voluntarily helped the troops in unloading the cargoes, and people who had started to evacuate now returned to their homesteads." Pleime, 1965 After the unsuccessful attempt to overcome the Đức Cơ Special Forces camp in August 1965, General Võ Nguyên Giáp launched the Winter Spring Campaign aiming at cutting South Vietnam in two, from Pleiku in the Central Highlands to Qui Nhơn in the coastal regions. The plan of General Chu Huy Man, VC Field Commander was as follows: PAVN 33rd Regiment feigns to attack Plei Me Camp to entice II Corps to dispatch relief column from Pleiku; PAVN 32nd Regiment sets an ambush to destroy the relief column (an easy target without artillery support nearby); after destroying the relief column, 32nd Regiment joins up with 33rd Regiment in overcoming Plei Me Camp; in the meantime, with the defense of Pleiku weakened by the troops sent out to rescue Plei Me, PAVN 66th Regiment initiates a preliminary attack against II Corps HQ, awaiting 32nd and 33rd Regiments to overcome Plei Me and to join forces to attack and occupy Pleiku. Hiếu consulted with the US 1st Cavalry Division and came up with the following plan: II Corps feigns biting the bait by reinforcing Plei Me with a unit of ARVN Airborne Rangers and dispatches a task force from Pleiku to relieve Plei Me; 1st Cavalry Division lends a brigade to reinforce the defense of Pleiku and heli-lifts artillery batteries to several locations near the ambush site to support the relief column when under attacked. This plan neutralized the PAVN 66th Regiment, which remained inactive in the Chư Prông area, destroyed the PAVN 33rd Regiment at the ambush site and the PAVN 32nd Regiment abandoned the siege of Plei Me and withdrew into the surrounding jungle. Liên Kết 66 42nd Regiment, 22nd Division, reinforced by 3rd Airborne Task Force established a blocking position on the mountain side, joined force with an armored squadron of M113s in sweeping the enemy from National Route 1 into the mountains at Phù Cũ Pass in Bình Định Province. Infantrymen following the M113s launched fierce assaults, after an initial salvo of artillery. Airborne Task Force Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Khoa Nam observing the battle from the mountainside with binocular stated: "Colonel Hiếu conducts his troops like a seasoned 'armor officer', and combatants of 22nd Division fought as elegantly as our paratroopers." Đại Bàng 800 In February