American Strategic Deception Bureau

　The largest ethnic group is the Jarai, with a population of 500,000 people, divided into two tribal alliances: the Water She and the Fire She.

　"Huoshe Kingdom" - although it is called a "country", it is actually very loose, and at best is similar to the "Big Dumb Kingdom" of Taiwan's indigenous people.

　Moreover, although these two names have a history of four or five hundred years and are ancient, they can only represent the Jialai people and do not sound very resonant.

　"The House of Water and Fire? That name doesn't sound serious. It only represents one ethnic group and doesn't conform to the principle of equality."

　Dr. Kissinger shook his head. "They argued for a week, and finally agreed to name it the West Plains Federation."

　West Plains Federation?

　Well, since it is not appropriate to use the name of any ancient country of any ethnic group, then naturally we can only use the place name to name the country.

　However, determining the country's name is only the first step in establishing the country. The subsequent selection of the capital and the allocation of political power are also difficult problems.

　The Hmong, with the strongest military, want to establish their capital in Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Dak Lak Province. The Jarai, with the largest population, want to establish their capital in Pleiku, the capital of Gia Lai Province. The Cham, who possess the only access to the sea in the Central Highlands Federation, want to establish their capital in the port city of Phan Rang, aiming to revive the ancient Champa Kingdom...

　After some arguments, it was decided that whoever had the bigger fist would be the boss in this world, and the capital of the Western Highlands Federation was finally decided to be in Ban Me Thuot.

　However, the US Embassy was placed in Phan Rang, which was protected by US military presence, rather than in Buon Me Thuot, which was deep in the interior and not directly protected by US military.

　The first president of the Central Highlands Federation is still being chosen – the Miao people want to nominate one of their own, but other ethnic groups say the Miao cannot take all the benefits!

　But no matter what, the structure of the Xiyuan Federation has finally been set up, and the territory is quite large, so it should be able to last for a while.

　The fate of the last remaining, isolated Hexian Kingdom in the south, was even more tragic. It even seemed at risk of stillbirth!

　"According to recently gathered intelligence, the reason the Viet Cong haven't launched a large-scale expedition to the east or north since the fall of Saigon, and have only sent a small force for exploratory purposes, is mainly because they are engaged in a fierce battle with the Hoa Hao militia in the Mekong Delta and are currently unable to take other measures."

　Dr. Kissinger pointed to the map of South Vietnam on the table, poked at the southwest corner, and said with a sigh, "Even in the rainy season, they are still fighting endlessly in the villages of the Mekong River Plain! Unfortunately, due to the absolute superiority of the Viet Cong and the internal divisions of the Hoa Hao Sect, the Hoa Hao militia has been defeated repeatedly since the end of April. Even their holy sites have been destroyed!

　"Alas, if their leader hadn't died, the Hehao Sect wouldn't have been defeated so quickly, right?"

　“But if the leader of the Hoa Hao sect had not been killed and martyred by the Viet Cong, these violent monks might have changed their ways and allied with the Viet Cong! They fought the French together in the past!” Firi retorted.

　"That's true... Alas, in this world, you can never have the best of both worlds!" Kissinger sighed.

　——The Hoa Hao sect, known as the "Vietnamese version of the White Lotus", once controlled most of the Mekong Delta during its heyday from 1945 to 1946. When the Hoa Hao militia joined forces with the Viet Cong to oppose French colonizers, they even had the strength to compete with the Viet Cong for the leadership of the Viet Minh.

　Faced with such a powerful and difficult-to-control ally, the Viet Cong naturally regarded it as a serious threat. Nguyen Binh, commander of the Southern Military Region, ignored the powerful French enemy and chose to turn against his own people. In April 1947, he staged a Hongmen Banquet and assassinated the leader of the Hoa Hao religion, Huang Phu Chu. He then dismembered his body into many small pieces and scattered them to many different places, making it impossible for Hoa Hao believers to collect the leader's body and worship it as "holy remains."

　After this blow, the power of the Hoa Hao religion declined greatly and it was fragmented because of the loss of its leader. However, in the entire Mekong Delta, 20% of farmers still believe in Hoa Hao religion devoutly and organize militias to fight against the Viet Cong guerrillas - of course, they occasionally fight Catholic immigrants.

