American Strategic Deception Bureau

　But old-fashioned Americans like DiMaggio couldn't stand this kind of stimulation and even felt like they were about to have a cerebral hemorrhage.

　Therefore, DiMaggio insisted that the pregnant Marilyn Monroe follow him to leave Los Angeles, which had degenerated into "Sodom and Gomorrah", and move to San Francisco to live for a while, at least until Marilyn Monroe gave birth to her second child.

　For Marilyn Monroe, a native of Los Angeles, her husband suddenly insisted that she leave her hometown and her familiar social circle, which she was naturally not happy about.

　Considering that I have a pair of twin girls at home and a baby in my belly...

　Even with Marilyn Monroe's knowledge, she knew that anesthesia and sex were bad for pregnant women and fetuses.

　So, she finally agreed and agreed to leave Los Angeles temporarily and stay in San Francisco for a while.

　However, before moving to San Francisco, she said she wanted to invite Fili and Marita over for a cup of tea as a farewell.

　DiMaggio also agreed with this approach, thinking it was a polite gesture, and so today's afternoon tea party came about.

　I just didn't expect that the hippies next door seemed to be particularly energetic today. They were already having fun on the beach before the sun even set...

　Ms. Monroe sighed, turned her back to the naked men and women outside, and focused on discussing things with Marita. Although she was moving to San Francisco to take care of her pregnancy, she still didn't plan to give up the Malibu Beach spa and the anesthetic plants in the greenhouse because they were both quite profitable. Instead, she planned to hand them over to Zoe, the fortune-teller associate professor at the University of Southern California, and a few of her close friends.

　But Marilyn Monroe was worried that if she wasn't in Los Angeles for too long, the spa might get into trouble without her knowledge. So she wanted Marita to come take a look when she was free. If she found anything amiss, she could call San Francisco and tip her off...

　Marita listened to Monroe's nagging while holding back her laughter - because she couldn't tell Monroe that the witch Zoe had already been her husband's subordinate.

　On the other side, Ferry also chatted with DiMaggio and talked about DiMaggio's new house in San Francisco.

　DiMaggio's old house in San Francisco was where he lived when he and Marilyn Monroe were first married in the 1950s. Monroe had vowed to make breakfast for DiMaggio every day and bear him six children... but they divorced before even a year had passed.

　As a deeply affectionate and devoted sycophant, DiMaggio felt that if Marilyn Monroe were to live with him in that old house again, she would likely be reminded of their failed first marriage, which would be unlucky.

　So, this time he specially bid farewell to the old and welcomed the new, and bought a new house in San Francisco to symbolize his new marriage.

　I have to say that this big bootlicker is really dedicated. No wonder he was able to win the beauty's heart and make her give birth to children for him.

　"Mr. DiMaggio, where in San Francisco is your new home? If I have time, I might visit."

　Ferry said politely with a big smile on his face, "Let me guess, considering you and your wife's status, are you in Pacific Heights?"

　Pacific Heights, nestled in the steep hills north of San Francisco, is known for its extremely expensive homes, primarily Victorian-style mansions. Many wealthy individuals enjoy a high-quality, luxurious lifestyle here, as it offers the most stunning views overlooking San Francisco Bay.

　"Pacific Heights? No, no, no, the houses there are too expensive. Any house there starts at a million dollars."

　DiMaggio smiled and shook his head. "It's not that we can't afford it, but I don't think it's worth it. After all, I'm retired and Marilyn has retired from acting. There's no need to get involved in the social circles of these wealthy people and waste time at endless social parties."

　What's more, my wife is pregnant now, and compared to social needs, she needs a living environment suitable for raising a child."

　"You are right. Women really need to breathe more fresh air when they are trying to give birth to a new life."

　Firi nodded. "So, where exactly is your new house? Some touristy place in the Bay Area?"

　"No, life in the suburbs is not very convenient after all. I bought a big house next to Golden Gate Park."

