The
Easter Offensive (
Chiến dịch Xuân hè 1972 in Vietnamese) was a military campaign conducted by the
People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, the regular army of
South Vietnam) and the
United States military between March 30 and October 22, 1972, during the
Vietnam War. This conventional invasion (the largest offensive operation since 300,000 Chinese volunteers had crossed the
Yalu River into
North Korea during the Korean War) was a radical departure from previous North Vietnamese offensives. The offensive was not designed to win the war outright but to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of the ARVN as possible, to improve the North's negotiating position as the
Paris Peace Accords drew towards a conclusion.