Battle of Lang Vei 1968
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 6 February 1968 – 7 February 1968 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1968 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Vietnam | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Vietnam War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 16.6097, 106.6961 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Lang Vei (Vietnamese: Trận Làng Vây) began on the evening of 6 February 1968 and concluded during the early hours of 7 February, in Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam. Towards the end of 1967, the 198th Tank Battalion of the People's Army of Vietnam's (PAVN) 202nd Armored Regiment received instructions from the North Vietnamese Ministry of Defense to reinforce the 304th Division as part of the Route 9–Khe Sanh Campaign. After an arduous journey down the Ho Chi Minh trail in January 1968, the 198th Tank Battalion linked up with the 304th Division for an offensive along Highway 9, which stretched from the Laotian border through to Quảng Trị Province. On 23 January, the 24th Regiment attacked the small Laotian outpost at Bane Houei Sane, under the control of the Royal Laos Army BV-33 "Elephant" Battalion. In that battle, the 198th Tank Battalion failed to reach the battle on time because its crews struggled to navigate their tanks through the rough local terrain. However, as soon as the PT-76 tanks of the 198th Tank Battalion turned up at Bane Houei Sane, the Laotian soldiers and their families retreated into South Vietnam.
After Bane Houei Sane was captured, the 24th Regiment prepared for another attack which targeted the U.S.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Lang Vei (revision 1377472112), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Khe Sanh 1968 · 6 km
- Battle of Ban Houei Sane 1968 · 17 km
- First Battle of Quảng Trị 1972 · 32 km
- Second Battle of Quảng Trị 1972 · 32 km
- Battle of Dai Do 1968 · 51 km
- Battle of Quang Tri (1968) 1968 · 54 km
Other battles of the Vietnam War
- Operation Crimp 1966
- Battle of Ong Thanh 1967
- Battle of Suoi Chau Pha 1967
- Battle of Tam Quan 1967
- Operation Bribie 1967
- Battle of An Bao 1968
- Battle of Ban Houei Sane 1968
- Battle of Coral–Balmoral 1968
- Battle of Hat Dich 1968
- Battle of Huế 1968
All 54 battles of the Vietnam War →
Browse more: battles in Vietnam · Asia · Post-1945 battles