Lam Son 719*
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Date: February 25, 1971*                     
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Battle location:  FSB 31, near Aloui, Laos*
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Battle Type: South Vietnam defend vs. North Vietnam assault*
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Design by:  The Camo Workshop*
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Background and Description:  The U.S.-ARVN invasion into Cambodia in May 1970 had proven a great success.  The Ho Chi Minh trail was cut for a period of time and an enormous amount of communist weapons, ammunition, and other supplies were captured.  In early 1971, the South Vietnamese decided on another cross-border attack, this time further north into Laos.  The operation was called Lam Son 719 and would become one of the few truly conventional battles of the Vietnam war.  The plan was to advance west along route 9 from Khe Sanh into Laos cutting the North's line of communications from Aloui to Tchepone.  Unlike the Cambodian operation a year earlier, U.S. ground forces would not participate.  But U.S. air and artillery assets, based near the border, would provide support.*
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On February 8, 1971, the ARVN 1st Armored Brigade moved along Route 9 and captured Aloui on February 10th while airmobile troops established various fire support bases north of Route 9.  By February 19th, North Vietnamese troops were responding in a fully conventional way, using Soviet-made tanks and Chinese-made artillery in effort to thwart the South Vietnamese incursion.*
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This scenario depicts the North Vietnamese assault against FSB 31, north of Aloui in which the ARVN 1st Armored Brigade intervenes in an effort to prevent the fall of the fire base.*  
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Note:  If played against the AI, the human player should play the South Vietnamese side.*
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Source:  Mesko, "Armor in Vietnam" pp. 72-73; map p. 76; "Lam Son 719", http://members.tripod.com/doanket/lamso719/vsc-lamson5.html pp.80-87

 
