American Strategic Deception Bureau

　When Vice President Johnson heard that Chen Lichun was in Los Angeles, California, he realized that something bad might happen, and he immediately sent me to Los Angeles to warn the First Lady of South Vietnam. But when I arrived, she had already said everything she shouldn't have said in front of a bunch of reporters!

　Just wait and see in the newspapers! Tomorrow, or at the latest the day after tomorrow, a Vietnamese dish called "Monk BBQ" will become a national sensation..."

　Kissinger seemed a little confused by this incoherent talk. After blinking, he urged Brzezinski to elaborate.

　Ferry shuddered immediately, and then some distant and vague memories emerged in his mind.

　As a time traveler, he still had some memory of the monk's self-immolation that led to the fall of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime.

　But according to Ferry's impression, this should happen next summer. Why is the timeline accelerated in this dimension?

　From this, it can be seen that the death star of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam might have risen early here?

　——Speaking of which, what Firi didn't know was that the reason why the star of death for the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam rose early was closely related to him.

　In the original history, 1962 should have been a relatively peaceful year in terms of the domestic political situation in the United States. The black civil rights movement achieved certain results in 1961, and white racists were stimulated to start grouping together to prepare for a counterattack. The two sides will face a new showdown in 1963.

　But on this timeline, stimulated by the Cuban nuclear crisis and the near outbreak of World War III, racial, class and regional conflicts in the United States broke out prematurely in 1962. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, all fifty states were in chaos.

　The white Ku Klux Klan, Protestant evangelicals, various black gangs, various political groups of people of color, as well as American liberals and left-wing forces, all appeared on the scene in the United States, and the situation was so prosperous and chaotic that it was far better than the "Black Lives Matter" movement in the 3st century.

　At first glance, these sociopolitical turmoil in the United States seem to have no direct connection with the political situation in South Vietnam.

　However, what many later history enthusiasts have not noticed is that as the United States intervened deeply in Vietnam, the left-wing civil rights movement in the United States also had a close connection with anti-government forces within the South Vietnamese regime, except for the Vietcong!

　——It is not only the red political parties that want to organize global connections. The liberals and early white leftists under the Democratic Party of the United States also like to organize connections.

　In other words, although Ngo Dinh Diem had the support of the United States, the South Vietnamese rebels were not only manipulated by France, but also supported by the United States!

　With Kennedy's election as president, the opposition forces in South Vietnam were greatly encouraged and became more confident when they opposed Ngo Dinh Diem.

　——We are all raised by America, it’s just that one voted Republican and the other voted Democrat, so who is afraid of whom?

　Even more devastating was the intensification of the civil rights movement among people of color in the United States. This not only energized South Vietnamese Buddhists, who had suffered persecution under President Ngo Dinh Diem, but also gave many South Vietnamese rebels who had long been associated with the Democratic Party a glimmer of hope for a resurgence.

　You have to understand that these "in-system" rebels in South Vietnam weren't just pedantic writers who wrote a few sarcastic articles indirectly mocking the government. They comprised nearly the entire government and over 80% of the military. According to Ngo Dinh Diem, virtually no civil servants left behind by the French colonialists were reliable! The South Vietnamese General Staff, located next to Tan Son Nhat Airport, was a recognized stronghold of the rebels.

　Previously, Ngo Dinh Diem once wanted to cut the military to save money. The Chief of General Staff Tran Van Don simply pulled out his gun and slammed it on the conference table, and threatened Ngo Dinh Diem in person: "If the president wants to cut the military, the army will cut the president first!" It can be seen how arrogant and domineering he was.

　Even the warlords of the late Tang Dynasty could be considered loyal to their country compared to these lawless Nanyue generals!

　Just because the United States is still supporting Wu

　Dinh Diem, and the rebels lacked a leader who could command the support of the people - there were six coup groups in the entire South Vietnamese government at the same time, fighting openly and secretly with each other, and hindering each other - the generals and government officials of South Vietnam had to hold their noses and barely raise the banner of rebellion.

　However, they are still trying to find ways to contact the White House and the Pentagon every day, trying their best to obtain permission for the coup from the United States.

　For Ngo Dinh Diem, this threat that was so close to him was much more deadly than the Viet Cong guerrillas far away in the countryside!

　Faced with this situation of internal and external troubles and an unstable political base, President Ngo Dinh Diem resorted to the tactic of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, repeatedly striking hard at the government, physically eliminating the opposition, and even deliberately chastising the US government on some issues, essentially testing the White House's compliance...

