Operation Triangle (original) (raw)
Operation Triangle was a military operation of the Laotian Civil War staged from 19—29 July 1964. Although planned by the General Staff of the Royal Lao Army, it was subject to American approval because the RLA depended on the Americans for finances, supplies, and munitions. Operation Triangle was an ambitious undertaking dependent on martial skills unfamiliar to the Lao. It not only called for coordination of infantry, artillery, and tactical air strikes among forces of three different nationalities; as a covert operation, it also had to have plausible deniability.
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| dbo:abstract | Operation Triangle was a military operation of the Laotian Civil War staged from 19—29 July 1964. Although planned by the General Staff of the Royal Lao Army, it was subject to American approval because the RLA depended on the Americans for finances, supplies, and munitions. Operation Triangle was an ambitious undertaking dependent on martial skills unfamiliar to the Lao. It not only called for coordination of infantry, artillery, and tactical air strikes among forces of three different nationalities; as a covert operation, it also had to have plausible deniability. On 26 June 1964, American ambassador to Laos Leonard Unger was ambivalent about Operation Triangle's chances of success, but felt the opportunity for victory too good to resist. The planning of the military operation may have been local; however, approval to proceed had to come from the White House, where President Lyndon Baines Johnson was monitoring the situation. In any case, it was planned that three Royal Lao Army columns would converge on the intersection of Routes 7 and 13 in Laos, trapping a Lao communist force. With any luck, the highly strategic Plain of Jars would be left exposed to Royal Lao Government occupation. Despite the RLA's recent losses at Namtha and Lak Sao, the operation was approved. After some weather delays, the operation kicked off on 19 July 1964. One Royalist column left Luang Prabang headed south towards the road intersection at Sala Phou Khoun. Another headed north from Vientiane. The third column moved westward from Muang Soui on the edge of the Plain of Jars. Stiffened by American forward air controllers, with air power and Thai artillery blasting the way open, the columns closed in on Sala Phou Khoun. On 28 July, two of the columns regrouped just outside the objective. While they coordinated their final attack, Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary officer Tony Poe led an impromptu heliborne assault by Hmong irregulars that occupied the vacant road junction on 29 July. The Royalist victory was capped when they hauled off considerable military stores abandoned by the fleeing communists, including half a dozen armored cars and eight artillery pieces. However, the route to the Plain of Jars was still blocked by communist forces. As a result, there were hard feelings on part of the RLA regulars, who felt cheated of their triumph. Nor was that the only factor dampening Royalist morale; the Tonkin Gulf Incident of 2 August that officially began the Vietnam War immediately overshadowed Operation Triangle. (en) |
| dbo:combatant | Forces Armées Neutralistes Pathet Lao Supported by |
| dbo:commander | dbr:Anthony_Poshepny dbr:Leonard_S._Unger dbr:Souvanna_Phouma dbr:Kong_Le dbr:Kouprasith_Abhay |
| dbo:date | 1964-07-29 (xsd:date) |
| dbo:isPartOfMilitaryConflict | dbr:Laotian_Civil_War |
| dbo:place | dbr:Laos |
| dbo:result | Royal Lao/Neutralistes victory |
| dbo:territory | dbr:Pathet_Lao dbr:Forces_Armées_Neutralistes |
| dbo:wikiPageID | 44289270 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageLength | 17083 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger) |
| dbo:wikiPageRevisionID | 1120771645 (xsd:integer) |
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| dbp:combatant | dbr:Forces_Armées_Neutralistes Pathet Lao (en) Supported by (en) |
| dbp:commander | dbr:Anthony_Poshepny dbr:Kong_Le N/A (en) Kouprasith Abhay (en) Leonard S. Unger (en) Souvanna Phouma (en) |
| dbp:conflict | Operation Triangle (en) |
| dbp:date | 0001-07-29 (xsd:gMonthDay) |
| dbp:partof | dbr:Laotian_Civil_War |
| dbp:place | Muang Soui Valley and Sala Phou Khoun, Laos (en) |
| dbp:result | Royal Lao/Neutralistes victory (en) |
| dbp:territory | Royal Lao Army and Forces Armées Neutralistes capture Sala Phou Khoun road junction; Pathet Lao maintains control of Phou Kout (en) |
| dbp:units | N/A (en) Thai air support (en) RLAF air support (en) Raven FAC (en) Group Mobile 11 (en) Group Mobile 16 (en) Group Mobile 17 (en) Paratroop Battalion 2 (en) Thai artillery battalion (en) Three ADC battalions (en) |
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| dct:subject | dbc:20th_century_in_Laos dbc:Battles_and_operations_of_the_Laotian_Civil_War dbc:1964_in_Laos dbc:Hmong-American_culture_and_history |
| gold:hypernym | dbr:Operation |
| rdf:type | owl:Thing schema:Event dul:Event dbo:SocietalEvent wikidata:Q1656682 dbo:Event dbo:MilitaryConflict |
| rdfs:comment | Operation Triangle was a military operation of the Laotian Civil War staged from 19—29 July 1964. Although planned by the General Staff of the Royal Lao Army, it was subject to American approval because the RLA depended on the Americans for finances, supplies, and munitions. Operation Triangle was an ambitious undertaking dependent on martial skills unfamiliar to the Lao. It not only called for coordination of infantry, artillery, and tactical air strikes among forces of three different nationalities; as a covert operation, it also had to have plausible deniability. (en) |
| rdfs:label | Operation Triangle (en) |
| rdfs:seeAlso | dbr:First_Indochina_War |
| owl:sameAs | freebase:Operation Triangle yago-res:Operation Triangle wikidata:Operation Triangle https://global.dbpedia.org/id/nfZV |
| prov:wasDerivedFrom | wikipedia-en:Operation_Triangle?oldid=1120771645&ns=0 |
| foaf:isPrimaryTopicOf | wikipedia-en:Operation_Triangle |
| foaf:name | Operation Triangle (en) |
| is dbo:battle of | dbr:Kong_Le__Kong_Le__1 |
| is dbo:wikiPageRedirects of | dbr:Operation_Sam_Sone |
| is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of | dbr:Royal_Lao_Army_Airborne dbr:Battle_of_Nam_Bac dbr:Battle_of_Vientiane dbr:List_of_military_operations dbr:List_of_military_operations_of_the_Laotian_Civil_War dbr:Muang_Soui dbr:Wapi_Project dbr:1964_Laotian_coups dbr:1964_in_the_Vietnam_War dbr:1964_in_Laos dbr:James_J._Stanford dbr:Forces_Armées_Neutralistes dbr:Forward_air_control_during_the_Vietnam_War dbr:Project_Waterpump dbr:Laotian_Civil_War dbr:Directorate_of_National_Coordination dbr:Auto_Defense_Choc dbr:Phou_Khao_Kham dbr:Kong_Le dbr:Kouprasith_Abhay dbr:Operation_Maharat dbr:Operation_Maharat_II dbr:Unity_(military_operation) dbr:Operation_Sam_Sone |
| is dbp:battles of | dbr:Kong_Le |
| is foaf:primaryTopic of | wikipedia-en:Operation_Triangle |