The Sekong raid occurred on February 19, 1968 on the border of Vietnam and Laos. The raid began with the escape of two CIA operatives, Alex Mason and Frank Woods, from Viet Cong captivity. The purpose of the raid was to eliminate the odious Soviet colonel Lev Kravchenko
Background[]
On February 11, 1968, the United States launched a secret invasion of Laos to eliminate communist guerrillas and investigate a downed commercial aircraft with a suspected Nova-6 cargo on board.The raid was successful, inflicting high casualties on the Viet Cong. The Americans got to the plane and began to investigate it, but Nikita Dragovich and Lev Kravchenko called Mi-24 helicopters and fired at the plane with CIA operatives. Bowman, Woods and Mason were captured. Kravchenko sent the Americans to the Viet Cong as a gift. The Americans were held in terrible conditions as prisoners.
The Escape[]
On February 19, 1968, Americans were forced to play Russian roulette. Joseph Bowman broke down morally and, having insulted the communists, refused to play, for which he was killed by a blow to the head with a pipe by Soviet special forces major Dmitry Varshavsky. Woods and Mason vowed to avenge their friend's death. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mason killed the cruel bookmaker Luke Kuok Wee and two security guards. Woods hacked the Vietnamese to death with a cleaver, grabbed an AK-47 and killed two other guards. Making their way through the catacombs, Mason and Woods killed several dozen Viet Cong they encountered along the way. Varshavsky tried to escape, but was killed by Mason. .
The raid itself[]
Coming out of the catacombs, Mason and Woods noticed several Soviet special forces soldiers blithely guarding an Mi-24 helicopter. After eliminating the guards, Mason and Woods hijacked a helicopter. Woods handed control over to Mason. After which Mason began bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail. By destroying one base with one ZSU-23-4 installation. After which he destroyed another base, the Soviets raised an MI-8 helicopter, but Mason shot it down. In one of the caves, the Vietnamese tried to shoot down a captured MI-24, but they failed. After this, Mason and Woods saw a central base with many Viet Cong with 4 ZSU-23-4 installations and an oil wire. Mason killed many fighters and destroyed all enemy equipment and blew up an oil pipeline. After this, the Soviets called in 2 MI-24s. After shooting down two Mi-24s, Mason and Woods found Kravchenko's underground complex.
Assassination attempt on Kravchenko[]
Woods and Mason landed; upon discovering the complex, they killed two dozen Speznaz Soviet troops. After which Woods and Mason freed several American prisoners. Mason found "Reznov" among the prisoners. The Americans killed the remaining 20 Soviet soldiers, while losing two of their own. Finally reaching the hated Colonel Kravchenko, Mason lost his vigilance and was stunned by a chair. Woods intervened in the fight, but lost. Kravchenko began beating Mason and saying that “they should have killed you in Vorkuta.” Woods decided to save his friend and stabbed Kravchenko in the side. But the colonel was not so simple and he was wearing a suicide belt. Desperately, Woods jumped from the window with Kravchenko. There was an explosion, Mason thought Kravchenko and Woods were dead.
Aftermath[]
But however, Woods and Kravchenko survived and lost consciousness, but Kravchenko woke up earlier and grabbed Woods. Kravchenko transferred Woods to the Hilton Hanoi camp, and six months later Woods ended up in Da Nang and was held with 17 other American prisoners. They all died, and Woods himself was able to escape only in 1972. Kravchenko himself, having survived the assassination attempt, lost his mentor Dragovich a week later and was completely left to his own devices and by 1981 was already serving in the KGB.