American Strategic Deception Bureau

　Of course, besides the insignificant and ineffective government army, the Khmer Republic also had the more capable "Blue Khmer Rouge" (Free Khmer Rouge) armed forces. This right-wing Khmer armed force, led by San Ngoc Thanh, was once a nationalist insurgent against French colonial rule, but has now been co-opted and bribed by the CIA. Like Vang Pao, the "Hmong King" of Laos, they have become CIA mercenaries in Southeast Asia.

　In late November, when General Lon Nol and the warlords of the Kingdom of Cambodia jointly launched a coup, overthrew the monarchy and established the Khmer Republic, San Ngoc Thanh, with the help of the CIA, rushed to Phnom Penh with thousands of elite troops of the Khmer Rouge to "join in the celebration."

　But the problem was that in early December, Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge who controlled the rural areas of northern Cambodia, suddenly launched an attack on the northwestern part of Cambodia, including cities such as Siem Reap, Battambang, and Sisophon along the Tonle Sap Lake, which was the Khmer Rouge's sphere of influence.

　Because the elite troops had been taken to Phnom Penh by Shan Yucheng, the Khmer Rouge stronghold on the Cambodia-Thailand border was left destitute. Many of the Khmer Rouge members' families fell into the hands of the Khmer Rouge and were subsequently brutally massacred. Eyewitness accounts show that the Khmer Rouge guerrillas were relentless in their killings, sparing even women and children. To conserve ammunition, they even grabbed children by the legs and smashed their heads against tree trunks, leaving the trees riddled with human teeth.

　When the Khmer Rouge learned of this, they were all filled with indignation. Shan Yucheng immediately withdrew his troops from Phnom Penh without hesitation and returned to Siem Reap by boat to protect his family and children, and at the same time seek revenge on the Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

　However, once the Khmer Rouge left, the military strength of the capital Phnom Penh became even weaker, and it could even be said that it was so weak that it was practically non-existent.

　As a result, when the Viet Cong attacked in large numbers, they were unstoppable all the way from the border to Phnom Penh, with only the air offering resistance.

　When the Viet Cong army broke into Phnom Penh, several powerful people in the city did not even have time to discuss a countermeasure. They hurriedly packed up their belongings and fled. Seeing that the officials had all fled, the soldiers and police under them had no intention of fighting to the end, and they also followed suit and fled.

　Just like that, when the US troops stationed in Vietnam led by General Westmoreland withdrew from Hanoi on December 26, Major General Chen Wenguang, commander-in-chief of the "Republic of South Vietnam", also fought his way into Phnom Penh almost without bloodshed, destroying the "Khmer Republic" which had been established for only one month!

　In other words, Le Duan, who succeeded Ho Chi Minh's coffin the day before as the second supreme leader of North Vietnam, had not even had time to issue orders when he simultaneously achieved the two historical achievements of "recapturing Hanoi" and "capturing Phnom Penh" - it was a pie in the sky!

　Many superstitious Vietnamese people even believe that Le Duan was "destined to succeed", otherwise how could he have such great fortune?

　But General Westmoreland, commander of the US forces in Vietnam, who had just returned triumphantly from Hanoi, was probably not in such a good mood...

　Next, in order to strike back at the "Red South Vietnam" that was "looking for loopholes to steal chickens", the "fake landing battle" that Fili and Kissinger had previously fabricated and disguised on Phu Quoc Island might soon be transformed from a feint into a real attack under the wrath of the Pentagon, thus making the fake become real?

　General Lon Nol, who had crooked eyes and could not speak, and a group of Khmer dignitaries who followed him, with their troops scattered and with nowhere else to go, could only follow the refugees and defeated soldiers to find a boat to cross the sea and escape to Phu Quoc Island for refuge.

　The military camps that Fili and Kissinger had prepared on Phu Quoc Island for their "fake landing" never became a reality and were occupied by real US Marines. Instead, they were quickly filled with tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees: civil servants, military officers, officials' families, landlords, merchants, and teachers... all swarmed across the 12-kilometer-wide channel and headed for Phu Quoc Island!

　Well, even if we use the standards of the Viet Cong instead of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, the capital of Phnom Penh is really too urbanized, and there are indeed too many reactionaries who need to be eliminated - so, the reactionaries who know they are going to be eliminated will naturally run away!

　The nearest place to escape, apart from neighboring Thailand, is Phu Quoc Island, which is protected by the sea and the US Navy.

