[1]: 323–4 At 03:00 on 30 January, the 200-man 6th Binh Tan Battalion and 100 conscripted civilian porters, infiltrated the city from the west and were met by local VC guides who led them to the Phú Thọ Racetrack.

The radio message was not understood at the 716th MP Battalion headquarters who were dealing with multiple other attacks around the city with the result that over the following hour, two more jeep patrols drove through the intersection and were engaged by the VC with two more MPs killed and two wounded.

[1]: 344 Weyand ordered Lieutenant colonel John K. Gibler's 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment stationed approximately 10 km southwest to move into the city to assist the MPs.

[1]: 344–5 Task Force Gibler and the 33rd Rangers moved north through Cholon and as they approached the Racetrack they began to take fire from VC in windows and on rooftops of the 2-3 storey row houses lining the road.

By late afternoon the VC abandoned the Racetrack, exfiltrating in three-man groups into the residential neighbourhood to the west, pursued by the Rangers and Republic of Vietnam National Police.

[1]: 346 On 4 February the residents of Cholon were ordered to evacuate the area and it was declared a Free-fire zone allowing the full weight of U.S./South Vietnamese air and artillery support to be directed against the VC still holding out there.