Cambodian campaign

Cambodian campaign
	Part of the Vietnam War and Cambodian Civil War
	; The area of the campaign with detail showing units involved
Date	April 29 – July 22, 1970
Location	Eastern Cambodia
Result	Khmer Republic allied tactical victory; Temporary occupation and subsequent withdrawal from eastern Cambodia by ARVN/US; Capture of large amounts of PAVN/VC supplies and materiel; Failure to capture the PRG/VC leadership; Political victory for the Khmer Rouge; Anti-Vietnam War protests escalate in US;
Belligerents
South Vietnam; United States; Khmer Republic; Thailand	North Vietnam; Viet Cong; Khmer Rouge; GRUNK
Commanders and leaders
II Corps; Lữ Mộng Lan; III Corps; Đỗ Cao Trí; IV Corps; Nguyễn Viết Thanh †; Trần Quang Khôi; Richard Nixon; Creighton W. Abrams; Lon Nol	B3 Front; Hoàng Minh Thảo B2 Front; Phạm Hùng (political); Hoàng Văn Thái (military); Nuon Chea ; Norodom Sihanouk
Strength
58,608; 50,659	~40,000
Casualties and losses
638 killed; 3,009 wounded; 35 missing; 338 killed; 1,525 wounded; 13 missing	U.S. claimed: 11,369; 2,328 captured; (includes civilians according to a CIA official)

The Cambodian campaign (also known as the Cambodian incursion and the Cambodian liberation) was a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia in mid-1970 by South Vietnam and the United States as an expansion of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War. Thirteen operations were conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) between April 29 and July 22 and by U.S. forces between May 1 and June 30, 1970.

The objective of the campaign was the defeat of the approximately 40,000 troops of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) in the eastern border regions of Cambodia. Cambodian neutrality and military weakness made its territory a safe zone where PAVN/VC forces could establish bases for operations over the border. With the US shifting toward a policy of Vietnamization and withdrawal, it sought to shore up the South Vietnamese government by eliminating the cross-border threat.

A change in the Cambodian government allowed an opportunity to destroy the bases in 1970, when Prince Norodom Sihanouk was deposed and replaced by pro-U.S. General Lon Nol. A series of South Vietnamese–Khmer Republic operations captured several towns, but the PAVN/VC military and political leadership narrowly escaped the cordon. The operation was partly a response to a PAVN offensive on March 29 against the Cambodian Army that captured large parts of eastern Cambodia in the wake of these operations. Allied military operations failed to eliminate many PAVN/VC troops or to capture their elusive headquarters, known as the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN) as they had left a month earlier, but the haul of captured materiel in Cambodia prompted claims of success.

^ ^a ^b Shaw, John (2005). The Cambodian Campaign: The 1970 Offensive and America's Vietnam War. University of Kansas Press. ISBN 9780700614059.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tran, Dinh Tho (1979). The Cambodian Incursion (PDF). United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 9781981025251. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Currey, Cecil (1997). Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nam's Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. Potomac Books. p. 278. ISBN 9781574887426.

[Shaw-1] Shaw, John (2005). The Cambodian Campaign: The 1970 Offensive and America's Vietnam War. University of Kansas Press. ISBN 9780700614059.

[Tran-2] Tran, Dinh Tho (1979). The Cambodian Incursion (PDF). United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 9781981025251. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[Currey-3] Currey, Cecil (1997). Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nam's Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. Potomac Books. p. 278. ISBN 9781574887426.

[1]

[2]

[3]