American Strategic Deception Bureau

　Although the American paratroopers at Bach Mei Airport seemed to be surrounded by North Vietnamese troops on all sides, just a few dozen kilometers to the east of them, no more than an hour's drive away, there was a mighty torrent of steel rushing towards Hanoi!

　Therefore, the ones who are struggling at this moment are not the American paratroopers in the airport, but the 301st Division of the Vietnamese Army that surrounded the airport!

　-

　Red River Delta, outside Haiyang City

　"Attention! Enemy troops spotted in the rice paddies to the left! RPGs suspected!"

　As the battalion commander's shout rang out from the M113 armored vehicle's onboard radio, the American soldiers in the vehicle suddenly felt their bodies lean forward.

　Before the armored vehicle came to a complete stop, the onboard M2 heavy machine gun began to unleash its firepower, echoing the roar of the tank gun.

　For a moment, both sides of the road were engulfed in flames. Tank engines belched smoke and roared loudly, driving the steel monsters with all their might, smashing through roadblocks and crushing the earth ahead, along with the bodies lying in various strange positions. Then, at the commander's command, they would periodically stop their tracks, rotate their turrets, and then violently tremble, unleashing destructive flames upon any defensive positions that even hinted at human activity.

　Wheeled and tracked armored vehicles also moved more flexibly through the trees and rice fields on both sides of the road, pouring out 12.7mm bullets that were strong enough to penetrate steel plates, and strafing any Vietnamese who tried to approach with rocket launchers or explosive packs.

　After a bloody battle, although three American armored vehicles were reduced to flaming steel scraps, a North Vietnamese division was completely defeated and could only hastily abandon hundreds of bodies as they fled along the highway to the capital, Hanoi, to seek their own livelihood.

　Of course, the Americans, who were only thinking about rushing into Hanoi and kicking Ho Chi Minh's ass, had no interest in hunting down these escaped fish.

　Soon, the U.S. Marine Corps armored unit, which served as the vanguard, set off again and continued to sprint towards Hanoi!

　——After landing at Haiphong Port, it took only one day for the 2nd Amphibious Assault Battalion, the 2nd Tank Battalion and two mechanized infantry companies of the 2nd Marine Division to advance nearly 50 kilometers from Haiphong Port, defeat a North Vietnamese division, and reach the outskirts of Haiyang City. The speed of their advancement exceeded that of the Nazi German armored forces under the command of the famous World War II general Guderian. It was truly a blitzkrieg within a blitzkrieg!

　Along many sections of the road, North Vietnamese militiamen rushed in with shovels and shovels to destroy the road, but were crushed to pieces by the onrushing armored vehicles and tanks before they could even begin work. Even when they encountered a North Vietnamese division in Haiyang, they were easily broken through by these two battalions.

　Behind this assault force, the road was littered with corpses, severed arms, and burning villages and towns, a journey that could be described as the "Road to Hell."

　——The Marines, who were high on amphetamines, used this "Road to Purgatory" to tell the Vietnamese a cruel fact: facing the attack of the armored forces with flesh and blood, no matter how strong their desire to defend their country was, they would only become cold figures of death in battle!

　Of course, from a purely military perspective, it's not surprising that such an elite, fully mechanized US military force, armed with tanks and armored vehicles, and backed by helicopters and attack aircraft, could crush a hastily assembled, miscellaneous militia whose light weapons were all internationally renowned.

　Furthermore, the North Vietnamese forces confronting the US forces outside Hai Duong were a severely undermanned, skeleton division. Although organized as a division, its total strength was less than 2,000 men. This was barely the strength of a US regiment, and the firearms they were equipped with were so old that even the rifling was worn out.

　In addition, due to the tight time schedule, the North Vietnamese troops did not have time to build defensive fortifications, and were defeated by the US military in one blow. This was also a normal phenomenon.

　In fact, the fact that they were able to run to the highway and fight the US troops despite the bombing was already a sign of their high level of organization. Those militias with even poorer organization did not even have time to rush to the front of the US attack spearhead before they were already scattered by the bombardment of various US aircraft.

　As for the regular North Vietnamese army? The 301st Division in the capital was useless, engaging in a back-and-forth battle with the US airborne troops at Bach Mei Airport.

　The 316th Division was still in the deep mountains of Laos, continuing to fight with Wang Bao's Miao soldiers. Under the strict orders and inducements of the CIA, while the US military landed in Haiphong and rushed towards Hanoi, Wang Bao's Miao soldiers also intensified their offensive against the Vietnamese army on the opposite side, holding on to their old opponents and not letting them return to rescue the capital.

