talks in Paris the North Vietnamese delegations accused the United States of ignoring their interests and refused to sign the documents. As a matter of revenge Nixon launched another bombing campaign at Christmas to doom the DRV. On its first day wave after wave of B-52 bombers hammered Hanoi and the port of Haiphong. Even Pope Paul VI claimed that this air offensive was inhumane and wanted the Americans to quit. Nevertheless Nixon kept the pressure on until Hanoi was ready to resume the talks in Paris. The return of the supposedly chastened communists to the peace table on 4 January 1973 was seen by many Americans as a triumph of their air and naval power. Everybody was still sceptic whether the communists would make meaningful concessions. The Congress also had to limit Nixon\'s freedom of action in Vietnam and he himself knew that this war could be over soon.
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