　Even though I've been so disobedient, even slapping America in the face, the White House still has to follow my wishes and give me money, supplies, and aid. This shows America will always love me, Ngo Dinh Diem. You traitorous thieves and soldiers, stop dreaming about becoming president!

　But this kind of daily suicidal behavior, similar to what the Taiwanese authorities did to the mainland later, naturally made President Kennedy very painful, and also made the White House, the Pentagon and the CIA all indignant: Since ancient times, only owners have given dogs obedience tests, but how could dogs give their owners obedience tests?

　Furthermore, President Ngo Dinh Diem, while claiming to be anti-French and anti-colonial, actually amassed vast swathes of US aid while completely heeding the orders of his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, a Frenchman in spirit. This resulted in the South Vietnamese regime remaining largely subservient to Paris's dictates, to the point where the French colonialists' absence from Saigon was practically nonexistent. This was because the entire Saigon administration, from top to bottom, was still rife with Frenchmen in spirit and French agents: specifically, die-hard Vietnamese traitors whose nationality lay with them or whose assets were held in French banks.

　This kind of "eating in the east and sleeping in the west", taking the United States as a scapegoat, and slapping the United States in the face from time to time to show its presence, will soon become unbearable.

　As a result, due to years of accumulated resentment and the accumulation of multiple factors, General Curtis LeMay's visit to South Vietnam, which should not have happened in history, occurred this year. As soon as the hot-tempered "barbecue master" General LeMay arrived in Saigon, he immediately had a fierce conflict with the mentally ill President Ngo Dinh Diem, which also gave those in South Vietnam an opportunity to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​regime.

　Next, the two sides engaged in a direct conflict over the CIA's action to establish a Hmong militia in Dak Lak Province to resist Viet Cong infiltration.

　-- Because President Ngo Dinh Diem ignored General Le May's warnings and the threats from the Viet Cong guerrillas, he forcibly sent troops to attack Dak Lak Province again, attempting to disarm the Hmong militia that had been rearmed by the CIA, and also killed the CIA's military advisers sent to the local Hmong people.

　General Le May simply ordered the US Air Force in Vietnam to blatantly bomb the South Vietnamese Army in Dak Lak Province, completely destroying this loyalist army. At the same time, planes were dispatched to drop a defused aerial bomb and a threatening letter on the South Vietnamese General Staff Headquarters next to Tan Son Nhut Airport and the new presidential palace at Gia Long Palace (the old presidential palace at Independence Palace had been bombed by the rebellious South Vietnamese Air Force and now lay in ruins). If they dared to move again, they would literally drop napalm and incendiary bombs on them, burning them to a crisp like the Japanese.

　Although this violent reaction forced General LeMay to face congressional questioning by the Republicans upon his return, it also completely frightened Ngo Dinh Diem, making him no longer dare to brag about slapping the American boss in the face, let alone continue to talk about surrendering to the Communist Party when extorting American aid.

　After all, the last Dominican dictator who boasted about joining the Communist Party under the command of the American boss, the "Benefactor of the Motherland" Trujillo, was blown to pieces, and the huge sum of $800 million he had embezzled with great effort also fell into the pocket of the CIA - decades of hard work all ended up in vain.

　Seeing that the American boss seemed to be really about to explode, Wu Tingyan, who did not want to end up like this, had to temporarily stop.

　But the problem was that after the failure of the plan to slap the American boss in the face, the various rebels in Saigon became increasingly restless. This made Ngo Dinh Diem urgently need to find a new target to attack and show that he was still sharp and could still intimidate the petty ones.

　He took stock in his office at Gia Long Palace and realized that he could neither defeat the Viet Cong nor deal with local religious groups such as the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao sects that had established separatist provinces and had their own private armies. He also did not dare to rashly attack the government army generals who controlled most of the armed forces and had complex internal relationships.

　Then, they could only vent their anger on the Buddhists in South Vietnam, who were numerous but fragmented, and establish their authority by cutting down mountains and destroying temples.

　——As a devout Catholic, President Wu’s duty is to fight against pagans.

　So, in mid-December, President Ngo Dinh Diem ordered the confiscation of several historic and popular South Vietnamese Buddhist temples, killing or expelling the monks inside, and announced that he would convert these temples into Catholic churches.

　At the same time, a temporary religious tax was levied on the remaining Buddhist temples, requiring the monks to pay for the construction costs of converting the temples into churches.

　Well, demolishing temples and destroying Buddhism while collecting money from monks to build churches is really extremely harmful and insulting.

　For a time, Buddhist demonstrations and marches took place one after another in various parts of South Vietnam. President Ngo Dinh Diem ordered the use of force to suppress them all. At the same time, he bribed the leading figures of Buddhism with money and used various inducements to persuade them to surrender.

