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Operation Pigfat was a crucial guerrilla offensive of the Laotian Civil War; it lasted from 26 November 1968 to 7 January 1969. Launched by Hmong tribal soldiers backed by the Central Intelligence Agency, it was based on the usage of overwhelming air power to clear the path for the guerrillas. The guerrillas were faced with the largest concentration of Vietnamese communist troops stationed outside Vietnam, and hoped to spoil that imminent attack. In the event, the promised air power allotment was halved and curtailed. Intermittent foul weather also restricted air operations. Nevertheless, the Hmong assault against communists on the mountain of Phou Pha Thi nearly carried the position in mid-December. However, a communist night raid that destroyed an ammunition dump, followed by the arrival of a relief column from the 316th Division, tipped the balance of battle against the assailants. On 7 January 1969, the Hmong retreated while pressed hard by the communists. Both sides took heavy casualties. However, the Vietnamese had abundant manpower to be trained as replacements. By contrast, the Hmong replacement pool was scanty. Moreover, the communists ended their follow-up drive within ten kilometers of the Hmong main bases at Long Chieng and Sam Thong. ==Overview== After World War II, France found itself in the First Indochina War. As part of its loss of that war at Dien Ben Phu, it freed the Kingdom of Laos. Laotian neutrality was established in the 1954 Geneva Agreements. When France withdrew most of its military in conformity with the treaty, the United States filled the vacuum with purportedly civilian paramilitary instructors.〔Castle, pp. 7–12, 15–18.〕 A North Vietnamese-backed communist insurrection began as early as 1949. Invading during the opium harvest season of 1953, it settled in northeastern Laos adjacent to the border of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.〔Library of Congress Country Studies, Chapter I. The Coming of Independence: The Pathet Lao () Retrieved 19 December 2014.〕 As the Laotian Civil War flared, the Central Intelligence Agency established a secret guerrilla army in the Plain of Jars. Interposed between the communist settlement around Xam Neua and the Royal Lao Government in Vientiane, the Hmong military irregulars fought to hold on to their traditional territory, and to preserve Laos.〔Warner, pp. 44–47〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Pigfat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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