　Because of the tragic death of its leader, unlike the Cao Dai sect, which wavered between the two sides, the Hoa Hao sect has always been an enemy of the Viet Cong. Therefore, after the Viet Cong entered Saigon and established "Red South Vietnam", the Hoa Hao sect, which was rooted in the western Mekong Delta, became the next key target of the Viet Cong.

　When Le Zhongxun led a mere 300 people to an expedition to Da Nang, more than 60,000 Viet Cong armed forces were encircling the Hoa Hao sect in the Mekong Delta.

　After days of fierce fighting, the weakened Hoa Hao sect, plagued by internal factional strife, was crushed by the Viet Cong, much like the initially fragmented Ming Cult in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber." Even the Hoa Hao village in An Giang Province, the Hoa Hao sect's headquarters, was massacred and burned by Viet Cong guerrillas.

　"Now, according to the news released by the Vietcong on Saigon Radio, the Hoa Hao sect has been defeated on the mainland and only the isolated city of Ha Tien remains. Thousands of believers have fled across the sea to Phu Quoc Island. If Ha Tien also falls, the Ha Tien Kingdom will have to change its name before it is even established."

　Kissinger commented with a smile, “I wonder which unfortunate soul will be sent to Phu Quoc Island as ambassador. That would be the worst of all jobs…”

　Firi nodded in agreement: "A narrow island filled with war refugees, like a powder keg, is really terrible to think about."

　Not to mention, the island was also home to remnants of President Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​forces and the South Vietnamese navy—the fiery "Dragon Lady" Tran Li Chun was also on Phu Quoc. Whether they could work together and get along well with the Hoa Hao followers seemed uncertain.

　The most terrible thing is that Guangnan, which is directly protected by the US military, and

　Unlike the Central Highlands Federation, which is partially protected by the US military, US troops in Vietnam are not currently stationed on Phu Quoc Island. US diplomats stationed on Phu Quoc Island cannot rely on the US military's power to bully others. Instead, they face the great risk of being killed in a mutiny or assassinated by Vietcong agents.

　To sum up, if being the US ambassador to Guangnan is a good job, being the US ambassador to the Central Highlands Federation is a job with both risks and opportunities.

　So, being an ambassador to Phu Quoc Island is a truly unlucky job.

　However, just two days later, Kissinger came to Fili with a sad face and complained to him, "Major King! I must be cursed! I failed in my job search again! No, I should say I succeeded halfway, but it's worse than failure..."

　Dr. Kissinger, wearing black-framed glasses, looked as ugly as if he had eaten feces. "Although Washington agreed to let me stay in Vietnam, the position I was given was neither ambassador to Quang Nam nor ambassador to the Central Highlands Federation. Instead, they sent me to Phu Quoc Island as ambassador!"

　"Uh, please accept my condolences..." Looking at Dr. Kissinger, whose face looked terrible, Firi was stunned for a while before he spoke to comfort him.

　Unexpectedly, Dr. Kissinger's next words made him unable to hold back.

　"You don't have to be happy! Because you have to come with me to Phu Quoc Island to clean up the mess! Bring back Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​navy!"

　Firi:? ? ! !

　The author's words:

　Furthermore, the US originally couldn't win the Vietnam War primarily because it couldn't locate the Vietcong. Now, having ceded most of South Vietnam, the Vietcong will have to take over power, making themselves a vulnerable target. They will then be subject to blockades and sanctions, and will have to shoulder the blame for the people's hardships.

　The US military did not have to play whack-a-mole, but could accurately find the position of the Viet Cong at any time and launch a few missiles at Saigon in retaliation.

　This is just like the Houthi armed forces currently entrenched in northern Yemen. After taking over half of the country, they can no longer push forward.

　Chapter 251: Vietnamese Kids! Eating Poop!

　Although Dr. Kissinger had realized the immense value of Vietnam to American politics in the years ahead since the US military launched its massive landing in Vietnam, and had endeavored to secure the post of ambassador to Da Nang, the problem was that what he saw was also seen by other intelligent people.

　Dr. Kissinger could see that Vietnam presented “a vast opportunity with great potential,” and so could the diplomats and congressmen in Washington.

