The main reason why the Ho Chi Minh Trail was important to the North Vietnamese and the NLF was because it provided for vital supply lines for the Viet Cong during the war.
During the Vietnam War, the Trail was a road that passed through Laos and Cambodia and was responsible for supplying the communist army without dealing with unnecessary clashes with the capitalist troops. In addition to being an excellent terrain for the Vietnamese combat tactics especially guerrilla war, it was also used for attacks in small groups of three to ten troops, ambushing uncrowded American vehicles and platoons, often lost in the jungle.
The most important factor in explaining the Spanish victory over the Aztecs and Incas in the 16th century is devastating loss of life caused by European-borne diseases mainly in devastating loss of Indian life caused by smallpox
