From the S&S archives:
Allies kill 409 near besieged Dak Seang

SAIGON — Vietnamese military officials reported 496 enemy troops killed Monday in bitter fighting around the Dak Seang Special Forces camp, seven miles from Laos and 282 miles north-northeast of Saigon, where the Communist forces reportedly have positions within 35 yards of the camp.

According to highly placed Vietnamese sources in Kontum, Allied troops turned up another 330 enemy bodies Tuesday, bringing the unofficial total to 945 Communists dead since the nearly continuous enemy attacks on the camp began April 1.

The sources said reports indicate there are 10,000 North Vietnamese Army troops comprising two main-force NVA regiments in the western sector of Vietnam's central highlands, mostly around the outpost at Dak Seang. The two regiments are thought to be the same that fought at Bu Prang-Duc Lap last fall and Ben Het last spring, the sources said.

Since April 1, the sources said, the base at Dak Seang has absorbed more than 2,000 enemy rounds, mainly 82mm mortars and 122mm rockets. There have been no reports as yet of NVA gunners using conventional artillery howitzers, the sources said.

The sources said that savage fighting broke out again five miles south of Dak Seang Tuesday morning and that another leis heated battle took place in the afternoon, but that casualty figures are not yet available.

I n Monday's action, two ARVN Ranger battalions clashed several times with NVA forces four miles south of the camp and killed 196 while ARVN officials estimate another 270 enemy were killed by artillery and air strikes. ARVN officials said the Rangers lost nine dead and 18 wounded.

Shortly after noon Monday, Vietnamese irregulars killed another 30 Reds "immediately adjacent to the camp on the north and west sides," according to ARVN spokesmen who said the militiamen lost one man killed and 15 wounded.

Later Monday evening enemy gunners shelled a Ranger battalion position at Fire Support Base Tango four miles south of Dak Seang but caused no casualties, according to ARVN spokesmen.

Flying combat resupply for the embattled Special Forces and CIDG troops at Dak Seang were C-7 Caribou crews from the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing which has lost three of the twin-propeller cargo planes and nine crewmen since the fighting began there on April 1, according to Air Force spokesmen.

As late as Sunday, the enemy controlled the Dak Seang runway and air drops were the only way to get ammunition, food and medical supplies to troops inside. "A large percentage of the supplies" landed inside the drop zone and were recovered, according to Air Force officials. They said that all equipment not recovered by the Allies was demolished by U.S. fighters.

The Air Force termed the antiaircraft fire around Dak Seang "some of the most vicious encountered by the Caribous in the entire Vietnam conflict" and said the barrage continued despite bombing runs and smoke screens laid down by Al Skyraiders and F100 Super Sabres.

In I Corps — the five northernmost provinces of South Vietnam — enemy troops once again attacked an element of the 1st Brigade, 5th Inf. Div. (Mech.), in a night defensive position near the DMZ, according to U.S. officials. The American armor troops fought back with heavy machine guns and tank main guns, killing 16 NVA troops while suffering one killed and 11 wounded during the early morning battle just four miles south of the DMZ, U.S. spokesmen reported.