Battle for the Plain

For the forlorn little Laotian government garrison defending the key Xieng Khouang airstrip on the strategic Plain of Jars, the end came at 3 a.m. Two hours earlier, an estimated six North Vietnamese battalions supported by outmoded but still effective Soviet PT-76 tanks had begun their final attack, smashing through the camp's barbed-wire perimeter and crushing all resistance. In his last message, a wounded Laotian radio operator called in air strikes on his own position. The surviving defenders fled west, but were unable to regroup. By noon, the entire plain and its important road network were in the hands of the North Vietnamese.

Last fall, after the area had been under Communist control for five years, government troops under the command of General Vang Pao recaptured it. There was little hope, however, that the plain could be held in the face of a determined Communist counterattack, and over the past few weeks a U.S.-organized airlift had removed some 15,000 civilians from the area (TIME, Feb.

23). A day after the airlift ended, the North Vietnamese struck in strength. For ten days the 6,000 government defenders on the plain held off the 10,000-man enemy force. They were aided considerably by massive U.S. air strikes--including, reportedly, the first use of B-52s on the plain. Airpower, however, was not enough.

Despite U.S. denials, it is common knowledge that the Central Intelligence Agency has for years supported Vang Pao's Meo guerrilla forces, and that Thailand-based American jets fly daily strikes against Communist positions in Laos. The net effect, however, has been simply to maintain the status quo; at week's end, in fact, both sides held positions similar to what they held a year ago. In Vientiane, more than 100 miles from the battlefield, news of the defeat had little impact. The capital was absorbed in celebrating an important Buddhist holiday--and high-ranking officials concentrated on their tennis.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.