American Strategic Deception Bureau

　What is this? What is going on? What on earth is going on?!

　The Vietcong have reached Los Angeles?!

　Uh, remember those black people at the beginning took to the streets to cause trouble just to avoid military service and go to Vietnam?

　As a result, before he could successfully avoid the US military service, the yellow-skinned Vietnamese monkeys came directly to his door?

　No one could believe such an absurd thing, but the impossible fact was right in front of them, causing their brains to shut down.

　After being stunned for a moment, some black people who didn't believe in the evil, upholding their usual contempt for the yellow race, took the initiative to rush forward with sticks and steel pipes, making all kinds of provocative gestures and cursing these "Viet Cong" with all kinds of dirty words.

　But the Vietcong team obviously did not have the patience of the police. When they saw someone blocking the way, they immediately raised their guns and shot.

　Gunshots, blood, cries of pain, screams...

　Several black men who had taken the initiative to provoke fell to the ground on the dirty street, covered in blood, with bullet holes all over their bodies and expressions of disbelief.

　The remaining thugs, finally convinced that the "Viet Cong" they saw before them were not hallucinations, let out hysterical screams and fled in panic, like innocent girls being assaulted by a muscular man. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles residents who had been hiding in their homes and watching the scene nervously called the police, which had seemed perpetually busy for the past two days, hoping to inform the police of the absurd "Viet Cong invasion."

　On the contrary, the reporters who risked their lives with their cameras to grab the news had their eyes shining, and then they pressed the shutter button frantically to take street photos of black mobs fighting with the Vietcong in Los Angeles, fantasizing about becoming famous with a classic photo and competing for this year's Pulitzer Prize.

　Chapter 375: Why are you wearing Vietcong clothes?

　At the same time, behind the Vietcong riot team on the streets of Los Angeles, in a jeep equipped with bulletproof steel plates, Colonel Ferry King, who directed this scene himself, was holding a telescope and carefully watching the battle situation in front.

　In the same car were the former president of Guangnan, Zun Shiding, who had just come from Vietnam, with a pair of dark and swollen panda eyes and a dull expression, and David Halberstam, a reporter from the New York Times, who returned to the country with Zun Shiding.

　At this time, Zun Shiding no longer looked like the high-spirited, handsome and dashing Hong Kong brother Ma when he cooperated with Phi to win the victory in Haiyunling three years ago. Instead, his hair was disheveled, his face was haggard, and he had dark circles under his eyes, as if he was almost exhausted. He looked like a giant panda - just like the Burmese general Tun Tun Min who was defeated and surrendered in Kokang on the battlefield in northern Myanmar in the 1920s and became a hot topic because of his iconic panda eyes.

　In fact, to this day, the situation of Zun Shiding, the President of Guangnan, is not much better than that of General Tun Tunmin who is in a desperate situation.

　——This summer, due to the continuous retreat of US troops stationed in Vietnam and the defection and rebellion of Cao Dai’s allies, the "Kingdom of Guangnan", which originally had a territory of more than 20,000 square kilometers (similar to the current Kokang warlord), was occupied by the Viet Cong and became smaller than Taiwan.

　Specifically, Nha Trang was lost on the southern border. Although it was later recaptured, the US military, heavily depleted in Vietnam, was forced to engage the Viet Cong in a stalemate along Cam Ranh Bay, unable to restore the battle line to that of a year earlier. Meanwhile, on Quang Nam's northern border, the collapse of the neighboring Central Highlands Federation and the fall of the mountainous city of Kon Tum allowed North Vietnam to bypass the natural barrier of Hai Van Ridge and infiltrate Quang Nam from the west.

　The "Quang Nam Kingdom" itself is a narrow coastal plain in central Vietnam. Its widest point is only 30 to 40 kilometers, with no strategic depth. Originally, the indigenous people of the Central Highlands were in the front, fighting the North Vietnamese army that came south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail head-on - of course, the main force of the war was still the Americans. Hiding in this

　The Guangnan Kingdom, behind the barrier, was finally able to live in relative peace for a while.

　But now, a large number of US troops stationed in Vietnam have moved south to Indonesia, and Vietnam is short of troops on the front line. The Central Highlands Federation has been defeated and collapsed, and Guangnan has no barrier.