　The troops that have been sent to Saigon and the Mekong Delta are now too late to return and can only be treated as if they do not exist.

　The largest and most heavily armed group of the Vietnamese army is the five divisions deployed on the Hue Plain... In fact, after learning the tragic news that the capital Hanoi was attacked, Wen Jinyong immediately issued an order from the command center in the Hue Palace, ordering the troops to assemble and march north to provide support.

　But the problem is that the long-distance mobilization of modern armies is not like the strategic games in computers, which can be completed with just a few clicks of the mouse. It takes several days just to gather the troops scattered at various preset positions.

　Next, the distance from Hue to Hanoi is 650 kilometers, and the fastest mode of transportation today is the train. However, the railways left to Vietnam by the French colonizers are not only meter-gauge (narrow-gauge) with extremely poor transportation capacity, but also severely damaged during the war. This year, they were bombarded by the US military. North Vietnamese engineers are unable to repair them, and the dispatch of wagons and locomotives is also difficult.

　Most of the North Vietnamese soldiers had to walk over 200 kilometers to Thanh Hoa before they could catch a train and then head to Hanoi.

　I guess before they even reach the edge of the Red River Delta, the American flag will already be flying in Hanoi!

　Therefore, on the second day after the US troops landed, Ho Chi Minh sent a telegram to Van Tien Dung, telling him not to send troops back in a hurry to provide support, but to concentrate on defending Hue - Hanoi seemed to have been lost, and Hue could not be lost easily!

　Seeing that it was completely unable to stop the US military's rapid advance, North Vietnam could only place its last hope on diplomacy.

　But in the confrontation at the United Nations, the Soviet Union was really embarrassed facing the American representatives who kept shouting "revenge for President Kennedy".

　What's more, North Vietnam had recently been secretly stealing nuclear fuel and assassinating Kennedy without consulting the Soviet Union in advance. Khrushchev and the top leaders of the Kremlin were full of resentment about this. They felt that Ho Chi Minh was too troublesome and really didn't want to cover for him.

　It might be a good thing to take this opportunity to let him suffer a little and calm his mind.

　In short, the Soviet Union just made a few routine accusations and said some polite words against imperialist aggression, and didn't say anything more.

　As for China? Red China hasn't yet regained its UN seat, and the one sitting there is the Taiwanese representative...

　Besides, although the Soviet Union had many grievances against North Vietnam, could China be completely free of any grudges?

　At this point, the fall of Hanoi was inevitable, and it only depended on whether the 101st Airborne Division or the 2nd Marine Division would be the first to take the lead.

　The power plant and water plant? There's no need to destroy them, as they've already been bombed into ruins by the US Strategic Air Force!

　The remaining citizens of Hanoi had either fled the city and evacuated to the countryside before the city was broken, or were trembling in their own dilapidated houses, or hiding in the rubble, watching the tanks and armored vehicles passing by through the gaps in the ruins.

　In Hanoi's embassy district, diplomats from various countries that had established diplomatic relations with North Vietnam also came to the rooftops or balconies, watching the US military's massive entry into the city through binoculars, or huddled around radios, frowning as they listened to the victory declarations issued by the US Forces Vietnam Command and the White House.

　Meanwhile, the US imperial army, charging into Hanoi under the pretext of revenge, seemed to have no desire for any show of "US-Vietnam goodwill," let alone handing out chocolate candies to Hanoi's children. Instead, they had Vietnamese translators, previously recruited in Da Nang, repeatedly and sternly warn through their car loudspeakers, announcing that Hanoi was under martial law and a curfew, with all streets sealed off and no one allowed to leave. Anyone who disobeyed orders and wandered outside would be considered a spy by the US military and shot to death, regardless of gender, age, or status.

　Late that night, North Vietnamese operatives, ensconced in the wreckage of buildings and sewers, emerged from their hideouts under cover of darkness, armed with rocket launchers, explosive packs, and anti-tank mines, attempting a nighttime assault on the American forces entering the city. Unfortunately, unlike Hamas in Gaza, these operatives had not received specialized training in anti-tank maneuvers. The result was a chaotic night of fighting. While they destroyed six American tanks and armored vehicles, they suffered over 300 casualties and captured over 100 prisoners—a truly disastrous outcome.

　At the same time, at least a thousand Hanoi citizens were beaten to death due to the incident.

　At noon on December 21, General Westmoreland, commander of the US forces in Vietnam, arrived in Hanoi by helicopter with a triumphant air. He then changed to an armored vehicle to tour the city and comfort the US troops who were entering the city one after another, acting like the "conqueror of Vietnam."

