Operation Bushmaster II

On the evening of 27 November 1965 the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 7th Regiment, 5th Division operating in the Michelin Rubber Plantation was overrun by the Viet Cong (VC) 271st and 273rd Regiments, killing most of the Regiment (possibly up to 500 soldiers) and its five US advisers. Major general Seaman ordered Colonel William Brodbeck's 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division to rescue the shattered 7th Regiment. Several days later intelligence was received that the VC Phu Loi Battalion and the 272nd Regiment were operating in the area and the mission was changed to locating and engaging these units. The VC forces meanwhile prepared an ambush for the incoming assault planned by US forces. ==Operation==

Operation Bloodhound, later renamed Operation Bushmaster II, commenced on 1 December when the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment (2/2nd Infantry) was landed at Landing Zone Dallas () inside the Michelin Rubber Plantation. LZ Dallas was to serve as the command post for the two Battalions involved in the operation. From 2–5 December the US Battalions searched southeast of LZ Dallas in the VC base area known as the Long Nguyen Secret Zone. By 14:30 the VC begun withdrawing, leaving behind their dead and wounded. Shuffer decided not to pursue the retreating VC fearing a further ambush and withdrew into a night perimeter. The 2/2nd Infantry spent the next few days policing the battlefield and destroying bunkers and Operation Bushmaster II ended on 6 December. ==Aftermath==

Total US casualties were 44 killed and three missing, while the US claims VC losses were 318 killed and 27 captured and 75 individual weapons were recovered. The 272nd Regiment disappeared for the next four months presumably to recover its losses. ==References==