　DiMaggio replied, "This way, my wife and I can walk in the park every day and breathe fresh air..."

　Fili was stunned when he heard this, and then his expression became quite complicated.

　Golden Gate Park in San Francisco?

　Uh, and also, the year is 1966!

　Mr. DiMaggio, although you can't see it now, you will probably regret this choice by next year.

　Of course, under the premise that we cannot predict the future, the villa next to Golden Gate Park is indeed lush and green at first glance, with a nice environment.

　——Just like New York has a famous Central Park, San Francisco also has a Golden Gate Park.

　The Golden Gate Park, 800 meters wide, about 4 kilometers long, spans 53 streets. It is the largest park in the United States. It stretches from the Pacific coast with its crashing waves all the way to the center of San Francisco. Its majestic momentum has changed people's stereotype of parks as being "exquisite and small".

　So much so that some tourists actually get lost in Golden Gate Park - because the park is so huge!

　Golden Gate Park not only covers a vast area, but also has unique flowers, plants and trees, gurgling streams, and courtyards of various styles.

　During normal times, living here is like going on vacation to a farm house, where you can enjoy the tranquility of the mountains in the bustling city.

　But the problem is, Mr. DiMaggio, you picked the wrong time!

　The next year, 1967, the "Summer of Love," the peak of the hippie movement, would break out in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park!

　This summer, more than 100,000 hippies from all over the world will flock to Golden Gate Park to gather and show off their wealth.

　Camp and hold a grand music festival.

　During this historic "Summer of Love", the streets of San Francisco were filled with groups of young people. They had long hair and beards, wore bright but sloppy clothes, and both men and women wore flowers in their hair.

　They called themselves "flower children", chanted "love and peace" and "fire cannons instead of war", dressed in strange clothes, stepped on the drum beats of psychedelic rock, wandered the streets barefoot, lay on the grass in Golden Gate Park, played guitar and read, or took drugs and played leaf outings together, trying to capture the color of the air in the melody of rock music... Of course, there was also sex and love, free love. From then on, the United States completely entered the era of sexual liberation.

　Even into the 21st century, the "Summer of Love" that took place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park remains a fascinating and bizarre historical event, recounted by many Americans. In the years since, San Francisco has held a grand carnival every year to commemorate this "Summer of Love."

　However, if the "Summer of Love" in this dimension does not undergo major changes and still breaks out as scheduled in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

　So, for Mr. DiMaggio, it was like he didn't want his wife and children to watch a few dozen people rocking out at Malibu Beach in Los Angeles, so he moved with them to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, where they could watch a hundred thousand people rocking out every day.

　Doesn't this mean that the noise from the cannons next door is getting louder, and the more you move, the more degraded the surrounding environment becomes?

　The problem is that Fili couldn't speak out loud to remind others about something that hadn't happened yet.

　Moreover, as a man with a lot of bad intentions, he didn't want to remind DiMaggio. Instead, he planned to go to San Francisco next summer to see this number one event in the history of the hippie movement up close and see the expression on DiMaggio's face when he saw it...

　That kind of earth-shaking scene is a hundred times more exciting than living in a brothel!

　After all, the largest brothel in the United States currently only has a few hundred girls. How can it compare to the 100,000 people having sex in the park during the "Summer of Love"?

　So, in order to hide the smirk that kept appearing on his lips, Firi quickly changed the subject and talked about the Indochina War on the other side of the ocean.

　While American hippies were enjoying sex day and night on this side of the Pacific, on the other side of the ocean, on the battlefield in Thailand, the US Marines, the fourth-class cavalry, were also busy engaging in artillery battles with the communists...

　Unable to continue working, I ran to Thailand to continue fighting. So I could only throw up my hands and say that I can't help.

　General Westmoreland, who was in Singapore, had no choice but to transfer three more paratrooper battalions.

