&gt; Yes North Vietnam received military assistance from China and the Soviet Union later on in the war<p>No, North Vietnam received military assistance from China and the Soviet Union not just &quot;later on in the war&quot; -- in fact, that assistance began with direct aid to the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War against france, and continued through uninterrupted (except that, &quot;later in the war&quot; China withdrew both its aid and direct involvement, after its own falling out with the USSR and Hanoi&#x27;s refusal to break with the USSR and align with China) through -- and beyond -- the end of the war with the US.<p>&gt; but the NLF had access to very little of that weaponry.<p>Which would be relevant if the NLF, on its own, pushed the US out of Vietnam.