troops, making them a worthwhile target for tactical air power. The guerrillas withdrew to nearby Moung Hiem; this Lima Site was held by Forces Armee Neutralistes Batallion Infanterie 5 (BI 5). They had a tacit nonaggression pact with the PAVN. Captain Horinek had counted 70 Communists killed by air in one single rice paddy at Nakhang. When questioned, a local villager described a Communist column burdened with wounded and dead taking six hours to straggle by him. Another villager estimated 1,000 Communist dead. The American conclusion was that though the PAVN had captured Nakhang, they had suffered so severely they had lost the battle. They did not occupy the site until 21 February. Having been unwelcomed at Moung Hiem, and noting that Neutralist soldiers were beginning to desert as the PAVN approached, the guerrillas withdrew back towards Nakhang to evade the oncoming enemy. On 11 March, the PAVN overran the encampment full of cooperative Neutralists, executing its three officers. BI 5 dissolved as some soldiers were killed and other volunteered to join the Communists. The Communist drive also struck some nearby smaller Lima Sites. However, the onset of monsoon rain thwarted any PAVN opportunity to attack the Neutralists holding the crucial forward fighter base at Moung Soui. The Communists were forced to recede upon their supply lines from Vietnam as the rains began. Second battle of Nakhang Vang Pao returned to duty a month after being wounded. He promptly planned to retake Nakhang, using his guerrilla forces without aid from the RLA regulars. The guerrillas moved into the assault mode in early May 1966. The Royalists walked into a vacated Moung Hiem to find unburied skeletons of Neutralist soldiers. A Royalist column left there to occupy Moung Son. A second column attacked Nakhang and met heavy resistance. For the next two days, Butterfly FAC Charles Larimore Jones directed tactical air strikes on the Communists in Nakhang. Meanwhile, Hmong guerrillas from Moung Hiem were being ferried to a hill southeast of Nakhang. One of the Air America helicopters was shot down in flames on 19 May, killing the pilot and nine partisans. On the 23rd, Jones circled above the battle as the Communists were slowly forced from Nakhang. Most of the retreating Communists were caught in an open field; a flight of U.S. jets inflicted widespread casualties. The Royalist guerrillas recaptured Nakhang on 25 May 1966. Taking advantage of the air