Undercover Armies - CIA FOIA - Central Intelligence Agency

C05303949
Chapter Fifteen
until two days later, and then not in sufficient strength to threaten SGU positions
on the heights. By then well dug in, the irregulars on Phou Nok Kok
became the core of the effort to deny Route 7 to the enemy.'D
Meanwhile, of the eight battalions advancing toward the plain, only two
encountered any resistance, and that was suppressed by the Laotian air force,
using cluster bombs, before the ground units could close with the enemy. To
the northwest, tactical air destroyed trenches and bunkers still occupied by
enemy troops, and obviated the need for an assault by an approaching SGU
battalion. Units from Bouam Long, including an SGU airlifted there from
Savannakhet, were squeezing Ban Ban from the northwest, and by the 25'" the
enemy had abandoned any effort to reclaim Phou Nok Kok.'0
On 27 August, Vang Pao's irregulars marched onto the plain itself, taking
the southern salient and capturing a PT-76 tank, an artillery piece, and a truck.
By this time, the Pakse SGU had cut Route 7, and its troops were patrolling
the road west of Ban Ban. The station applauded the irregulars' success, but
wanted credit to go where credit was due: "Extremelr effrctive airstrikes have
been the key factor in guerrilla successes thus far,"!"
Acknowledging the importance of the USAF contribution-some 140 sorties
a day-the station wanted Headquarters to understand the indispensable
role of the Laotian air force. The T-2S's performance characteristics, exploited
by Lao (including Hmong) pilots intimately familiar with the terrain and able
to work without FACs, facilitated an exceptional level of close air support.
With fewer than 30 of these aircraft available for combat missions on any
given day, they were averaging over 90 sorties. IID
Heavily committed in the Muong Soui sector, to the west, and now challenged
east of the plain, the North Vietnamese had contributed to Vang Pao's
advance onto the plain by entrusting its defense largely to the Pathet Lao. Of
IS enemy battalions in the Xieng Khouang town-Plain of Jars sector, only two
were Vietnamese infantry, and these did not suffice to stem the irregulars'
advance. Things were going so unexpectedly well that both the station and
Headquarters began to worry about the price of success. Larry Devlin com-
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