The third volume in this series describes the final communist offensive against South Vietnam. The decision of President Nguyen Van Thieu to evacuate the Central Highlands spread panic among the population and the armed forces. That was part of a wider scheme that envisaged an extensive redeployment of South Vietnamese forces leading to the abandoning of nearly half of the country. This set up a chain reaction that would see the complete collapse of his country. The United States did not intervene again despite the situation spiralling out of control. Thieu played and lost. This volume details the disastrous evacuation of Hue and Da Nang, as well as the delaying fighting in the central coastal area. However, around Saigon, the remaining cornered South Vietnamese divisions offered a heroic resistance, although it was now too late. The North Vietnamese later recognized that they experienced some of the fiercest fighting of the entire war for the conquest of the capital of South Vietnam.