　Then, the "Guangnan Kingdom," with its capital in Da Nang, would become like the Ming Dynasty during the Chongzhen reign. Even with the natural barrier of Shanhaiguan (Haiyun Ridge), it could not withstand the enemy's repeated inland advances around Haiyun Ridge, breaking out of the Truong Son Mountains to the west and ravaging the fertile coastal plains.

　A miniature South Vietnam stretching from Da Nang to Cam Ranh Bay, Quang Nam now has a population of just over two million. Without its natural advantages, it would have no chance of winning a decisive battle against the Viet Cong, whose population was ten times larger.

　Not to mention, it is extremely doubtful whether the military and civilians of Guangnan still have the determination and fighting spirit to fight the Viet Cong to the death.

　After all, apart from the fact that most of them are Catholics, they are also Vietnamese with the same language and ethnicity as the Viet Cong.

　In the past two years, watching North Vietnam "marching in all directions and intimidating other countries", and even conquering the Thai capital Bangkok, the Vietnamese in Guangnan condemned and cursed it openly, but they actually admired it in their hearts, and even had a vague yearning for it - this is the human nature of admiring the strong!

　After all, since ancient times, if you want to be remembered in history, the greatest achievement is to expand territory, and victory in war can cover up all ills.

　Only a small group of extremely awkward reverse nationalists would regard their nation's war heroes as a scourge.

　The vast majority of ordinary people will only instinctively admire the heroes on the battlefield and worship and respect them in various ways.

　The current "Guangnan Kingdom" has no other ruling party except Catholicism, and it is only with the support of the US military that it can maintain the long confrontation with the Viet Cong.

　If we put aside the interference of major powers outside the region, it would be absolutely impossible for the entire country of Quang Nam to fight a bloody battle with North Vietnam on its own.

　In short, the vast majority of international observers agree that as soon as the US troops stationed in Vietnam withdraw, the destruction of Guangnan will be imminent!

　Even if the US troops hadn't withdrawn, Quang Nam was already in a state of panic. Vietnamese Catholics, the nation's pillars, fled or renounced their faith. The government and military were rife with "communist collaborators." President Son Thi Dinh, exhausted and despairing of the future of this "mini-nation," announced his resignation, handing over the presidency and 50,000 Quang Nam troops to Vice President Lieutenant General Ngo Quang Truong.

　Then, Zun Shiding boarded a military plane provided by the US military, left Vietnam, and went to the United States to reunite with his family. His family had immigrated to the United States a few years ago, leaving only Zun Shiding, the "President of Guangnan", as a naked official under the wings of the US military stationed in Vietnam.

　As a result, the former president, exhausted by the long war, had just arrived in Los Angeles when he found himself on another battlefield.

　What made Zun Shiding feel even more embarrassed was that he himself was also drawn into this battlefield - when Fili was ordered to dispatch Vietnamese "volunteers" to downtown Los Angeles to quell the riots, Zun Shiding happened to be visiting the refugee camp to comfort the overseas Chinese, and as a result, he was dragged along by Fili to watch the battle together.

　"Oh my God, why has Los Angeles become a battlefield? It makes me feel like I'm back in Saigon!"

　Looking at the rubble and plumes of black smoke around him, Zun Shiding, who was about to immigrate to the United States, muttered in distress, "Even if there are many black people rebelling and the police can't suppress them, where are the California State Troopers (National Guard)? Why are they having to use our compatriots?"

　"Mr. President, no, General Zun Shiding, shouldn't you know better than me where the California National Guard is?"

　Fili put down his binoculars, rolled his eyes, and grumbled, "Of the 60,000 California National Guard troops, 30,000 are in Vietnam, 20,000 are in Indonesia, and the remaining 10,000 are suppressing the black riots in San Francisco and Sacramento. Los Angeles has to scrape together whatever people it can find!"

　"Can't we borrow troops from neighboring states? I remember Nevada has an armored force." Zun Shiding continued to ask.

　"General, you don't think Los Angeles is the only city experiencing riots in the United States right now, do you? No, the situation in Las Vegas, Nevada's gambling capital, is even worse than in Los Angeles right now! Over twenty casinos have been looted! Their tanks are bombarding the barricades illegally built by black thugs!"

　Fili smiled bitterly. "Right now, over a hundred cities in thirty-five of the fifty states have declared a state of emergency. Not a single state around California is safe. Who can the governor turn to for troops? The Pentagon? But with the country in chaos, the Pentagon doesn't have any extra mobile forces! The 101st Airborne Division is already suppressing the riots in New Orleans! For now, California can only figure out a solution on its own!"

