American Strategic Deception Bureau

　Indeed, the North Vietnamese army suffered a devastating blow, and it would not recover for two or three years. But North Vietnam was not a feudal state that could not maintain its rule if its elite soldiers and generals were exhausted. It was a socialist country that could fight at any cost.

　Even if a generation of young people is wiped out, the next generation will grow up after a few years and can devote themselves to the cause of liberating the motherland.

　As long as the leaders have not yet become corrupt, heavy sacrifices and powerful enemies will only arouse the fighting spirit of the socialist countries!

　Of course, from an optimistic perspective, North Vietnam was undoubtedly remarkably resilient. But the reborn South Vietnam was also a marked improvement over the previous, utterly destitute South Vietnamese regime—much like South Korea, which was purged by the North Korean army during the Korean War. South Vietnam, now practically ravaged and stained red, was a world away from the warlord-ridden, vassal-stricken South Vietnam of Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​reign.

　The old South Vietnamese forces that were once deeply rooted have basically disappeared after being swept back and forth by the Viet Cong and the US military. The Buddhist temples and churches have long been cut down and destroyed, and the landlords and warlords have been completely defeated and trampled upon. They no longer have the strength to fight against the US military.

　The US military in Vietnam and the newly elected President of Dawn Island faced a clean slate. Land reform, which had previously faced significant resistance in South Vietnam, could now proceed: the landlords had long since perished, and the US military in Vietnam had declared that it would not recognize any old land deeds.

　Perhaps, after using the Viet Cong as a sharp weapon to eliminate almost all landlords and then distribute the land to the peasants, South Vietnam will be able to stabilize the situation?

　At least the South Vietnamese soldiers under Dawn Island should be very happy: in the past, they were defending the land of those landlords with meager military pay that was barely enough to make a living; now, they are guarding their own land with guns and ammunition provided by the United States!

　If South Vietnam's army and government could stand up on their own, the burden on US troops stationed in Vietnam would be greatly reduced. "Vietnamization" of the war would become possible. If China and the US were to engage in some behind-the-scenes deal, perhaps the Vietnam War could actually end in a draw, like the Korean War?

　—The premise is that before the South Vietnamese authorities develop to the point where they can support themselves, the US central finances have not completely collapsed...

　Just like that, after expressing their concern for the country and the people, lamenting that they had no strong support in Washington, and complaining about the frustration of hitting the ceiling in their careers and not being able to find a way to advance, seeing the sun rising above their heads, both Firi and Kissinger felt a little hungry.

　Although this place is far from Firi's refuge

　The villa wasn't far away, but for reasons well known to all, he never entertained guests at home. Meanwhile, the northern San Fernando Valley was still a bucolic countryside, and there weren't many good restaurants nearby.

　So, Firi took Kissinger to the construction workers' dormitory and prepared to find a single room in the cafeteria for a meal.

　As a result, when the two walked to the door of the cafeteria while chatting and laughing, they found that it had turned into a rural market and snack street - just like the large construction sites in China in later generations, a large number of mobile vendors would gather around the construction sites in the United States to meet the consumption needs of the construction workers.

　There are shops selling ice cream, fruit, daily necessities like toothbrushes and soap, as well as hairdressers, shoe shiners and electrical appliance repair shops.

　Then, among these food stalls, Fili was surprised to find that Ms. Nguyen Mei-Sim, the "real-life Miss Saigon" whom he had just brought back from Vietnam two months ago, had obtained a green card at some point, left the refugee camp, and was now mixed in the food street at the construction site, along with another black soldier, Willy, who had just returned from Vietnam and retired.

　Brian, formed a pancake-making husband-and-wife team.

　Compared to the mediocre pancakes made by the black boss, the small rice noodle snacks made by the Vietnamese boss lady seemed to be more popular with American workers. However, Americans generally couldn't stand the fishy smell of Vietnamese fish sauce, so they mostly used sour cream, ketchup, and chili sauce as dipping sauces...

