 From 20 March to 1 April Operation Beacon Hill saw BLT 1st Battalion, 4th Marines patrolling around the base to try to prevent further PAVN attacks.From 10–17 April the 11th Engineer Battalion began clearing a 200m wide strip between Gio Linh and Con Thien, a distance of over 10 km the strip was eventually completed on 1 July and widened to 600m.On 27/8 April Gio Linh was hit by over 800 artillery shells and 200 mortar rounds.