　The only thing that made him feel a little regretful was that although he conquered the enemy's capital, no one presented him with the keys to the city gates - of course, modern cities no longer have city walls and gates, so naturally there is no such custom from the Napoleonic War era.

　Instead, General Westmoreland held a grand military parade in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square, the place where Ho Chi Minh once declared Vietnam's independence, to show off his military power. For a time, military music was melodious and the American flag was fluttering, showing off the awe-inspiring majesty of the United States as the world hegemon!

　Afterwards, General Westmoreland ordered that all the captured Vietnamese military and national flags be piled in the center of the square, doused with gasoline and set on fire.

　Journalists accompanying the army pressed their shutters one after another, capturing the burning red flags and curling black smoke. It was as if the "good old days" had returned, when Western colonizers could easily conquer a country by setting up a few cannons on the eastern coast.

　On December 22, despite repeated hesitation, President Johnson ultimately decided not to personally visit Hanoi to stage a show and boost his popularity for next year's election. However, Air Force Chief of Staff General LeMay, known for his boldness and increasingly irascible nature, flew to Hanoi in high spirits.

　However, by the time General Le May arrived in Hanoi, the military parade in Ba Dinh Square had already concluded. General Westmoreland had already taken the reporters to visit the residences of Ho Chi Minh, Le Duan, Vo Nguyen Giap, and others, as well as the headquarters of various key agencies of the North Vietnamese central government.

　The entire city had already been bombed by the US Strategic Air Force, making it look like Tokyo at the time of its surrender in World War II. Even if they wanted to demolish it violently, there seemed to be nothing left to demolish.

　General Le May, realizing he was a bit late, decided to make his presence felt in Hanoi and prevent General Westmoreland from stealing the show. He consulted with his accompanying Lieutenant Colonel, Philip King, and they rushed to the shores of Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi and set about making a big move.

　Well, to be exact, it was a "very tasty" "Christmas gift" to Ho Chi Minh...

　-

　Just like there is a West Lake in Hangzhou, China and a South Lake in Jiaxing, there is also a famous Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam.

　During the Yongle period in the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty once recovered Vietnam and re-established the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration, making Vietnam, which had been separated from China for 500 years since the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, once again a province of China.

　But not long after, in 1418, Le Loi, the founder of the Le Dynasty of Vietnam, launched an uprising against the Ming Dynasty in Lam Son, pushing Vietnam towards independence again.

　Before Le Loi started his rebellion, it was said that he accidentally obtained a sword with extraordinary power. After that, he defeated the Ming army many times with this sword.

　Ten years later, the Ming Dynasty, repeatedly defeated, abandoned Jiaozhi, and the Le Dynasty of Vietnam was established. One day, Le Loi was boating on a lake near the capital, Hanoi (Thang Long), when he suddenly saw a golden turtle emerge from the water. It swam toward the boat and spoke in human language, saying, "Your Majesty, your enemies have been defeated. Please return my sword."

　Le Loi was shocked when he heard this, so he threw the sword at his waist into the lake. The lake was then renamed Hoan Kiem Lake to commemorate this legendary event.

　After that, the Vietnamese built pagodas and temples on the banks of Hoan Kiem Lake and on the small islands in the center of the lake, making it one of the famous scenic spots in Hanoi.

　Of course, since Vietnam was a poor household in Southeast Asia in the future, its international influence was very limited, and the Vietnamese immigrants scattered overseas were basically South Vietnamese, so they generally regarded

　They regard Saigon as their spiritual home, but have no sense of identity with Hanoi.

　Therefore, the reputation of Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake is only slightly greater in Vietnam, and it is rarely known overseas.

　But today, December 23, 1963, General Le May, the "barbecue master," planned to raise the international profile of Hoan Kiem Lake.

　——Just like he “turned up the heat” on Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

　In the early morning light, a truck slowly drove out of Baimei Airport and, escorted by armored vehicles, arrived at the shore of Hoan Kiem Lake.

　Afterwards, surrounded by reporters from various countries, a group of American soldiers wearing chemical protective suits and breathing masks unloaded dozens of metal cylinders painted bright yellow with a yellow background, black circles, and radiation propeller logos from the truck bed and piled them on the shore of Hoan Kiem Lake.

