Gotovina was then immediately put in charge of the combined forces of the Croatian Army ("Hrvatska Vojska" or HV) and the Croatian Defense Council in Bosnia ("Hrvatsko Vijeće Obrane" or HVO) in Operation Mistral 2, which defeated the army of the Bosnian Serbs and led the Croatian army, together with the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina, within 23 kilometres of Banja Luka and was only stopped under American pressure.