　Hey, Ms. Nguyen Mei-Sim, or Miss Saigon, you previously claimed to have waited patiently for "Sergeant John Smith" in Vietnam for five years, and that you single-handedly raised their mixed-race daughter, using all the sentimentality you could muster, acting like a lovestruck woman. How come, just a few days after arriving in the United States, you've already forgotten about "Sergeant John Smith," whose fate remains unknown, and have hooked up with a big, sexy, and attractive black lover?

　Could it be that all your waiting and infatuation are ultimately just for a green card and an American dream?

　Now that you have entered the United States and got a green card, you don’t need to pretend anymore. Why not just find a strong black man to satisfy your lonely private life?

　Kissinger, who was standing next to Phiri, didn't recognize "Miss Saigon" at first. Just like Asians often have face blindness when looking at white Europeans and Americans, white Europeans and Americans also feel that the faces of East Asians are flattened by a frying pan, and it is difficult to remember the difference.

　But when Phiri reminded him, Kissinger recalled the time he met "Miss Saigon" at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Saigon, and immediately revealed an expression of "as expected."

　Next, the two stepped into the cafeteria of the construction site. What greeted them was not only the aroma of various foods, but also a bustling noise.

　Hundreds of sweaty and smelly construction workers sat at the dining table in groups of three or four, eating and drinking while chatting and laughing.

　But what made Kissinger a little nervous was that there was a small stage in the corner of the cafeteria, on which was a shimmering scene of flesh: a naked woman with tattoos, dark circles under her eyes and smoky makeup was grabbing a microphone and singing a pop song. Behind the naked female lead singer, the guitarist, bassist, and drummer were also nearly naked young women with cockscombs, earrings, and lip piercings.

　Hey, this is just a construction site cafeteria! And there's a band playing? And it's such an erotic, nude girl band?

　Did I walk into some nightclub by mistake?

　Kissinger couldn't help but feel a little confused for a moment.

　"Haha, how can we afford to hire a band? They're a group of female hippies who camp nearby. They're as poor as beggars. They often come to us to beg for food and drinks, sometimes even asking for a few dozen dollars. Then they perform rock music in the cafeteria in return."

　A cook who sells vegetables in the cafeteria explained, "Everyone just treats it like a striptease, which is quite entertaining. The only problem is that they sometimes spout off some profound theories and hand out flyers, which people don't like to hear or read... Here, here's one."

　Then, under the chef's instruction, Fili picked up a greasy handwritten leaflet from the wall. He found a lot of mysterious things written on it in beautiful handwriting, ranging from anti-war and peace to energy conservation and environmental protection, from denouncing political darkness to calling for equality and social justice for all...

　Strictly speaking, it contained quite a lot of communist ideas and anti-government content, enough to make the McCarthyists who had previously carried out literary inquisitions regard it as a treasure.

　But Firi, a CIA colonel, just laughed it off and didn't take it seriously at all:

　Hey, don’t hippies all look like crazy people?

　He puts on a weird and eccentric attitude and criticizes the whole world in an angry tone, but he never criticizes himself.

　Although Ferry had never had much of a fondness for hippies, viewing them as mere curiosity, his knowledge as a time traveler, standing at the tail end of history, did not prevent him from gaining a considerable understanding of the general mentality of American hippies.

　For today's young intellectuals in the United States, the Cold War's Iron Curtain confrontation and the horror stories from the Vietnam War front haven't had much impact on their daily lives. Even if they hear about the suffering on the battlefield, they only express their feelings.

　Apart from those unlucky ones who were sent draft cards, most young Americans live a rich life and have no worries about food, clothing and other necessities.

　They live in a big house, have a car to travel, eat steak, and can drink bottles of Coca-Cola and Sprite...

　Especially those in the United States

　Young female college students, since they were not conscripted for the Vietnam War, could fully enjoy their youth.

　Therefore, contemporary American youth, who grew up in such affluent material conditions, do not know what hunger is, nor the cruelty of war. Compared with people in most other countries in the world, they live a more carefree and pampered life, and their minds are naturally much more naive.

　So, upon seeing the cruelty of the real world and the dark underbelly of politics, their first instinctive reaction is to shout slogans: "No to the immediate, but for poetry and the distant future!" "Mother Earth is crying!" "No to war, but for love and peace"...