　Next, General LeMay, who was also wearing a chemical protective suit, stood leisurely behind a podium next to the pile of iron barrels and delivered a short speech. He first angrily denounced the "North Vietnamese killers" for their "outrageous crime" of brazenly assassinating President Kennedy and Prince Sihanouk in an attempt to trigger a world war, and then condemned the "red bandits" for their "greed" of looting the Dadao nuclear reactor built by the United States for South Vietnam and stealing the nuclear fuel rods.

　Finally, General LeMay coughed dryly and announced his eye-catching move for the day: "Here, I solemnly inform the Vietcong leader, Ho Chi Minh! Since you and your minions are so greedy for nuclear materials that you are even willing to steal, cheat, and rob them! Then, I invite you to fully experience the taste of nuclear radiation!"

　He pointed to the pile of metal cylinders beside him. "Here is a ton of nuclear waste that was just airlifted in! Now, I'm going to dump it all into this city's lake! Once it rusts in the water, it will release the radioactive pollutants inside..."

　Then, amid the exclamations of reporters on the scene, American soldiers in chemical protective suits used a simple manual lifting machine to place cylinders with radiation warning signs painted on them onto a guide rail installed by the lake. One by one, they rolled into the lake, splashing the muddy water.

　Meanwhile, Firi also stepped forward and continued to explain to the reporters that, just as the Roman commander Scipio the Younger, who destroyed Carthage, sprinkled salt on the ruins of Carthage after the war, cursing the land so that nothing would ever grow, General LeMay's dumping of nuclear waste into Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake today was also following the ancient example, cursing the land with radiation as retaliation and punishment for the North Vietnamese Workers' Party's assassination of President Kennedy.

　"Since you're so eager to possess nuclear weapons, then let you live in nuclear radiation from now on and enjoy the days of a nuclear wasteland in advance!"

　He concluded, "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and this ton of nuclear waste is General Le May's Christmas gift to Ho Chi Minh!

　I hope this will leave a deep enough memory for the top leaders of the North Vietnamese Workers' Party! So that they will never dare to become an enemy of the United States of America again! "

　To the attack aircraft is a moving target.

　As soon as they left Hanoi, they were strafed and bombed by US attack aircraft. Not only did the cadres and guards suffer heavy casualties, but even the car Ho Chi Minh was riding in was overturned by the blast of an aerial bomb, killing the driver instantly but leaving Uncle Ho with only minor injuries.

　Well, although he only suffered some minor injuries and no broken bones, Ho Chi Minh is old now after all, and his health has not been very good recently. Due to his old age and frailty, the root causes of illness and old injuries that Ho Chi Minh suffered during the revolution have been recurring one after another in the past two years, making the already weak Uncle Ho even more haggard, making it difficult for him to carry out his busy daily work, and he can only rely on rest to stay alive.

　Even though they are trying to conceal the truth from the grassroots people, the entire Vietnamese Communist Party leadership knows that Ho Chi Minh may not live for many more years!

　As a result, just when Ho Chi Minh was about to die, he encountered the unfortunate event of the US military's surprise attack on Hanoi, and the capital of North Vietnam fell. Coupled with bombings and car rollovers, the old man was injured and sick, and worried about state affairs. He became more and more haggard and looked like he would fall down at the slightest breeze.

　Regarding the fact that on December 23, the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, General LeMay, brazenly dumped nuclear waste into Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake, imitating the Roman general's act of spreading salt on the ruins of Carthage, the North Vietnamese top leaders initially tried to hide it from him in order to avoid upsetting Mr. Ho Chi Minh.

　But this morning, Ho Chi Minh finally heard this extremely humiliating news from his radio. He was immediately furious and after a long curse, he fell headfirst and fainted, almost dying!

　Seeing this, the panicked secretaries and guards hurriedly carried Ho Chi Minh to the hospital for emergency treatment. When the tragic news spread, senior leaders in North and Vietnam also put down their work and gathered at the hospital in Viet Tri City, anxiously awaiting the final news.

　"TASS reported that General Secretary Khrushchev expressed deep sympathy and condolences to the Vietnamese people who suffered during the war..."

　Xinhua News Agency reported that Chairman Liu held a press conference this morning and severely condemned the anti-human atrocities committed by US imperialism in creating nuclear pollution in the Vietnamese capital, calling it a tragedy comparable to the tragedy of Japan's Unit 731, which fully demonstrated the heinous crimes of the imperialist invaders.

　China and Vietnam have been connected by mountains and rivers since ancient times, and the blood of the two peoples is thicker than water. The Chinese people sympathize with the sufferings of the Vietnamese people..."

　Haha, whether it is the Soviets or the Chinese, they are all lip service to Vietnam. They say nice things, but why don’t they send much arms?

