Overview
After World War II, France fought the First Indochina War to retain French Indochina. Following the French defeat at Dien Ben Phu and the subsequent 1954 Geneva Agreements a neutral Laos gained its independence. When France withdrew most of its military in conformity with the treaty, the United States filled the vacuum with purportedly civilian paramilitary instructors. [1] A North Vietnamese-backed communist insurrection had begun as early as 1949. Invading during the opium harvest season of 1953, a North Vietnamese communist force settled in northeastern Laos adjacent to the border of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. [2]
As the Laotian Civil War flared from 1961 onward, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a paramilitary program designed to foster a guerrilla army to support the Royal Lao Government (RLG) in northern Laos. Paralleling that, the U.S. Department of Defense covertly supported the regular Royal Lao Army and other Lao armed forces through a sub rosa supply system, as the U.S. picked up the entire budget of the Kingdom of Laos. Meanwhile, the Annamese Cordillera in southern Laos became the haven for a logistics network, the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The communist war effort in South Vietnam depended on that supply route. [3]
[NOTE: While the conflict among the Royalists, Neutralists, and Communists in Laos prior to 1965 can be termed a Civil War, the later conflict conducted until 1973-1975 is best described as the Kingdom of Laos defending itself from the North Vietnamese invasion of the Kingdom while also assisting the U.S. government in trying to interdict the flow of men, materiel and weapons through Laos into the Republic of Vietnam. The use of "Civil War" for events after 1965 is ignorant of the facts.]
Military activity
In May 1970, Royalist regulars attempted to dislodge the PAVN garrison from its fortification atop Pakse Site 26, but failed. [4]
In Summer 1970, Pakse Unit of the CIA planned a rainy season operation in Military Region 4 (MR 4). As MR 4 lacked sufficient forces for an offensive, the forces came from other Military Regions. MR 1 sent a battalion of 560 troops cobbled together from Special Guerrilla Units 1 and 2. MR 3, which was just north of Pakse, forwarded three guerrilla battalions—Mobile 2, Mobile 3, and Brown Battalion. These three battalions rendezvoused at Pakse Site 22. With Kou Kiet running in MR 2 on that region's own reinforcements "borrowed" from other regions, MR 2 still supplied a freshly trained unit of 560 trainees, Bataillon Guerrier 224 (Warrior Battalion 224, or BG 224). [5] [6]
Using these five "borrowed" battalions, plus one of their own, Pakse Unit launched Honorable Dragon (sometimes called Operation Gauntlet) on 31 August 1970 with the goal of taking Pakse Site 26 from its PAVN garrison. Mobile 3 moved south from PS 22; its goal was linkage with half of MR 1's Special Guerrilla Unit (SGU). They would then block any possible communist reinforcements emerging from Attopeu. Meanwhile, the remainder of MR 1's SGU joined Pakse's own SGU 3 in assaulting PS 26 from the southwest. The rest of the attacking Royalist forces were moving in on PS 26 from the north at the same time. [4] On 11 September, MACV-SOG launched its own incursion from South Vietnam into Laos, dispatching a reconnaissance company on Operation Tailwind. Aimed at a communist logistical center near Chavane, it served as a distraction from Honorable Dragon. [7] [8]
On the second day of the offensive, the southern column of Royalist attackers were hit with a combined barrage of mortar and DK-82 recoilless rifle fire. Tactical air strikes blasted the PS 26 summit. Ignoring the goal, two companies of the MR 1 guerrillas then left the assault and climbed back onto the Bolovens Plateau to Pakse Site 38. They reminded their CIA case officer they had been committed to MR 4 for a three-month tour, which had just expired, and that they should be sent back to MR 1. [4]
The Hmong guerrillas' accompaniment stormed PS 26. PAVN regulars who had been powdered by dust blown about by air strikes defended the site. The irregulars of SGU 3 superstitiously fled these "ghosts". [4]
Meanwhile, the northern Royalist column, the main thrust of the attack, stalled and began to retreat without joining the assault. After the relief of the White Battalion commander, it was joined by a company from the inert Mobile 2. The joint force launched its attack on the northern slopes of PS 26. At about this time, at the personal urging of General Vang Pao, his BG 224 swept up its southern slopes. On 25 September 1970, the last few PAVN troopers were ousted from the PS 26 summit by the Honorable Dragon forces. [4]
With all its bumbling, the Honorable Dragon did not yield a promising victory. The American air attaché, in his end-of-tour intelligence report dated 22 September, felt that MR 4 was due for more territorial losses to PAVN. After his departure, on 21 November 1970, the PAVN chased away the two guerrilla battalions occupying PS 26. Six days later, Pakse Site 26 fell to the PAVN. The Royalists at Pakse Site 22 hung on through nightly communist probes. [9]
The Battle of Lak Sao, fought between November 1963 and January 1964, was a major engagement of the Laotian Civil War. In November 1963, General Phoumi Nosavan, who held the reins of military power in the Kingdom of Laos, launched a military offensive against North Vietnamese invaders that cut across the northern panhandle of the nation. Although unsupported in this proxy action by his backers in the U.S. Embassy, he went ahead with his plan to push northwards from Nhommarath, then veer eastwards to the Vietnamese border. Phoumi's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) advisors warned him that the North Vietnamese would retaliate, but he disregarded them.
