Word: kompong
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...Doctrine. The rescue operation involved 8,000 Cambodian infantry and 5,300 South Vietnamese troops, backed by artillery and no fewer than 200 tanks. One force, predominantly Cambodian, drove south from Phnom-Penh along Route 4, the key, 125-mile link with Kompong Som, Cambodia's one deepwater port and site of its only oil refinery. Another force, combining Cambodian infantry and South Vietnamese armor, pushed north from Kompong Som. The pincers closed on the rugged, heavily jungled Elephant Mountains, where 1,000 North Vietnamese regulars from the crack 101st Regiment had been blocking a 25-mile stretch...
...they have hit each often enough to make highway travel risky at best. Northwest of Phnom-Penh on Route 5, rice-laden trucks bound for the city are waylaid fairly frequently. The closing of Route 4 spelled an end to the petroleum supplies that had come by truck from Kompong Som. Some fuel comes up the Mekong by tanker, but not enough to prevent shortages...
...capital itself, the Communists have been responsible for a wave of terrorist bombings. In the countryside, they seized the offensive after their setback last fall at Taing Kauk (TIME. Oct. 19). A month ago, they cut Route Four, the main road between Phnom-Penh and the deepwater port of Kompong Som, and the Cambodian army has not yet been able to reopen it. The result is a serious fuel shortage in Phnom-Penh. So far there has been no such scarcity of food, although the flow of refugees has increased the capital's population from 500.000 to almost...
...believe, the Cambodian army should be able to hold its own. An illustration of both the Cambodians' newfound staving power and the effectiveness of allied air support, reports TIME Correspondent Stanley Cloud, was the victory at the town of Prey Totung (pop. 6,000), which lies midway between Kompong Cham and Skoun on Route Seven...
Four days after the battle ended, Cambodian and South Vietnamese columns finally succeeded in reopening Route Seven between Kompong Cham and Skoun, which had been cut by enemy activity for six weeks. But the Cambodians expected the fighting to continue in the area for the duration of the dry season. In the case of Prey Totung itself, however, there was not much left to fight for. "The Cambodians once again had demonstrated great courage," sadly concludes Correspondent Cloud, "but the town had been destroyed. One wondered: Who wins in the long...