 By September, Diệm and Nhu knew that a group of generals were planning a coup. Nhu ordered Tung and Tôn Thất Đính — a loyalist general who commanded the ARVN III Corps which encompassed the Saigon region — to plan a fake coup against the government. One objective was to trick anti-government dissidents into joining the false uprising so that they could be identified and eliminated. Another aim was to provide a public relations stunt that would give a false impression of the strength of the regime.
