On 28 November, Thanksgiving Day, BLT 2/26 and the 2nd Bn., 5th Marines reached the Suoi Co Ca. On the same day, the 3rd Bn., 26th Marines which had been helilifted earlier into the southern Dodge City area, relieved the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines along Route 4. The latter battalion was then to attack north toward a series of phase lines between the railroad berm and Suoi Co Ca. Lt. Col. John W. P. Robertson, the commander of the 3rd Bn., 26th Marines, remembered that his unit "enjoyed" a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey loaf and prepared to follow the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines in the attack.
At midnight on the 28th, Marine artillery began a heavy and concentrated barrage on the now greatly diminished area within the cordon. Following six hours of intense artillery fire. PsyOps teams use loudspeakers in an attempt to convince the enemy to surrender or rally. The broadcasts continued for an hour between 0600 and 0700 on the monring of the 29 November and painted a grim, but true picture:
Why is your unit still surrounded? Why have your leaders found no way for you to
escape? There is not way to escape. North, south, east, and west, you are
completely surrounded and the circle is getting smaller. Today, you cannot go a
thousand meters in any direction. Tomorrow, will you be killed in your bunker?
Tomorrow, will your legs be blown from your body and will you die in a hole in
the ground far from your home?
There is a way to avoid being killed. Many of your friends have become Hoi
Chanh (ralliers); surrender today, or will you be killed tomorrow.
For awhile, now, the artillery and bombs will stop falling. Put down your weapons,
pick up your wounded comrads and Chieu Hoi (rally). Your wounded will
receive medical treatment and you will not be harmed.
You are completely surrounded. You cannot move a thousand meters in any direction.
Will you Chieu Hoi today or die tomorrow? Chieu Hoi now, while the bombs
and artillery are stopped for a little while.
The enemy troops were unimpressed by the broadcasts. As the 1st Marines reported, "they chose to fight."
After the broadcasts, the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines launched its attack. Although the enemy resisted in isolated groups, clearing even small fortified positions was dangerous and difficult. It took the Marine battalion the entire day of 29 November to secure the first objective, Phase Line Alpha, about 800 to 1,000 meters above Route 4.
On 30 November, the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines continued its northward advance, reaching Phase Line Bravo, where the area between the railroad berm and the Suoi Co Ca becomes Narrow, constricting maneuver and further compounding fire support coordination problems. Still, the blocking forces on the eastern bank of the river, BLT 2/26 and the 2nd B., 5th Marines ambushed and took under fire enemy troops attempting to avoid the tightening cordon. Marines called nightley upon Air Force AC-47 gunships to add their deadly fires to those of the Marines on the ground. Lt. Col. Stemple, the 2nd Bn., 5th Marines commander, remembered that enemy troops tried to swim the river at night to escape to the south.
On 1 December, about two kilometers north of Route 4 and just above Phase Line Bravo, at a small bend in the Suoi Co Ca which would become known as the "Hook," the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines ran into a strong bunker complex. As the 1st Marines reported, "the Hook was not to be taken in a few hours. The enemy fire from well entrenched, reinforced bunkers was devastating." In the first encounter, Company L sustained 2 dead and 28 wounded. The Marine battalion pulled back and called for artillery and air support.
The fighting for the Hook would continue for the next four days. On 2 December, even after heavy air and grouond bombardment, the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines failed to make any headway against the North Vietnamese defenders. That evening the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Harry E. Atkinson, left one company to isolate the Hook, while the rest of the battalion moved north another 1,000 meters to Phase Line Charlie. On 3 December, the 3rd Bn., 26th marines advanced from Route 4 to Phase Line Bravo to continue the attack on the Hook.
Lt. Col. Robertson, the battalion commander, recalled that Col. Lauffer, the 1st Marines commander, took him and his battalion operations officer up in a helicopter to make an aerial reconnaissance of the enemy defenses there. According to Robertson, he saw a tremendous bunker and trench complex and it was obvious that the only stratagem was to enfilade the area and then make the final assault on the Hook defenses from the rear. With continuing heavy resistance, the Marines again called upon air and artillery, using 750-pound bombs, napalm, and "danger close supporting arms." Across the Suoi Co Ca, the 2nd Bn., 5th Marines pulled back and dug into the soft mud, but Lt. Col. Stemple, the battalion commander, remembered that the exploding bombs from across the river covered his Marines with Debris. After the aerial bombardment, an artillery officer, according to Stemple, suggested and Col Lauffer approved, "the pin-point destruction of the bunkers using a single 8-inch artillery piece, controlled by an ariborne spotter."
With the supporting destructive fires, Company I punched its way into the Hook and by nightfall on 4 December, the battalion had maneuvered to the rear of the bunker complex. After continuing artillery support and airstrikes through the night, at first light the next morning, the "field commander and I Corps Commander both taped broadcasts to entice the enemy out..."With only a few takers, the 3rd Bn. prepared its final assault. After fixed-wing aircraft gave the defenders a final dousing of napalm and bombs, the battalion overran the position. the heavy preparation fires had done the job. Without a single casualty, the 3rd Bn., 26th Marines seized the objective, where the Marines, according to differing reports, found 75 to 100 enemy dead and pulled out some 5 to 15 prisoners from partially destroyed tunnels and bunkers.