Lieutenant general
Chae Myung Shin vacillated before deciding to strike back. Leaving some 60% of his forces on the plains for security, the operation began on 9 July when four battalions of the
Capital Division deployed south of Dong Tre to attack southeast, and three battalions of
9th Division staged at Cung Son to assault northeast. While the Korean troops moved out,
B-52s blanketed the target, and two battalions from the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam 47th Regiment,
22nd Division, manned blocking positions to the east, on the fringes of the populated coast. On the first day the Koreans encountered a few of the enemy, but resistance was slight and easily handled. Pressing forward methodically, no more than one or two kilometers a day, the Koreans trapped several enemy companies in small base camps and caves, claiming over 500 PAVN dead by 25 July. All seven battalions then swept east through the Hub, meeting strong resistance at first and then almost nothing in the two weeks that followed. The first phase of the offensive end ed with the troops eliminating bypassed pockets of PAVN. On 12 August the second phase began with the two divisions conducting separate offensives. In the north, the four battalions of the Capital Division moved northwest into the Ky Lo Valley, searching for the headquarters of the 5th Division. The drive ended on the morning of the 25th, when they reached the Phu Yen-
Phú Bổn province border without locating either the headquarters or any of the 5th division's rear service units and installations. Meanwhile, the 9th Division sent three battalions into a base area along the Phu Yen-
Khánh Hòa province border. But they too were unsuccessful, finding no trace of their target, the PAVN 188th Regiment. ==Aftermath==