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[land]ing zones south of Route Nine while two battalions of the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Division air assaulted north of Route Nine. Some 105-mm howitzer batteries were air-landed in both areas on D-day.

On 9 February, all air moves were cancelled due to adverse weather; however, the armored task force was able to move two kilometers further to the west. On 10 February, the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Division air assaulted a battalion into Objective Aloui and the armored task force linked up with this battalion at 1555. On the same day, the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Division landed a battalion at landing zone DELTA and the initial objectives of LAMSON 719 had been seized.

After the attack on 8 February the enemy reacted violently to the allied offensive. He aggressively employed his weapons and troops already present in Southern Laos and he reinforced heavily his forces and committed a variety of weapons including tanks to the battle. Reinforcements came from North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and other parts of Laos.

By 19 February the Rangers in the north were receiving frequent attacks by medium artillery, sappers, and infantry and resistance was stiffening in the area of the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Division. Resupply and medical evacuation became increasingly more difficult. When weather precluded the employment of tactical air, as it often did until noon, and emergency resupply and medical evacuation was urgently required, the availability of helicopter gunships became even more critical.

By 22 February attacks against Fire Bases 30 and 31 and the Ranger positions were becoming more frequent and more intense. Enemy mines, ambushes, and the severe lack of maneuver room combined to slow the movement of the armor columns and they were unable to reach the Rangers to relieve the pressure. Consequently, it was decided to extract the Rangers on 25 February to a less hostile area near the Republic of Vietnam border. However, by this time, enemy supply bases one and two kilometers square had been found and a major petroleum, oils, and lubricants pipeline had been found and cut by Air Cavalry gunships. Tons of ammunition and food stocks had been destroyed. Six hundred and eighty weapons had been captured.

On 25 February the enemy made a classic armor attack against Fire Base 31. They had moved their armor stealthily over concealed routes to final assault positions before being discovered. Then the tanks with supporting infantry launched a violent daylight attack against the fire base. The defenders, supported by U.S.