　Finally, after coordination with the Pentagon, the South Korean Capital Division, codenamed the "White Horse Unit," was transferred from the Vietnam front to the Thai battlefield, finally providing the US military with some cannon fodder. Meanwhile, CIA agents were also running around Thailand, trying to find local reinforcements for the US military.

　How can the "rescue" of Thailand from the communists be solely at the expense of American blood and sacrifice? You Thai reactionaries, stand up!

　However, by this time, the old Thai government had collapsed, and most of the remaining Thai army had become separatist warlords or degenerated into landlord militias. Not only was their combat effectiveness weak, but their command system was also in disarray, with those military leaders being paid but not delivering.

　All the material aid from the United States was accepted with a smile, the money from the CIA was transferred to foreign banks, and they kept spouting nice words like "defending the free world."

　As for rushing troops to join the meat grinder in Bangkok? Shedding blood and lives for the Americans? Well, we'll have to wait and see!

　After going through countless detours and wasting countless funds without sending a single soldier to the Bangkok battlefield, the CIA agents finally had an epiphany and found their old friend General Vang Pao again, asking him to send troops to participate in the Battle of Bangkok to save the Thai country.

　——Even though the other party was the culprit who had previously allowed his troops to plunder Bangkok, burn down the royal palace, and caused the disappearance of the Thai king...

　But since the Ming Dynasty court hundreds of years ago could first ask the Qing Dynasty to "borrow troops to suppress the bandits" and then unite with the peasant uprising army to "unite with the bandits to resist the bandits"... then it seems normal to ask Wang Bao, who was "suspected of regicide", to send troops to Bangkok to save the Thai country.

　Unlike those Thai warlords who were obsessed with money but could not fight, General Vang Pao was a straightforward man. As soon as the money and arms from the Americans arrived, he set off immediately and personally commanded the 6,000 notorious Miao mercenaries to cross the Chao Phraya River from Sing Buri to the east, threatening the Vietnamese army's rear supply lines.

　At this time, the Vietnamese army had been exhausted after fighting for many days, so they abandoned the city and retreated to the Hedao Plateau in the northeast.

　On May 15, 1966, the coalition forces led by the US military successfully recaptured Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, and the remnants of the Vietnamese army fled the city.

　Since Thailand had entered the rainy season at that time, floods were rampant and roads were muddy, the US military did not pursue the enemy, but instead stopped fighting and rested.

　Then, Bangkok, which had just been devastated by the war, fell into a fierce dispute over how to rebuild the Thai government.

　--In March, on the eve of the Viet Cong's attack on Bangkok, when Vang Pao's Miao soldiers were looting and burning the royal palace in Bangkok, King Rama IX of Thailand abandoned his wife and children and fled in a hurry with only a few bodyguards. He subsequently disappeared and his life or death is unknown.

　Some say he was killed by mob soldiers, some say he died in a plane crash or shipwreck, and some say he might have hidden himself to see how the wind would develop.

　In short, from then on, Rama IX disappeared from the world and no one knew where he went.

　After the Vietnamese army entered Bangkok, the only son of King Rama IX of Thailand, 14-year-old Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the future Rama X, as well as his elder sister Princess Ubolratana, his younger sisters Princess Sirindhorn and Princess Chulabhorn, as well as Rama IX's wife, Queen Sirikit, and a large number of royal family members and relatives were all captured by the "red bandits" and are now said to have been transferred to a labor camp in Laos.

　So, after the king disappeared, the legitimate heir also fell into the hands of the Viet Cong, and it was obvious that he would not be able to ascend the throne.

　As a result, after the US military recaptured Bangkok, who should be the king of this tropical Buddhist country became a big problem.

　——This problem does not mean that the Thai royal family has died out and no one can inherit the throne.

　Quite the opposite: there are too many heirs to choose from!

　Although Rama IX's entire family was killed, the Thai royal family is not short of heirs because the previous kings were very fertile.

