American Strategic Deception Bureau

　——At this point, Fili, who was still traveling on the Yukikaze across the Pacific Ocean (he stopped at the Bali nudist prisoner-of-war camp to pick up a group of female "Tantric masters"), was shocked to learn that he didn't have to go to Nha Trang anymore, because Nha Trang no longer existed in this world!

　Even the stragglers of the US military remaining on the islands near Nha Trang could be considered dead under the bombardment of hydrogen bombs and there was no need to consider them:

　As long as no one in the local area sends a radio signal to the US military for help, the Pentagon will pretend that they do not exist!

　(Radio equipment within the range of a nuclear explosion would have been destroyed by the EMP attack if it had not been protected in advance.)

　Next, on March 13, the last group of American troops stranded in Vung Tau Port evacuated as quickly and lightly as possible, leaving behind tens of thousands of South Vietnamese lackeys who were crying and struggling and had no time to get on board, as well as a large amount of supplies and weapons and equipment, and retreated to the Philippines almost empty-handed.

　——The US Pacific Fleet Command stated that because the Thai Communist armed forces moved south in large numbers this year and invaded the Pattani region that separated from Thailand a few years ago, the fleet had just received a new order to move south to the Malay Peninsula and blockade the Kra Isthmus, and it really had no spare energy to continue to stay in Vietnamese waters.

　But conservatives on Capitol Hill continued to clamor, arguing that the remaining supplies in Vung Tau Port should not be allowed to fall into the hands of the communists.

　So, on March 8, the US Strategic Air Force launched its final nuclear strike on Vietnam, dropping a hydrogen bomb on Vung Tau Port.

　In this way, under the shocking force of 9 million tons of TNT equivalent, a flower taller than Nha Trang

　A mushroom cloud rose slowly from the red flag-dragging port of Vung Tau, completely destroying the devastated port and temporarily bringing an end to the eight years of brutal Vietnam War.

　-

　"In short, with the two mushroom clouds rising, the last two strongholds of the US military stationed in Vietnam were also finished."

　In Kunlun Town, the capital of Kunlun Island, home to the US Forces Vietnam headquarters, Fili patiently listened to the briefing from the remaining staff officer and sighed with emotion. He hadn't expected that after all these years, the auspicious power of the Yukikaze would remain as strong as it was back then, and even surpass it.

　In just over a month of crossing the Pacific Ocean to Vietnam, they had already wiped out the last few American troops on the Vietnamese front!

　"We have now completely broken contact with the Viet Cong forces, right?" Dr. Kissinger asked.

　"Yes, all American troops in Vietnam and its offshore islands have withdrawn from the battlefield."

　The intelligence officer of the US Forces in Vietnam pointed to the map and replied, "Phu Quoc Island is occupied by the Khmer Rouge. The only Vietnamese territory still under the control of the free camp is Kunlun Island right here at our feet." He stamped his foot.

　Compared to other islands close to the coastline, Con Dao is 185 kilometers from the nearest port of Vung Tau, roughly the distance from Taiwan Island to Fujian Province. Barriered by this vast ocean, the already struggling Viet Cong were clearly unable to cross the sea and continue their advance toward Con Dao.

　Even if they could really get some broken ships together, they would be destined to become sitting ducks for the US Navy and Air Force at sea.

　If the US troops stationed in Vietnam insist on staying on Kunlun Island, the Vietnamese will probably have no way to take it back for at least twenty years.

　Just like Argentina fought hard and shed blood and tears for decades, but still couldn't take back the Falkland Islands which seemed to be right at its doorstep.

　Chapter 462: The Last Commander of US Forces in Vietnam

　"Since our army has broken contact with the Viet Cong and completely abandoned all strongholds on the mainland, what about the troops that withdrew from Vung Tau and Nha Trang in the past few months? Where did they go? From what I understand, there should be at least 100,000 of them, right?"

　Listening to the report from the remaining personnel of the US Forces Vietnam headquarters, Fili turned his head and looked out the window at the scattered tents. He said in confusion, "On this Kunlun Island, I only saw a maximum of two to three thousand US soldiers, and most of them were sick..."

　“According to the instructions of the new Secretary of Defense, His Excellency Melvin Laird, Kunlun Island will only be responsible for accommodating a portion of the wounded and sick.

