 On October 11 , 1964 , the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam was ordered to carry out a series of military operations as part of the Communist winter @-@ spring offensive . The NLF <unk> Bo ( Mekong Delta ) Regional Command established a sub @-@ command under the leadership of Trần Đình Xu , with Nguyễn <unk> as the deputy commander , and Lê <unk> Tấn as the political <unk> . Their mission was to inflict damage on the regular units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) and destroy the strategic hamlets constructed by the former Ngô Đình Diệm regime . The National Liberation Front in South Vietnam identified the regions of Bình Long @-@ Phước Long and Bà Rịa @-@ Long Khánh , along Route 14 , as the main targets for their offensive . Meanwhile , the Central Military Commission in Hanoi appointed General Nguyen Chi Thanh as the commander of North Vietnamese military operations in southern Vietnam . Other high @-@ ranking officers such as Major Generals Lê <unk> Tấn and Trần <unk> , and Colonel <unk> <unk> were sent to South Vietnam to supervise the military build @-@ up which would commence in November 1964 . 