　Therefore, after a lot of bargaining, Dr. Kissinger was ultimately defeated due to his lack of qualifications and family background. Former US Ambassador to South Vietnam, Naulting, an old friend of President Ngo Dinh Diem, took office again and was about to come to Da Nang to serve as Ambassador to Quang Nam.

　Compared with Dr. Kissinger, who had just arrived, Naulding had served as an ambassador in South Vietnam for a year and was an old acquaintance of Zun Shiding.

　Although the previous Ambassador Naulding was once criticized by the White House, Congress and the news media for his sloppy work attitude in Saigon, often going to Greece for vacation, and being too partial to President Ngo Dinh Diem and condoning his various bad actions.

　But with Rocky being appointed as ambassador to Vietnam this year, the South Vietnamese civil war was triggered, which led to the collapse of South Vietnam within a month, the red flag was raised on the city wall of Saigon, and Rocky himself was sent to a Vietcong prisoner-of-war camp. As a result, the reputation of former ambassador Naulding was reversed and he was regarded as a man of real vision.

　Because Lodge had used his own imprisonment to prove Naurdin's "wisdom" and "correctness" - so when it came time to send an ambassador to Guangnan, a "shrunken version of South Vietnam", Naurdin unsurprisingly stood out among many competitors.

　Well, Kissinger no longer had any hope of getting the good job of ambassador to Guangnan.

　So, if Dr. Kissinger wants to settle for the second best and go to the neighboring Western Plains Federation to serve as the US ambassador, is that okay?

　Unfortunately, that doesn't work either.

　Because not only was the position of U.S. Ambassador to Quang Nam given to Naulding, but the position of U.S. Ambassador to the Central Highlands Federation had also been assigned to another person by the Kennedy cabinet, and that person was Dr. Kissinger’s old friend and acquaintance - Professor Brzezinski!

　Well, Professor Brzezinski has had a personal relationship with the Kennedy brothers for a long time, but he has never found a place to use his talents since entering the White House.

　So, now, with the strong recommendation of Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Professor Brzezinski came to the Central Highlands Federation to take office. Everyone is waiting to see how he will coordinate the relations between the many local indigenous ethnic groups and whether he can organize them to jointly resist the invasion of the Viet Cong.

　Just like French diplomats during the Bourbon era, they would usually first practice in Italy and the smaller states of the Holy Roman Empire. Only if they made meritorious contributions or at least performed well would they be qualified to serve as envoys to larger nations like Russia, Britain, Türkiye, and Spain.

　Since Professor Brzezinski believes that he can handle continental diplomacy, let's find him a few "indigenous tribes" to practice on to see how good he is as a master of international relations, whether he is genuine or just in name only, so as to determine his future career.

　Today's European and American political arena is not the future one.

　It’s a magical era where identity politics is important and you can become invincible if you stack up enough buffs - just by wearing a skirt and changing your personality, you can become a four-star general overnight; as long as the whole family becomes American citizenship, you can be promoted quickly to become the President of the European Union.

　If Brzezinski wants to rise in the diplomatic system, he must have some real achievements.

　Instead of being like the ancient hermits, even if they just hid in the mountains and complained all day, people would come to hire them with official seals and treasures.

　As a result, Brzezinski became the ambassador to the Western Highlands Federation, and Kissinger, who was able to take up the position with Brzezinski's support, obviously could not compete with him.

　Well, the ambassadors of Guangnan and the Central Highlands Federation have been decided, so what about Kissinger who is determined to stay in Vietnam?

　Simple. Three new nations rose from the ruins of South Vietnam! Wasn't there also a shaky Ha Tien Kingdom to the south that was being beaten to the brink by the Viet Cong?

　This regime in the making is in a precarious and unstable state, sandwiched between "Red South Vietnam," Cambodia, and Thailand. It's the perfect stage for a diplomat to shine... So, it's you! Dr. Kissinger, go there as ambassador and clean up the mess!

　Of course, this was originally just a problem for Dr. Kissinger in his job search and had nothing to do with Fieri directly.

　However, there is an invisible destiny that binds them together:

　General Westmoreland, the current commander of US forces in Vietnam, ordered Firi to go on a business trip to Phu Quoc Island with Dr. Kissinger!

　——Although Phu Quoc Island is in a bad situation right now, there is still a huge asset on the island: the South Vietnamese Navy left behind by President Ngo Dinh Diem!