　"So the situation is... California state troopers are beating up the Vietnamese in Vietnam, and Vietnamese refugees are beating up Californians in California?

　Oh my God! What kind of a joke is this? A new form of murder by exchange?

　David Halberstam, a reporter from The New York Times who was sitting in the same jeep, was also dumbfounded when he heard this.

　Although he had been a war correspondent on the front lines of the Vietnam War for many years and had seen all kinds of bizarre and absurd things, David Halberstam still felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the even more absurd black humor happening in the United States.

　Maybe it's because I haven't been crushed by reality yet.

　Is it the remnant of patriotism at work?

　"Isn't exchanging killings a common practice in any universal empire? You don't even know this, do you?"

　Fili glanced back at him and asked curiously, "Back then, the Russian Tsar sent the Imperial Guards from St. Petersburg to fight the Cossacks on the steppes, then sent the Cossack cavalry from the steppes to massacre the Caucasian mountaineers. Finally, he conscripted the Caucasian mountaineers into the capital to replace the Imperial Guards, who couldn't bring themselves to strike hard at the citizens of St. Petersburg! This way, there were people everywhere to kill, and the Romanov dynasty's rule was stabilized.

　The British Empire also recruited soldiers from Ireland to conquer India, and used Indian soldiers to further their expeditions into Burma and China. I'm not sure if Indian soldiers were used to suppress the Irish uprising, but the Scottish Rifles certainly killed people in Ireland.

　Therefore, the White House recruiting soldiers from California to fight Vietnam, and then recruiting people from Vietnam to suppress California, is also a very common strategy of world imperial rule..."

　David Halberstam: "..."

　Although it sounds like there is nothing wrong with it, why does it feel so completely unacceptable?

　"Okay, I understand that, and I have a general idea of ​​the current situation in the United States, but the only thing I don't understand is..."

　Sonmuro pointed with a confused expression at the Vietnamese refugee volunteers who were beating up the black men in front of him and asked, "Why are they wearing North Vietnamese army uniforms?"

　General Tsunemuro knew, of course, that the "Viet Cong" currently rampaging through the streets of South Los Angeles weren't real Vietcong. Instead, they were war refugees who had been fleeing South Vietnam to the United States in recent years. Some of the leaders among them were even retired South Vietnamese officers he knew.

　But at this moment, these people were wearing the uniforms of the North Vietnamese People's Army, holding sharp bayonets, and rampant in the streets of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.

　The only difference was that they were flying the American flag instead of the red flag with gold stars on a background of North Vietnam.

　But even so, in the eyes of Los Angeles citizens, it still created a surreal and absurd feeling as if "the People's Liberation Army invaded Paris."

　Well, or the artistic color of magical realism?

　What on earth is going on?

　"Ah, that's because they were originally a simulated enemy force and were filming a movie, but suddenly received an urgent order to suppress a riot. So in order to save time, I asked them to set off directly from the set and enter the city in costumes." Ferry said nonchalantly.

　"Imaginary enemy forces? Filming a movie?" Zun Shiding didn't react for a moment.

　"Yes, the Pentagon felt that before sending new soldiers into battle, they needed to see what the North Vietnamese army looked like.

　So, I recruited a group of volunteers from the Vietnam War refugee camps to form a paramilitary force, and found a Hollywood prop customization company to make North Vietnamese People's Army uniforms for them. They conducted drills every day, interacted and practiced with the new American recruits, and even some Boy Scouts came to visit.

　Then, they also had to star in Vietnam War movies, which was a propaganda task assigned by the Pentagon to promote the justice of our army's participation in the Vietnam War.

　Fieri explained, "Since it's a Vietnam War film, it naturally had to have a large Vietnamese cast—obviously, compared to Chinese and Japanese Americans, it's more authentic to have Vietnamese people playing Vietnamese. Also, there had to be a group of Vietnamese soldiers playing North Vietnamese soldiers."

　In addition, the TV station also needed to shoot some fake Vietnam War footage on site so that it would have something to show in the news program.

　In fact, when the CIA sent a transfer order to these volunteers to Compton, they were filming fake news on the set of Universal Studios.

　If I hadn't urgently dispatched two trucks of real guns and ammunition, they would still be holding prop guns and blanks!"

