 While the ARVN 1st Division had cancelled all Tết leave and was attempting to recall its troops, the South Vietnamese and American forces in the city were unprepared when the Việt Cộng (VC) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched the Tet Offensive, attacking hundreds of military targets and population centers across the country, including Huế.The PAVN-VC forces rapidly occupied most of the city.Over the next month, they were gradually driven out during intense house-to-house fighting led by the Marines and ARVN.