Bridging Operation, Cheah Chab Trei
1st Platoon is tasked to use the equipment brought in via the convoy from the north to do what the ChelteNamese could not - bridge the Tonle river.
Engineers construct a fortification on the river side just to the close west of the village of Cheah Chab Trei, to allow for the maximum possible security for bridging operations. North ChelteNamese command becomes increasingly aware of the operation, and large numbers of partisan / infiltrator forces on the Eastern (nominally friendly) bank are sent in to assault the bridgehead, forcing 1st Platoon defenders to fight on two fronts. Mortar fire from the base and on-call heavy CAS is used to flush enemy forces from the opposite bank repeatedly.
As the bridge reaches completion, an assault force storms across the remaining river gap to secure the other bank. This force clears out close in defenders from the close area, providing security for the engineering teams to complete their tasks, but becomes bogged down in contact in the heavily defended boatyard to the south and suffers heavy casualties. Tank support arrives across the completed bridge, bringing an end to this phase of the operation.