American Strategic Deception Bureau

　Well, probably because of the bad example set by South Korean President Syngman Rhee, the reactionary dictators around the world were pleasantly surprised to find that as long as they stood in the right camp and clung tightly to the big legs of the American boss, even things like suppressing the Communists could be left to the American boss!

　Such a generous, hardworking and selfless American boss is really awesome! We must make the most of him!

　-

　Generally speaking, before the Korean War, dictators around the world, regardless of whether they received aid from imperialism or not, were very active in suppressing the Communists. They were not afraid to burn up the treasury and kill people, because they knew that this would

　The matter is a matter of life and death.

　For example, the "Jeju Massacre" carried out by Syngman Rhee in 1948 reduced the population of Jeju Island from 28 to only 3.

　Syngman Rhee's "cleansing the countryside" and "anti-communist" operations across South Korea killed a total of 150 to 300 million Koreans, while the total population of South Korea at the time was only 2000 million - that is to say, before the outbreak of the Korean War, Syngman Rhee had already killed one-tenth of the Korean people!

　But the problem is, since the end of the Korean War, given that American soldiers were willing to personally fight on the Korean Peninsula for three years, causing bloodshed and burning a huge military expenditure of $800 billion, they were also determined to support the Syngman Rhee regime in South Korea...

　The reactionary dictators all over the world couldn't help but brighten their eyes, as they discovered an easy and pleasant way to lie down!

　——As long as we have the support of our American father, even troublesome tasks like suppressing the Communists can be done by the US military!

　As for themselves, they just need to concentrate on grabbing power and engaging in corruption!

　This is what President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam thought and did.

　He believed that South Vietnam's strategic position was no less than that of South Korea, and that the US government could not afford the cost of "losing Vietnam." This "political correctness" would inevitably force the United States to continuously increase its investment in South Vietnam, and in the end it would have no choice but to take the initiative to join the war and help South Vietnam solve all its troubles!

　Given the precedent of the Korean War, everything will be fine as long as the American boss sends troops to join the war!

　So, Ngo Dinh Diem withheld the American aid materials and money with a clear conscience, and gathered the troops in various strongholds. He passively avoided fighting and conserved his strength, while at the same time eliminating the opposition, cultivating his trusted followers, carrying out religious persecution, and building a South Vietnam that belonged to the Ngo family...

　At the same time, North Vietnam continued to send well-trained local cadres and commanders to South Vietnam to expand the guerrilla areas and bases in the south.

　In 1960, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam was established. Starting in 1961, the grassroots political power in Vietnam's rural areas was gradually won over to the side of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

　Starting from 1962, some units of the Vietnamese National Army began to be infiltrated and even instigated by the Viet Cong, making the Ngo Dinh Diem regime shaky like a candle in the wind.

　In this way, because of the South Vietnamese regime's passive suppression of the Communist Party, the US military was actually forced to join the war!

　Author's words: PS: Chen Lichun is a very vicious and funny person, who looks like a female cadre of an evil organization. She has a very loli-like figure, and even when wearing specially increased high heels, she is only about 1.5 meters tall - which fits our stereotype of "female ghosts".

　Also, regarding the breakdown of public security, I recall that Qin Shi Huang was once encountered by bandits while strolling outside the palace (actually, walking from one palace to another), and was fortunately rescued by the timely arrival of guards. If the guards had been a step slower, allowing Qin Shi Huang to be beaten to death by bandits in Xianyang, wouldn't Qin Shi Huang's reputation in later generations have become even more ridiculous?

　Also, what kind of magical scene would it be if a thief sneaked into the White House and took down the president?

　Well, by the way, there is no point for rich people to rent safe deposit boxes in American banks right now because there are too many bank robberies nowadays.

　Chapter 196: One wrong step, all wrong steps

　Speaking of which, in the confrontation between South Vietnam and North Vietnam across the "Bamboo Curtain" of the 17th parallel north latitude, South Vietnam still had many advantages at the beginning.

　First, when the Geneva Accords were signed, dividing Vietnam into two parts, South Vietnam received a larger area of ​​territory than North Vietnam.

　On the contrary, when the Korean Peninsula is divided into north and south along the 38th parallel, the territory allocated to South Korea is smaller than that of North Korea.

　Secondly, South Vietnam not only has a larger territory than North Vietnam, but also has vast plains and fertile land. Since modern times, it has always been richer than North Vietnam. North Vietnam is mostly mountainous, and even the Red River Delta where the capital Hanoi is located is much smaller than the Mekong Delta.

