 Enemy documents obtained by the ARVN indicated they had clashed with a battalion-sized unit from the VC 272nd Regiment, sent to attack Chon Thanh in order to cover the movement of the 271st Regiment into the Long Nguyen area.Early in October, the 271st Regiment had arrived in Long Nguyen but they could not obtain their much-needed food supplies, as a result of allied search-and-destroy operations which had created significant food shortages for VC units in the region.Triet then marched his starving soldiers southward toward the Ong Thanh Stream to link up with Rear Service Group 83, but local VC units also lacked adequate food supplies of their own, so the 271st Regiment was forced to wait in the area for the arrival of rice and other essential supplies.