might become bogged down and have a bridge blown behind it ordered its withdrawal. He discovered, meanwhile, that the An Dien bridge had been seriously weakened by PAVN artillery (including AT-3 missiles) and would not support the tanks of the 318th Task Force. Under PAVN observation and sporadic heavy mortar and artillery fire, ARVN combat engineers attempted to repair the bridge. Casualties mounted, and the work progressed very slowly. About the same time, the 7th Ranger Group, with three battalions, moved southwest out of Lai Khê, crossed the Thi Thinh River and advanced on Base 82. The Rangers were immediately opposed in the thick jungle and rubber plantation by entrenched PAVN 9th Division troops, and their attack stalled well short of the objective. While the ARVN was experiencing great difficulty advancing, it was pounding An Dien with heavy artillery fire. The North Vietnamese responded against ARVN batteries and the stalled Ranger and infantry columns and sent sappers into an RF command post just south of Bến Cát, where they destroyed a 105 mm howitzer and routed most of the small garrison. The RVNAF meanwhile, gave only limited support as plentiful PAVN antiaircraft artillery and SA-7s forced RVNAF aircraft to high altitudes. On 24 May an armored cavalry squadron of the 25th Division launched a diversionary attack from Gò Dầu Hạ east toward the Boi Loi Woods in an attempt to prevent the 9th Division from committing its reserve, the 271st Regiment, against either the 318th or the 322d Task Forces. By the 25th, the armored cavalry squadron had passed Suoi Cau without encountering any resistance, and another supporting maneuver began with two battalions of the 50th Infantry, 25th Division, moving north from Phú Hòa District along the west bank of the Saigon River. On 25 May, General Thuần met with the commander of the 18th Division, Brig. Gen. Lê Minh Đảo, and the commander of the 3rd Armored Brigade, Brig. Gen. Trần Quang Khôi, to coordinate the following morning's attack. At that time, the 43rd Regiment was about 7 km south of An Dien, about to attack north, while the 3rd Armored Brigade was preparing to send a cavalry squadron and a Ranger battalion across the An Dien bridge. Although the PAVN's heavy mortar and artillery fire had so weakened the bridge at An Dien that the cavalry could not follow the Rangers, by nightfall the 64th Ranger Battalion was