　In addition, South Vietnam was the core of the French colonists' rule, and various infrastructure projects were primarily carried out around Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam.

　In mid-20th-century Southeast Asia, Saigon's economic and cultural status was roughly equivalent to that of Shanghai in old China. The Mekong Delta, on the other hand, was a land of fish and rice, even more vast and abundant than Jiangnan. In fact, even in the 21st century, South Vietnam's GDP was still more than double that of North Vietnam.

　At the beginning of the North-South division in the mid-twentieth century, South Vietnam's GDP was five times that of North Vietnam!

　In other words, when the North and the South were divided, South Vietnam actually had an overwhelming advantage over North Vietnam in terms of financial resources.

　South Vietnamese were generally wealthier than North Vietnamese and looked down on the "poor people from the north" from the bottom of their hearts - this was the case even after the end of the Vietnam War.

　(In the videos left behind, the streets of Saigon are full of people riding scooters, while the streets of Hanoi are only full of people riding bicycles, showing a significant gap between the rich and the poor.)

　Then, Hue, the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in Vietnam, and Saigon, the capital of the French Indochina colony, were both under the control of South Vietnam. This made the South Vietnamese regime in Saigon relatively more "legitimate" than North Vietnam.

　——Until the end of the Vietnam War, it was the South Vietnamese regime in Saigon that represented Vietnam in the Olympics and World Expo.

　Next, unlike China and North Korea, which have long maintained the concept of unity, Vietnam has a long tradition of being divided between North and South since ancient times.

　First, there was the confrontation between Vietnam and Champa. The land of South Vietnam now belonged to the Champa Kingdom a thousand years ago.

　Champa.

　Even before Vietnam separated from China, the confrontation between Cochin and Champa near the 17th parallel north had lasted for nearly a thousand years.

　After Vietnam spent hundreds of years defeating Champa and extending its territory southward to the Mekong Delta, it started the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

　Beginning in 1527, the North-South confrontation between the Mac and Trần dynasties continued, followed by the North-South split between the Trần dynasty's "Dai Viet" and the Nguyễn dynasty's "Quang Nam." In between, the Tây Sơn dynasty emerged. It wasn't until 1803 that Nguyễn Phúc Đồn of Quang Nam, armed with French military aid, launched a northern expedition against Hanoi, annihilating the remnants of the Tây Sơn dynasty and unifying the north and south, finally ending the nearly three hundred years of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Vietnamese history.

　But the unification of the Nguyen Dynasty only lasted half a century. In 1858, France began to invade Vietnam, tearing Vietnam apart again.

　Initially, France occupied the South Vietnamese region in the Mekong Delta, centered in Saigon, once again recreating the North-South division in Vietnam.

　Later, France conquered Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. However, rather than integrating them, they divided and ruled them. Even the former territory of Vietnam was divided into three French colonies—in other words, even during the French colonial era, Vietnam was effectively divided.

　In general, the five hundred years between 1500 and 2000 AD saw Vietnam's unification far outstrip its division. The period of national unity lasted only about a century, while the division and confrontation between South and North Vietnam lasted four centuries!

　This long history of division, coupled with starkly different geography and climate, naturally created a visible divide between the north and south of Vietnam. Furthermore, half a century of French colonial rule centered in Saigon, along with the accompanying cultural outflow, further exacerbated the cultural differences between North and South Vietnam.

　In the eyes of the North Vietnamese, the South Vietnamese themselves had a large amount of Champa and Khmer blood mixed in, and were too deeply influenced by French culture, causing them to forget their ancestors and worship foreign things. Life in the South Vietnamese was also lazy, extravagant, decadent and corrupt.

　Meanwhile, the South Vietnamese mocked the North Vietnamese, calling them "Yango" and "Kong Xin Cai" (meaning poor people). In their minds, North Vietnam was poor and backward, the North Vietnamese were unmotivated, and life in North Vietnam was dull, boring, ignorant, and backward.

　In short, the two sides dislike each other and tell a lot of jokes about each other, similar to the relationship between Scotland and England.

　In fact, the history of unity between South Vietnam and North Vietnam is much shorter than the time it took Scotland and England to form the United Kingdom!

　From this we can draw a conclusion: Vietnamese people are much more accepting of national division than Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.

　As for their obsession with a unified country, the Vietnamese are not as resolute as other countries in the East Asian Confucian cultural circle: because they are used to division.

