Battle of Ban Pa Dong

Battle of Ban Pa Dong
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date 31 January – 6 June 1961 Location Ban Pa Dong, in central northern Laos Result Communists capture Royalist guerrilla training base
Belligerents
Kingdom of Laos Supported by  United States	Pathet Lao People's Army of Vietnam Supported by:  Soviet Union  People's Republic of China
Commanders and leaders
Vang Pao
Units involved
Hmong guerrilla trainees 4 howitzers 2 mortars	One Pathet Lao battalion 17 75mm howitzers
Casualties and losses
Substantial	Unknown

The Battle of Ban Pa Dong was fought between 31 January and 6 June 1961 in Ban Pa Dong, the Kingdom of Laos. Troops from the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Pathet Lao attacked Hmong recruits being trained as Auto Defense Choc guerrillas via Operation Momentum. Although the Hmong made the tactical error of defending a fixed position, their eventual escape from the communist invaders left their fledgling L'Armee Clandestine intact and able to wage war for the Royal Lao Government. However, they abandoned four howitzers and two mortars to the victorious Vietnamese communists. The partisans had also set a deleterious precedent for themselves with their defense of a fixed position.