Ho Chi Minh trail. Vietnamese road of life. Fights in Southern Laos

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

One and a half months after Wang Pao began his attack on the Valley of the Jugsknown as Kou Kiet operation, units of the VNA in southern Laos carried out an operation that, although it was unsuccessful, created a new front for the CIA and the royalist government of Laos. This front demanded people and resources, and also stimulated the Americans and their allies to continue the policy of dispersing forces into different, unrelated directions.

At first glance, unlike the fighting in central Laos, operations in the south could immediately lead to the blocking of the "Trail". But the fact is that the Vietnamese could then unblock even the blocked section, simply by transferring reserves along the "Path". It was necessary to "plug" the entrances to the "Path" from the territory of Vietnam, and for this it was necessary to occupy and hold the central Laos, and then advance from there to the south.

The Americans and the royalists chased two birds with one stone at the same time. Their attempts to act actively in the southern part of the country without solving the problems in the central part took place earlier. Then they will continue to do so. But the episode in question was started by the Vietnamese. We are talking about the battles for Thateng, which were codenamed by the Americans: Operation Diamond Arrow.

"Diamond Arrow" on the Boloven plateau

In the southern part of Laos, where the country's territory is expanding after a narrow isthmus between Vietnam and Thailand, the Boloven Plateau is located - a rather large plateau by local standards. Today the plateau is known for its beautiful natural landscapes, but then its value was measured in completely different categories - important sections of the "Path" passed through the plateau. The mountainous and poor communications terrain of Laos made any seedy road extremely important, and on the Boloven plateau there were many and many intersections.

For Vietnam, this region of Laos was of critical importance - it was in Southern Laos that several "threads" of Vietnamese communications, starting to the north (in a narrow part of Laos, 70-100 kilometers south of the Jug Valley), expanded into a developed network of roads and trails, which included and Lao roads, and in many places included in the territory of South Vietnam, as well as in Cambodia, through the territory of which access to South Vietnam and its other regions was also carried out.

Keeping the area under Pathet Lao's control was critical to Vietnam. In conditions when a significant part of the available forces of the royalists were shackled by continuous fighting in central Laos, the Vietnamese command saw an opportunity to expand control over communications in South Laos. For this, in principle, there were good prerequisites - Vietnam outnumbered the royalists in terms of its human resources at times, the quality of the Vietnamese troops also outnumbered the Lao. In addition, the poor communications of central Laos did not allow more troops to be deployed there than the Vietnamese had already used, and this provided free reserves for operations elsewhere.

In April 1969, the forward units of the VNA of a small number appeared on the outskirts of the town of Thateng, an important settlement where routes (roads) number 23 and 16 crossed. The capture of this point greatly facilitated the logistics of the Vietnamese, which in this case would have been carried out on public roads. In addition, and this was also important, the city had an airfield used by the royalists. The royalist garrison stationed in the city fled, surrendering it without resistance. The Vietnamese, having occupied the city, immediately began to use the roads going through it for their own purposes, they did not leave their garrison, withdrawing troops from a potential strike, leaving only a minimum of forces to monitor the situation. This did not suit either the Royalists or the CIA.

On September 20, four companies of royalist infantry and three more companies of irregular formations were transferred by American helicopters to the hills near Thateng and from there launched an attack on the city. However, it was almost not guarded, the Vietnamese did not keep significant troops in it. Leaving a garrison in the city, the royalist troops left for Salavan, a city north of Thateng, unconditionally controlled by the royalist government.

Now the Vietnamese had to counterattack and they counterattacked - on November 27, 1969, a Vietnamese unit, from the forces that passed according to American documents, as a "group of 968" secretly reached the royalist positions in the city and suddenly attacked with forces up to the battalion. Alas, we do not yet know exactly which troops participated in the assault, this can only be clarified by the Vietnamese documents. Presumably 968 is either the number of a division, or a command similar to Group 559, which commanded all the units that ensured the functioning of the Tropa.