　The method is to win over various "eminent monks" and let them help the government to appease Buddhists.

　——In Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​view, all the high-ranking monks in South Vietnam had been bribed by him, and the small fry below could not make any big waves.

　But the problem is that as long as intense religious conflicts persist, simply controlling a few prominent figures will not solve the problem once and for all.

　Just like after the Palestinian Fatah was recruited by the Israelis, Hamas will rise up and raise the banner of opposing Jews again.

　Since the capitulationist "high monks" in South Vietnamese Buddhism repeatedly conceded to Ngo Dinh Diem, constantly sacrificing the interests of the vast majority of believers and ordinary monks to help Catholics suppress Buddhist resistance, their authority would naturally decline, while the voices of radicals would grow louder.

　As a result, despite these "high monks" speaking for the government, the radicals in the South Vietnamese Buddhist community still successfully planned a major action.

　On the morning of December 23rd, Christmas Eve, several cars pulled up in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, and a group of monks in robes got out. They had previously informed foreign journalists that the South Vietnamese Buddhist community would hold a protest there, so there were many onlookers.

　Next, the old monk Shi Guangde got out of the car and, with the help of several young monks, sat down on a mat in the middle of the road. He held the rosary in his hand and began to chant. A group of monks and nuns quickly surrounded him, blocked the intersection and prohibited vehicles from passing. Hundreds of monks and nuns began to chant.

　A little later, another car arrived and Thich Tri Quang, the radical Buddhist leader of South Vietnam, got out and gave a speech denouncing Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​tyranny.

　Then, the two young monks poured a bucket of gasoline on Shi Guangde. Shi Guangde slowly chanted scriptures, struck a match, and set himself on fire.

　The flames spread all over his body. Shi Guangde's face was determined as he slowly burned in the flames until he turned into a pile of charcoal.

　Afterwards, the monks cremated Thich Quang Duc's charred body a second time and found that his heart was intact, so they regarded it as a sacred object and enshrined it in the famous Pagoda of Relics in Saigon.

　This scene, reminiscent of a saint's martyrdom, instantly shocked all the journalists present. They took photos of the scene and published it in major European newspapers the next day. It was then reprinted by newspapers in socialist countries, causing global shock.

　The American Embassy realized something was amiss and immediately reported the news back home. President Kennedy, who was about to leave for Christmas, gave a dull hum and remained noncommittal. Secretary of State Rusk, however, gritted his teeth and made a last-ditch effort to impose news censorship.

　After urgent consultations with major media outlets, and after much persuasion, major American television stations, magazines, and newspapers finally gave the White House face and agreed to postpone reporting on the incident until after Christmas Eve, so as not to spoil the American people's holiday mood.

　——It is impossible to block news for a long time. Once the news is transmitted back to the country from Europe, the public backlash will only be more violent.

　But the problem was that someone discovered that South Vietnam's first lady, Chen Lichun, was in Los Angeles, California at the time. So, newspapers and TV stations mobilized their reporters in California to interview Chen Lichun, preparing to release the interview along with the news by Christmas.

　By the time the White House noticed this, most of the cabinet members had already left their jobs and gone home for Christmas.

　The Deputy Secretary of State, who was on holiday duty, temporarily assigned Professor Brzezinski an errand and sent him to Los Angeles to warn Mrs. Chen Lichun, who was always talkative, on behalf of the White House not to talk nonsense on this sensitive issue and cause trouble for the US government.

　As a result, by the time Professor Brzezinski flew across the United States and arrived at Chen Lichun's villa on Malibu Beach, it was too late.

　Reporters from the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and other news media had already concluded their personal interviews with Chen Lichun and dispersed with satisfaction. However, after Professor Brzezinski grabbed a reporter's shorthand notebook and figured out what insane things Chen Lichun had said, his eyes went dark and he nearly fainted.

　——By tomorrow, a new Vietnamese dish called "Monk BBQ" will be known throughout the United States!

　Because they were reactionary regimes in Asia aided by the United States, people often compared South Vietnam with the Party-State on the Internet in later generations, compared Ngo Dinh Diem with Chairman Chiang, and compared Soong May-ling with Chen Lichun.

　But to be honest, Chiang Kai-shek was not as bad as Ngo Dinh Diem. At least no general in the party and the country dared to draw a gun and threaten Chiang Kai-shek in front of him, claiming that they would shoot him to death. Even Zhang Xueliang's military remonstration in Xi'an at least maintained basic decency and politeness towards Chiang Kai-shek.

　President Ngo Dinh Diem was often pointed at with guns by his own subordinates, and he was almost numb to the sight of the black muzzles of guns.