　War correspondent David Halberstam looked embarrassed after hearing this, but he had to admit that what Fieri said was indeed correct.

　In fact, before smartphones with cameras became widespread, and until the early 21st century, many of the Middle East battlefield scenes on American television news were shot at filming bases: rather than risking their lives by traveling to war-torn foreign countries, setting up a "Middle East set village" in China and hiring a group of extras was far safer and cheaper.

　During the Vietnam War, the battlefield footage and front-line interviews broadcast by American television stations were equally difficult to distinguish between true and false. God knows how many of them were tinkered with in the studio - generally speaking, the more the news advocates for war and whitewashes the government, the higher the proportion of fakery.

　Of course, on the other hand, not all of the anti-war and battlefield news accusing the US military of atrocities is true.

　In short, as these Vietcong armed forces, bearing the Stars and Stripes, slowly advanced through the streets of Los Angeles, they periodically fired warning shots—though the inexperienced commanders intended them as warning shots. However, because they were rifles loaded with live ammunition, they became long-range crossfire, with each volley knocking down several men. Wherever they went, demons and evil spirits retreated, and thugs from all directions fled in terror.

　Another group of police and white militia following the "Viet Cong" took the opportunity to grab the black people who were shot and lying on the ground groaning, and threw them into the truck bed. Soon they arrested thousands of people and seized a large amount of stolen goods and a small amount of weapons. The casualties of the punitive force itself were minimal.

　However, as the punitive forces passed through

　As the burning commercial streets and middle-class communities gradually approached the USC campus controlled by the rioters, the resistance they encountered became increasingly fierce. Some people began to dare to lie in the grass or on the roofs and shoot at the punitive forces.

　If it's just an amateur firing randomly, it will just make a noise and the threat won't be that big.

　However, in the United States, where everyone carries guns, there are always many people with excellent marksmanship, and many of them are rebellious.

　So, a few white instructors, leading a group of "Viet Cong," had just entered the devastated USC campus when they heard several gunshots from the teaching building. Immediately, a white lieutenant collapsed with his brains blasted out, and another soldier, wounded in the thigh, rolled on the ground in pain.

　The rest of the people scattered instantly, running back while screaming: "Sniper! There's a sniper! Get down!"

　Hearing the soldiers' exclamations ahead, Firi, who was sitting in the jeep, immediately jumped out and hid behind it. David Halberstam, the former president of Zunshiding and a war correspondent who was also experienced in attacks, quickly crawled to his side.

　But before they could say anything, they heard a loud "boom". A dozen Vietcong and a jeep equipped with a heavy machine gun flew into the sky accompanied by deafening flames. The shock wave swept across the surrounding area within a radius of hundreds of meters, making everyone's ears buzz.

　"Damn it! Not only are there snipers, but they've also planted roadside bombs! These aren't just ordinary niggers! They must be the Black Panther Party's urban guerrillas! We must strike hard at them! Signalman! Contact the armored forces quickly!"

　Fili covered his ears while cursing and shouted to a soldier with a walkie-talkie nearby: "We need tank support here!"

　Author's Note: PS: Although Tun Tun Min was a defeated general, the situation in northern Burma was already lost when he took office, just like the Japanese island defenders during the Pacific War. Relying on a meager supply of airdrops, they were able to hold out for over a month, and then surrendered after three days without food. This is almost an exceptional performance.

　His self-defense when surrendering - "An army can provide neither religious satisfaction nor material support. So I think anyone with a little bit of pursuit will not sacrifice so many people for it." It sounds quite philosophical.

　Chapter 376: Turn the imperialist war into a civil war!

　University of Southern California, Los Angeles

　Zoe, an associate professor of horticulture at the University of Southern California and a self-proclaimed Bohemian fortune teller, huddled in a small, stuffy, and enclosed attic with three female students, all wearing dirty, sweat-soaked clothes. Everyone looked very depressed.

　Although these four women were usually very clean, they had been cooped up in such a small space for three days, unable to shower or change clothes, and even unable to go out to relieve themselves... As a result, the attic was filled with an unbearable odor.

　Of course, Zoe and the others didn't care about such trivial matters at all. They just held their breath and pricked up their ears to listen to the noises outside.

　——They have been hiding here for three days.

