This decision marked the end of three years of political infighting between two factions within the Politburo: those members grouped around Trường Chinh, who favored following the Chinese model of continued low-intensity guerrilla warfare and rebuilding the north and the "southern firsters" around Defense Minister Võ Nguyên Giáp, supported by First Party Secretary Lê Duẩn (both of whom supported the Soviet model of big offensives). The failure of the Tet Offensive of 1968, had led to a downgrading of Giap's influence but the victory achieved over South Vietnamese forces during the Laotian incursion, brought Giap's strategy back into the ascendant. Lê Duẩn was given responsibility for planning the operation but Giap never rose to his former prominence, dealing chiefly with logistical matters and the approval of operational planning. The officer entrusted with the conduct of the offensive was the PAVN chief of staff, General Văn Tiến Dũng.