　Next, as the first lady of a reactionary regime, Soong Mei-ling was not as bad as Chen Lichun.

　Although in terms of her viciousness and cruelty, Soong May-ling was no less cruel than Chen Lichun. Not only did she once request the Pentagon to use atomic bombs on China, she was also called "Madam Cutthroat" because she publicly advocated the massacre of striking groups in American factories in front of American reporters.

　But at least Soong Mei-ling could speak fluent English. And when she realized something was wrong, she knew to keep silent.

　If it were Chen Lichun, the first lady of South Vietnam, it would only make things worse.

　On the one hand, her English was far inferior to Soong Mei-ling's, her voice always tinged with French, leading to frequent misunderstandings and jokes when interacting with Americans. On the other hand, Chen Lichun couldn't even manage something as simple as "shutting up at the right time." Instead, she reveled in mocking others with all sorts of sarcastic remarks, her focus on shocking them.

　Regarding the self-immolation of the elderly monk Thich Quang Duc in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Chen Lichun not only failed to offer polite words like "regret" or "sorrow" to reporters, but instead added fuel to the fire by describing the incident as a "monk barbecue show" and sarcastically remarking, "If the self-immolating monk was a patriot, he shouldn't have used gasoline purchased with foreign exchange to burn himself. What a waste!"

　——Please, even if you really think this in your heart, don’t say it in front of reporters! ! ! !

　Not to mention, some reporters came with cameras, so you can't deny it even if you want to afterwards!

　You can't say that the images and sounds are all synthesized by AI, right? Photoshop technology wasn't that advanced back then!

　Because Chen Lichun was known for her outspokenness in front of reporters, her cold-bloodedness, her ruthlessness, and her mental disorder, the European and American media nicknamed her "Dragon Lady." In the East, having the word "dragon" in a nickname would be a sure sign of nobility and power.

　However, in the context of American and English culture, "dragon" does have a powerful meaning, but it mostly represents evil and cruelty. When Chinese people mention dragons, the first thing they think of is the mythical beast that symbolizes the emperor, while when Americans mention dragons, they think of an evil dragon that lies on treasures and eats beautiful girls alive.

　Therefore, Chen Lichun's title of "Mrs. Dragon" mainly means that she is cruel and cold-blooded, tyrannical like a dragon, indifferent to human life and extremely greedy.

　What’s even worse is that as the arrogant and evil “Mrs. Dragon”, Chen Lichun is also extremely stubborn and refuses to listen to advice.

　Even after Brzezinski claimed to be representing the White House and urged the First Lady of South Vietnam, Chen Lichun, to be more discreet in her words and actions, Chen Lichun remained completely unmoved. She was even offended, becoming rebellious. When the next wave of reporters arrived to interview her, Chen Lichun continued to shout, "Let them grill, and we'll just applaud! If Buddhists want more monks grilling meat, I'll happily provide gasoline!" She even pointed at Brzezinski's nose and cursed, "Everyone around President Kennedy is half-Bolshevik (literally, "little pink"). The liberals in the Democratic Party are worse than the Bolsheviks!"

　Well, Professor Brzezinski, a Polish anti-Soviet maniac, was described by Chen Lichun as a half-Bolshevik...

　He didn't lose his temper and smash Chen Lichun's head on the spot, which was considered very cultured!

　In short, after hitting a wall in the villa on Malibu Beach and being scolded by Chen Lichun in a roundabout way, the depressed Professor Brzezinski ran to Hollywood in downtown Los Angeles to find Kissinger and Fieri, have a Christmas dinner, and vent his grievances.

　"Things are going badly in Indochina! According to General Earl Wheeler (U.S. Army Chief of Staff), the 'strategic village' program implemented in South Vietnam this year has completely failed. It can even be said that this is a catastrophic failure."

　Brzezinski said this with a sigh.

　The Pentagon insisted that its basic plan for the "strategic villages" was correct. However, the South Vietnamese government and military had major problems with their implementation. These included, but were not limited to, disorganization, lack of confidentiality, and corruption.

　As a supplementary measure for burning down South Vietnamese farmers' homes and forcing them into "strategic villages," the Pentagon originally allocated a large sum of money to compensate them for their losses. Furthermore, the newly constructed strategic villages were supposed to have complete housing and convenient living facilities.

　However, except for the governor of Kien Hoa Province, Tran Ngoc Chau, who strictly controlled his subordinates, paid compensation to farmers in full, built strategic villages and supporting water conservancy facilities according to standards, effectively improved farmers' lives, and successfully suppressed the activities of the Vietcong, the governors of the rest of the provinces in South Vietnam all embezzled the compensation for farmers and the construction funds for strategic villages, and even

　Some even extort money from farmers.

