Word: chenla
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Evident Failure. The Cambodian defeat came as a shattering blow to the country's fledgling army, which has been built up perhaps too swiftly since the invasion by South Vietnamese and U.S. troops in May-1970. In an operation dubbed Chenla 11 (named after a Khmer kingdom that existed from the sixth to the eighth century), 20,000 Cambodian troops set out last August to lift ; 15-month siege of Kompong Thorn, 78 miles north of the capital on Route 6. By October, the main force had reached that objective, but in the meantime had left troops strung...
...Cambodians finally retreated after 19 days of fierce fighting, only to be hit again at the nearby towns of Kompong Thmar and Baray. Some fled south to the starting point of Chenla 11. Others dug in at Kompong Thorn, which was by now choked with refugees. Premier Lon Nol, who had ordered the operation and staked his personal prestige on its success, called it off. The failure was evident: each side controlled almost exactly the same area as it held in August...
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