Operation Sayasila

Operation Sayasila
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date 26 July 1971—31 October 1971 Location Southern Laos Result Pyrrhic victory for Kingdom of Laos Territorial changes Kingdom of Laos captures Salavan and Pak Song
Belligerents
Kingdom of Laos Forces Armées Neutralistes Supported by  Thailand  United States	North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Sisavang Vatthana Souvanna Phouma Thao Ty Phasouk Somly	N/A
Strength
Over 4,000	1,100
Casualties and losses
136 killed 302 wounded	~170

Operation Sayasila (26 July 1971—31 October 1971) was a major offensive military operation of the Laotian Civil War. It was staged by command of King Sisavang Vatthana. Launched on 26 July 1971 against the Ho Chi Minh Trail complex and its People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) garrison, Sayasila was planned as a rather complex two phase operation dependent on coordinating two columns containing 4,400 troops with close air support in an attack on 1,100 Vietnamese Communist soldiers. When the assault stalled in mid-August, it was elaborated upon with two additional helilifts of Royalist troops behind the PAVN's mobile garrison. When the Royalist command failed to coordinate tactical movements among its various columns, the PAVN 9th Regiment moved to defeat Royalist aggressor columns one at a time. By 1 September, this Royalist attack had also failed.

Bolstered by a fresh regiment of guerrillas as reinforcements, plus support by a minimum of 40 daily U.S. Air Force strike sorties, the Operation Sayasila offensive was renewed on 10 September 1971. It took until 20 October for the Royalists to finally capture their objectives of Salavan and Pak Song. Although the Royal Lao Government (RLG) troops had finally gained their objective, their casualties outnumbered the enemy force they evicted from their objectives. The U.S. government, which was supporting the RLG, placed restrictions on U.S. support aimed at limiting the RLG to defensive efforts.