　They express a deep abhorrence for the darkness and cruelty of reality around them, yet they contently enjoy the benefits and gains brought to them by American hegemony, while at the same time striving to demonstrate their own nobleness, purity, and uniqueness—the so-called "kneeling and shaking fists"!

　Some of them are determined to change the world and change all the unfairness. Eventually, after many setbacks, they gradually become a progressive force in politics. But more American youths really have no political talent and are soon slapped in the face by the cruel reality. They cannot change the status quo, so they have to torture themselves, engage in criticism, performance art, take drugs, become naked, become decadent, and immerse themselves in endless pleasure and illusion, losing all their pursuits... and completely collapse spiritually.

　The reason why hippies are keen on performance art, such as lying on the ground to listen to the sounds of soil and plants and feel their breath, running naked on the streets to call on humans to let go of their constraints and return to nature, and sticking themselves to the ground to express protest... In fact, they are just a group of extreme argumentative people and keyboard warriors who want to satisfy their desire for performance by showing off and arguing.

　For such a nagging person, any arguments and debates are useless. If you choose to suppress them with violence, the impact will be too severe.

　So, it’s better to be ignorant, laugh it off and just watch.

　Author's words: PS: I watched John Khan Jr.'s video about how the Berlin Airport took 30 years to build and became the most defective project in the world.

　Suddenly, I had an idea: what if I could write a flop version of World War I?

　During the Battle of Britain, British radar stations were constantly giving false alarms or simply failing, but German bombers were also constantly bombing the wrong targets.

　During the naval battle, the warships of both sides had so many bugs that it was risky to even sail out of the port, and the entire army was wiped out before reaching the battlefield.

　The blitzkrieg turned into a snail war, with the Polish and German armies competing to see who could move slower.

　Although the German army did not send out a single submarine, British merchant ships in the Atlantic were always sinking.

　In the tank showdown, thousands of tanks from both sides broke down and leaked oil, with not a single tank left. In the end, the tank soldiers beat each other with sticks.

　Turing cracked the German military code, but it took half a year for the military intelligence to go through the process and another half a year to be passed on.

　While Isoroku Yamamoto was still discussing the plan to attack Pearl Harbor, he was surprised to learn that Pearl Harbor had already been attacked and the US military blew up the ship itself to settle the score.

　The Musashi was clearly never completed in the shipyard and was eventually sold as scrap metal, but this did not affect its sinking in the Philippines.

　When the citizens of Hiroshima learned that they had been killed by a non-existent atomic bomb and their food rations were stopped, they angrily started the "Death Riot."

　Chapter 407: Let United Fruit go to Vietnam?

　Although the food in the construction site canteen is rather rough, the portions are quite generous.

　Phil ordered grilled steak, scrambled eggs, green beans and salad tomatoes, and a garlic croissant as a main course, and he was already very full.

　In the future, the working class in the United States will be fed a diet of "technology and hard work" every day. The hormones and excessive amounts of cheap corn sugar in the food will fatten them up from a young age, turning them into bloated fat people. Then, in order to lose weight or treat obesity, they will become ATMs for pharmaceutical companies...

　But at this moment, thanks to the "low-tech advantages" of the 1960s, most of the genetically modified (GMO) technologies and over 4000 food additives that would harm millions of households in the future, such as plasticizers and clenbuterol, have either not yet been invented or are not yet widely available. So, aside from the higher levels of preservatives in canned goods, other fresh fruits and vegetables and meats don't involve as much "technology and hard work."

　This is also the reason why Fili dares to eat in cheap restaurants outside - of course, he still dares not eat fresh food, mainly because he is afraid of parasites.

　Dr. Kissinger said he was trying to lose weight recently, so he only ate a few bites of cheese and some vegetable salad, and ate a piece of bread to fill his stomach. Then he just drank iced coffee and cola one after another, while complaining about how hot the weather in the San Fernando Valley was.

　The two followers following Dr. Kissinger, after hastily munching on a few bites of bread or fried chicken, began to stare intently at the girls in the nude hippie band on the stage, their naked bodies completely exposed to the air, yet still graceful and elegant.

