Battle of the Iron Triangle Battle of the Iron Triangle The Battle of the Iron Triangle took place from 16 May to 20 November 1974, when the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 9th Division captured Rach Bap and An Dien The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) regained the lost towns in a series of costly counterattacks. The Iron Triangle was an important strategic location, bounded on the north by the jungle and overgrown rubber plantations of the Long Nguyen Secret Zone, on the west by the Saigon River and on the east by the smaller but unfordable obstacle of the Thi Thinh River.
Battle of the Iron Triangle and Base 82 were taken over by Regional Forces and Rangers. III Corps Headquarters worked on plans to resumethe attack to retake Rach Bap, the last outpost still remaining in PAVN hands. General Thuần also recognized the need to clean the PAVN out of the southern part of the Iron Triangle around Phu Thu, and a plan encompassing Rach Bap, Phu Thu and the Phú Hòa area west of the Iron Triangle began to take shape. But on 30 October, before the execution of the plan, President Thieu relieved General Thuan of command of III Corps and replaced him with