　For example, Rama I, the founding emperor who beat King Taksin to death with a wooden stick, had 42 children; Rama II had 72 descendants, Rama III had 51, Rama IV, the protagonist of "Anna and the King", had 82, and Rama V "King Chulalongkorn the Great", who initiated Thailand's modernization reforms, married a record 154 concubines and had 97 children!

　However, the next king, Rama VI, had health problems and only had one daughter. He was forced to pass the throne to his younger brother, Rama VII. Rama VII had only two sons, Rama VIII and Rama IX. Rama VIII died young and also left no male heir. So his younger brother, Bhumibol, Rama IX, was appointed as the new king.

　Now, the whereabouts of King Rama IX are unknown, and his wife and descendants have all been captured by the Vietnamese army. So according to the order of succession, a little prince must be chosen from the dozens of sons born to Rama V "King Chulalongkorn the Great" and the hundreds of grandchildren to inherit the throne!

　——Despite the catastrophe of the Battle of Bangkok, there are still dozens of old and young princes who survived.

　In this case, what rules should be used to decide which old prince or young prince can become king?

　Should we choose according to seniority? According to the legitimate wife? Or should we choose according to the power of the mother's family? Or should we ask President Johnson in the White House to make the final decision?

　It is true that each man has his own reason.

　The mother-in-law is right!

　For a time, the upper class in Thailand was in turmoil. Countless people began to form cliques and factions to fight for the throne, causing a lot of trouble.

　What’s even worse is that there is a group of Thai intellectuals and business capitalists who want to directly overthrow the royal family and establish a republic!

　——They confidently declared that the monarchy has fallen behind the trend of the times and there is no need to continue it. Just like President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam launched a referendum to depose Bao Dai, the last monarch of the Nguyen Dynasty and turned South Vietnam into a republic, Thailand should be turned into a republic!

　Well, others are fighting for the throne and want to gain the credit for supporting the emperor, but they want to overthrow the entire dynasty!

　If these were just a bunch of Westernized intellectuals talking nonsense about democracy and republic, naturally no one would take them seriously.

　But the problem is that these republicans have found their own military backing - General Wang Bao and his Miao mercenaries!

　The reason is simple. It was Wang Bao who looted Bangkok and let his troops plunder the city, which led to the disappearance of King Rama IX of Thailand.

　Next, no matter which prince inherits the throne and becomes Rama X, Wang Bao will definitely be held accountable.

　Otherwise, the royal family's dignity would be completely lost. Wang Baolai must be punished to serve as a warning to others.

　But the problem is that General Wang Bao also understands this. Even if he doesn't understand, some caring people will remind him.

　Therefore, Wang Bao did not want to be killed as a sacrifice at all, and neither did his subordinates.

　On the contrary, if the royal family and the dynasty were overthrown, Wang Bao could be instantly whitewashed and become the number one hero of "founding the republic"!

　Since this is the case, and the Thai royal family is already in disarray, why not take the opportunity to kick the entire dynasty into the trash heap?

　With General Vang Pao and his Miao soldiers, Thailand's most capable "local armed forces," openly supporting the Republicans and gaining military support, the anarchic Thai capital quickly descended into chaos, creating a more difficult situation for the United States. Opposing the monarchy is considered a somewhat lax form of political correctness in the United States. Directly supporting the monarchy and opposing the republic would be unacceptable to the United States.

　What is even more bizarre is that the underground forces of the Thai Communist Party, left-wing forces such as the Socialist Party, and the Vietnamese Communist Party behind the Thai Communist Party have actually reached a secret cooperation with Thailand’s bourgeois republicans and the "Vang Bao’s Miao bandits" who support the republic!

　According to the general concepts and path dependence of this era, if a red revolution were to take place in a monarchy, it would have to follow the path of the Soviet Union. Before the October Revolution, there had to be a February Revolution, uniting with the bourgeoisie to overthrow the Tsar's throne.