　As for reinforcements, there is no need to mention it. There is no definite news so far!

　Vo Nguyen Giap sat on a bench in the hospital corridor, listening to the radio. He felt irritated and full of resentment.

　Around him, most of the important military and political leaders of the North Vietnamese Workers' Party who had relocated to Viet Tri were gathered here, but few spoke. Some were reading documents, some were sitting on benches in a daze, and most were smoking silently.

　The fall of Hanoi was certainly a humiliation, but the safety of Ho Chi Minh made them even more uneasy.

　No one knows better than these high-ranking officials how the seemingly iron-blooded and powerful Vietnamese red regime is actually a group of fragmented people and a loose sand.

　- The narrow and long territory that is naturally conducive to division and separatism, the hundreds of years of confrontation between the princes since the 16th century, the divide and rule strategy of the French colonists, and the emergence of many heroes during the process of Vietnam's independence have all led to the country's weak cohesion.

　It was all thanks to the prestige accumulated by Ho Chi Minh over the years and his flexible maneuvering that he was able to unite the vast land stretching from Cao Bang, Lang Son to Ca Mau Cape, spanning fifteen degrees of latitude from north to south, and tens of millions of people under the same red flag to fight to the end for independence and freedom.

　Even though they were repeatedly defeated by the powerful ships and guns of Western colonizers, as long as Uncle Ho Chi Minh was still around, the weak Vietnamese revolutionaries would always find ways to win considerable foreign aid, thus finding a glimmer of opportunity to survive and develop in the arena of superpower confrontation.

　Even if Hanoi fell, as long as Ho Chi Minh stepped in and won the support of the entire socialist camp, Vietnam would never be in danger of being destroyed.

　But now, Uncle Ho Chi Minh seemed to be leaving, and this made everyone feel a weakness they had never felt before.

　At this critical moment when the capital is about to fall, the top leaders of North and Vietnam are likely to be plunged into chaos of power struggle!

　The "Republic of South Vietnam" established after the recapture of Saigon this year may also take the opportunity to establish its own regime, or even dream of "unifying the north with the south"!

　If that's the case, it would be terrible!

　It is no exaggeration to say that Vo Nguyen Giap would rather be scolded by Ho Chi Minh in all kinds of languages ​​every day than see his death.

　But matters of life and death are determined by fate and cannot be influenced by anyone's subjective will.

　And Ho Chi Minh's successor after his death...

　Vo Nguyen Giap raised his head and looked at Le Duan who was standing at the other end of the corridor. He found that he was talking in a low voice with someone he didn't know in the corner with a very serious expression... Could he be planning a power grab after Ho Chi Minh's death?

　Alas, putting aside the differences in political stance and line, he still recognized the ability of Le Duan, a representative of the local faction.

　If there were not thousands of grassroots Party members and cadres rooted in the country, Le Duan would not have been able to succeed.

　To be able to reach today's position.

　But the problem is that Le Duan attached too much importance to nationalism, and his vision was always limited to the thousands of miles of the Indochina Peninsula, but he forgot how big the world is.

　If Vietnam were a big country like China with a population of hundreds of millions and a vast territory, then the revolution could basically be based only at home.

　However, unfortunately, even after unifying the entire north and south, and even annexing Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam is still just a poor and backward medium-sized country with a population of only tens of millions. Like Germany, it has become a front line of the Cold War and has been deeply interfered with by superpowers.

　Vietnam's revolutionary cause was destined to become an appendage of the Cold War game between superpowers, and it had to find a way to survive amidst the clashes between the great powers.

　However, overly fanatical nationalist ideas will only reduce the government's room for maneuver in diplomacy and ultimately lead it down a path of destruction!

　Extreme nationalism is a stimulant that boosts the morale of large nations and tribes, but for small nations and tribes, it can be a drug of self-destruction!

　This was a painful lesson learned in both world wars!

　——Nationalists may not necessarily be kind and loving to the people. In the eyes of extreme nationalists, the people are just burning firewood for the rise of the nation. The German Nazis and Japanese militarism during World War II are typical examples of modern nationalism that has developed to an obsessive level.

　Therefore, nationalists are often extremely cold-blooded and indifferent to human life. They say the most enthusiastic words but actually do the most disregardful things for human life.

　For example, a considerable number of Paradox players, according to the political spectrum, are extreme nationalists.

　For the sake of their "great ideals", they don't care at all if 70 to 80 percent of their own people die.

　During the Cold War, there were many bloody cases of the consequences of nationalism going too far.