　Since President Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated, Colonel Hu Tien Quan, commander of the South Vietnamese Navy, has been hastily breaking out of Saigon with the First Lady Chen Lichun and most of the South Vietnamese Navy's ocean-going vessels. They have moved all the way to Phu Quoc Island to temporarily settle down and observe how the situation develops.

　As a result, in less than a month, he witnessed the collapse of the old South Vietnamese regime and the birth of a number of new countries.

　This plunged the entire South Vietnamese Navy into unprecedented confusion and ideological chaos.

　But no matter how confused they are, staying in Phu Quoc Island is not a long-term solution - Phu Quoc Island is just a remote island after all, lacking the most basic shipyard facilities. Naval ships cannot receive the necessary maintenance and repairs here. Over time, the warships will all rust into scrap metal.

　The Hehao believers who are temporarily living with them do not have any talent in engineering and maintenance, but often need support from the navy.

　Moreover, an island with an area of ​​only 500 square kilometers could not support more than 8,000 naval officers and soldiers and their relatives: when escaping from Saigon, many naval officers and soldiers took their families on board, or let their families take fishing boats and passenger ships and follow the warships.

　While the South Vietnamese navy was trapped on the island, the "President of Quang Nam" in Da Nang, Zun Shiding, was worried about not having a navy under his command. Although the United States was currently responsible for coastal defense and shipping, as a small country with a long coastline, Quang Nam had to stand up its own navy!

　At the very least, there must be a transport fleet in Da Nang composed mainly of landing ships and landing craft, responsible for mobilizing limited regular army field troops by sea, cooperating with the local Catholic militia that are firmly entrenched, and like playing whack-a-mole, mobile attacks on the Viet Cong guerrillas that emerge in various places along the coast.

　To this end, he set his sights on the former South Vietnamese navy who was entrenched on Phu Quoc Island and living with the Hoa Hao Christians, and wanted to make the navy commander Hu Jinquan surrender to him.

　——It’s not that I value those broken ships under Colonel Hu Jinquan. Given the current generosity of the United States towards Vietnam, those old tank landing ships and infantry landing craft built by the United States during World War II will definitely be given to you free of charge. Just order a large number of them, just as a way to deal with surplus materials.

　But after having ships, you still need sailors to form an army. In a backward agricultural country like Vietnam, sailors who can drive warships are rare.

　The thousands of former South Vietnamese naval officers and soldiers now trapped on Phu Quoc Island suddenly became the favorites of General Zun Shiding.

　If we can get these old sea lions back from Phu Quoc Island, won’t there be someone to sail the warships donated by our American father?

　However, today's Guangnan Kingdom, to put it nicely, is an ally of the United States, but to put it bluntly, it is a vassal state.

　In addition to eliminating the Viet Cong, any "external" military operations ordered by Zunshi Ding, including recruiting surrenders and defections, had to be handled by US military advisers.

　As a result, this matter was placed on Fili's head.

　Well, although Firi served as an advisor to Zun Shiding for a few days at the beginning, since he was "promoted" to the commander of the US forces in Vietnam with the rank of a temporary colonel in early May, the position of American military advisor to Zun Shiding has been replaced.

　But the problem is that the guy who replaced Firi as an adviser to President Tunku was transferred from the US military base in Germany by the Pentagon, and he has been dawdling all the way and has not yet arrived at the Vietnam front. It may take a long time for him to report to Da Nang!

　——The speed at which Americans work is usually very Schrödinger-like. Sometimes they are very decisive, but at other times they are as slow as a snail.

　So, the White House decided to prevent any further complications. Since Fieri didn't have much work to do right now, they decided to let him go right away.

　Having the former commander of the US forces in Vietnam negotiate with the remnants of the South Vietnamese Navy about their incorporation was a good way to show respect for them.

　Moreover, Philip had a relationship with Chen Lichun.

　They had a master-servant relationship, and he had also met the South Vietnamese Navy Commander once, so it was easy to talk to him.

　As a result, Phiri would have to go to the precarious Phu Quoc Island with Dr. Kissinger—the only difference being that Phiri was theoretically on a short mission, ready to leave after completing his duties, while Kissinger was going there as an ambassador, requiring him to stay on the island for at least a year...

