On 14 June, I Corps commander, Lieutenant General Ngô Quang Trưởng briefed President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and MACV on his planned counterattack to retake Quảng Trị Province.

The operational plan called for the Airborne and Marine (VNMC) Divisions to advance abreast to the northwest to the Thạch Hãn River.

[10]: 89 The ARVN assault bogged down in the outskirts and the PAVN, apprised of the plans for the offensive, moved the 304th and 308th Divisions to the west to avoid the U.S. airpower that was about to be unleashed upon Quảng Trị.

By 10 July, the forward units of the VNMC 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th Battalions were on a line that ran generally from the bend in Route 555 as it turned west toward Quảng Trị, eastward to the coast.

[12]: 113 On 11 July, following preparatory B-52 strikes, the VNMC 1st Battalion was deployed by HMM-164 and HMM-165 helicopters to two landing zones 2 km northeast of the city to cut Route 560, the main PAVN supply line.

[12]: 113–5  Despite these loses the Vietnamese Marines deployed successfully and consolidated their positions with air and artillery support against the opposing PAVN 48th Regiment, 320B Division.

[14][12]: 114–5 By 20 July the Marine Division had consolidated its position north of Quảng Trị City, while the Airborne continued trying to break in.

The helicopter landing proceeded smoothly, while the ground assault met heavy resistance and could only break through PAVN defenses with air and artillery support.

The Marine brigades were well placed to deny PAVN resupply and to make a final lunge into the heart of the city, the Citadel, but were held off by the well-concealed defenders.

[12]: 121 As September began, Marine units had been in constant street fighting inside the city for 35 days under some of the heaviest enemy artillery shelling since the invasion in March.

Early on 11 September, a platoon moved over this section of the wall, and in spite of stubborn enemy resistance, expanded to occupy a company-sized position within a few hours.

While the fighting for the Citadel was going on, the 1st Battalion had secured the bridgehead where Highway 1 crossed the Thạch Hãn River and held it despite several fierce PAVN counterattacks.

[12]: 123–6  Meanwhile between 11 and 15 September the 2nd Battalion advanced to the southern bank of the Thạch Hãn River, where they halted, exhausted and depleted by heavy casualties and unable to push on to Đông Hà.

[13]: 226  Shortly after noon on September 16, after expelling the communist invaders, South Vietnamese Marines raised the flag of the Republic of Vietnam over the Quảng Trị Citadel.

[15] During the battle, the South Vietnamese sources claimed that they lost 977 killed out of 3,658 casualties (Marine division only)[7][12]: 126  The ARVN Airborne Division also sustained heavy casualties, its 2nd Airborne Brigade was annihilated after two weeks: the 5th Battalion (600 men) suffered 98 killed and 400 wounded and the other two battalions were in no better shape, four of six American advisers were wounded.

[16] The South Vietnamese forces eventually captured the city, yet at a high price of casualties that seriously depleted their manpower, leading to many assessments of their success as a "Pyrrhic victory".

[1][2] The heavy losses suffered by both sides during the battle put the fighting in Quang Tri Province thereafter into a stalemate, as described by an American advisor: "They were like two fighters in the 14th or 15th round.

He ordered Colonel Nguyễn Năng Bảo's 147th Brigade to attack north along Route 560 to push the PAVN beyond mortar range of Quảng Trị and to capture Triệu Phong District Headquarters.

The attack, conducted by the 9th Battalion supported by armor, was designed to extend the friendly lines north toward the Thạch Hãn River.

With the fire suppressed, the western prong moved on line with the eastern force on an axis about six kilometers from the Thạch Hãn River, still short of its south bank.

[12]: 129 The 369th Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Nguyển Thế Lương, held the western portion of the division front against an PAVN attack the first week in October, but the remainder of the month was relatively quiet with the exception of daily enemy bombardments.

[12]: 129–30 On 1 November, orders came from Saigon for the Marines to cross the Thạch Hãn River west of Quảng Trị in an effort to expand the division's area of control.

Under the cover of early morning darkness, the 369th Brigade sent 600 Marines led by the 6th Battalion across the Thạch Hãn River directly opposite the Citadel.

The massive counterattack reflected the PAVN's firm intention to maintain positions west of Quảng Trị and to deny South Vietnamese forces access to the Ái Tử area, Later in the day, as the Marines moved north along Highway 1, between a small canal and the Thạch Hãn River, they came under intense small arms fire from concealment in the dense foliage.

During the hours of darkness of 2–3 November, the 6th Battalion withdrew east of the Thạch Hãn River, leaving only a reconnaissance team on the west bank.

As Lieutenant Colonel Trần Xuân Quang's 4th Battalion attacked, it was stopped by intense artillery and mortar fire and localized ground counterattacks.

The PAVN expended every effort to keep forward units close to the Marine positions and thus hopefully to make tactical air and naval gunfire support impossible.

A B-52 strike was conducted in support of the 4th Battalion which was operating just south of the Thạch Hãn River mouth in Cửa Việt near the beach.

On 15 January, under orders from Saigon, Lân began planning for a final effort to gain the Thạch Hãn River prior to the now-certain ceasefire.

[12]: 134 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.