　Similarly, the Thai Communist Party and the Vietnamese Communist Party also believed that the correct revolutionary path was to overthrow the Thai king before the establishment of Red Thailand.

　In this way, on the issue of succession to the Thai throne, Vang Pao, a Miao warlord and mortal enemy of the Viet Cong, miraculously became a political ally of his old rival Le Duan, and tried to join forces to strike hard at the Thai royalists under the nose of the US military!

　As for the US military's view on this, the US military is already in a state of panic. It is already busy just mopping up the guerrillas, not to mention the shortage of soldiers and major generals everywhere.

　As the battlefield expanded from a corner of South Vietnam to most of Southeast Asia, the original 300,000-plus US troops were no longer sufficient and were stretched thin. Almost every isolated US military stronghold was submerged in the vast sea of ​​communists.

　In view of the huge losses of troops on the front line, the surging anti-war movement at home, the increasingly difficult recruitment work, and the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam to focus on the Indonesian battlefield, the Pentagon originally wanted to withdraw more South Korean troops from South Korea to fill the gaps in the Vietnam and Thailand battlefields.

　Being able to spend some money to make the South Korean army fight for their lives and reduce the number of American casualties is a good thing no matter how you look at it.

　Generals Abrams and Westmoreland also agreed: getting some South Korean soldiers is better than having nothing at all.

　But the problem is that there is also cooperation within the Red Camp. In order to contain the South Korean army from being transferred to the front line of the Indochina Peninsula, North Korea began to frequently provoke in the demilitarized zone of the 38th parallel in the autumn of 1965, and sent agents to infiltrate South Korea to carry out sabotage activities and create a tense atmosphere.

　South Korea's opposition parties also began to stir up trouble, accusing the large-scale deployment of South Korean troops abroad of endangering national security. Park Chung-hee, who was preparing to run for re-election, was forced to heed these calls and declared that he would not send more South Korean troops overseas to fight. Thus, the plan to pay South Koreans to fill the trenches was scrapped.

　Finally, the desperate Secretary of Defense McNamara actually proposed to recruit "abnormal people" into the army.

　"Well, I used to have some friendship with Secretary of Defense McNamara. But I never thought he would be so crazy as to conscript 100,000 idiots to fight in Vietnam! Even the Japanese during World War II weren't that crazy, right?"

　Fili said to DiMaggio with emotion, "If we really had to cram a hundred thousand fools into our army, I'm afraid the commanders in charge of such a foolish army would go crazy before the enemy even realized the threat!"

　In another timeline, the Vietnam War in 1966 was just beginning for the US military. Both sides had finished their warm-ups and were in full swing.

　But in this dimension changed by the time traveler, the Vietnam War of 1966 has been transformed into the "Greater South China Sea War" with a battlefield area no less than the Soviet-German War. More than a dozen countries and hundreds of forces have participated in it, and the total number of troops joining this bloody melee is more than three million!

　——Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia...all of them are fighting!

　Not to mention, China and Australia are also deeply involved in this geopolitical struggle.

　The Soviets also generously poured weapons and ammunition into this vortex, sent volunteers to serve as instructors, and even sent volunteer pilots to directly participate in the war.

　Sino-Soviet relations continued to deteriorate, with the two sides vying for leadership of the international communist movement. However, China had no intention of switching sides with the United States. Instead, it was striving to outdo the Soviet Union in its generosity, engaging in a race to win over anti-American forces in the Third World, pouring resources into the Southeast Asian battlefield at virtually no cost.

　Many people later didn't realize that during the five years between Stalin's death and the rupture of Sino-Soviet relations, China exploited the Soviet Union's political chaos to briefly become a leader in the international communist movement, even profiting greatly from the Soviet Union and securing numerous aid projects. But Chairman Mao also used his personal prestige to reward the Soviet Union generously: China was responsible for cleaning up the mess of Khrushchev's secret report, the Hungarian Incident, and the aftermath of the overthrow of Stalin.