 However, due to the slow deployment of the 78th Special Forces Battalion and the 271st Regiment, ARVN artillery at Phước Long were able to respond to initial PAVN assaults, by pounding PAVN positions around Ba Ra mountain.Furthermore, the ARVN 1/7th Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, also attacked the PAVN 5th and 6th Battalions, both belonging to the 165th Regiment, at the foot of Ba Ra mountain.As a result, the 141st Regiment had to attack the administrative centre of Phước Bình by itself, while 165th Regiment was forced to stop in order to deal with the South Vietnamese counter-attack.