Marine Task Force B Performed
Operation in Kampuchia 1970
Colonel Ton That Soan
I. Reason :
In the time Paris peace talk was opening, NVA exploited safe santuaries in Kampuchia as their stores, resting places, to start opening attacks on South Viet Nam. On 18-03-1970, Prime Minister Lon Nol overthrew King Sihanouk and ordered Kampuchian Army to assault Vietnamese Communists bases inside Kampuchia. NVA counter attacked along Viet Kampuchia border aiming at cut all roads leading to Phnom-Penh and isolate this capital.
South Viet Nam Goervernment gave reasons for its crossing border operations as follows :
- To annihilate safe santuaries of NVA, which were logistics stores and departure point of NVA attacks on South Viet Nam.
- To support Kampuchia Government and Army before NVA’s threatening.
- To repatriate a number of Vietnamese being executed by a number of extremistsof Kampuchia.
II. Processes of Operation :
1. Operation Toan Thang 41
The 1st Operation across the border was Operation Toan Thang 41. It started on 13-04-1970 under the command of Lieutenant General Do Cao Tri, III Corps Commander. It swept the area Angel’s Wing ARVN won.
Being encouraged by the result of this operation, III Coprs continued to perform operation Toan Thang 42 and 43 on 29-04-1970 on Parrot’s beak, National Route 1 to Sway Rieng city, Dog Head’s region, Kampong - Trabeck, Preyveng city, Chup plantation, Mimot and Tishing Hook.
2. Operation Cuu Long
To support Operation 42, IV Corps organised operation Cuu Long from 09-05 to 30-06-1970, commanded by Lieutenant General Ngo Dzu. Operation Cuu Long I song Than 5/70 aimed to deblock Mekong River in the segment from Viet Kampuchia border to Phnom Penh and to repatriate Vietnameses.
3. Amphibious Special Task Force
Amphibious Special Task Force 211 was Commanded by Navy Colonel Vu Van Thong. Colonel Ton That Soan, Commander of Marine Brigade B, was the executive officer.
A riverine fleet, sophisticated equipped was transferred by US Riverine Force to VN Navy in the program of Vietnamisation of the war. It has 100 boaths of all kinks being supported by 30 fighting boats Cougas.
Marine Brigade B was composed of :
- Marine Brigade B heaquarters
- Marine Battalion 1, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Thang
- Marine Battalion 4, commanded by Major Vo Kinh
- Marine Battalion 5, commanded by Major Tran Van Hien
- Marine 105 mm Howitzers Artillery battery, commanded by Captain Truong Cong Thong.
Departing from a region of Chau Doc Province, in the morning of Day N, Amphibious Special Task Force went upstream Mekong river and troops occupied Neak Luong ferry at noon.
During the movement on the river, the riverine fleet occasionally encountered decapitated Vietnamese cadavers floating down stream on the red water. The amphibious landing to occupy Neak Luong ferry caused a great surprise, not only to the ennemy, but also to Lon Nol government army which had been encircled or cut in the region by NVA. The enemy weakly resisted then withdraw not having time to carry away their stores, equipments, and logistics.
Then Brigade B continue to deploy widely to remove the enemy pressure.
a. Battalion 4, from the left bank of the ferry swept the enemy, opened that segment of National Route 1, and then moved to the north-west to make contact with Lon Nol’s Army special forces coming down from Phnom Penh. On Day N + 1, the two prongs made contact to each others. National Route 1 was so deblocked from Noak Luong to Phnom Penh.
b. Battalion 5, from the right bank of Neak Luong ferry, continued to pursue the enemy and open the segment of National Route 1 to Kompong Trabeck, at the border of Sway Rieng province which had been the limit of the area of operation of III Corps. Battalion 5 removed all enemy pressures around Kampuchia army positions being encircled along National Route 1. At the same time, the Battalion supported IV Corps engineers units to rebuilt bridges which had been destroyed by NVA before their retreat. Field bridges were set up to re-establish circulations between Tay Ninh and Neak Luong.
During the attack on Kompong Trabeck city, Lieutenant Colonel Hien nanowly escaped death. The sequence ofevents were as follows : After the helilift and landing of the 5th Battalion had been accomplished, Lieutenant Colonel Hien reported it to me.
He was on a C & C helicopter of US Air Calv. unit. That helicopter was then returning to Chau Doc for refuelling as some previous times. All of a sudden, Lieutenant Colonel told his US advisor, Captain Drawdie : “Today I felt so exhausted. Please tell the C & C pilots to drop us on the Battalion Headquarter before flying back to Chau Doc for refuelling”.
After the C & C having refuelled, it flew to the 5th Battalion Headquarters positioning near Neak Luong ferry. Suddenly it exploded in the sky.
The two pilots and the two machine gunners were torn apart and their bodies parts fell down, at the same time with broken pieces of the helicopter, to a rice field near the ferry.
The US advisor of Marine Brigade B reported the accident to me. I hurriedly radioed the 5th Battalion Headquarters and asked where Lieutenant Colonel Hien presently was on the other end, the RTO answered : “Lieutenant Colonel Hien had beân at handing zone, waiting for the C & C to arrive...”
A note about Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Hien. He replace Lieutenant Colonel Pham Nha as commander of the 5th Battalion in 5-1969. Then he went into operations with Marine Brigade B in My tho and Cai Lay of MR IV. Then his Battalion 5 was ordered to reinforce the 21st Infantry Division in Soc Trang to perform an operation to re-occupy and rebuilt Song Ong Doc district, Ca Mau province. His Battalion continued operations into U Minh Thuong and U Minh Ha swampy forests secret sanctuaries for 4 months, to remove the enemy pressure on this district. In 5-1070, his unit was sent back to Marine Brigade B to participate in the across the border operation Song Than 5-1970.
c. The 1st Marine Battalion was transported by riverine boat of the Amphibious Special Task Force 211 along Mekong river in the segment from Chau Doc to about 10km south-east of Phnom Penh. this Battalion, now and then landed and made raids upon suspected enemy’s positions on both side of the river. It also protected VN LCU (Landing Craft Unility) transporting Vietnameses from Nam Vang back to Chau Doc.
After the safety at Neak Luong was recuperated Brigade B coordinated and supported the Kampuchia Brigade which had been commanded by Colonel Pre Meas to perform military activities in its area of responsibility. The results were very optimistic. since then the fighting morale of that Kampuchia Brigade was clearly augmented.
In the operation to dislodge NVA out of Prey Veng city and its surrounding areas, the helilift was totally in charged of by VNAF helicopters squadron.
(Previously it was mostly performed by USAF)
Brigade B ordered Battalion 1 to land at South and Battalion 4 to land at South-East of Prey Veng city at late afternoon. The are of operation was to close to be supported by 105mm Howitzers. There was no US air supports. US advisors were informed that US aircrafts had been not allowed to fly and to give airstrike supports further than 7 km North-West of Neak Luong. Throughout the night the 2 Marine Battalions fought close combats against NVA and cut the city in 2 halves. Battalion 1 searched and annihilate NVA blocking cells from the Mayor residence toward the East. Battalion 4 swept to the West. One more, Marines applied “Urban street by street, house by house” tactic, dislodged a NVA regiment out of Prey Veng city, and rescued the Colonel Major, in the period of time of one day.
Battalion 4 especially, on the way of pursueing the enemy, captured thousands of weapons which had been carried away by NVA to a safer zone of theirs. These weapons were later exhibited at IV Corps headquarters at Can Tho.
III. Commentary
The operation Cuu Long I / Song Than 5/70 with participation of Brigade B brought back good result : Very slight human losses, weapons conserved. Brigade B supported KPC army at Neak Luong and surrounding areas, reinstated security, protected safe circulations on National Route 1 from Kompong Tra Beck to Phnom Penh, kept safety on the segment of Mekong River from Chau Doc to Capital Phnom Penh. Meanwhile, hundreds of NVA were killed in place, thousands of weapons were seized, stores of logistics and equipments were either seized or destroyed.
VC defeats and losses were later recounted by a communist defector in Hiep Hoa, Duc Hoa district, Hau Nghia Provinces :
“In May 1970, we received an alarm informing that ARVN would cross the border... Many of us believed it and moved to Van Bon, a little further to the West. But, a number of cadres did not believe it and delayed moving away. These cadres were captured. Most of our stores were seized by operations across the border of ARVN. It was a calamity for all of us. Then, we had no foods and we started stealing them from Kampucheans to survive. Mr Chin, cadre of supplies and logistics of Duc Hoa area, told everybody to care for oneself... A number of cadres were killed by Kampucheans when being captured while stealing foods, I decided to return to Viet Nam and defect according to GVN “Open Arms” program. I thought the situation was deperate and a number of cadres thought it so. But no one dared to speak out. I knew it and after having defiected, I met many cadres who had lived with me in Kampuchea previously...”
Truong Nhu Tang, ex-Minister of Department of Justice of Provisional Revolutionary Government, after having fled Viet Nam and stayed in France, recalled the days he had been hiding because of an US - Viet Nam operation in Fishing Hook in 1970 :
“... Early in that morning, 3 days after I nearly had been killed by B52, I was thrown out of my bed to the ground of my bunker by a series of sky shaking explosions.
Through a slit of the bunker, my bodyguard and I saw many helicopters, which at tree tops level, were going to land. I was able to see ARVN soldiers faces and the muzzles of their firearms protruding out of the wide opened window of helicopters. At that time, small firearms and machines guns started clatteringly firing by our security forces at the attachers. Through the radios, I heard that many other Department had also been assaulted. Many hours passed. Guns sounds alternately became diminuendo and crescendo. I hid the whole day in the bunker. My two body guards observed the fightings in close range. Occasionally the fired a clip of AK47 through the slit of the bunker. Crawling very low on the ground of the bunker, I collected all important papers because I knew that at all costs we had to flee this encircling when the night would come. This was a question of life and death. Nobody of all of us thought taht an escape by the next day would be realisable if we still stayed in this region. At night fall the ARVN pressure decreased. Probably they also knew that our regular forces had been in the region. They, themselves, were afraid of being encircled as well. Receiving a sign, my two body guards and I ran out of the bunker when the illuminating flares just extinguished.
Guns sounds were not anymore heard when we entered a forest in the West along a safe corridor set up by Division 7. I ran rapidly at first and then alternately ran and walked to be able to breath. A number of other Departments members were in front of us I also heard hurried steps behind me.
In the direction of my bunker, there was a mixture of guns sounds of AK47 and M16. Behind us, our security force widely dployed and was trying to stop ARVN chase.
I ran and walked between 2 body guards along a trail in the darkness of a thick forest night. I could not see anything. We walked through out the night, not knowing what had been happening behind us. All we knew was to continue to flee. Slowly and slowly, I became tired. My legs started shaking. My throat was very dry because of thirst. When an order of “Stop and Rest” was propagated, I lay down flabbily on the grounds, for being exhausted”.
The operations across the border, into Kampuchea marked the maturity of ARVN in the Vietnamisation of the war. Except the operation Toan Thang 43 was a combined US - Vietnamese operation, all others were exclusively performed by ARVN
Colonel Ton That Soan
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