　Just like the Koreans of the 21st century, they have gradually stopped wanting unification and are now afraid that the "poor people from the north" will come to "equalize the rich and the poor" with them.

　If South Vietnam was not prepared to unify the country, but wanted to maintain the division between the North and the South, this mentality of mutual contempt would obviously be very conducive to division.

　Especially when South Vietnam was the richer party, the resistance to being conquered by the North was naturally higher.

　——Unlike China, which was divided into the North and the South and the victors were mostly from the North, in Vietnam’s Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was the Southern Dynasty that ultimately won.

　Crucially, the North and South had different criteria for victory in the Vietnam War: South Vietnam could be considered victorious as long as it held its homeland and maintained its existence. However, North Vietnam had to actively attack, break through the 17th parallel, and completely destroy South Vietnam to be considered the winner.

　It is conceivable that, according to common sense, it would be much easier for South Vietnam, which was in a strategic defensive position, to win a defensive battle than for North Vietnam, which was the attacking party.

　Let's take a similar example from the North-South conflict: if during the American Civil War, the South's economic strength was five times that of the North's, its navy had completely defected to the Confederate army, the capital, Washington, was still in Confederate hands, and it was the South that proactively requested secession, not forcing unification with the North...

　So, could the Northern Army, with only one-fifth of the Confederate Army's strength, persist in wiping out the South when its maritime trade was blocked by the Confederate Army?

　Indeed, the South Vietnam that Diem inherited from the French was a fragmented and fragmented country, characterized by feudal separatism and numerous fortifications in the countryside, rampant gangs in the cities, and a state of internal disunity. Monasteries and local religious orders like the Cao Dai sect throughout South Vietnam were also powerful feudal lords.

　However, didn’t the newly established North Vietnam also have its own troubles?

　As the primary battlefield against the French colonialists, North Vietnam's infrastructure was completely destroyed, leaving the country devastated and littered with mines and unexploded bombs. The subsequent brutal land reform, which included executions based on proportional representation, not only created numerous unjust cases and killed many meritorious officials, but also led to open rebellion among some North Vietnamese officers and soldiers. The ferocity of the North Vietnamese leadership during this period was no less brutal than that of South Vietnam.

　In addition, while Vietcong guerrillas were active throughout South Vietnam, North Vietnam's northwest region also long hosted insurgent guerrillas from the Hmong, Tai, and other ethnic minorities. Driven by millennia-old ethnic hatred, these groups engaged in a desperate struggle against the Hanoi authorities, receiving aid and support from the United States.

　Although North Vietnam denounced them as running dogs of imperialism, these mountain people were actually just competing with the Kinh people of Vietnam for living space.

　They fought against the Kinh army of North Vietnam until the 1970s, when they were basically wiped out.

　Of course, in general, North Vietnam faced fewer problems than South Vietnam. But on the other hand, North Vietnam's GDP was only one-fifth of South Vietnam's, and the aid from the Soviet Union and China was not as generous as that from the United States.

　After adding and subtracting, on paper, the North and the South seem to be basically tied, and South Vietnam's situation is slightly better.

　Then, because the United States mistakenly chose Ngo Dinh Diem as the ruler of South Vietnam, everything went to an irreversible abyss of disaster...

　In fact, if President Eisenhower had some unrealistic fantasies about the Diem regime, then during the tenure of President Kennedy, the US government's requirements for Diem had really been lowered to an extremely low standard, which could be said to be very relaxed.

　——As long as he can use US aid to ensure the survival of the South Vietnamese regime without the direct participation of US troops in the war, he will be considered qualified.

　The various economic and political reform proposals the United States put forward to South Vietnam were not intended to make things difficult for Ngo Dinh Diem, but to allow those who actually defended the South Vietnamese regime and the social groups they represented to share some of the benefits so that they would not have the idea of ​​"it would be better to join the Communist Party."

　As long as this can be achieved, the United States does not mind Ngo Dinh Diem taking the biggest piece of the cake of power and wealth, nor does it mind him having the power to divide the cake, and can even accept him being president for life, or even passing the throne to his relatives and descendants.

　The price Wu Tingyan had to pay was just not to eat the whole cake alone, that's all.

　The problem is that Wu Tingyan couldn't even do such a simple thing.

　Although he was a military and political leader supported by the United States, Ngo Dinh Diem had not adopted a single American concept of democracy and freedom. Instead, he was superstitious about family rule, placing his six brothers, three sisters, and distant cousins ​​in power in the government, hoping that if one person succeeded, everyone else would rise to prominence.

