Full story: https://cne.wtf/2020/01/23/history-the- ... n-22-1971/The presence of North Vietnamese forces inside supposedly neutral Cambodia had been a contentious issue for as long as the conflict had been waged. Following the coup of 1970, the new Khmer Republic threw itself in with the South Vietnamese and Americans.
These included the 367th Sapper-Commando Group (specializing in conducting operations inside Cambodia), along with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Battalions of COSVN’s 429th Sapper Brigade and the Phuoc Long Group’s Sapper Battalion 7.
On the night of 21-22 January 1971, a surprise commando raid was launched on the capital’s airport at Ponchentong.
147 North Vietnamese soldiers from Z25 [25th Battalion] of the 367th Sapper Group and from the Phuoc Long Group’s 7th Sapper Battalion launched the attack against the airfield.
The Dac Cong (commando force) managed to pass undetected through the defensive perimeter of the Special Military Region that had been set around Phnom Penh. Once inside they broke into six smaller detachments armed mostly with AK-47 assault rifles and RPG-7 anti-tank rocket launchers.
Firstly an area near the civilian airport, an army transport center and an ammunition warehouse were attacked. It was a diversion. Right after the first explosions, the Vietcong cut the barbed wire and penetrated into the military airport zone on three points. This was only found out later. At the the time, nobody knew where the Vietcong came from, what their targets were, or if this would be the start of a wider general attack.
Once through the wire, the Vietnamese quickly overwhelmed the poorly armed airmen of the Security Battalion on duty that night. Inside the airport a furious barrage of small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades was launched against any aircraft found on the runway and nearby buildings.
Only some guardrooms were equipped with outdated cable crank telephone sets. On the whole Air Base, there were less than a hundred rifles. Apart from a few French MAT-49 submachine guns, the rest of the weaponry were action-bolt World War II French MAS-36 rifles. When the Vietcong appeared on the tarmac, the mechanics and the guards were mainly equipped with sticks. With their AK47s, the Vietcong easily cut them down.
One of the commando teams even scaled the adjoining commercial terminal of the civilian airport and after taking position at the international restaurant located on the roof, fired a rocket into the napalm supply depot.
NVA Commando Raid on Poncentong, 1971
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NVA Commando Raid on Poncentong, 1971
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