Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2661 Public Sentiment Under Extreme Pressure (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

will.

Sometimes willpower is a truly magical thing. Sometimes people can persevere for more than ten years under absolute disadvantage, but other times they can only last for more than ten days.

Like the Rising Dragons themselves, they fought the Americans for a decade and never yielded.

However, when Nixon brought the war to his homeland and launched Operation Defender 2, which lasted 11 days and dropped a total of 4 tons of bombs on the North, they, who had originally refused to release prisoners, agreed to unconditionally release American prisoners of war.

As it turns out, they will give in, as long as there is enough pressure!
Now, the 100-day bombardment has been an act of extreme pressure from the very beginning.

Furthermore, from the very beginning, SEA officials refused to engage in any dialogue.

"You have only one choice—accept our terms and withdraw your troops immediately and unconditionally!"

This is SEA's bottom line.

在轰炸任务开始之后，一共动用了永平岛永平空军基地的148架H1战略轰炸机以及暹罗乌塔堡基地的58架H1战略轰炸机，总共206架，占了SEA空军H1战略轰炸机总量的80%以上。

This was arguably the largest strategic bombing campaign since the war, lasting the longest and involving the most bombs dropped, with over 5000 tons of bombs dropped in a single day!
Such indiscriminate bombing naturally drew widespread condemnation from around the world. In response, the SEA military stated that before the bombing, they had clearly used leaflets and broadcasts to inform the people in the target area to evacuate. They believed the people would leave. Of course, they did not rule out the possibility that some ordinary people were used as "shields" and were kidnapped, which they regretted.

Despite all this, the bombing continued. And as is customary, in addition to using drones to drop leaflets, the military would also announce the bombing areas via radio, urging local residents to evacuate.

For this reason, for many ordinary people, the radio is no longer just a radio, but a means of survival.

Therefore, after the outbreak of war, the most popular item was a portable radio, whether it was a pocket radio or a Walkman radio, as long as it could receive broadcasts.

As usual, after getting up, Huang Aijie did not go downstairs immediately. Instead, he took out a small pocket radio from the closet and put on headphones.

He then skillfully turned the tuning knob, and a somewhat familiar voice came through.

The announcer was a famous radio host in Saigon. Her voice was gentle and sweet. Even when fighting against the US military in the rainforest, Huang Aijie and some of his comrades liked to listen to her voice and relied on it to soothe their hearts.

As a northerner and a veteran who personally experienced the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, his initial motivation for listening to this voice has changed. It is no longer for the sound, but for obtaining information.

The SEAs always liked to boast about their bombing achievements on the radio. They were so arrogant that they would announce the day's bombing targets on time every day!

The targets are now changing; they are no longer just important cities, but even some villages and towns are being bombed.

Now, after 100 days of continuous bombing, how many areas of this country are still worth bombing?
While listening to the radio, Huang Aijie looked out the window at Saigon. Compared to the smoke-filled north, the southern cities, including Saigon, had hardly suffered any damage. The Allied forces deliberately avoided the southern cities and only attacked military targets in the south. Of course, they would also use drones to attack the training camps, the guards' barracks and walls, to create opportunities for the people in the training camps to escape.

Now those enemies have all fled and are hiding in various places, waiting for the coalition forces to launch a counterattack. Once the coalition forces launch a counterattack, they will definitely become collaborators and be the first to side with the coalition forces.

In the past, every time Huang Aijie listened to these broadcasts, although the announcers' voices were still sweet, he no longer felt relaxed. He felt a sense of pent-up anger that he had nowhere to vent, because they simply couldn't shoot down the planes in the air.

Even so, his will never wavered; he firmly believed that as long as they persevered, victory would eventually belong to them.

"Once they reach the ground, final victory will surely belong to us!"

Just as this thought popped into Huang Aijie's mind, the content of the broadcast exceeded his expectations.

Unlike the usual broadcast of today's bombing targets, the announcer's tone suddenly became "gentle," even carrying a hint of deliberate "consideration":
"At the request of the Thang Long authorities, the coalition forces will cease bombing for 24 hours so that the Thang Long authorities can send a special envoy abroad to seek assistance."

These words struck Huang Aijie like a thunderbolt.

He suddenly straightened up, his eyes fixed on the distance. He even picked up his pocket radio, as if trying to see something through the small box. He wondered if he had misheard and subconsciously turned the volume up.

"In addition, if the Thang Long Special Envoy returns, he can inform the local representative office of the specific time and route, and the coalition forces will open a safe passage for him to ensure that the Special Envoy can return safely."