　Three days ago, when the Compton rioters had just broken into the USC campus, Zoe, who was growing hemp in her greenhouse, remained calm and composed. She led three girls in packing their belongings and important documents while loading the prepared poisonous mushrooms, hallucinogenic cactus, and dried hemp into the car. She then instructed the two boys to drive away as quickly as possible, preparing to minimize losses during the evacuation.

　Because, according to Zoe's experience, once those black people broke into her "gardening base", there would be no hemp grass, hallucinogenic cactus, or poisonous mushrooms left. The black people would definitely take away all these "good things"!

　However, this time the black people who took to the streets were not simply shopping for free, but were engaged in an organized armed riot!

　When Zoe looked out the window of her office and saw a small truck driven by two boys, loaded with various legal and illegal plant-based drugs, exploded into a blazing fireball by an RPG rocket before it could even leave the school...

　The witch Zoe decisively gave up the idea of ​​venturing out of the school, and instead took the remaining three girls and hid in the attic of the office building.

　This attic was where she used to hide some shameful things. It had a secret door and a retractable staircase that even professional detectives might not be able to find.

　Next, the blazing truck of anesthetics turned into a cloud of poisonous smoke that covered the sky, making everyone within a few hundred meters around it passively high and becoming increasingly crazy - some people were shooting indiscriminately, some were setting fires everywhere, and some were doing unspeakable things with people of the same or opposite sex... The shrill sounds of sirens, gunshots, explosions, shouts, the screams of the victims and the crazy laughter of the mob, accompanied by the flames and thick smoke, echoed for a long time.

　After finally waiting for nightfall and a bit of quiet around them, Zoe, the fortune teller, carefully slipped out of the attic to scout out what was going on. She was surprised to discover that the first floor of the office building where she was hiding seemed to have become a camp for a group of militants. Black Panthers with red bands tied around their heads were running in and out everywhere. They were shouting slogans, lighting bonfires, drinking and taking drugs, and occasionally firing into the air...

　And on the trees and street lights not far away, there were several bloody corpses hanging!

　So, the witch Zoe was frightened and retreated into the attic, never daring to come out again to face the thugs who occupied USC.

　In the next time,

　Zoe and three female college students all huddled in this attic, spending their days like years, anxiously waiting for rescue.

　But all they heard were screams, gunshots, pleas for mercy, and various "revolutionary slogans" shouted by Black Panther Party members.

　The oppressive heat, hunger, thirst, and indescribable fear tormented them constantly. Although they had remembered to bring two buckets of water and a few packets of biscuits when they hid in the attic, by now, the biscuits had long been eaten, and there was only a little water left, which was already a bit smelly.

　Then, they had watches on them but did not bring the radio in. The attic had no windows, only vents. They could only vaguely judge the situation outside by the sounds coming through the walls and roof, and at the same time pray that they would not be hit by a stray bullet that came through the wall.

　However, after 72 agonizing hours, Zoe and the others finally realized the change in the situation.

　A distant announcement came from a loudspeaker. Though it was muffled and unclear, the tone clearly indicated official orders. The increasingly dense sound of gunfire and explosions made the four women exultantly believe that the thugs' doom was imminent.

　After an unknown amount of time, suddenly, the low roar of engines came from far away, humming non-stop, as if an endless convoy of vehicles were rushing towards them. Then, sharp explosions echoed from all directions like a flood, interspersed with continuous screams and roars.

　The tremors of the violent explosion spread from the floor beneath their feet to the four women, making them feel as if their very organs were about to burst. Dust on the roof was shaken and fell to the ground. The violent explosion bathed everyone in the attic, like being in a ship during a storm. They could only huddle in corners or behind beams, shivering, holding their heads, waiting for the terrifying noises outside to end.

　After an unknown amount of time, the explosions gradually died down, replaced by short, intense bursts of small arms fire. This sound came from far and near, one after another, and in an instant it seemed to come from every direction around them, even coming from right under their feet where they were hiding.

　"Fortunately, there's no skylight in this attic, otherwise it would have been used as a sniper's spot."

　Zoe, who had watched a lot of war and spy movies since being developed into an informant by Ferry, thought thankfully.

　Immediately afterwards, hysterical curses and the clashing sounds of drawers and cabinets were heard from beneath the floor beneath my feet - it seemed that a group of desperate black thugs were forced into the office building and were trying to find a place to hide or a way to escape.

　The girls in the attic, who were originally drowsy from the heat, suddenly became nervous when they heard these sounds.