　Therefore, Phu Quoc Island did not become the Taiwan of South Vietnam and establish a "South Vietnamese government in exile" as Philippines had originally expected; instead, it became the Taiwan of Cambodia, and a "Khmer government in exile" was established in the refugee camp on the island... Well, it can be said that they have reached the same goal by different means.

　In the inland areas of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge supported by the Viet Cong was also rapidly conquering cities and controlling a large area of ​​territory in a very short period of time.

　To strengthen his control over the Khmer Rouge, Le Duan dispatched the founding members of the Cambodian Communist Party (Khmer Rouge) who had withdrawn to North Vietnam back to Cambodia to disrupt the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot was extremely dissatisfied with this, but he had no choice but to accept it. Pol Pot's experience was too short, and with the founding members of the Cambodian Communist Party still in North Vietnam, he could not compete with these veterans for the limelight.

　By early January of the following year, Lon Nol's brother, Lon Ni, was beaten to death by rioters after his defeat in Takeo Province. Even his liver was cut out and roasted for food. With the exception of Koh Kong Island, which had been occupied by Thai troops, and Phu Quoc Island, which nominally belonged to Cambodia, the entire Khmer Rouge (Cambodia) was almost completely under the control of the Communists. All armed forces of the old government had collapsed, either surrendering or fleeing abroad.

　Only the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, led by Sam Ngoc Thanh, another long-standing Cambodian rebel group, remained. Backed by Thailand and the CIA, they had been driven out of the major city of Siem Reap but were still able to hold their ground near Angkor Wat on the northwest border, where they fought tenaciously.

　Of course, it is an indisputable and established fact that more than 85% of Cambodia’s population and land have been flagged with red flags.

　Thus, the US military's blitzkrieg on Hanoi in December 1963, which angered Ho Chi Minh to death, not only failed to curb the arrogance of the Vietcong, but also gave the Vietcong an opportunity to overthrow a pro-US nation with a population of millions and almost occupied Cambodia within a month!

　Furthermore, over the past year, the Pathet Lao, a communist armed group also supported by the Vietcong, has also been making numerous advances in Laos. While unable to defeat Vang Pao's Miao troops, they have effectively crushed the long-defunct Royal Laotian government forces, more than doubling their territory.

　This resulted in the North Vietnamese Workers' Party adding nearly 2000 million people and 30 square kilometers of land last year!

　Such a crazy expansion speed can only be compared with Nazi Germany that swept across Europe in the early days of World War II!

　Therefore, despite the humiliation of the fall of Hanoi and the sorrow of Ho Chi Minh's death from grief and anger, at the "return to the capital ceremony" when all US troops withdrew and the North Vietnamese party and government institutions returned to Hanoi, the new North Vietnamese leader, Comrade Le Duan, remained radiant with pride and confidence.

　——In his words, the blitzkrieg on Hanoi was nothing but the dying struggle and impotent rage of American imperialism. It seemed to be coming with great force, but in fact it was weak: otherwise, why did the US military have to withdraw quickly even after entering Hanoi, while the red flag was raised in Phnom Penh and never fell down?

　The battle reports on the radio may be deceiving, but the battle lines on the map will never lie!

　I have to say that this statement is really well-reasoned and there is nothing wrong with it.

　——Just by looking at the large area of ​​changed color on the map, you can intuitively know who won and who lost in the Vietnam War in 1963.

　Before the year was over, the North Vietnamese Workers' Party had already taken one, no, two, credits for destroying a country!

　Therefore, although Ho Chi Minh's death brought grief and sorrow to the North Vietnamese military and civilians, they were generally delighted by the revolutionary war's rapid and glorious victory over the previous year. They even composed a revolutionary song, "Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Unite!"

　It seems that their "Indochina Federation dream", which was dispelled by China's pressure when they signed the Geneva Agreement, is about to be revived.

　Le Duan, who came from the Southern faction, also easily overcame the political impact brought about by the fall of Hanoi by virtue of his achievement in destroying the country, making it impossible for the Northern faction to raise any questions, thus quickly gaining a foothold and becoming Ho Chi Minh's successor.

　But despite his complacency, he always looked at Prime Minister Nguyen Huu Tho of the "Republic of South Vietnam" in Saigon with a strange look in his eyes.

