. . "Other battalions unknown" . "9742"^^ . "Supported by:" . "Mobile 1 = 550" . . . "9"^^ . . . . . "Operation Maeng Da was a Royal Lao Government military offensive aimed at disrupting the crucial communist supply route of the Second Indochina War, the Ho Chi Minh trail. Launched from a rendezvous point near Vang Tai, Laos, on 2 July 1970 as a three-battalion assault on the major People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) transshipment center at Tchepone, Laos, it ran into stiff resistance from the PAVN 9th Regiment from 11\u201315 July. An attempt on 16 July to reinforce the Royalist Blue, Black, and Mobile 1 battalions by White Battalion was thwarted by PAVN ground fire and hazardously heavy air traffic over the battlefield. On 17 July, the worst hit Royalist unit, Black Battalion, was airlifted back out of battle. The other two Royalist battalions exfiltrated away from the PAVN troops. In the process"@en . "Unknown regimental strength backed by ~50,000"@en . . "Operation Maeng Da was a Royal Lao Government military offensive aimed at disrupting the crucial communist supply route of the Second Indochina War, the Ho Chi Minh trail. Launched from a rendezvous point near Vang Tai, Laos, on 2 July 1970 as a three-battalion assault on the major People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) transshipment center at Tchepone, Laos, it ran into stiff resistance from the PAVN 9th Regiment from 11\u201315 July. An attempt on 16 July to reinforce the Royalist Blue, Black, and Mobile 1 battalions by White Battalion was thwarted by PAVN ground fire and hazardously heavy air traffic over the battlefield. On 17 July, the worst hit Royalist unit, Black Battalion, was airlifted back out of battle. The other two Royalist battalions exfiltrated away from the PAVN troops. In the process, the commander of Mobile 1 was killed; the battalion lost all combat discipline. Both retreating battalions regrouped at the operation's start point. Although ancillary follow-up operations occurred in the vicinity throughout September, the Maeng Da offensive would not resume. However, the Central Intelligence Agency, which had trained and supported the Royalist guerrilla battalions, prepared the Tchepone Operation to follow it."@en . "Supported by"@en . . "Other battalions unknown"@en . . . . . . . . . . "Operation Maeng Da"@en . "Operation Maeng Da"@en . "Supported by:"@en . . . . . . . . . "Tchepone, southern Laotian panhandle"@en . "Unsuccessful Royalist attempt to disrupt theHo Chi Minh Trail" . . "217"^^ . . . . "Black Battalion"@en . . . "Black Battalion = heavy"@en . . . . . . "Black Battalion = 300" . "Unknown"@en . . . . "Mobile 1"@en . . . "backed by Group 559"@en . . . . . . "Black Battalion = 300"@en . . "48853832"^^ . . "Blue Battalion = 300"@en . . "848141382"^^ . . "Operation Maeng Da"@en . . . . . . "Blue Battalion = 300" . . . . . . . "Mobile 1 = 550"@en . . "Unsuccessful Royalist attempt to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail"@en . . . . "Black Battalion = heavy" . . . "Blue Battalion"@en . "Unknown regimental strength backed by ~50,000" . . . . . "Supported by" . .