page_title: Campaign 139
section_title: Phase one: the campaign begins
hierarchical_section_title: Campaign 139 / Campaign 139 / Phase one: the campaign begins
context_page_description: Campaign 139 was a major military offensive of the People's Army of Vietnam, launched against its Royalist enemies during the Laotian Civil War. Larger than previous invading forces, Campaign 139 was also a combined arms expedition containing tanks, artillery, engineers, and Dac Cong sappers. As such, it was a decided escalation in the war. It was also an exceptional rainy season offensive by PAVN, which usually withdrew during the wet season.
  Launched on 14 September 1969 with 60 tanks, 26 PAVN and 10 Pathet Lao battalions, plus supporting units, Campaign 139 drove from the Lao/DRV border into the strategic Plain of Jars in Military Region 2 of the Kingdom of Laos. The 16,000 plus invaders were opposed by a force of Central Intelligence Agency sponsored hill tribes guerrillas some 5,500 to 6,000 strong. Hmong general Vang Pao's L'Armee Clandestine had just overrun the Plain during Kou Kiet, and the general elected to hold on. However, despite the best efforts of the guerrillas in a series of defensive clashes on and around the Plain, backed by massive air power, on 11 February 1970 the communists forced entrance to the Plain by capturing the crucial intersection of Routes 7/74.
context_section_description: Campaign 139 kicked off the day after Vũ Lập received his orders. An advance party from the 141st Regiment of the 312th Division formed near Nong Het. Attacks upon Royalist irregulars at Phou Nok Kok followed, a fortnight later. On 25 October 1969, the communists committed a larger force for continuing the attack—the remainder of the 312th Division, the 316th Division, and the 866th Independent Regiment. Support units for these attacking forces came from four Dac Cong battalions, plus assorted artillery, engineer, and tank units. The 316th was directed to lead the support units down Route 7; the 312th Division and the 866th Independent Regiment were tasked for attack down Route 72. Within a week, the latter twice probed the Royalist positions at Phou Nok Kok, then continued to pressure them.
  On 6 November 1969, Vang Pao called a strategy session to revamp the Royalist irregulars' defenses. The success of his just concluded Kou Kiet had left him in possession of the strategic Plain of Jars, but with only 5,500 to 6,000 war-weary irregular troops to hold it. His Central Intelligence Agency advisers estimated he faced 16,000 North Vietnamese regulars, plus the Pathet Lao battalions. At such odds, they believed he had to go on the defensive. They had planned four successive lines of hilltop strongholds, with the idea that tactical air could destroy communists attacking the Royalist trenchworks. Even within each defensive line, the hilltop forts were not mutually reinforcing one another but were easily bypassed. Vang Pao was more realistic than his advisers; he still realized that guerrillas needed the tactical flexibility to fight or flee as circumstances demanded.
  At the strategy meeting, he asked his CIA advisers for an extensive list of weaponry, and received more M16 rifles, and both 105mm and 155mm howitzers. He then outlined his plan to place blocking forces at both Xieng Khouangville and the intersection of Routes 7 and 71, with a reserve held at Lima Site 22. The latter was one of the few installations in Laos that had been developed into some approximation of a typical American fire support base in South Vietnam.
  However, before these moves could be completed, the 165th Regiment of the PAVN 312th Division struck Xieng Khouangville on 9 November. The Royalist Bataillon Volantaire 24 (Battalion of Volunteers 24; abbreviated BV 24) repelled the assault. Upon a repeated attack on 17 November, BV 24 retreated. On the 23rd, Bataillon Infanterie 12 (Battalion of Infantry/BI 12) was returned home from Military Region 2 to Military Region 5.
  Faced with these reverses, Vang Pao recalled Bataillon Volontaire 26 (BV 26) from its far northern outpost in Xam Neua, Houaphanh Province. Manning newly supplied 155mm howitzers, and reinforced by PT-76 amphibious tanks captured from the communists, BV 26 retook Xieng Khouangville on 27 November 1969. While ordering this resistance, Vang Pao also stealthily contacted the Pathet Lao because he was anxious to preserve the Hmong people. He proposed that the communists grant autonomy to Xieng Khouang Province as a Hmong polity; in turn, the Hmong guerrillas would withdraw from the war. As an alternative move to preserve the Hmong, he also harbored the idea that the Hmong might withdraw to Sainyabuli Province near the Thai/Lao border.
  Meanwhile, to the north of them, the communists probed Phou Nok Kok and Phou Pheung. The latter position was defended by a mix of Auto Defense Choc (ADC) militia and Bataillon Volontaire 21 (BV 21), but had been weakened by the departure of BI 12. A battalion from the PAVN 141st Regiment cleared the Royalist garrison from the stronghold on 29 November; the monarchists retreated southward.
  Also in late November, the Royalist battalion on Phou Nok Kok was relieved by a fresh unit. On 2 December, Dac Cong sappers bombarded the position with about 300 rounds of mortar fire, followed by a night assault using improvised Bangalore torpedoes. As the Royalists began to retreat at dawn, CIA case agent Wilbur "Will" Green, call sign "Black Lion", began calling in close ai
caption: The Plain of Jars, scene of Campaign 139, is marked by the blue shading.
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