　Well, can Saigon swallow up an entire country with its own strength? Those comrades in the South seem a bit overwhelmed, don’t they?!

　Of course, this kind of suspicion of accomplices will definitely take some time to resolve.

　It will only break out now. At least the Viet Cong looks very united now.

　In addition, the "Chinese People's Volunteer Army Headquarters" re-established in Nanning by China also ended up in vain. It was declared established on December 27 and was disbanded on December 28. General Pi Dingjun served as the commander of the volunteer army for only one day before he resigned in disappointment.

　But on the other hand, the celebration of the Viet Cong meant a great disappointment for the US troops stationed in Vietnam and a disgrace for the Pentagon.

　In order to comfort the young men who returned victorious from North Vietnam, the White House sent the second national spokesperson, Elizabeth Taylor, to lead a large number of singers and stars, collect a large amount of wine and gifts, and form a USO delegation to visit the front-line US military bases in Vietnam, such as Da Nang and Nha Trang, to hold grand USO performances and distribute various small gifts, which made those simple-minded lower-level soldiers very happy.

　However, the senior military officers of the US military stationed in Vietnam were in low spirits, and their faces were uglier than each other at the celebration party.

　Well, the US did indeed mobilize its propaganda machine, boasting and exaggerating the "miracle" of the "blitzkrieg" on Hanoi. Secretary of Defense McNamara even brazenly told reporters from around the world that the US possessed immense destructive power and that anyone who dared to challenge it would be doomed.

　But in the bipolar Cold War era, global public opinion wasn't dominated by the United States alone. The Soviet Union and China also used loudspeakers to mock the US military's "self-deceiving headquarters war reports": 100,000 US troops stormed Hanoi with great momentum, then fled after just a few days, leaving North Vietnam without losing an inch of territory; while 50,000 Viet Cong troops simultaneously captured Phnom Penh and then stayed there...

　In short, the Eastern Bloc portrayed the US troops in Vietnam as "burglars." While they managed to steal something, they didn't exhibit the aura of a world leader, only a sly, sneaky, and thieving demeanor. Would you be willing to follow such a ruthless boss?

　It is so insulting and hurtful!

　In addition to the propaganda setback, the strategic impact was also not good. President Kennedy had previously condescended to try every means to win over Prince Sihanouk. After Prince Sihanouk's death, the CIA brazenly instigated a pro-American coup, and finally created a pro-American Cambodia (Khmer).

　As a result, before the end of 1963, they had already become the anti-American Khmer Rouge in the blink of an eye!

　Furthermore, Laos to the north has also been on the verge of collapse. Although Vang Pao's Miao soldiers are capable of fighting hard, they are ultimately unable to hold the line alone... The Viet Cong now controls over 80% of the three former French Indochina countries. The US military in Vietnam has been squeezed into a corner of the coast, and various allies have been eliminated one after another...

　So much so that Republicans on Capitol Hill are shouting: The situation in Asia is dangerous! Eisenhower's domino theory is about to start falling!

　The only good news was that because of Cambodia’s collapse and change of color, the Thais were forced to join the war.

　A Thai troop occupied Koh Kong Island in southwestern Cambodia, mimicking the US presence on Phu Quoc Island and observing the fighting on land. Other Thai special forces, along with CIA agents, supported the "Blue Rouge" led by Son Ngoc Thanh in their battles with the Khmer Rouge in northwestern Cambodia.

　But the problem is that, similar to the situation in Cambodia, the Thai army has basically never fought a war.

　Therefore, ever since Thailand sent troops to intervene in the Cambodian civil war, the Thai army's performance has been basically shameful, and they have been hesitant and afraid to engage in a firefight with the Viet Cong.

　What’s even more terrible is that proletarian revolution, like a plague, is contagious.

　Unfortunately, Thailand itself is also a feudal kingdom with deep class contradictions, and is also in a period of high incidence of various social problems.

　——Although Thailand became the only country in modern Southeast Asia that has not become a formal colony thanks to its flexible diplomatic means and decisive Westernization reforms, and its social development and stability are stronger than those of Myanmar to the west and the three Indochinese countries to the east, its strength is still very limited.

　Today, the people of this country, like those in old China, are subjected to triple exploitation by feudal landlords, capitalists and imperialist forces, with an insatiable royal family above them. The spark of the Red Revolution has long been hidden among the people across the country along with the people's resentment.

　If the intervention in the Cambodian Revolution fails and the "red wave" continues to sweep over... the consequences will be unimaginable!

