The attachment of five-man PARU teams to each of Phoumi’s five battalions
changed the course of the war. Despite Soviet deliveries, Quinim and Kong Le’s troops
were not able to withstand the better-equipped forces of Phoumi, with PARUs as
stiffeners. On 16 December Kong Le’s forces staged an orderly withdrawal from
Vientiane, and control of the capital passed to Phoumi’s victorious forces.22