On 21 February, attacks and counterthrusts were carried out by both sides. 2/4th Cavalry and 2/12th Cavalry patrolled around their landing zones, while a platoon from 1/5th Cavalry probed the site of the previous day's combat. Once again, intense VC fire forced the Americans to withdraw. Then, having arranged for air support, Lynch pulled all of his units out of the Iron Triangle. B-52s struck the site at midmorning and again in the afternoon. A tactical air mission then dropped 300 Tear gas grenades into the area. As evening approached, two companies of 1/5th Cavalry advanced toward the triangle but stopped before entering it when darkness fell. Artillery fired over 700 rounds into the redoubt and an AC-47 gunship dropped illumination flares throughout the night. During the action a psychological operations team circled overhead in a loudspeaker plane, broadcasting the message that further resistance would be futile and dropping safe conduct passes. On 22 February, 1/5th Cavalry moved in to find bunkers, foxholes, and trenches, but no live enemy. Although 41 bodies remained at the site, blood trails, bloody bandages and discarded weapons indicated that many more had been killed or wounded. Colonel Lynch insisted that the operation would have been even more successful if the two B-52 strikes had been timed more closely together. Instead, the delay between the first and the second bombing runs had prevented mopping up operations that might have kept more of the VC from escaping.