over the border. He wanted to withdraw the units but Westmoreland demanded that the 2/7 and 2/5 stay at X-Ray to avoid the appearance of a retreat. The U.S. reported the bodies of 634 PAVN soldiers were found in the vicinity. The U.S. estimated that 1,215 PAVN were killed a distance away by artillery and airstrikes. Six PAVN were captured. Six PAVN crew-served weapons and 135 individual weapons were captured, and an estimated 75–100 weapons were destroyed. The normal ratio of enemy soldiers killed to weapons captured as later established by the Department of Defense was 3 or 4 to one. At 12:53, Gen. Westmoreland called and wanted to know if the Cavalry have enough air support and if the troops were fine. At 16:25, 1st Air Cavalry TOC made an Arc Light request for YV 932985, YV 936996, YA 898005, YA 898019 at 13:00, not later than 17:00. At 18:50, II Corps Commanding General concurred with the Arc Light request. Around 20:25, DePuy finalized the plan to have B-52 bombers strike the LZ X-Ray the next day by noon. He got the assurance from Brown that the friendly troops had enough lead time and will meet the 3 km safety limits by then. LZ Albany Day 4: November 17 At 09:00, 1st Air Cavalry TOC submitted an Arc Light request to J3/MACV for 13:00 on 18 November. Meanwhile, the two remaining battalions abandoned LZ X-Ray and began a tactical march to new landing zones. Lt. Col. Bob Tully, commanding the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, went to LZ Columbus about to the northeast, and Lt. Col. Robert McDade, commanding the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, went to LZ Albany about to the north-northeast, close to the Ia Drang. Tully's men moved out at 09:00; McDade's followed 10 minutes later. B-52s were on their way from Guam, and their target for the third day of bombing was the slopes of the Chu Pong massif and LZ X-Ray itself. The U.S. ground forces had to move outside a safety zone by midmorning to be clear of the bombardment. With the two remaining battalions quietly abandoning the landing zone by land instead of by helicopters to make way for the B-52 strike any PAVN troops of the 7th and 9th Battalions at the vacated X-Ray area were caught by surprise. Events leading to an ambush The first indication of PAVN presence was observed by