　The result was that instead of isolating the Vietcong infiltrating the countryside, they provoked a massive peasant resistance, leading to a surge in the Vietcong's growth. In many provinces of South Vietnam, only the provincial capital still had a government sign, leaving the countryside completely under the Vietcong's control.

　"Wait, didn't another province's 'Strategic Villages' program succeed? How can you say it's a complete failure?"

　Firi seemed to have discovered a blind spot.

　"Unfortunately, the strategic village plan in Kien Hoa Province ultimately failed. Because of the success of building strategic villages and limiting the Viet Cong, Governor Tran Ngoc Chau was promoted to the capital, Saigon. The new governor who took over Kien Hoa Province immediately began levying heavy taxes. Not only did he collect compensation from farmers under various pretexts, he also demanded that farmers pay hefty mortgages for the houses in the strategic villages that were supposed to be provided to them free of charge."

　Brzezinski spread his hands. “So, within a month, all the Vietcong organizations and guerrillas in Kien Hoa Province were restored.”

　Firi: ...

　Well, it seems that in the entire South Vietnamese government, he is the only capable and honest civil servant left?

　"In order to shirk responsibility, the military always said that the situation in Vietnam was caused largely by the negligence of the CIA intelligence system.

　But in fact, the CIA's informants in Vietnam reported all the Vietcong's infiltration activities to Langley Building with relatively accurate information, and the CIA's top brass also passed this intelligence to Ngo Dinh Diem. The problem was that President Ngo Dinh Diem did not take it seriously. Not only did he not take it seriously, he deliberately allowed the Vietcong to grow.

　Furthermore, due to interference from President Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnamese army had been very passive in recent years in its fight against the Vietcong. This was because President Diem had strictly ordered the army to conserve its strength and even implemented rewards and punishments based on losses in manpower and equipment.

　Those South Vietnamese officers who took the initiative to fight and suffered heavy casualties in the battle, or whose armored vehicles and artillery were damaged, would be reprimanded by President Ngo Dinh Diem, demoted, or dismissed, even if they achieved brilliant victories and wiped out a large number of Viet Cong guerrillas.

　On the contrary, officers who actively avoided casualties, avoided fighting the Viet Cong, and allowed the Viet Cong to escape were promoted and rewarded."

　Professor Brzezinski went on to complain, “According to information from the front, many South Vietnamese troops are only good at two things: strafing empty rice paddies and quickly bypassing any villages and jungles where Vietcong might be…”

　"It's too late to discuss the reasons for the failure of the strategic village or the South Vietnamese government's passive avoidance of the war. What we really need to discuss is how to save Vietnam. If the current situation continues, the red flag of North Vietnam will sooner or later fly over Saigon."

　Dr. Kissinger shook his head and sighed, "At least Ngo Dinh Diem was firm in opposing the Viet Cong's southward advance..."

　"Merely expressing opposition verbally means nothing in the real world! What the United States needs is the ability to resist North Vietnam in action.

　He needed to consolidate his control in the South and eliminate pro-communist elements and guerrillas in the countryside. But given the South Vietnamese army's combat effectiveness and President Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​attitude, this was unlikely unless the US military took over a significant portion of the work, Professor Brzezinski said.

　"Professor Brzezinski, I hope you know what your suggestion means! It means another Korean War!"

　"Of course I know. In fact, we've already been doing this! Over 10,000 American soldiers have been sent to Vietnam!

　But this is still far from enough! As long as President Ngo Dinh Diem maintains this passive attitude towards suppressing the Communists, the situation in Vietnam will never improve!

　Professor Brzezinski spread his hands and said, "If we don't want to lose Vietnam, what else can we do besides sending troops directly?"

　After listening to Brzezinski's analysis, although Firi knew the evolution of this period of Vietnam War history, he still felt deeply moved and sighed.

　The US government had already done everything it could to address the Vietnam issue, spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on aid to the Saigon authorities alone. The South Vietnamese army's weapons, equipment, and logistical supplies were also largely financed by the US.

　As for the Americans sent to South Vietnam to provide economic assistance, agricultural, medical and other technical services, there were tens of thousands of them.

　However, the South Vietnamese government lay low and refused to properly suppress the communists, hoping that the American boss would take over and help them take on all the troubles...

　Damn, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, after receiving a large amount of US aid, was passive in resisting the Japanese, but at least he was still actively suppressing the Communists.

　But how come it became worse and worse as time went on, and when it came to President Ngo Dinh Diem, he even dared to be passive in suppressing the communists?