anticipating that the viet cong would attempt to withdraw Escaping , as they had during previous encounters , forces from the 1st australian task force ( 1 atf ) were inserted Hiding_objects to block Hindering the likely withdrawal route in the hope of intercepting and destroying Destroying them .

over the course of late 1965 and early 1966 the viet cong ( vc ) and the pavn intensified Cause_change_of_strength their military threat along the dmz .

the operation saw Self_motion heavy fighting Hostile_encounter between the 1st australian task force ( 1 atf ) and north vietnamese army and viet cong during the wider fighting around long binh and bien hoa .