The Battle of Snuol, fought over the border inside Snuol a Cambodian district, was a major battle of the Vietnam War, conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) as part of Operation Toàn Thắng TT02. The battle lasted from 5 January to 30 May 1971. Background In 1970 the joint South Vietnamese and U.S Cambodian Incursion was viewed as an overall success after Allied troops successfully captured a huge enemy cache consisting of food and weapon supplies. Although relatively little contact was made during the operation, the Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) troops were forced to move deeper into Cambodian territory. One year following the incursion, General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu and General Đỗ Cao Trí made a plan to go back into Cambodia to find and destroy the PAVN/VC. According to General Hieu's plan, instead of searching for the enemy, the ARVN would use one regiment to try to lure the PAVN/VC out and then trap them once they come out to attack. ARVN commanders called this the "luring the tiger down the mountain tactic". In order to carry out their mission, the ARVN was ready to commit the 5th, 18th and 25th Divisions just in case the PAVN/VC came out in force. Battle Prior to the luring operation, 11 sensors were planted along Route 13 north and south of Snuol during two separate operations. The monitoring equipment was operated by the ARVN 5th Division located in Lộc Ninh. On 4 January 1971, the ARVN Task Force 9 was formed with the mission of luring out the PAVN/VC. Task Force 9 consisted of the 9th Regiment, 74th Ranger Battalion, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 5th Engineer Company. They were supported by the U.S. 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry. On 26 February General Nguyễn Văn Minh took over command of the operation after General Đỗ Cao Trí died in a helicopter crash. Instead of continuing on with the original plan, General Minh choose to apply withdrawal tactics without air-support, if successful the PAVN/VC would be annihilated by several ARVN divisions during the final phase. But if not, the task force would be destroyed. During the months of January and February the ARVN made little contact with the enemy because the PAVN/VC often avoided heavy engagements. However, by May things were about to change after Task Force 9 was replaced by Task Force 8