action, and two battalions of the 25th Division's 50th Infantry were attached to the 5th Division in the Iron Triangle. The relief was accomplished on schedule, and a relative calm settled over the Base 82 battleground. The PAVN 9th Division also made adjustments during the last part of June and the first weeks of July. While the 272nd Regiment retained defensive positions in the southern part of the Iron Triangle, the 95C Regiment, refitted and with fresh replacements, returned to the Base 82 area and assumed responsibility for its defense. The 271st Regiment, held defensive positions in the Base 82 area, primarily to the north and northeast. Meanwhile, the 141st Regiment of the 7th Division returned to its normal area of operations north of Lai Khê, and artillery support for the 9th Division was assigned to the 42nd Artillery Regiment. The 75th Artillery Regiment moved from the Bến Cát area to support the 7th Division east of Route 13. The 5th Division made no determined effort during July or August to alter the status quo. The PAVN, however, pulled the 95C Regiment out of Base 82 and replaced it with the 141st Regiment in time to meet the next concerted ARVN effort to take Base 82. By autumn the 8th Infantry, 5th Division, had been selected to try to capture Base 82, having replaced its sister regiment, the 7th, in the Iron Triangle. Prior to an attack scheduled for 7 September, ARVN reconnaissance patrols had successfully reached the base's perimeter. The 8th Regiment formed a task force around its 1st and 2nd Battalions, reinforced by the 5th Division Reconnaissance Company and a small armored troop with 3 M41 tanks, 3 M48 tanks and 3 M113s. The 1st Battalion advanced south of Route 7, while the 2nd Battalion, with the reconnaissance company and the armored troops, advanced on an axis north of the road. Unopposed and moving quickly the two battalions reached the outer defenses of Base 82 in the early morning of 7 September but could go no further that day. Faced with barbed wire and mines and under fire from the front and flanks, the 8th Infantry dug in. As the rain of PAVN shells continued, much of it heavy 120 mm mortars, the 8th kept digging and improving fighting positions with logs overhead. On 8 September, the PAVN shelling increased, and at 16:00 it began to rain, ending