Operation Diamond Arrow was a battle in southern Laos, waged from 20 September 1969 through 9 March 1970. The struggle centered on a Royal Lao Army stronghold at the strategic road intersection of Routes 16 and 23. Due to intervention by U.S. and Lao tactical air strikes, and an air bridge supply effort, the Royal Lao Army troops survived besiegement in a fixed defensive position, only to abandon their position post-battle.
Kou Kiet was a major Laotian Civil War victory for the anti-communist troops of the Kingdom of Laos. Patterned after prior Operation Raindance, it depended upon extensive air strikes blasting communist units and clearing them from the path of the Royalist offensive. Powered by 150 daylight and 50 night sorties daily, with 50 to 80 day strikes directed by Raven Forward Air Controllers, Kou Kiet ran from 6 August to 30 September 1969. It was successful beyond expectations. After the Royal Lao Government troops achieved their objectives, General Vang Pao insisted on pushing forward while they had the initiative. As a result, the Royalists regained control of the entire Plain of Jars while also capturing a huge stock of munitions from the communist forces. Their triumph came at a huge cost. Even though the Royalists were successful, by battle's end their forces were exhausted and the pool of potential recruits were limited, while the Vietnamese could easily replace their personnel losses.
Operation Junction City Jr. was a major Laotian offensive of the Vietnam War; initially aimed at temporary disruption of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, it was extended into an attempt to isolate the major North Vietnamese communist transshipment point at Tchepone from the units it was supposed to supply.
Operation Left Jab was the first military offensive launched against the Sihanouk Trail extension of the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Second Indochina War. It was the first battalion-sized operation waged by the Royal Lao Army against the communists in Military Region 4. Carried out between 21 and 26 June 1969, the assault interdicted Route 110 of the Sihanouk Trail for its planned three-day stoppage of military supplies. The Royalist guerrillas of Special Guerrilla Unit 2 then evaded an approaching counterattack and regrouped in friendly territory. Operation Left Jab had cleared the way for Operation Diamond Arrow.
Campaign 139 was a major military offensive of the People's Army of Vietnam, launched against its Royalist enemies during the Laotian Civil War. Larger than previous invading forces, Campaign 139 was also a combined arms expedition containing tanks, artillery, engineers, and Dac Cong sappers. As such, it was a decided escalation in the war. It was also an exceptional rainy season offensive by PAVN, which usually withdrew during the wet season.
The Tchepone Operation was an interdiction campaign by the Royal Lao Armed Forces aimed at disrupting the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) supply line, the Ho Chi Minh trail. The pair of three-battalion Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored Royalist irregular columns aimed at a communist garrison at Moung Phine, and the vital transshipment point of Tchepone. The Muang Phine thrust was fruitless. The Tchepone column stalled on Route 9 only 13 kilometers from the logistics center on 31 October. Between 1 and 10 November, the PAVN fiercely attacked while reinforced with nine antiaircraft guns and six mortars. The Royalist guerrillas retreated to base under cover of tactical air strikes by the Royal Lao Air Force and U.S. Air Force that inflicted heavy casualties on the PAVN, including close air support delivered within 20 meters of the Royalists. Analysis of the results of the Tchepone Operation convinced the CIA that regimental operations should replace multi-battalion ones.
Operation Counterpunch, waged 26 September 1970 to 7 January 1971, was a military offensive of the Laotian Civil War. Royalist General Vang Pao's guerrilla army regained the vital all-weather forward fighter base at Muang Soui on the Plain of Jars from the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The preemptive Counterpunch was credited with delaying an imminent PAVN wet season offensive for a month. The guerrilla army survived, though still heavily outnumbered by the PAVN.
Project Copper was a coordinated military action undertaken by the Kingdom of Laos and the Khmer Republic from 1 January–May 1971. It used U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) funds channeled through the Central Intelligence Agency to train three Cambodian battalions to interdict the Sihanouk Trail before it joined the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Committed to battle in southern Laos on 1 January 1971, one battalion deserted the battlefield, a second one mutinied during training, and a third had to be repurposed after suffering 80 casualties. By late January, the project was temporarily suspended.
Operation Silver Buckle, an offensive staged in Military Region 4 of the Kingdom of Laos, was the deepest Royal Lao Armed Forces penetration to date of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Reaching the Trailside village of Moung Nong, the forward two companies attacked the rear of the 50,000 People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) garrison on 8 February 1971, just as Operation Lam Son 719 was launched by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Overrun and scattered while suffering serious casualties, the Groupement Mobile 30 irregular regiment of Silver Buckle had tied up at least six PAVN battalions, preventing them from opposing Lam Son 719.
