Stopped in its tracks by the People's Army of Vietnam, with its first use of tanks in southern Laos, the Royalists held firm while close air support inflicted heavy casualties on North Vietnamese attackers.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail has been called, "the lifeline of Hanoi's [North Vietnam's] efforts to topple the South Vietnamese government.

"[1] There were numerous attempts by Royal Lao Government troops—in most cases, irregular military units—to interdict the Trail during the course of the Second Indochina War.

[4] In November 1970, charismatic Pathet Lao (PL) General Phomma Douangmala, who had been at odds with the Vietnamese communists, died of wounds while in a People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) hospital.

On 26 March, the captain led a security platoon of 30 men from the 25th Special Fighters Battalion in its defection to the RLG.

[5] The defecting captain supplied information that led to 43 sorties of tactical air strikes hitting the PAVN's Group 968.

It was garrisoned by a Central Intelligence Agency sponsored paramilitary organization, 1 Special Guerrilla Unit battalion (1 SGU).

By 15 May, the communists had managed to secretively haul heavy weapons within firing range of the central Bolovens intersection of Routes 23 and 232, as well as the village of Pak Song at the junction.

With supportive tactical air power kept at bay, and with artillery pounding their position, BI 20 deserted their defenses before PAVN infantry attacked.

While the monsoon would clog the communist aggressors' resupply routes, it would also interfere with tactical air support of the Royalists' attacks.

The following night, a PAVN counterassault headed by three of the first communist tanks ever committed to battle in MR 4 struck and stalled them.

For several weeks, vultures feeding on unburied corpses on the battlefield constituted an ongoing danger to pilots flying in the area.

Ambassador G. McMurtrie Godley believed that RLG control of the Bolovens Plateau was necessary for successful peace negotiations ending the Laotian Civil War.

He urged his CIA paramilitary personnel and the Royalist military's General Staff to plan a fresh offensive to take advantage of the monsoon weather.