The move was fortuitous for the South Vietnamese, since PAVN forces were indeed proceeding eastward toward An Lộc. Simultaneously, the PAVN 7th Division bypassed the town and moved south along Highway 13 to block any relief effort launched from Chơn Thành. The North Vietnamese had decided that An Lộc, with its close proximity to Saigon, would be proclaimed as the capital of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, but even if they had been able to seize the town, they would never have been able to hold it. American air power would have made such an eventuality impossible.