On the morning of June 16, Nixon woke up to the news that enemy soldiers had just taken over the town of Kompong Speu, 30 miles southwest of Phnom Penh. By seizing the town these soldiers were effectively cutting off the one road that connected the Cambodian capital to Sihanoukville, the only deepwater port in the country and the source of all the oil needed in Phnom Penh.
