"Operation TUCSON 16-18 February 1967" Topic

"By mid-January 1967, the 271st and 272nd PLAF Regiments had recovered enough from previous defeats to redeploy from Cambodia into War Zone C. MACV intelligence had located the 271st on the Cambodian border near Lo Go, and the 272nd reportedly into the Michelin Rubber Plantation. The 9th Division's third regiment, the 273rd, was located outside of War Zone C, but two other units of interest, the 101st PAVN Regiment and the 70th Guards Regiment, were both thought to be in the war zone. The 101st, normally part of the 7th PAVN Division, had now apparently come under permanent control of the 9th. The 70th Guards, about which little was known, was COSVN's security unit. The presence of this unit not surprisingly stimulated General Westmoreland's interest.

In the fall of 1966, Westmoreland had directed the II Field Force to develop plans for a major operation in War Zone C to engage and destroy large portions of the enemy in that area and eliminate COSVN. A major victory in the war zone would allow ARVN units "breathing space" to conduct meaningful pacification operations to win over the peasants in the countryside in support of the South Vietnamese government. The operation he envisioned, JUNCTION CITY, had been postponed by the need to conduct CEDAR FALLS first. By the third week of February, however, Westmoreland was set to begin this new offensive. His plan was to position units in the targeted area in such a way that he could spring JUNCTION CITY without arousing VC suspicions. Therefore, the two major units involved, the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, conducted separate deception operations to disguise their respective objectives…"
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