　The remaining healthy soldiers who were still able to fight were all transported to Malaysia and transferred to the command of General Earl Wheeler (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) at the Singapore Command. After resting and reorganizing on the spot, they continued to fight against the Malayan Communist Party and the Thai Communist Party in the central mountainous area of ​​the Malay Peninsula.

　The intelligence officer from the US military headquarters in Vietnam replied, "Now these troops have finished their rest and are back in action."

　"Ah, that's how unfortunate they are. They thought they could go home, but ended up being transferred from one battlefield to another."

　Firi smacked his lips with emotion, feeling that the Pentagon was truly being inhumane again this time, so wicked that it made him want to scratch his head against the wall:

　Isn't this equivalent to the American soldiers withdrawing from the Middle East in the early 21st century, only to find out that they were withdrawing from Iraq to Afghanistan?

　So, now these American soldiers who retreated from the Vietnam battlefield to the Malay Peninsula, before they had time to breathe a sigh of relief, they smelled the familiar smoke and stench of gunpowder again, and looked at the familiar "talking trees" in the forest. They must have been moved to tears of joy, or even burst into tears, right?

　Oh, and there's also the atomic bomb, which we've just gotten familiar with! The Soviet Union not only gave miniature atomic bombs to the Viet Cong, but also to the Thais!

　What is the difference between withdrawing from the Vietnam War like this and continuing to fight in Vietnam?

　But what can be done? A soldier's duty is obedience!

　The soldiers are bricks, and they can be moved wherever the masters in Washington need them.

　——Although the Vietnam War is basically over now, the US military operations in Southeast Asia are still protracted.

　When the Viet Cong launched its final attack on the U.S. military amid mushroom clouds of nuclear bombs, the Thai Communist armed forces, which had already recaptured the capital Bangkok, continued to march south along the eastern side of the Kra Isthmus, holding high red flags, in an attempt to recapture the remaining territory in the southernmost part - the four southern Thai provinces headed by Pattani.

　Two years ago, due to the long-standing ethnic and religious conflicts, the four southern provinces of Thailand, which are mainly Muslim and Malay, took advantage of the chaos of Thailand's collapse and successfully restored their independence. They re-established the ancient Pattani Sultanate and elected an old man as Sultan.

　According to American experts, Buddhist Thais and Muslim Malays faced off across the Kra Isthmus, for centuries, fighting each other north and south. Thailand didn't fully conquer Pattani until the early 20th century, and has never been able to effectively assimilate this alien land with a different culture and ethnicity.

　Therefore, now that Pattani has successfully gained independence, it can completely rely on the banner of nationalism to keep the Thai Communist Party out!

　Just like half a century ago, Piłsudski of White Poland successfully staged the "Miracle of the Vistula" on the plains of East Europe, defeating the Soviet Union's first major westward advance and preventing Poland from becoming a Soviet republic.

　American experts believe that the Pattani Sultanate should also be able to hold on to

　La Isthmus, keeping out Thai communists from the north.

　But the problem is that the heyday of nationalism has passed, and ideology is the mainstream thought of the Cold War era.

　In this passionate era, class contradictions are more important than anything else!

　The wave of world revolution continues, and the inherent ethnic and religious contradictions are not worth mentioning at all in the face of class contradictions.

　In today's era, the sultans, kings and chiefs of the past can no longer convince the people simply by relying on their noble bloodline.

　In other words, just as the Tibetan lamas were unable to mobilize a large number of serfs to fight against the People's Liberation Army, the old Malay aristocracy of the Pattani Kingdom was unable to mobilize the poor to fight against the red revolutionary forces under the banner of land reform.

　Meanwhile, the Thai Communist Party stated that after overthrowing the corrupt and exploitative upper class of the Pattani Sultanate, it could fully respect the beliefs and customs of the Malays in the Pattani region and, following the Soviet example, rejoin Thailand as a "union republic," retaining the right to secede.

　On one side is a corrupt and backward aristocratic hereditary feudal sultanate, and on the other side is an advanced and civilized socialist country. What will the people of Pattani choose?

　It was not the Thai Communist Party far away who occupied the land and assets and cruelly exploited these poor people, but the landlords and powerful people around them!

