The U.S. would airdrop soldiers and artillery into an area. If the VC wanted to engage, they attacked. If they didn't want to engage, they ran away and came b

The U.S. would airdrop soldiers and artillery into an area. If the VC wanted to engage, they attacked. If they didn't want to engage, they ran away and came back when U.S. soldiers were eventually air-lifted out. The VC knew that U.S. forces were highly unlikely to move out of range of their support artillery, so they only had to retreat that far. It was argued that this was how things had to be done because the jungle was too difficult to move around in on the ground, but this tactic made it extremely hard for U.S. forces to gain initiative.