communist guerrilla forces that fought for the national liberation front (nlf) were called the
Viet Cong
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( Vietnamese : Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam ) also known as the Việt Cộng ( Vietnamese : ( vîət kə̂wŋmˀ ) ( listen ) ) was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army -- the People 's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam ( PLAF ) -- that fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War , eventually emerging on the winning side . It had both guerrilla and regular army units , as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled . Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam , but others were attached to the People 's Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) , the regular North Vietnamese army . During the war , communists and anti-war activists insisted the Việt Cộng was an insurgency indigenous to the South , while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of Hanoi . Although the terminology distinguishes northerners from the southerners , communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958 . The headquarters of the Viet Cong based at Memot came to be known as Central Office for South Vietnam or COSVN by its MACV and South Vietnamese counterparts , a near - mythical `` bamboo Pentagon '' from which the Việt Cộng 's entire war effort was being directed from . For nearly a decade the fabled COSVN headquarters , which directed the entire war effort of the Viet Cong was the target of the RVN / US war effort , and which would have collapsed the insurgency war effort . US and South Vietnamese Special Forces sent to capture them usually were killed very quickly or returned with heavy casualties to the point that teams refused to go . Daily B - 52 bombings had failed to kill any of the leadership during Operation Menu despite flattening the entire area , as Soviet trawlers were able to forewarn COSVN , whom used the data on speed , altitude and direction to move perpendicular and to move underground . 
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( Vietnamese : Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam ) also known as the Việt Cộng ( Vietnamese : ( vîət kə̂wŋmˀ ) ( listen ) ) was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army -- the People 's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam ( PLAF ) -- that fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War , eventually emerging on the winning side . It had both guerrilla and regular army units , as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled . Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam , but others were attached to the People 's Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) , the regular North Vietnamese army . During the war , communists and anti-war activists insisted the Việt Cộng was an insurgency indigenous to the South , while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of Hanoi . Although the terminology distinguishes northerners from the southerners , communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958 . The headquarters of the Viet Cong based at Memot came to be known as Central Office for South Vietnam or COSVN by its MACV and South Vietnamese counterparts , a near - mythical `` bamboo Pentagon '' from which the Việt Cộng 's entire war effort was being directed from . For nearly a decade the fabled COSVN headquarters , which directed the entire war effort of the Viet Cong was the target of the RVN / US war effort , and which would have collapsed the insurgency war effort . US and South Vietnamese Special Forces sent to capture them usually were killed very quickly or returned with heavy casualties to the point that teams refused to go . Daily B - 52 bombings had failed to kill any of the leadership during Operation Menu despite flattening the entire area , as Soviet trawlers were able to forewarn COSVN , whom used the data on speed , altitude and direction to move perpendicular and to move underground .
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army -- the People 's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam, including both guerrilla and regular army units.
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( Vietnamese : ( listen ) ) was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army -- the People 's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam ( PLAF ) -- that fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War , eventually emerging on the winning side . It had both guerrilla and regular army units , as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled .
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army -- the People 's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam, including both guerrilla and regular army units fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War , eventually emerging on the winning side .
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( Vietnamese : ( listen ) ) was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army -- the People 's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam ( PLAF ) -- that fought against the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War , eventually emerging on the winning side . It had both guerrilla and regular army units , as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled .