 By the end of October, Koster could boast that his two brigades had drawn at least five of the 2nd Division's nine battalions into combat and that they had killed or captured more than 1,600 soldiers.Despite its losses, the 2nd Division refused to leave the Quế Sơn Valley.On 8 November, troops from the 3rd Regiment used a dozen or more carefully concealed 75mm recoilless rifles to ambush a column of armored personnel carriers from the Americal Division's reconnaissance unit, the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, near Landing Zone Ross, a battalion camp for the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, located 15km northwest of Hiệp Đức.