　Therefore, it is difficult to say whether Thailand's participation in the Vietnam War chessboard was an additional helper or a burden for the United States.

　-

　"Well, even though I received a medal, General Westmoreland's expression when he was awarded the medal was really..."

　Late at night, on the streets of Da Nang, Ferry and Kissinger, who had just finished a celebratory reception, strolled and casually grumbled, "After our army attacked Hanoi, the Vietcong's territory has nearly doubled! This is really not something to be happy about!"

　"Indeed, the troublemakers on Capitol Hill are shouting again, 'Who is responsible for losing Cambodia?'"

　Kissinger nodded in agreement, saying, "According to some congressmen and journalists, Cambodia was annexed by the Viet Cong entirely because the US military stationed in Vietnam mistakenly attacked Hanoi from the north. Therefore, General Westmoreland, who captured Hanoi, was not only unsuccessful, but was actually guilty!"

　How could General Westmoreland be in a good mood after hearing such nonsense?

　"Alas, I hope the general will not

　"Because of the bad mood, we hastily sent troops to fight the Viet Cong again—we should not start a war out of anger!"

　Ferry sighed. "I will be returning home soon, but you will have to work with General Westmoreland for a long time, Doctor. Ambassador Naulding has decided to resign early and is expected to leave on the same flight as me. From now on, you will be the ambassador to Quang Nam in Da Nang."

　——When Kissinger, the consul of Phu Quoc Island, discovered that tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees and tens of thousands of Vietnamese boat people were pouring into the already overcrowded Phu Quoc Island, he immediately realized that the outlook was not good. The island under his feet was likely to be turned into a powder keg by the refugee crisis, and might even be attacked by the Viet Cong special forces... So he immediately used his connections to try to get out of Phu Quoc Island, this troubled place, as quickly as possible.

　Coincidentally, Ambassador Naulding in Da Nang was also exhausted by the recent situation of the Vietnam War and was preparing to resign early and return home in mid-January this year.

　So Kissinger took over Ambassador Naulting's position and came to Da Nang, about to become the next US ambassador to Quang Nam.

　As for Phu Quoc Island, which is crammed with nearly 200,000 refugees? Let the next consul deal with that! Ideally, a warden would be appointed!

　"Well, now that you mention it, it seems that switching to Da Nang as an ambassador isn't much easier than being a consul in Phu Quoc Island.

　Why does it feel like I've jumped from one fire pit to another? Never mind, now that things have come to this, there's no way to regret it."

　Kissinger shook his head and lamented, waving goodbye to Fieri. "Goodbye, Lieutenant Colonel. I'll send your wedding present! I hope to have a drink with you in Los Angeles next year!"

　Chapter 303: Father-in-law's Funeral

　February 2, 1964, Green Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

　In New York in February, there was still light snow in the sky, the branches were all bare, and the gloomy weather made people feel depressed.

　In the afternoon, amidst the chilly wind, a simple and solemn funeral was being held in the Green Cemetery.

　"He was a brave and strong old sailor, a dedicated captain, and a loving father. At every stage of his life, he fulfilled his responsibilities to the utmost. Now, he has completed his life and lies quietly here..."

　Accompanied by the chattering of the white-haired old pastor and the wailing of the deceased's family members, a coffin was slowly lowered into the dug grave.

　Afterwards, several workers picked up shovels and filled the grave with soil. A pre-carved marble tombstone was also erected in front of the grave.

　Ferry, wearing a coat, hugged Marita, who had a sad face, and stood in front of the tombstone, watching the coffin of Marita's father, the former ace U-boat commander of the Nazi German Navy and later the captain of an American luxury cruise ship, Sir Heinrich Lorenz, slowly disappear under the soil.

　All that remains is a line of name on the tombstone and a relief of an anchor that symbolizes his career...

　Alas, a captain of a Nazi German U-boat, Marshal Dönitz's "German Sea Wolf", finally rests in peace on the land of New York, USA.

　The words engraved on the tombstone are not in German, but in English...

　This was a truly unexpected ending for Captain Heinrich, who once sailed across the waves of the North Atlantic during World War II.

　He sank so many American and British ships during the war, but in the end, his entire family became Americans?

　Alas, when he was driving the submarine, he probably didn't expect that his wife would be an Allied spy and would be discovered by the Gestapo.

