one by one, the PAVN's mutually supporting bunkers that lay in a dense pattern all along the route of advance. Although the PAVN defended tenaciously and their artillery support was heavy and accurate, they gradually gave ground. On 29 September, the 1st Battalion relieved the 3rd Battalion, and the attack continued. On 2 October, the 2nd Battalion, 46th Infantry was committed to reinforce the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry. Before midnight on 3 October, as PAVN artillery and mortars were still firing heavy barrages, a 12-man assault team from the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, attempted to breach the barbed wire and scale the earthen wall. An antipersonnel mine detonated, disclosing the team's position, and heavy fire from the base pinned it down. Very early the next morning, the PAVN counterattacked, forcing the withdrawal of the assault team. But it became apparent to the ARVN commander on the ground that victory was within grasp. A 100-round concentration of 155-mm. howitzer fire which he requested, had the desired effect: PAVN resistance and return fire was notably diminished by 13:00, and 30 minutes later PAVN infantrymen were seen climbing out of their crumbling fortress and running to the rear. At 15:00 on 4 October the 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment, raised South Vietnam's flag over Base 82, ending a bitter four-month struggle. Rach Bap Following the withdrawal from Base 82 COSVN organized a new corps headquarters in the Tay Ninh- Binh Long region and designated it the 301st Corps. This corps would soon direct the combat operations of the 7th and 9th Divisions, separate regiments, and additional formations already en route from North Vietnam. Meanwhile, General Thuần decided to rest the tired troops of the 5th Division and turned his attention to sending his 25th Division to clear out the PAVN bases in the Ho Bo area west of the Iron Triangle. The ARVN defenses around An Dien and Base 82 were taken over by Regional Forces and Rangers. III Corps Headquarters worked on plans to resume the attack to retake Rach Bap, the last outpost still remaining in PAVN hands. General Thuần also recognized the need to clean the PAVN out of the southern part of the Iron Triangle around Phu Thu, and a plan encompassing Rach Bap, Phu Thu and the Phú Hòa area west of the Iron Triangle began to take shape. But on 30 October, before the execution of the plan,