　It has to be said that although these naked female hippies are wild and crazy, their bodies are really hot. Whether it is the bronze skin shining with a healthy glow, the curvy and slender youthful bodies, or the magnificent and plump bulges on their chests, they are enough to make men's eyes linger.

　So much so that one can even ignore their tone-deaf throats and their poor playing skills...

　However, Dr. Kissinger was quite indifferent to this "delicious" and erotic scene, and even felt a little bored.

　It wasn't that there was anything wrong with his sexual orientation. It was that he had been managing a women's nude prison camp in Bali for almost two years, and he was almost tired of seeing all sorts of naked women swaying around in front of him every day, and seeing countless naked sex sessions in all kinds of poses.

　So, after lunch, Dr. Kissinger found a few copies of today's newspapers and read them carefully while drinking coffee.

　After just a few pages, Dr. Kissinger couldn't help but spit out his coffee. He exclaimed in surprise, "Has President Johnson lost his mind? Letting United Fruit acquire land in Vietnam?! Is he still dissatisfied with the lack of Vietcong in the forests?!"

　United Fruit? Vietnam?

　After hearing Dr. Kissinger's shout, Ferry, who was watching the nude hippie band, suddenly came to his senses and rushed over to take a look. He found an article in the newspaper accusing the Johnson administration of insider trading and secretly contracting more than 50% of the arable land in South Vietnam and Cambodia to Cargill and United Fruit!

　Well, Cargill was one of the four major grain companies that would later dominate the global food market, renowned for its enthusiasm for developing markets in Third World countries. As for United Fruit... its terrifying reputation in Latin America as a "teaser for children crying at night" was well-known in the Western world.

　"Well, although the way they eat isn't very decent, hasn't America always been like this since World War II?"

　Fili curled his lips. "American soldiers and their allies bled dry, while American corporations and financial groups took over the world."

　Wars in capitalist countries like the United States have always been fought in this way: soldiers fight on the front lines with iron and blood, while capitalists use money to buy up foreign mines, oil fields, farms and enterprises in the rear, support exiled governments, and even buy paintings, antiques and works of art at ridiculously low prices.

　Those "alliance" governments that rely on American soldiers to support their rise usually lack both weapons and money, and do not have the support and trust of their own people. Their only way to survive is to cling tightly to the United States and are willing to sacrifice everything their country has for this.

　As long as the US military sets foot on a certain land, the vampires of Wall Street will follow behind and quietly take over the spoils. All promising important minerals, factories, banks, rural areas and plantations will be sucked into the greedy mouths of American capitalists as if they were encountering a vacuum cleaner.

　Just like the European colonists who arrived at the mouth of the Hudson River and bought Manhattan Island from the Indians for $24 worth of glass beads.

　South Vietnam and Cambodia have little industry today. Vietnam's mines are concentrated in North Vietnam, and southern Vietnam, aside from rice, has only tropical specialty plantations left by French colonists. So, it seems the only option is for American agricultural groups to take over and revitalize these assets.

　In this way, the United States can at least recoup some of its costs from this war that has cost billions of dollars.

　Otherwise, if, just for President Eisenhower's "domino theory," they had spent money like crazy year after year on the Southeast Asian battlefield, causing the Bretton Woods monetary system to collapse and the US dollar to be worthless, yet they still saw no return...

　Then, other American capital groups besides the military-industrial complex will express increasingly strong anger.

　——Because the government’s finances are all used for military spending and there is no money for large-scale construction, American construction groups have had a miserable time in recent years!

　In short, if there is no oil and gold, then let's make do with some rice and tropical fruits! It's better than nothing!

　This would at least appease some of the interest groups that were harmed by the Vietnam War and reduce some obstacles for President Johnson's re-election campaign.

　“Whoever controls the oil controls the world; whoever controls the food controls everyone.”

　Phiri told Kissinger, “Since Cambodia and South Vietnam have no oil (the offshore oil fields near the mouth of the Mekong River have not yet been explored), then allowing our capitalists to control local agricultural products is the only way to make this war profitable.”

