information:classification, stylistic:style_transfer, linguistic:voice_change, structural:expansion
Laos

Building on the success of ARVN units in Cambodia, and further testing the Vietnamization program, the ARVN were tasked with Operation Lam Son 719 in February 1971, the first major ground operation to attack the Ho Chi Minh trail, at the crossroad of Tchepone. This offensive was the first time the PAVN would field-test its combined arms force. The first few days were a success, but momentum slowed after fierce resistance. Thiệu had halted the general advance, leaving armored divisions able to surround them.

Thieu ordered air assault troops to capture Tchepone and withdraw, despite facing four-times larger numbers. During the withdrawal, the PAVN counterattack had forced a panicked rout. Half of the ARVN troops were either captured or killed, half of the ARVN/US support helicopters were downed and the operation was considered a fiasco, demonstrating operational deficiencies within the ARVN. Nixon and Thieu had sought to use to showcase victory simply by capturing Tchepone, and it was spun off as an "operational success".