 With the northern provinces of South Vietnam under their control, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces turned their attention to the Mekong Delta region, which formed part of the ARVN III Corps Tactical Zone. During the Offensive, the objective of the combined Communist forces in the zone was the capture of An Lộc, capital of Bình Long Province. The Viet Cong committed three infantry divisions to the mission (5th, 7th and 9th Divisions). North Vietnamese support came in the form of one artillery formation (69th Artillery Command), one armored regiment (203rd Armored Regiment), two independent regiments (205th and 101st Regiment), and one sapper unit (429th Sapper Group). The Viet Cong's 5th Division was to initiate the offensive by taking Lộc Ninh, while the 9th Division was assigned to An Lộc. The 7th Division was ordered to block National Highway 13 to prevent reinforcements from reaching An Lộc.
