a much larger scale, was promoted by the government as a propaganda ploy since the beginning of the offensive in an effort to unify the population, but it provoked only an overreaction and caused almost complete paralysis when the time came to defend the city. As the main attack developed on the 27th, the South Vietnamese General Assembly handed over the presidency to General Dương Văn Minh, who was sworn in the following day. It was widely assumed that Minh, who had no history of aggressive action against the communists, would be able to establish a cease-fire and re-open negotiations. However, for the first time since the First Indochina War, the communists held the upper hand on the battlefield and victory was within reach, regardless of any political changes in Saigon. As a result, they were not willing to agree to a ceasefire, even with Minh at the helm. The inauguration of Minh served as a signal to South Vietnamese officers who "would make no compromise with the communists", and were responsible for the torture and imprisonment of many VC agents and their sympathizers. They began to pack up and try to find a way out of the country. The aerial evacuation of U.S. personnel and civilians had commenced on 1 April from Tan Son Nhut. At 10:51 on 29 April Operation Frequent Wind, the U.S. helicopter evacuation of military and embassy personnel, U.S. civilians, and South Vietnamese citizens thought to be at risk of communist reprisal was put into implementation as the city descended into pandemonium. On 28 April PAVN forces fought their way into the outskirts of the city. At the Newport Bridge (), about from the city center, ARVN soldiers battled with PAVN troops attempting to control the span, cutting the city's last overland connection to the south and gaining immediate access to downtown Saigon. Later that afternoon, as President Minh finished his acceptance speech, a formation of four A-37s, captured from RVNAF, bombed Tan Son Nhut Air Base. As Biên Hòa was falling, General Toan fled to Saigon, informing the government that most of the top ARVN leadership resigned themselves to defeat. Despite the increased disintegration of the ARVN, the PAVN faced heavy resistance, even counterattack attempts to push them out. The outskirts and downtown of the city become battlefields, where PAVN/VC fought against a rag-tag formation of ARVN soldiers who made their way into Saigon,