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.
Overview
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.
Background
By the end of April 1972, the Royal Lao Government (RLG) had lost control of the Bolovens Plateau and its overwatch of the Trail to the invading People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). A renewed PAVN 9th Regiment captured the village of Laongam and advanced nine kilometers along Route 23 into Royalist territory. Also, during the third week in May, the PAVN 39th Regiment unexpectedly made a rainy season advance to occupy the town of Khong Sedone on the banks of the Mekong River. This move cut Route 13, between Savannakhet and Pakxe, thus severing the only highway between the two Lao Military Region headquarters. It also essentially divided Laos in two, and menaced Thai sovereignty.
Loss of the Mekong River town was too great an affront to Lao nationhood to be borne. Deputy Minister Sisouk na Champassak was forwarded to Pakxe by Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma. Champassak was to remain in Pakxe—barring cabinet meetings in Vientiane—overseeing Royalist efforts to regain Khong Sedone and block attacks on Pakxe. King Savang Vatthana believed the operation should retake Paksong in the Communists' rear, cutting their supply lines into Khong Sedone.
The RLG's immediate reaction was the dispatch of partially trained Bataillon Voluntaire 44 (BV 44) from Military Region 4, backed by four 105mm howitzers to retake Khong Sedone. When the volunteer battalion was unsuccessful, the undertrained regimental-sized Groupement Mobile 41 (GM 41) also tried and failed. These two failures precipitated Operation Black Lion.
Operation Black Lion
The Royalists had an artillery fire base sited at the road junction where east-west Route 23 from Vietnam intersected the Laotian north-south Route 13 near Khong Sedone. In early June, the Royalists began reinforcing the position with Thai mercenary troops returning from a loan to Military Region 2. Four battalions left the Plain of Jars on 12 and 13 June; after being re-equipped, they were stationed at the critical intersection. In late June, they were joined by a fifth Thai battalion. In early July, a 4.2 inch mortar was added to the garrison. However, the Royalist forces had secured no foothold on the Bolovens Plateau.
In early June, Savannakhet Unit of the CIA planned Operation Black Lion to retake Khong Sedone. On 15 June 1972, Groupement Mobile 32 (GM 32) was helilifted into Pakxe Site 47, unloading on the fly and without their heavy weapons company. This placed GM 32 11 kilometers north of Khong Sedone. Only two hours after re-forming their ranks, GM 32 moved south toward their objective. Less than two kilometers out, they ran headon into the 3rd Battalion of the PAVN 39th Regiment. After intense fighting, the arrival of tactical air support for the Royalists drove the Vietnamese out of the way.