　On the surface, South Vietnam seemed to have a modern state apparatus, with government departments, a parliament, and party activities.

　But in fact, a considerable number of senior government officials were just pretending, and relatives of the Wu family could give orders to any department at any time without authorization. For example, Wu Dinh Chu, who was the bishop in Hue, often commanded the military and police in any place without authorization, destroyed Buddhist temples, massacred monks, and caused trouble for President Wu Dinh Diem.

　However, Wu Tingyan chose to protect his family members every time, turning a blind eye to all the wrongdoings of his family members and even taking the initiative to cover them up.

　As a result, due to Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​extremely perverted desire for power and control, he was only willing to let his own family members hold all the power and put his family above the government. However, he came from a humble background and lacked legal support. This naturally led to extreme dissatisfaction among the entire South Vietnamese civil servants and military officers left behind by France.

　Although Ngo Dinh Diem also realized that his foundation was unstable, he attempted to strengthen the power of the Catholic Church loyal to him and consolidate his rule by implementing secret police rule, persecuting Buddhists, and cracking down on religious groups and local tyrants who did not obey the central government's orders.

　But the problem is, his power is too weak.

　On the one hand, the Wu family was just a small family and lacked the foundation and connections of a prominent family; on the other hand, the Wu family were all devout and fanatical Catholics, and could only try to win over Catholics who only accounted for 6% of the South Vietnamese population, but became mortal enemies with Buddhists and other religions who accounted for 90% of the total population.

　Even among the 6% of South Vietnamese Catholics, a considerable number were Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​sworn enemies - because Catholicism in Vietnam was introduced by France, local Catholics often had connections and positions in the French colonial government, and most of them were pro-French, while fewer were anti-French.

　But Ngo Dinh Diem was an American lackey who rebelled against his French masters, and he concentrated all power in the hands of his own family, refusing to share it with others...

　As a result, President Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​base in South Vietnam only accounted for about 3% to 5% of the total population.

　With such a low support rate, Ngo Dinh Diem still wanted to force religious persecution, which could only seriously intensify social contradictions and cause a large number of opponents and centrists to turn to the Viet Cong, or at least condone the development of the Viet Cong in their own territory in order to enhance their own united front value. As a result, many local tyrants underestimated the penetration power of the Viet Cong and overestimated Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​sense of responsibility: he also wanted to keep the enemy at bay!

　——Since Ngo Dinh Diem would rather watch the Viet Cong turn the country red, and refused to make concessions or give up power, and refused to unite and win over those powerful people, over time, the local powerful people would turn against the Viet Cong's behavior of nurturing the enemy, and the host and the guest would be reversed, and it would become a disaster to nurture a tiger, and in the end it would be impossible for them to surrender to the Communist Party even if they didn't want to.

　At the same time, it was precisely because South Vietnam was in such a precarious state and showed its willingness to lie low and give up, saying that either the US military would be defeated directly or it would die in front of them, that the United States was forced to get involved in the quagmire of the Vietnam War - because no president could afford the responsibility of "losing Vietnam."

　The most fundamental way for the United States to avoid this embarrassing situation of having its tail wagging the dog was to immediately remove Syngman Rhee from power after winning the Korean War. As punishment for his incompetence in governing and fighting the war, a new leader would rule South Korea. With this clear distinction between rewards and punishments, future US-supported rulers in the Third World would be less likely to resort to scheming and passively suppressing communism, hoping to sit back and do nothing while the US takes care of everything.

　Next, if the Korean issue is a done deal, then when South Vietnam chooses who to support, it will not

　There's no need to worry about the "can't keep a French dog" issue anymore—even if Ngo Dinh Diem, a rare anti-French Catholic, was elected, because his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu was a Frenchman in spirit, and Ngo Dinh Nhu obeyed Ngo Dinh Nhu's orders, the United States was still fooled into keeping a French dog.

　As for the other candidates, they are basically public intellectuals, literary youths and artists, and in all aspects they are even far inferior to Ngo Dinh Diem.

　No matter how hard it tries, the United States is destined to be the scapegoat on the South Vietnam issue and spend its own money to feed the French.

　Well, why not just stop making such a fuss and just spend money to send consultants to support Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam and let him continue to be the King of Dai Nam!

　In any case, the Nguyen Dynasty ruled South Vietnam for 400 years, and in the 19th century it unified the north and the south, expanding Vietnam's territory to its largest extent. Its extensive influence and solid foundation are by no means comparable to that of Ngo Dinh Diem, a grassroots "small town test-taker."

