Battle of Snuol The Battle of Snuol was a major battle of the Vietnam War , conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam as part of " Operation Toàn Thắng TT02 " . The battle lasted from January 5 to May 30 , 1971 . Background . In 1970 the joint South Vietnam ese and U . S Cambodian Incursion was viewed as an overall success after allied troops successfully captured a huge enemy cache consisting of food and weapon supplies . Although relatively little contact was made during the operation , the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops were forced to move deeper into Cambodia n territory . One year following the incursion , General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu and General Do Cao Tri made a plan to go back into Cambodian territory to find and destroy the Viet Cong . According to General Hieu ' s plan , instead of searching for the enemy , the ARVN would use one regiment to try to lure the Viet Cong out and then trap them once they come out to attack . South Vietnamese commanders called this the " luring the tiger down the mountain tactic " . In order to carry out their mission , South Vietnam was ready to commit the rest of the ARVN 5th Division , as well as the 18th and 25th Divisions just in case the Viet Cong came out in force . Battle . Prior to the luring operation , 11 sensors were implanted along Route 13 north and south of Snuol during two separate sensor implanting operations . The monitoring equipment was operated by the ARVN 5th Division located in Loc Ninh . On January 4 , 1971 , the ARVN Task Force 9 was formed with the mission of luring out the Viet Cong . Task Force 9 consisted of the 9th Regiment , 74th Ranger Battalion , 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 5th Engineer Company . They were supported by the US 3rd Squadron / 17th Air Cavalry . On February 26 General Nguyen Van Minh took over command of the operation after General Do Cao Tri died in a helicopter crash . Instead of continuing on with the original plan , General Minh choose to apply withdrawal tactics without air - support , if successful the Viet Cong would be annihilated by several ARVN divisions during the final phase . But if not , the task force would be destroyed . During the months of January and February the ARVN made little contact with the enemy because the Viet Cong often avoided heavy engagements . However , by May things were about to change after Task Force 9 was replaced by Task Force 8 ( 8th Regiment ) . Throughout April Task Force 8 conducted raid and sweeping operations near Viet Cong bases , but the South Vietnamese were disappointed again as the Viet Cong melted away without putting up significant resistance . On May 25 the Viet Cong 5th and 7th Divisions began encircling Task Force 8 positions . For the next five days the Viet Cong assaulted the besieged Task Force 8 , but they could not destroy the main South Vietnamese formation because of diversionery attacks conducted by the ARVN on the night of May 29 , which led VC commanders to believe that Task Force 8 would attack them from the north . The Viet Cong subsequently deployed their anti - aircraft units to the north , and left their units in the south of Snuol exposed to the firepower of the U . S 17th Air Cavalry . Massed formations from the regular VC divisions placed immense pressure on the ARVN ' s movements , and without any air support or rescue , Task Force 8 was on the brink of collapse . At that point , General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu decided to execute his withdrawal plan which occurred over three stages . Despite the encirclement , the South Vietnamese Army were able to fight their way out under extreme duress and made it home . Aftermath . When the battle had ended ARVN casualties included 37 killed , 167 wounded and 74 missing . Yet they still claimed to have 1 , 043 Viet Cong killed throughout the battle . From the South Vietnamese point of view , if General Minh had not changed battle plans then the ARVN could have won a decisive victory with the destruction of the VC ' s 5th and 7th Divisions . Although Task Force 8 was threatened with destruction during the encirclement at Snuol , they displayed discipline and determination . But the failure to destroy the Viet Cong 5th and 7th Divisions would have negative consequences for South Vietnam 10 months later , when the Viet Cong 5th Division would overrun Loc Ninh during the Easter Offensive . The Viet Cong victory at Snuol gave North Vietnam another opportunity to boast about Communist successes . On June 2 , 1971 , North Vietnamese propaganda claimed that " " over three hours ' fierce engagement with Saigon troops on May 30 , wiped out the 8th Infantry Multi - Battalion Unit , the 1st Armoured Regiment , and a mixed artillery battalion , killing or wounding 1 , 500 troops and capturing 300 others , and inflicting other losses on the enemy " " .