Operation Maeng Da

Operation Maeng Da
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date 2 – 17 July 1970 Location Tchepone, southern Laotian panhandle Result Unsuccessful Royalist attempt to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Belligerents
Kingdom of Laos Supported by  United States	North Vietnam Supported by:  Soviet Union  People's Republic of China
Units involved
Blue Battalion Black Battalion Mobile 1	9th PAVN Battalion backed by Group 559
Strength
Blue Battalion = 300 Black Battalion = 300 Mobile 1 = 550	Unknown regimental strength backed by ~50,000
Casualties and losses
Black Battalion = heavy Other battalions unknown	Unknown

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 11–15 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.