　I wonder if Dr. Kissinger, with his skills, can dance on the three eggs of Thailand's Rama IX, Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of the South of Vietnam, Nguyen Huu Tho, and preserve the small separatist regime on Phu Quoc Island in the storm?

　Well, regardless of whether he did a good job or not, at least deep down, he was not willing to stay on such a remote and desolate island for a long time.

　So, after explaining the situation to Fieri, Dr. Kissinger immediately complained, "It feels like the president is simply using us as a fire brigade, asking us to clean up any mess that arises..."

　Upon hearing this, Fili nodded with sympathy.

　——The world is so pitiful nowadays. As long as you can clean up the mess, you will end up with endless messes to clean up...

　-

　However, despite their resentment about their new job, since they still wanted to continue their careers in the government, Fieri and Kissinger had no choice but to obey their superiors' orders, packing their bags and preparing to go to Phu Quoc Island to try their luck, while desperately sending telegrams to plead for more aid.

　——If you have no money, no soldiers, and no authority, you won’t be able to accomplish anything even if you go to Phu Quoc Island!

　Since the White House wants us two brothers to be firefighters, we must have the most basic equipment, right?

　During this period of preparation when official documents were being exchanged and radio waves were flying, Firi and Kissinger received a new piece of news: their Vietnamese friends chose to gladly accept the shit fed by the Chinese big brother!

　In response to Red China's diplomatic recognition, Saigon's Prime Minister Nguyen Huu Tho of the "South Vietnam Government" immediately responded enthusiastically, inviting Beijing to send representatives to open an embassy in Saigon. He then bluntly submitted a long list of requests for various assistance to China.

　In Hanoi, North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh also wrote an enthusiastic open letter to thank Beijing for its enthusiastic help to its "southern brothers."

　Wow, Ho Chi Minh truly lived up to his reputation as a resilient leader. While his strategic foresight was somewhat lacking, often backfiring at crucial moments, he certainly mastered Goujian's manure-tasting tactics to perfection! When it came time to be humble, he was unwavering in his actions.

　When World War II ended and Japan surrendered, Ho Chi Minh fooled the Chinese and French troops entering Vietnam to accept the surrender. On the one hand, he pretended to be friendly with China, saying that he wanted to have a Vietnamese version of the KMT-CPC cooperation in order to confuse Chairman Chiang in Nanjing; on the other hand, he went to Paris himself, expressed his loyalty to the French, invited the French army to enter Hanoi, and let the Viet Cong guerrillas cooperate with the French army to fight the Chinese, thus provoking the Battle of Haiphong Port between the National Army and the French Army.

　If it weren't for the fact that President Truman of the United States saw that the situation was not right and quickly sent someone to intervene, urgently mediating between China and France, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to withdraw his troops from North Vietnam and hand over the territory to France... then, China and France would have already fought in North Vietnam, allowing the Viet Cong to take advantage of the chaos to grow!

　But the problem was that, aside from Ho Chi Minh's failure to consider the United States as an off-the-beaten-path factor, his strategic plan backfired, allowing the French Expeditionary Force to enter Hanoi without suffering much loss. Instead, it squeezed Ho Chi Minh out, leaving him in disgrace.

　Even if he really succeeded, this kind of opportunistic tactics and the various positions he took during the process were so distorted that it is hard to describe.

　Think about it, the Vietcong took the initiative to invite French troops to Hanoi! How is this different from joining forces with the Japanese invaders in China?

　If someone were to catch him and frame him, they could easily accuse Ho Chi Minh of being a traitor to the party, the country, and a national criminal!

　But it is obvious that Ho Chi Minh was not accused of anything and continued to lead the Vietnamese Communist Party in the revolution based on his seniority.

　Since Ho Chi Minh even invited the French army to enter Hanoi, he dared to do something similar to the Chinese inviting the Japanese army to enter Nanjing.

　So, how could Ho Chi Minh, the "modern Goujian", care about the trivial matter of "establishing a new central government"?

　Well, since there is no fun to watch on the Viet Cong side for the time being, it is time to deal with some of the unstable factors around me.

　As Fili thought about this, he turned his gaze to a certain snow-white body sleeping soundly on the bed...

　She surrendered and obediently let Fili handcuff her hands to the bedposts and tie her feet together.