At stake was the sole road junction in northern Laos well in the rear of Royalist troops fighting in Campaign Z.

[1] When the French granted Laos independence in 1954, a Vietnamese invasion had already taken place, and a Laotian communist insurgency had begun.

[5] On 30 December 1971, while Campaign Z raged eastwards of Sala Phou Khoun, Communist forces attacked the road junction.

On the morning of 22 January 1972, they struck some 44 km (27 mi) south of the 7/13 junction at Moung Kassy, bombarding it with 122 mm rockets.

[5][6][7] By the time the Royalists decided to counterattack the Communists along Route 13, it was early March and a fresh battle was being waged on the Plain of Jars.

The revival of Operation Maharat would depend on converging columns along the highway and a heliborne insertion of Royalist guerrillas near the road junction.

Before dawn on 15 March, 80 Commando Raiders were landed at Xieng Ngeun on Route 13, some 39 km (24 mi) north of Kiu Kacham.

[8] On 16 March, the Commando Raiders were helilifted to a landing zone 9 km (6 mi) east of Kiu Kacham, to be joined by BG 121.

[8] The Royal Lao Government now controlled the strategic Sala Phou Khoun intersection in the rear of its troops on the Plain of Jars.