Long An Province authority. Leaving Bù Đốp, the 271st marched through Bù Gia Mập District and arrived northwest of Bu Prang in late August, ready to assist in the defense of the new line of communication and to deny the ARVN use of Highway 14 in the border region. Successive attempts by the Quang Duc territorials failed to gain any ground west of the Tuy Đức crossroads, while the rest of Quang Duc Province remained relatively quiet. Meanwhile, PAVN preparations for the Quang Duc campaign continued. A task force headquarters, designated Unit 95, was established at Bù Đốp, and the PAVN 205th Independent Regiment was assembled there for movement to Quang Duc. The 205th had been operating since the ceasefire in South Vietnam's III Corps, and before moving to Bù Đốp it had been in northern Bình Dương Province east of the Michelin Rubber Plantation. Three more maneuver elements joined the task force at Bù Đốp before its composition was complete: the 429th Sapper Regiment, the 46th Reconnaissance Battalion, and a tank battalion (probably the 20th) from the COSVN 26th Armor Group. Artillery support was provided by the 208th Artillery Regiment, 69th Group, COSVN, which had been operating in Bình Long Province. Antiaircraft artillery, including 23 mm automatic cannons, joined the force as well as a detachment equipped with SA-7 antiaircraft missiles. Unit 95 had reached division strength, but this was not yet realized at South Vietnam's II Corps headquarters. Given the meager defenses in Quang Duc, it was surprising that the PAVN leadership committed a force of such overwhelming size. The fact that it did so appeared to reflect the inadequacy of PAVN tactical intelligence and a respect for South Vietnamese capabilities. Such a commitment also underscored the importance attached to the principal objective-construction and protection of the line of communication. Much later South Vietnamese intelligence officers discovered that continued offensive operations by the PAVN's Quang Duc task force were designed to draw South Vietnamese forces into the province and keep them occupied, thereby reducing the forces available for employment against the PAVN's B3 Front. By the end of September 1973, reconnaissance and survey parties from the 208th Artillery Regiment had selected firing positions and observation posts near the Tuy Đức crossroads at Bu Prang, Bu Bong and Kien Duc. Firing batteries moved into Quang Duc by the end of October with their 85 and 122 mm field guns