　So much so that when his submarine sank and he was salvaged and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Britain, his wife and children were in a concentration camp in Germany at the same time?

　Of course, compared to those Germans who are still in East Germany and enduring the surveillance of the Stasi, his ending is still lucky.

　After all, most of his children were doing quite well in the United States. His eldest son was a diplomat, his second son was a pianist, and his eldest daughter was a Harvard-educated lawyer. As for his clueless youngest daughter, Marita, who only had a junior high school education...

　Now we have the "young hero" Firi to take good care of it, or rather, to raise it carefully.

　So, father-in-law, you can go with peace of mind!

　Now you can ask Führer Hitler: was he sent to hell because he was ruthless in his anti-Semitism, or was he sent to hell because he wasn't ruthless enough in his anti-Semitism?

　Fili thought so in his heart, watching the chaotic snowflakes slowly falling, soon turning the turned grave soil white...

　——After finally escaping the quagmire of the Vietnam battlefield and returning to the United States, Philly went home and had sex with all the female slaves in captivity, fully venting the pressure and anger accumulated over the past few days, and then discussed their marriage with Marita again.

　Then, even in the United States, if you want to marry a girl, you have to inform her parents, right?

　So, Firi took the opportunity to go to Washington, report to the CIA headquarters in Langley Building, and take the opportunity to go to Capitol Hill and the White House to get some information. He took Marita to the East Coast, planning to go to New York to meet his father-in-law after his time in the U.S. District of Columbia was over.

　As a result, Ferry and Marita had just arrived in New York when they were surprised to learn that his future father-in-law, Heinrich Lorenz... had just died! !

　Well, the cause of death was very common. Captain Heinrich Lorenz had finished a transatlantic voyage and was on vacation in New York. He drank a few more whiskeys with a prostitute in a New York sailor's bar.

　He was taboo, and regardless of his old age and physical weakness, and his lack of energy as he did in his youth, he hugged the three girls and did some intense exercise that was not suitable for children. Then he unfortunately died of pleasure in the small private room upstairs in the bar...

　As a result, Marita and Ferry, who had originally come to Mr. Heinrich to discuss their marriage, had to attend their father-in-law's funeral instead.

　After watching Mr. Heinrich being laid to rest, Fili accompanied the dejected Marita and exchanged a few words with her brother and sister, whom she hadn't seen in a while. But the conversation wasn't particularly lively; after a short while, they felt they had run out of things to say.

　After all, although they are brothers and sisters, they are now separated from each other, settled in different cities, and have their own lives.

　In those days, communication wasn't as advanced as it is today. Forget chat apps; even long-distance calls were prohibitively expensive. So even if the blood ties still existed, after a long hiatus, it was hard to say what to say.

　Finally, Marita and Fili mentioned their wedding this year to them and said that they would send the invitations when the time comes, and then they went their separate ways.

　-

　When we left the Green Cemetery in Brooklyn and returned to the bustling city center of Manhattan, it was already dark in New York and the street lights were just coming on.

　It has to be said that in today's golden age of America, the night view of downtown New York is also at its most dazzling.

　At the foot of the tall skyscrapers, there are bright lights and bustling music everywhere. You can see upper-class gentlemen in handmade suits and fashionable urban beauties everywhere, going in and out of brightly lit luxury stores, or holding a cup in a cafe, enjoying their leisure time.

　There are also wealthy second-generation and third-generation rich people who drive various luxury cars and take beautiful women for a leisurely ride, attracting the envy of passers-by.

　However, if you wait until sixty years later, in the 2020s, especially after the great plague, if you go to downtown New York after dark, you probably won't see any elegantly dressed people, luxury cars, or bustling crowds.

　The only sights, apart from the whizzing police cars and ambulances and the occasional sound of gunfire, were garbage and needles scattered across the ground, and various homeless people lying in the garbage, their arms riddled with needle marks, looking like zombies.

　The air was filled with the stench of excrement, hemp and rotting garbage, making people feel like they were in a gas chamber.

　In addition, there are groups of black thugs hiding in the night, waiting for an opportunity to make purchases for free at any time.

　Even though the major shopping streets in Manhattan at that time closed down at night and boarded up their doors and windows, the fearless army of no-dollar shoppers would still pry open the doors or smash the windows of luxury stores with rocks and steel pipes. Before the police arrived, they would rush in, steal all the valuables, and then happily go home, carrying their bags.