The Royalists offered unexpected stubborn resistance and held the city until December 13th. By that time, the advancing troops had already grown to a regiment. On December 13, the Vietnamese brought three infantry battalions into battle at once. The royalist defenses immediately collapsed and they fled. It seemed that then everything would be as usual: the Vietnamese would kill them during the pursuit and occupy the city. However, soon events took on an extraordinary character. The Royalist 46th Volunteer Battalion (Bataillon Volontaires 46), fleeing from the Vietnamese, suddenly came out to an old French fortress of colonial times, turned by the Royalists into a strong point, but not occupied by anyone.

By that time, the city had already been abandoned by the royalists, and the VNA infantry was advancing on their heels. It is difficult to say what happened - either the royalists realized that they could be overtaken and killed, as happened more than once - the Vietnamese always outstripped all their enemies on foot in difficult terrain, or simply the royalists saw the opportunity to sit out relatively safely behind strong inaccessible walls, with mines and barbed wire, seeing this as a chance to survive, or simply decided to give the enemy a normal battle, but the fact remains - having lost 40 people killed, 30 missing and a hundred wounded, the battalion stopped indiscriminate withdrawal and took this ready-to-defend strong point.

Fortunately for the royalists, they had complete order with radio communications, and shortly after their soldiers entered the fortress, light aircraft from the Raven controllers, who were recruited from American mercenaries and Lao operators, were already circling over it. guidance (however, the composition of the crews could be different, for example, Thai-American). It finally occurred to the American command that the Lao could not fight the Vietnamese without American aviation, not only in central Laos, but also in southern Laos. The "Ravens" managed to find the combat formations of the Vietnamese infantry, which, in order not to bring matters to large losses, was preparing to take the fort on the move, until the royalists really dug in there.

It seemed that this is how it will turn out. The Vietnamese very quickly cut through all the barbed wire and with fantastic speed made passes through the minefields to attack the fortress. Apparently, the fortress would have fallen, but on the same day, on a tip from the Ravens, the Ganship AS-130 Spektr appeared over the battlefield.

Alas, the Vietnamese did not have significant air defense systems. All night "Ganship" literally flooded Vietnamese battle formations with 20-mm automatic cannon fire. At night, American aerial reconnaissance from the Nakhon Phanom base in Thailand worked intensively, and in the morning the AT-28 attack aircraft of the Royal Lao Air Force joined the Ganship. The next three days for the VNA infantry were just hell. If during the day they were ironed by attack aircraft, then at night the Spectrum again flew in with its rapid-fire guns. According to American data, by December 18, the Vietnamese had lost almost 500 people killed.

The flurry of fire from the sky was such a factor with which the Vietnamese infantry could not do anything. In addition, on December 18, it turned out that to the south of the battle zone, near the city of Attopa, irregular royalist detachments occupied all the roads, making it impossible for the Vietnamese to quickly transfer reinforcements or retreat along the roads. It was no longer possible to stay in the city in such conditions, and the VNA infantry left it on December 19. The 46th battalion left the fort and occupied the city, but did not pursue the Vietnamese. By that time, the city existed purely nominally - literally not a single building remained in it, except for the local pagoda and the fortress itself. Without exception, all other houses were destroyed by air strikes.

The Vietnamese, however, were not going to leave at all. Having plunged into the heights dominating over the city, they dug in, disguised themselves and began to conduct regular mortar attacks on the airfield, preventing the enemy from using it. This went on for almost the entire December and January. From the end of January, however, the intensity of US airstrikes began to increase. The Vietnamese, for their part, transferred additional reinforcements to the area. On February 1, 1970, the VNA began a new assault on Thateng - the soldiers infiltrated the city outskirts, and were able to secretly place an 82-mm mortar and recoilless guns there. Under cover of their fire, the infantry launched a massive attack.

This attack was difficult for the volunteer battalion. By the end of February 5, his units again left the city and, under Vietnamese fire, rolled back into the fortress. 250 people remained alive, the morale was "at zero", the battalion was on the verge of mass desertion. The Vietnamese did not retreat, again clearing the approaches to the fortress and approaching its walls.

And again the aviation took over. The Ravens detected even the muzzle flames of Vietnamese weapons from the air, and detected mortars even when they fired from buildings through holes in the roofs, immediately directing them to the blows of American fighter-bombers, this time F-100. In parallel, F-4 Phantom fighters began an aerial mining operation, driving the Vietnamese into the corridors between the minefields, and forcing them to go to the Royalist firing points "head-on", without the possibility of retreat. The Vietnamese removed these mines and very quickly, but the "Crows" reported this and the fighters immediately scattered new ones. Mining began on February 6th and continued on the 7th and 8th.

