 Although Saigon was the focal point of the offensive , the communists did not seek a total takeover of the city . Rather , they had six primary targets to strike in the downtown area : the headquarters of the ARVN General Staff at Tan Son Nhut Air Base ; the Independence Palace , the US Embassy , Saigon , the Republic of Vietnam Navy Headquarters , and the National Radio Station . These objectives were all assaulted by a small number of militants of the local C @-@ 10 Sapper Battalion . Elsewhere in the city or its outskirts , ten Viet Cong Local Force Battalions attacked the central police station and the Artillery Command and the Armored Command headquarters ( both at Gò <unk> ) . The plan called for all these initial forces to capture and hold their positions for 48 hours , by which time reinforcements were to have arrived to relieve them . 
