Bracing for More

THE WAR Bracing for More Ever since the Communists launched their general offensive three weeks ago, allied commanders in South Viet Nam have been poised for another onslaught. Encircling the U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh and massed around Saigon and other cities, enemy forces seemed to be missing opportunities to strike a second blow while the country was still struggling to recover from the initial attacks. As the days slipped by, the waiting created an unreal aura of suspense. Then last week the Communists hit again with a synchronized series of widespread mortar and rocket attacks. But, without strong supporting infantry assaults by week's end, their latest move did not seem to amount to the fullscale second wave.

Nonetheless, as enemy shells fell on Saigon and at least 25 other places as far south as Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta and as far north as Phu Bai on the coastal plains of I Corps, there was considerable concern in Saigon and Washington. Intelligence officers were all too aware that, despite the doubtless inflated allied claims of 33,000 Communists killed earlier, Hanoi's General Vo Nguyen Giap still has at his disposal in South Viet Nam about 90,000 or so fresh troops that were not committed in the first round.

When the Communist shellfire began hitting Saigon in the middle of the night, U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker was whisked from his villa to a secure haven for the second time in three weeks. So was President Nguyen Van Thieu, as fears spread of Viet Cong again rampaging through Saigon. Six 82-mm. mortar rounds exploded outside the U.S.'s "Pentagon East" headquarters, where General William C. Westmoreland was sleeping. The commander was not hurt, but shell fragments wounded four sentries.

At adjacent Tan Son Nhut airbase, mortars and rockets damaged planes and set fire to the base chapel; other aircraft were reported hit at nearby Bien Hoa. Fires also flared around the U.S.

Army in Viet Nam (USARV) headquarters at suburban Long Binh. Though the initial damage was light, no one could be sure that the Communist attack was not a softening-up prelude to another major drive. Compared with the brutal onslaught of the Tet offensive, however, last weekend's thrusts seemed mild.

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