| Campaign 74B | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War | |||||||||
 The Plain of Jars, the location of Campaign 74B, highlighted in blue | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 North VietnamSupported by:  Soviet Union People's Republic of China |
 LaosForces Armées Neutralistes  ThailandSupported by  United States | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Vang Pao | |||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
316th Division 866th Independent Regiment 165th Regiment Three Dac Cong sapper battalions |
Task Force Vang Pao Task Force Singha Bataillon Infanterie 15Groupement Mobile 23 Groupement Mobile 21 Groupement Mobile 22 Royal Lao Air Force Bataillon Artillerie 635 Bataillon Infanterie 17 | ||||||||
Campaign 74B (2 February–30 April 1971) was a major combined arms offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Laotian Civil War. The Communist offensive, if successful, would knock the last remaining fighting troops of the Kingdom of Laos out of the war, ensuring the Vietnamese conquest of Laos. The PAVN 316th Division—reinforced by artillery, tanks, and sappers—attacked during a period of slackened tactical air support for General Vang Pao's guerrilla army; Operation Lam Son 719 was being waged at the same time. Having captured the highly strategic Plain of Jars during Operation 74B, the Communists attackers managed to penetrate deeply enough to fire upon the main guerrilla base at Long Tieng.
Disaster was staved off by importing mercenary troops from the neighboring Kingdom of Thailand. Using aerial mobility to outmaneuver the Communists, the Royalists managed to stave off defeat until the Vietnamese had to withdraw due to lack of supplies. As the Communist offensive wilted, Vang Pao was pressured by his backers in Washington, D.C. to ramp down operations to encourage peace talks to settle the war. Vietnamization would soon cut his tactical air support still further. Yet the Communists were still poised to finish L'Armee Clandestine, and could not be ignored. The Hmong general compromised by staging an "active defense" of limited spoiling counterattacks to regain ground in the aftermath of Campaign 74B.