Operation Phiboonpol was a "short but very intense engagement" of the Laotian Civil War. Five Royal Lao Government battalions went on the offensive in Military Region 4 of the Kingdom of Laos to try to regain the Boloven Plateau, which overlooked the vital Ho Chi Minh Trail lying to its east. 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. A Thai mercenary company sent as a Royalist relief force was ambushed and wiped out. For weeks after the battle, vultures feasted on unburied corpses.
Operation Phoutah was one of a series of offensive operations aimed at the vital Ho Chi Minh trail complex during the Second Indochina War. Staged by a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored Royalist Laotian irregular regiment, Operation Phoutah was a defensive strike against an oncoming offensive from the 50,000 North Vietnamese troops safeguarding the major transshipment point centered on Tchepone, Laos. The Royalist objective was the capture and occupation of Moung Phalane, which was needed to continue staging guerrilla raids on the Trail. In this, Operation Phoutah failed.
Operation Bedrock (Laos) (1–9 November 1971) was a military offensive staged by the Royal Lao Armed Forces against the People's Army of Vietnam in Military Region 4 of the Kingdom of Laos. Its purpose was disruption of the supply of rice to Communist forces occupying the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was successful.
Operation Sayasila was a major offensive military operation of the Laotian Civil War. It was staged by command of King Sisavang Vatthana. Launched on 26 July 1971 against the Ho Chi Minh Trail complex and its People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) garrison, Sayasila was planned as a rather complex two phase operation dependent on coordinating two columns containing 4,400 troops with close air support in an attack on 1,100 Vietnamese Communist soldiers. When the assault stalled in mid-August, it was elaborated upon with two additional helilifts of Royalist troops behind the PAVN's mobile garrison. When the Royalist command failed to coordinate tactical movements among its various columns, the PAVN 9th Regiment moved to defeat Royalist aggressor columns one at a time. By 1 September, this Royalist attack had also failed.
Campaign 74B was a major combined arms offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Laotian Civil War. The Communist offensive, if successful, would knock the last remaining fighting troops of the Kingdom of Laos out of the war, ensuring the Vietnamese conquest of Laos. The PAVN 316th Division—reinforced by artillery, tanks, and sappers—attacked during a period of slackened tactical air support for General Vang Pao's guerrilla army; Operation Lam Son 719 was being waged at the same time. Having captured the highly strategic Plain of Jars during Operation 74B, the Communists attackers managed to penetrate deeply enough to fire upon the main guerrilla base at Long Tieng.
Operation Thao La was a Royal Lao Government (RLG) dry season offensive during the Laotian Civil War, aimed at severing the Ho Chi Minh Trail and retrieving the Lao Bolaven Plateau from the grip of the People's Army of Vietnam. Its objectives were the use of recently captured Salavan as a jumpoff point for occupying Tha Theng and Ban Phong. Key to the plan was a prearranged daily allotment of supportive tactical air power.
Campaign Z was a military offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam; it was a combined arms thrust designed to defeat the last Royal Lao Army troops defending the Kingdom of Laos. The Communist assault took Skyline Ridge overlooking the vital Royalist base of Long Tieng and forced the restationing of Royalist aviation assets and civilian refugees. However, Communist forces eventually receded back onto their lines of communication without capturing the base.
Operation Sinsay was a Royal Lao Government offensive of the Laotian Civil War. The planned offensive was pre-empted by prior moves by the opposing People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN); they struck on 6 March 1972. Although the Communist attack reached Laongam, 21 kilometers from Pakxe and the Thai border, and the defending Royalist battalions there were reassigned to fight in Operation Strength on the Plain of Jars, monarchist guerrillas were able to interdict Communist supply lines and force a Vietnamese retreat by the end of March 1972.
Operation Black Lion was a Royal Lao Government counter-offensive against a People's Army of Vietnam thrust that cut the Kingdom of Laos in two at Khong Sedone during May 1972. Two regiments of Royalist military irregulars retaliated on 15 June 1972, attacking the Communist 39th Regiment in an air assault while Royal Lao Air Force tactical air strikes hammered the 39th. During the next month, the 39th Regiment would suffer an estimated 360 casualties and be rendered ineffective for attacks. On 18 July, they retreated, leaving a rear guard to be overrun.
The Battles of Bouamlong came about because the valley of Bouamlong was a center of Royalist guerrilla operations during the Laotian Civil War. Located well into Communist-held territory and maintained by an air bridge, on several occasions Bouamlong served as a launching point for Royalist offensives such as Operation Raindance, Kou Kiet, Operation Counterpunch III, and Operation Strength. It was also targeted for attack by offensives by the People's Army of Vietnam during Campaign 139 and Campaign 74B. Defended by Auto Defense Choc troops led by Major Cher Pao Moua, Bouamlong held out against the Communist forces even after the War ended in a ceasefire in February 1973. There were reports of resistance into the 1990s.
Laos 
United States 
North Vietnam 
Soviet Union 
China