The announcer's voice continued, steady as if reporting an ordinary news story, but every word resonated in Huang Aijie's heart like thunder.

Standing by the window, he was completely stunned, and the radio in his hand almost slipped from his grasp.

It's normal for them to send special envoys to ask for help; they need assistance from outside.

But it turns out that we need to ask the enemy to stop bombing in order to make it happen.

Huang Aijie's lips trembled, and an indescribable sense of humiliation instantly welled up in her heart.

What was he thinking at that moment?
It's unbelievable!
It's anger!
It was his own bloody battles on the battlefield, the sacrifices of his comrades, and the price they paid during the more than ten years of war.

How tenacious were they on the battlefield? They defeated the French, they defeated the Americans,
But now, every word on the radio tells him an undeniable reality—their country has actually come to the point of bowing down and begging for mercy from the enemy.

"How could this be... how could this happen..."

Huang Aijie muttered to himself, his voice trembling, the unbearable pain making him almost unable to believe it was real.

The beliefs that had sustained him in the past began to crumble at this moment.

Once upon a time, he was proud and honored because they had defeated France to gain national independence and defeated the United States to achieve national unity.

But now, all that pride has been trampled underfoot.

Asking the enemy to stop bombing just to send a special envoy for help—what's the difference between that and surrender?
All that past tenacity and perseverance seemed to have become a joke at this moment.

He slowly sat up on the bed, feeling as if all his strength had been drained away.

The radio was still broadcasting other news, but he couldn't hear any of it anymore.

The words from the radio kept echoing in my mind, and the scenes of my comrades sacrificing their lives kept replaying in my mind, as did the images of civilians being displaced by the bombing.

Humiliation, anger, disappointment, confusion—countless emotions swirled and churned within him, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

His seemingly unbreakable will wavered for the first time in the face of this sudden news.

He began to doubt whether their persistence was truly meaningful, and whether their country could really survive this calamity.

Just when he began to question the meaning of life,
Meanwhile, outside the window in Saigon, the news had spread like wildfire, quickly reaching every street and alley.

Compared to the cities in the north that have been razed to the ground, Saigon has lost its former prosperity. Although the product posters on the walls have long been replaced by slogans and propaganda posters, the hearts of the people of Saigon remain the same as before.

Crowds gathered everywhere on the streets, discussing the matter animatedly, their faces beaming with barely concealed excitement and elation.

"Have you heard? The North is sending a special envoy to ask for help, and they have to beg the SEA to stop bombing before they can take off!"

A man in a white shirt spoke these words in a loud voice, as if afraid that others wouldn't hear him. In the past, he obviously wouldn't have dared to do this, after all, such words and actions would have been enough to make him pay the price.

But after the bombing began, the morale of the people in Saigon began to change, and everyone was excitedly counting down the days.

A crowd immediately gathered around him, pressing him for answers.

"Really? Is this true?"

Someone asked impatiently, their eyes full of anticipation.

"Of course it's true! I just heard it on the radio!"

The man said smugly:
"They're even willing to open a safe passage for the Northern envoy. Think about it, what does that mean? It means the North can't hold on any longer! Their army is simply no good; they can only bow down to the SEA! Their withdrawal is only a matter of time!"

"Great! Absolutely great! Haha, those Yankees are going to be kicked out!"

A cheer immediately erupted from the crowd. An old man, his hands trembling with emotion, grasped the hand of the person next to him and said, his voice choked with emotion:
"I knew it! The SEAs wouldn't let us down. Those northerners should have been kicked out long ago! Now we'll be free soon!"

Other people on the street gathered around and joined in the discussion.

"I think it won't be long before the war ends and the Yankees go back to the North. Then we can finally live a peaceful life."

His face beamed with anticipation for the future, as if victory was already within reach.

Several young girls were walking hand in hand down the street when they heard the whispers around them and couldn't help but stop. One of the girls excitedly said:
"I heard that the north is now full of ruins, and the people can't even get enough to eat. They sent a special envoy to ask for help, probably hoping to get weapons from the Soviets, but what good would it do? The SEA is so powerful, they are no match for them!"

“Yes, yes,” another girl chimed in.

“My dad said that it wouldn’t be long before the Yankees would be kicked out of Saigon and we would be able to go back to our old lives.”

Then, we'll not only be able to eat SEA candy and drink Fanta again, watch SEA movies, and listen to SEA music, but we can even travel there, study there... My God, just thinking about it is exciting! Is it really true?

Their faces were filled with innocent joy, completely unaware of the cruelty of war. They regarded the news as a sign that victory was imminent, and even more so, they were filled with anticipation, anticipation for a better future.

(End of this chapter)