　However, Kissinger's answer was a bitter smile of despair, "

　Do you think that, with the United Fruit Company's consistent approach, they would have brought prosperity and wealth to Indochina, or would they have driven the South Vietnamese peasants to join the Vietcong and the Cambodians to join the Khmer Rouge?

　Well, this... Indeed, in the absence of constraints, any capitalist would be keen on showing off his bottom line.

　There's no way around it. Aside from a few exceptional companies with lofty ideals, like Ford, the auto giant that pays its employees well, the rest of the American industry tends to be more focused on exploiting the market, focusing on pushing things to the limit as long as they can survive. They completely disregard the question of sustainable development.

　For example, during the Russo-Ukrainian War in the 1920s, BlackRock, the largest investment company in the United States, brazenly publicly demanded that Ukrainian soldiers who were still fighting the Russian army should not be buried after their deaths in battle, but only be cremated to avoid "wasting arable land resources" - because Ukraine's vast black soil had basically been sold to BlackRock by their comprador government.

　And those stingy Jews in the BlackRock Group, who had enjoyed such great benefits, were still fussy about even the little bit of land for burying the dead... There was no other way, the Jews were always greedy, and no matter how many times they were slaughtered, they would never give up.

　There will be a concept of knowing when to quit and leaving a way out for others.

　Therefore, at that time, the Ukrainian army was not fighting to defend the country, because the land no longer belonged to the Ukrainians.

　They are not fighting for their motherland's land, but fighting for American companies for free.

　Regardless of victory or defeat, they are destined to lose everything. The only thing left is freedom: the freedom for men to starve to death and the freedom for women to become surrogate mothers.

　……

　Now, if the American agricultural giants of the 1960s came to Vietnam to grab land, their behavior in Vietnam would probably be even uglier.

　Leaving aside Cargill, the United Fruit Company committed countless appalling atrocities and tragedies in Latin America in pursuit of cheap bananas! The communistization of Cuba and the emergence of left-wing guerrilla groups across Latin America were largely due to the inhumanity of United Fruit.

　It was hard for Phili to imagine that after arriving in Vietnam, United Fruit, known as the "bloody fruit", would suddenly become an angel.

　Of course, the United Fruit Company was able to run rampant in the Caribbean for decades and cruelly exploit the Latin American people by draining their resources and sucking their marrow out of them, not only because of the power of the US military, but also because it had its own murderous mercenaries and brutal and bloody means of repression.

　When faced with resistance from the Latin American people and local governments, the United Fruit Company was always able to bribe reactionary warlords, launch military coups, or dispatch mercenaries to cooperate with the CIA to launch brutal special operations and accurately "behead" those troublemakers who dared to oppose the United Fruit Company.

　But if United Fruit's opponent was the Viet Cong... Philippe couldn't imagine how the United Fruit Company could launch a coup in Hanoi, overthrow Le Duan and then allow a pro-American reactionary warlord to become the General Secretary of the North Vietnamese Workers' Party.

　This is no less difficult than promoting the disintegration of the Soviet Union!

　He sighed, picked up the newspaper Dr. Kissinger had just been reading, found the article, and continued reading. He discovered that, according to the article's description, in addition to South Vietnam and Cambodia, where the war had just ended, in Indonesia, now divided into "twelve countries," and in Malaysia and Thailand, where US troops were also stationed, United Fruit and Cargill were everywhere, leveraging the US military's power to seize large tracts of land.

　Well, Thailand's fragrant rice is indeed a famous specialty in the East. The profits from monopolizing this thing should be considerable.

　However, the American consortium is so eager to take over the entire Southeast Asia...

　I'm afraid the backlash that will be caused in the future will be astonishingly large!

　Firi took a breath and handed the newspaper back to Kissinger.

　"You're right to worry, Dr. Kissinger. It seems that America's hope of winning the Vietnam War has become slim!"

　Author's words: PS: Some people think that as long as the war breaks out, a country that was once corrupt and paralyzed will immediately become energetic.

　This is obviously unlikely. For example, if Britain were to go to war today, would the military industry still be able to operate? Would conscription be reinstated? Would a multitude of useless and cumbersome institutions remain standing? Would war taxes be collected?

　Russia's performance today is already excellent, and Britain and France cannot even reach this level.