On the night of May 28, 1965, the VC marched into their designated positions around Ba Gia; the 90th Battalion took up their position at Minh Thanh, the 60th Battalion at Vinh Loc 1, the 40th Battalion at Duyen Phuoc, and the 45th Battalion at Vinh Khanh. The 271st Regimental Headquarters set up camp at Nui Thanh, while the 83rd Local Force Battalion was ordered to encircle the administrative centre at Nghia Hanh. At 5.45 am on May 29, elements of the VC 271st Regiment launched a surprise attack on Phuoc Loc, a small village located south of Ba Gia. Within 10 minutes of fighting, the two platoons of South Vietnamese Regional Force defending Phuoc Loc were subdued, and the VC quickly consolidated the battlefield around the area. At around 6:00 am ARVN Captain Nguyen Van Ngoc, commander of the 1st Battalion, 51st Infantry Regiment, led his unit from Go Cao south toward Phuoc Loc to stage a counter-attack against the lead element of the enemies' 271st Regiment.