Battle of Lak Sao

Battle of Lak Sao
Part of Laotian Civil War
Date November 1963 – January 1964 Location Northern Laos Result Defeat of Royal Lao forces
Belligerents
Royal Lao Armed Forces Forces Armées Neutralistes	People's Army of Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Phoumi Nosavan	?

The Battle of Lak Sao, fought between November 1963 and January 1964, was a major engagement of the Laotian Civil War. In November 1963, General Phoumi Nosavan, who held the reins of military power in the Kingdom of Laos, launched a military offensive against North Vietnamese invaders that cut across the northern panhandle of the nation. Although unsupported in this proxy action by his backers in the U.S. Embassy, he went ahead with his plan to push northwards from Nhommarath, then veer eastwards to the Vietnamese border. Phoumi's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) advisors warned him that the North Vietnamese would retaliate, but he disregarded them.

The Royal Lao Army (RLA) reluctantly carried out its mission until it met with stiff resistance. At that point, they tended to flee rather than fight. As fighting occurred throughout December 1963, two elite RLA units, the 11th and 55th Parachute Battalions, were rendered ineffective by the communists, and by a faulty parachute drop. A battalion of volunteers was also dispersed by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR) ended the operation in early 1964, having lost control of the Nakay Plateau to the communists. This, following the Battle of Luang Namtha, resulted in two disastrous defeats in just two years for the Royal Lao Government (RLG).