　Furthermore, South Vietnam has always been the core of the Nguyen Dynasty's rule. If the division is to be maintained for a long time, the Nguyen Dynasty could restore the name "Quang Nam" (the name of the Nguyen Dynasty during the period of division), which existed for 270 years in history, to highlight the differences with North Vietnam and avoid the situation of "two Vietnams."

　Instead, it will become a situation similar to that between Austria and Germany, which share the same language and culture but are generally recognized as two countries internationally.

　Although Emperor Bao Dai and the South Vietnamese military officers were both lackeys of the French colonial authorities, now that they had new owners, as time went on, they would eventually consider turning to the United States. Didn't you see that Chen Lichun, a French-educated woman, also stuttered and learned English?

　As long as we are patient and spend one to two generations, we will definitely be able to turn the entire South Vietnamese upper echelon into the shape of the American father.

　Unfortunately, by the end of 1962, it was too late.

　Emperor Bao Dai was deposed and driven into exile in France. The former Nguyen Dynasty veterans completely lost their political influence. The legal legitimacy of the South Vietnamese regime was not established, but the people's hearts had been completely lost - this was a small problem. Syngman Rhee's South Korean regime never won any popular support, and the massacre of civilians was even more brutal than that of South Vietnam, but it still stood firm.

　The real problem was that Ngo Dinh Diem failed to establish a cohesive ruling group in South Vietnam. The regime was in disarray, and even a consensus on "opposing the Vietcong" could not be reached. Among the military officers and powerful people in South Vietnam, there were countless cases of one family "diversifying its investments" and secretly colluding with the Communists.

　After all, even Ngo Dinh Diem himself was passive in his fight against the communists. He even, with the help of French President Charles de Gaulle, secretly colluded with North Vietnam and spread rumors in a vain attempt to nurture the enemy and, by exploiting the rampant Vietcong, force the United States to provide more aid.

　"Alas, one wrong step leads to another! It is now clear what will happen in Vietnam next."

　Facing the worried Kissinger and Brzezinski, Phiri solemnly predicted, "First, the Buddhists will rebel, and the South Vietnamese army will rebel and fight against Ngo Dinh Diem. But no matter who wins, they will no longer have the power to continue to suppress the expansion of the Vietcong."

　Then, in order to save the South Vietnamese regime that was about to be overthrown, the Pentagon had no choice but to send the US military to join the war. However, if the US military could not break through the 17th parallel north, it would be completely passive in South Vietnam, waiting for the Viet Cong to infiltrate in waves, endlessly.

　If they forcibly break through the 17th parallel and attack North Vietnam, China will send troops to Vietnam, and the consequence will be a second Korean War.

　"Actually, if the only consequence was a second Korean War, then perhaps it would be acceptable. After all, South Korea is still alive..."

　Professor Brzezinski grumbled, "I'm afraid the White House lacks the courage. It's reluctant to give up South Vietnam and move the 'bamboo curtain' in Southeast Asia to Thailand, but it doesn't dare to go north and break through the 17th parallel. In the end, it will fight the security war endlessly, burning tens of billions of dollars in military expenditure every year - this is in line with the wishes of the domestic military-industrial complex, but the US finances can't afford it."

　President Kennedy is currently spending money like crazy on the Apollo moon landing and social welfare programs! Oh, right! Otherwise, we can drop dozens of hydrogen bombs on North Vietnam like we did to Cuba, killing millions of people, and perhaps that would solve the problem quickly?

　"In that case, as a countermeasure, the Soviet Union might bomb Tel Aviv and help the Arabs destroy Israel."

　Firi looked up at him and said, "Since the Cuban nuclear war in January of this year, the large-scale indiscriminate use of nuclear weapons in our world may be unavoidable. But at least you shouldn't be the one to initiate this, Professor Brzezinski!"

　Professor Brzezinski, a Jew and an anti-Soviet maniac:? ! !

　——Oh no, my mind was focused on Southeast Asia just now. How could I have forgotten the Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in other parts of the world?

　"If the Soviet Union really dared to nuke Tel Aviv, the United States would retaliate by nuking Cairo and Damascus."

　After being stunned for a moment, he still retorted stubbornly.

　"And then what? The Soviet Union went on to bomb Acre and Eilat, and the United States bombed Alexandria and Amman (the capital of Jordan)?"

　Firi spread his hands and said, "In any case, the Arab land is much more vast than the Israeli land. No matter how the war turns out, the entire Palestinian "Promised Land" will probably be taken away by countless people.