Operation Black Lion

Operation Black Lion (15 June – 19 October 1972) was a Royal Lao Government counter-offensive against a People's Army of Vietnam thrust that cut the Kingdom of Laos in two at Khong Sedone during May 1972. Two regiments of Royalist military irregulars retaliated on 15 June 1972, attacking the Communist 39th Regiment in an air assault while Royal Lao Air Force tactical air strikes hammered the 39th. During the next month, the 39th Regiment would suffer an estimated 360 casualties and be rendered ineffective for attacks. On 18 July, they retreated, leaving a rear guard to be overrun.

Throughout the following months, the Royalists pushed eastward along Route 23 towards Vietnam to capture Laongam. Then, on the nights of 14/15 and 18/19 October 1972, Communist PT-76 tanks struck four Royalist Thai mercenary battalions holding Laongam. All the Thais except the regimental staff abandoned the town on 19 October; however, an AC-130 Spectre gunship repelled the Communist attack. Two Thai battalions returned to form a weak defense.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was central to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) strategy for the conquest of South Vietnam during the Second Indochina War. North Vietnamese victory depended on the supplies and reinforcements delivered by the Trail, which was located in the Kingdom of Laos. An ongoing air campaign by the United States striking the Trail had little perceptible effect on the Communist logistics effort.

A series of Central Intelligence Agency-backed intrusions from Military Region 3 (MR 3) and Military Region 4 (MR 4) of Laos during 1969 and 1970 failed to interdict the Trail. The massive Operation Lam Son 719 assault staged in February 1971 failed to cut it. Nevertheless, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed Laotian guerrillas and Royal Lao Army (RLA) military irregulars made further attempts at severing the Communist logistical lines of communication.

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