The Vietnamese found themselves in a desperate situation - it was only possible to retreat along the corridors between minefields, using something heavier than a machine gun meant immediately getting an air strike on their firing point, there was no way to get out of cover, but even in shelters from bombing, people were constantly dying, going forward meant a full-length attack on the Royalist firing points in the fortress and also under air strikes. The advance of the Vietnamese stopped. On February 8, American C-123 transports appeared over the battlefield, which set up wire barriers from the air, further strengthening the defense of the fortress.

On 11 February, the Americans landed the 7th Royalist Infantry Battalion, the finest Royalist Army unit in the region, in the vicinity of Thateng, occupying a number of hills overlooking Vietnamese positions. Using mortars and recoilless guns, the 7th Battalion organized powerful fire to suppress Vietnamese firing positions in and around the city. They managed to stop the Vietnamese shelling of the airfield and almost immediately additional reinforcements began to be transferred to the Thateng airfield, and the removal of the wounded began in the opposite direction.

By March 6, everything was already theoretically over, but the remnants of the Vietnamese troops made another attempt to take the fortress. On March 9, the VNA infantry companies rose in their last attack. Under heavy fire, without the ability to maneuver or hide in the terrain, under mortar and artillery shelling and regular air strikes, with mines on their way, the Vietnamese infantry tried with their last strength to approach the fortress.

But the miracle did not happen. Choking under heavy fire, the Vietnamese fell back, giving victory in the battle to the royalists and their American patrons.

The Royalists celebrated their victory. True, the 46th battalion was in such a decayed state that almost all of its soldiers soon deserted, unable to withstand the tension of the fighting with the Vietnamese troops. The 7th Battalion held Thateng and the intersections of Routes 23 and 16 with all its forces until April 4, 1970, after which, leaving the ruins of the city to a weak garrison, went to the point of permanent deployment in the city of Pakse, southeast of Thateng. A Vietnamese attempt to expand its communications on the Tropez failed with heavy losses. Their exact size is unknown, but we are talking about many hundreds of soldiers and commanders.

The CIA celebrated victory, albeit thanks to American air power, but the Royalists won at least somewhere, and without superiority in numbers. True, the war for central Laos by that time was already almost lost, before the end Vietnamese counteroffensive in the Valley of Jugs a month remained, and it was already rolling up to Long Tieng, which was critical for the retention of all of Laos, so the consolation in holding Thatteng was weak.

Nevertheless, this operation, in modern terms, laid a trend - now the CIA, realizing the impossibility of solving the issue by forceful seizure of the entire country by royalists, began to devote more and more efforts to actions on the "path" itself, as if cutting it without completely isolating Laos from the Vietnamese troops was possible.

The Americans soon planned a new operation.

Operations "Maeng Da" and "Honorable Dragon"

Shortly after the defeat in the Valley of the Pitchers and the victory in Thateng, the Americans raided the Trail in southern Laos.

The operation was carried out by the CIA office in Savannaket, and without coordinating it with the resident in Laos. According to the rules adopted by the CIA, local missions of the CIA could carry out battalion-scale operations without coordination, no more, here it was planned to enter into battle first three battalions, and then one more.

The main striking force of the operation was supposed to use the so-called 1st mobile battalion (Mobile 1). Recruited mainly from city dwellers, not accustomed to the hardships and hardships of trench life, this battalion caused contempt even among the CIA instructors themselves. Someone put a nickname on the recruits of this battalion in the local dialect "Maeng Da", which generally means the Thai variety of the Kratom tree, the leaves of which contain substances with an effect similar to some opioids, and which were used in Laos as a natural stimulant and flavoring at the same time, but in general, in the street jargon in Laos and Thailand of those times, "Maeng Da" - "pimp grade", this name was assigned to the powder from the leaves, which could be smoked or sniffed. Apparently, recruits and broke a lot in common with this substance.

The same name was assigned to the first operation in which the 1st Mobile Battalion was to participate. Fully sponsored by the CIA, the battalion had 550 personnel, which was in stark contrast to the conventional irregular battalions trained by the CIA, which rarely had more than 300 fighters.

It was these battalions from the local population living in the provinces of Khammunan and Savannaket that were supposed to act together with the 1st Mobile in the planned operation, their codenames were "Black", "Blue" and "White".

The purpose of the operation was to seize a Vietnamese transshipment warehouse in the vicinity of Chepone, the most important for Vietnamese logistics, not far from the Vietnamese border.

According to the operation plan, all battalions, except for the "White", were to meet in the village of Wang Tai, and, having united in a shock group under the general command, move to their destination, finding and attacking the "communists". As the operation evolved, the CIA agent who was part of the group had to give the command to enter the reserve into battle - the "White Battalion".

At first, everything went on like this, the "Blue" and "Black" battalions moved out of their deployment site to Wang Tai, where the 1st mobile battalion was landed from the air on July 2. On July 9, all three battalions united and moved southeast, to the area of the combat mission. On July 10, the group had its first skirmishes with an enemy, whom they could not exactly identify. The battalions moved to Chipone, and their commanders firmly expected that they would soon receive reinforcements, seeing in the skirmishes with the "communists" real fighting.

They had to be disappointed the next day, when the "Black" battalion came under attack from out of nowhere (for the Royalists and the CIA) had come from the 9th Infantry Regiment of the VNA. The Vietnamese caught the royalists by surprise and imposed a maneuverable battle on them, in which the latter suffered heavy losses. Basically, the Black Battalion, which at the end of the day could not hold out under the murderous Vietnamese attacks, was hit. The other battalions could not help in any way, the Vietnamese attacked them too, just with less success.

Nevertheless, by July 16, the battalions' capabilities to resist were exhausted and they retreated to the landing zone of the "White" battalion, hoping for help. But the intensity of the attacks of the VNA by that time was such that there could be no talk of any landing of the "White" battalion. As a result, the CIA agent, who was supposed to give the command to land, canceled this landing.

On July 17, Skyraider attack aircraft and Royalist AT-28s made several sorties to support the unfortunate battalions, and in one case an airstrike was delivered 50 meters in front of the front line, the enemy was so close. But soon the weather turned bad and the air sorties had to be stopped.

On the same day, at a briefing on current operations, the CIA Resident was surprised to learn that it was under Chipona that a CIA operation with several battalions was underway, which he not only did not authorize, but did not know anything about it at all.

Based on the results of the briefing, the unit in Savannaket received an order to evacuate the "Black" battalion, "White" did not enter the battle, the operation was stopped, and the retreat of two battalions that did not suffer such heavy losses as the "Black" battalion back to Wang Tai. This was done. On the way, the Vietnamese killed the commander of the 1st Mobile Battalion, which led to the collapse of discipline in the unit and the loss of combat capability. Nevertheless, the retreat was a success. Later, both battalions moved south, where they were tasked with blocking route 23, which they did, taking advantage of the absence of enemy troops on the spot.

It's funny, but the unit in Savannaket managed to pass it off as a success. The reports on the results of the operation indicated that while the battles were going on between the Royalists and the 9th regiment of the VNA, the movement of goods along the "path" sharply decreased. This was true, and it showed the Americans that in Chipon the Vietnamese have a weak point in their logistics. True, the Americans should focus their attention on the fact that after the flight of their protégé from the battlefield, the "trail" started working again. But for various reasons, it was left behind the scenes.

Following this raid, the Americans began planning a more serious offensive on Chipona.

Meanwhile, much to the south, in the best traditions of dispersing forces in different directions, the Americans and royalists carried out another raid against the VNA. During Operation Honorable dragon (August 31, 1970 to September 25, 1970), six royalist battalions took a loosely held Vietnamese stronghold in the vicinity of Pakse, which according to American documents was called Pakse 26. The point was taken with small losses, but the Vietnamese very quickly and not with large forces soon returned it and attacked the now royalist stronghold "Pakse 22". With the support of the AC-119 Hanship, the royalists held him back, and one might say that the whole operation ended in nothing.

But this did not enlighten the CIA and the office of the military attaché, and the raids continued. On the way there was an offensive on Chipone, to which it was planned to steal everything that the CIA had at that time.