Battle of Svay Rieng

Battle of Svay Rieng
Part of the Vietnam War
Date 27 March – 2 May 1974 Location Cambodia/South Vietnam Result South Vietnamese victory
Belligerents
North Vietnam	South Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Phạm Quốc Thuần Trần Quang Khôi
Units involved
5th Division 275th Regiment 25th Sapper Battalion	25th Division 46th Regiment 50th Regiment 7th Ranger Group 3rd Armor Brigade
Casualties and losses
ARVN claim: +1,200 killed 65 captured	fewer than 100 killed[1]: 124

The Battle of Svay Rieng was the last major offensive operation of the Vietnam War to be mounted by the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) against the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces.

Battle

On 27 March PAVN sapper units attacked

While Phase I of the ARVN sweep into Svay Rieng was getting started, on 28 April the PAVN struck heavily at Long Khốt (10°53′24″N 105°47′13″E / 10.89°N 105.787°E / 10.89; 105.787), an ARVN post and district town at the inside curve of the Elephant's Foot. Whether the attack was pre-planned or reactive was unknown, regardless, PAVN tanks were reported at first by the defenders. Later, aerial observers correctly determined that the vehicles were captured

By the night of 28 April, 11 ARVN battalions of infantry, RF, and Rangers were conducting screening, blocking, and reconnaissance-in-force operations as a prelude to Phase II of the Svay Rieng sweep. Meanwhile, the RVNAF was attacking PAVN troop locations and bases, and Long Khốt was fighting off a violent PAVN armor, artillery, and sapper-infantry attack. In Phase II, originally planned by General Thuần to encompass only three days of armored sweeps into the Cambodian bases of the PAVN 5th Division, three columns drove west, generally parallel to each other, crossing the frontier west of Go Dau Ha (11°06′43″N 106°09′11″E / 11.112°N 106.153°E / 11.112; 106.153) and penetrating as deeply as 15km into Svay Rieng before wheeling south and southwest into

By 29 April Task Force 315 had penetrated about 7km into Cambodia at the cost of only one wounded, but had killed nearly 50 PAVN and captured one prisoner. To the south Task Force 318 had experienced similar success, killing nearly 60 and capturing 5 while suffering only 6 wounded. The following morning, the 315th continued the attack, killing 40 more and sustaining light casualties. Meanwhile, the RVNAF was pounding the PAVN with nearly 200 sorties, accounting for nearly 100 killed, destroying many storage and defensive positions and knocking out mortar and antiaircraft positions. As the threat to the 5th Division base in southern Svay Rieng became critical the PAVN was compelled to reduce the pressure on Long Khốt and concentrate on attempting to relieve the E-6 and 174th Regiments and logistical installations lying in the path of the ARVN armored thrusts. By the end of April, nearly 300 PAVN soldiers had been killed in ground combat, over 100 more had been killed by RVNAF air strikes, and 17 prisoners of war were in ARVN hands. On the other hand, the speed, audacity and superior air-ground coordination that characterized the attack had kept South Vietnamese casualties extremely low: only 21 killed and 64 wounded. In fact, success was so striking that General Thuần elected to extend the operation a few days.[3]^{: 94 [1]: 123–4}

Further west in the Elephant's Foot, matters were becoming desperate for the PAVN 275th Regiment and its supporting troops. The ARVN 7th Division had moved a forward command post into Mộc Hóa and was controlling the operation of two task forces then committed in the Elephant's Foot. One was composed of the 15th Infantry, 9th Division and part of the 16th Armored Cavalry Squadron; the other included the 10th Infantry and elements of the 6th Armored Cavalry Squadron, in 12 days of fighting in the border area, these two mobile task forces killed 850 PAVN soldiers, captured 31, collected over 100 weapons, and suffered fewer than 300 casualties, including 39 killed. Making the adjustments required by the situation, particularly the fact that the most lucrative PAVN contacts were being made in the southern sweeps of the 315th and 310th Task Forces, General Thuần ordered Task Force 315 withdrawn from its northern axis on 2 May and returned to Go Dau Ha where it reverted to reserve. Meanwhile, Task Force 322 was committed and advanced about 4km into the center of the Angel's Wing, and the infantry battalions of the 25th Division continued their sweep between Đức Huệ and Go Dau Ha. By 6 May the land route to Đức Huệ Camp was secured and was being improved by ARVN combat engineers, the threat to the vital road junction at Go Dau Ha was substantially reduced, and the ARVN was in complete control of the battlefield. The tank-heavy 322nd Task Force turned south and headed for Ba Thu (10°53′42″N 106°07′55″E / 10.895°N 106.132°E / 10.895; 106.132), the long-held PAVN base on the border southwest of Đức Huệ. On 10 May, the offensive ended, the last ARVN forces began their march homeward. Their sortie had killed nearly 300 PAVN soldiers, captured 17, collected 100 weapons, and seriously disrupted the communications and logistics of the PAVN 5th Division.^{[3]: 94–5}

Aftermath

The operation was an ARVN success. ARVN claimed PAVN losses of over 1200 killed and 65 captured and the 5th Division's base area severely damaged, while ARVN losses were less than 100 killed.^[1]: 124 Despite its success, this was the last major South Vietnamese offensive of the war. The severe constraints on ammunition expenditures, fuel usage, and flying hours permitted no new initiatives. Although the South Vietnamese armed forces could react strongly to local threats within supporting distances of major bases, outlying threats were beyond their capability to cope with. For South Vietnam, a decline had begun to develop early in 1974 and would prove irreversible.^[3]: 95

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.