United States invasion of Cambodia

Cambodian Campaign

Part of the Vietnam War

Location of campaign and showing units involved in the operation

Date

29 April – 22 July 1970

Location

Eastern Cambodia

Result

Tactical U.S./ARVN victory.

Capture of large amounts of communist supplies and materiel
Anti-Vietnam War protests escalate in the USA
Political victory for the Khmer Rouge

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

II Corps:

Lữ Mộng Lan
III Corps:

Đỗ Cao Trí
IV Corps:

Lon Nol

B-3 Front: Phạm Hùng (political)
Hoàng Văn Thái (military)

Strength

58,608

50,659

~40,000

Casualties and losses

809 killed in action
3,486 wounded in action

338 dead
1,525 wounded
13 missing

U.S claimed: 12,354 killed in action
1,177 captured
(these figures were disputed by CIA, who insisted that civilians death were figured into US's total).

Tactical U.S./ARVN victory.

The Cambodian Campaign (also known as the Cambodian Incursion and the Cambodian Invasion) was a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia during 1970 by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during the Vietnam War. The invasions were a policy of President Richard Nixon; 13 major operations were conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) between 29 April and 22 July and by US forces between 1 May and 30 June.

The objective of the campaign was the defeat of the approximately 40,000 troops of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, also known as Viet Cong) in the eastern border regions of Cambodia. Cambodian neutrality and military weakness made its territory a safe zone where Vietnamese communist forces could establish bases for operations over the border. With the US shifting toward a policy of Vietnamization and withdrawal, it sought to shore up the South Vietnamese government by eliminating the cross-border threat.

A change in the Cambodian government allowed an opportunity to destroy the bases in 1970, when Prince Norodom Sihanouk was deposed and replaced by pro-US General Lon Nol. The operation was also in response to North Vietnamese offensive on March 29 against the Cambodian Army that captured large parts of eastern Cambodia. Allied military operations failed to eliminate many communist troops or to capture their elusive headquarters, known as the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN) but the haul of captured material in Cambodia prompted claims of success.

The People's Army of Vietnam had been utilizing large sections of relatively unpopulated eastern Cambodia as sanctuaries into which they could withdraw from the struggle in South Vietnam to rest and reorganize without being attacked. These base areas were also utilized by the Vietnamese communists to store weapons and other material that had been transported on a large scale into the region on the Sihanouk Trail. PAVN forces had begun moving through Cambodian territory as early as 1963. In 1966, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, ruler of Cambodia, convinced of eventual communist victory in Southeast Asia and fearful for the future of his rule, had concluded an agreement with the People's Republic of China which allowed the establishment of permanent communist bases on Cambodian soil and the use of the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville for resupply.

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Wikipedia