Its significance can be measured by the fact that after many attempts to cut the Trail from Laos, the multi-divisional Operation Lam Son 719 was launched on 8 February 1971 from South Vietnam to capture Tchepone.

They managed to wrest control of Route 23 and the towns of Salavan and Paksong and their associated airstrips from the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

The local Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) unit trained its Bataillons Guerrieres (BGs) there for forays against the Trail.

[4] Operation Bedrock's objective was the removal of the 46th Battalion of the People's Army of Vietnam from the rice paddies southwest of Salavan, thus depriving the Communist foe of food.

[5] On either 2 November[6] or the next morning,[5] the Royalist guerrillas seized the crucial triple road junction of Routes 16, 23, and 231, 21 kilometers southwest of Salavan.

[6] One battalion with a heavy weapons company set up a defensive position atop Phou Kong Noy, overlooking the triple junction.