Operation Maeng Da

Operation Maeng Da
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date2 – 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.