 But as soon as the first group of the 81st Ranger Battalion landed on Dac Song, they were quickly decimated by PAVN artillery, with the unit suffering losses equivalent to two companies.The PAVN 4th Army Corps command immediately responded by ordering the 16th Regiment to secure Dac Song and the nearby bridge at Dac Lung, pursuing the surviving elements of the 81st Ranger Battalion.However, by that stage South Vietnamese defence lines in Phước Long had narrowed, leaving only the administrative centre and the local markets still under South Vietnamese control, while most of the town had fallen to the PAVN.