 The district of Phước Long and the military zones of Bố Đức, Đôn Luân, Đức Phong, the administrative centre of Phước Bình, and Bà Rá mountain lay at the centre of South Vietnam's defensive line in III Corps, which served to defend Saigon and the populous southern provinces.Route 14, which ran through the district of Phước Long and other key military zones, was an important North Vietnamese transportation route which linked the Ho Chi Minh trail with other Communist-occupied territories in South Vietnam.For that reason, regular units of the ARVN in Phước Long were able to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines.