&gt; I&#x27;ll rephrase that and say &quot;North Vietnam received substantial military assistance from China and the Soviet Union later on in the war&quot;.<p>And you&#x27;ll still be wrong. The Viet Minh and later North Vietnam received substantial military assistance, both in terms of materiel and direct support, from China from 1950 through 1968, and from the Soviet Union from 1950 through the end of the war.<p>&gt; Considering most of the fighting was in the South against NLF units<p>Most of the fighting <i>prior to Tet</i> was in the South against NLF units; this failed to push the US out. After Tet (which was a major joint NLF &#x2F; PAVN offensive), the NLF was no longer, as I understand, effective independently, and most fighting in the south was against PAVN or combined PAVN&#x2F;NLF forces.<p>&gt;  Think about what happened during the Tet Offensive. It wasn&#x27;t the NVA carry most of the brunt.<p>Tet was notable, in part, because it <i>did</i> involve major PAVN involvement, and, in part, because the NLF was rendered largely ineffective as a separate force because of the heavy toll it took in that offensive and the immediate aftermath.<p>It demonstrates rather the opposite of your point.