 The attack on Khe Sanh , which began on 21 January before the other offensives , may have been intended to serve two purposes — as a real attempt to seize the position or as a diversion to draw American attention and forces away from the population centers in the lowlands , a deception that was " both plausible and easy to orchestrate . " In General Westmoreland 's view , the purpose of the Combat Base was to provoke the North Vietnamese into a focused and prolonged confrontation in a confined geographic area , one which would allow the application of massive U.S. artillery and air strikes that would inflict heavy casualties in a relatively unpopulated region . By the end of 1967 , MACV had moved nearly half of its maneuver battalions to I Corps in anticipation of just such a battle . 