　What's more, the Thai Communist Party has nuclear bombs. Even if the nobles of the Pattani Sultanate are tough, can they withstand a nuclear explosion?

　In addition, the Malayan Communist Party guerrillas active on the northern border of Malaysia also moved northward into the four southern provinces of Thailand (the Pattani Sultanate), cooperating with the Red Thai Army to divide and encircle this reactionary feudal separatist regime, leaving the Pattani Sultanate isolated and helpless and quickly falling into a desperate situation.

　Finally, after the Red Thai Army of the Thai Communist Party invaded the Pattani Sultanate in December 1969, it took only more than ten days to sweep across the entire territory of Pattani and completely wiped out the reactionary feudal regime of the Pattani Sultanate.

　Next, the Red Thai Army, which had completely recovered the southern territory, did not stop. Instead, after a short rest, it continued to join forces with the Malayan Communist Party guerrillas in January 1970 and marched south into Malaysia.

　Just like Japanese General Yamashita Tomoyuki's rapid advance through Malaya, this Red Army advanced triumphantly across the Malay Peninsula, successively capturing Alor Setar on the west coast and Kota Bharu on the east coast. The Malaysian government suffered repeated defeats and was on the verge of collapse, with the capital, Kuala Lumpur, experiencing three major shocks in a single day.

　Seeing Malaysia on the brink of communism, the Pentagon had no choice but to redeploy the remnants of US troops stationed in Vietnam, recently overwhelmed and worn down by the Viet Cong, to Malaysia, where they could continue their guerrilla warfare against another wave of communists in the tropical jungle. The Pacific Fleet also mobilized a large number of combat ships and rushed them to the Kra Isthmus. Using artillery fire and carrier-based aircraft bombardment, they blocked the roads in the Kra Isthmus, thereby severing the logistical supply lines of the Malayan and Thai Communists.

　Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Earl Wheeler, was personally stationed in Singapore as the commander of the US forces in Malaysia, responsible for the war on the Malay Peninsula.

　All the remnants of the US troops stationed in Vietnam were placed under General Wheeler's command and sent to the new battlefield on the Malay Peninsula.

　In short, the once strong US military stationed in Vietnam has been almost hollowed out due to the vacancy of the commander.

　Firi felt that it would probably be disbanded soon, just like Rommel's German African Corps.

　But to Fili's surprise, not long after the Yukikaze arrived at Kunlun Island, Washington sent him a letter of appointment: "What? President Nixon appointed me to be the last commander of US forces in Vietnam? To put an end to the Vietnam War?"

　The losses suffered by Vietnam were even worse than those suffered by Germany or the Soviet Union after World War II. Nine out of ten homes were left empty, the young and middle-aged workforce was decimated, and the population was devastated. Moreover, almost all of the country's prime areas had become nuclear contaminated areas! Therefore, even if post-war Vietnam still wanted to oppose China, it was no longer possible. Unless the Viet Cong prepared to massively conscript female soldiers and launch a human bomb offensive on the Sino-Vietnamese border...

　To the south, Red Vietnam was equally powerless and unwilling to invade Cambodia. Instead, it worried about the Khmer Rouge sending troops to the Mekong Delta (known to Cambodians as Lower Cambodia) to reclaim this ancient lost territory. Although Cambodia also suffered heavy losses in the brutal war against the US, with its population reduced by over 200 million, as a secondary battlefield, it ultimately suffered fewer nuclear bombs than Vietnam, preserving more vitality, men, and manpower.

　Therefore, Vietnam acquiesced to the Khmer Rouge special forces' surprise attack on Phu Quoc Island and their small actions on the Vietnam-Cambodia border. The country was in a state of disrepair and its military and economy were in a state of collapse. It really did not have the energy to fight any further.

　For now, we can only put aside the dispute, maintain peace, and then recuperate for a few years. Once our national strength has recovered a bit, we can then deal with the Khmer people!

　"Then, the free coalition led by the United States also paid a heavy price in Vietnam, suffering 350 million casualties. American soldiers alone suffered 50 deaths, 100 million disabilities, and 30 in prisoner-of-war camps! Our death toll in Vietnam has already exceeded that of World War II!"

　Across from Phiri, David Halbernstein, the legendary war correspondent for The New York Times, sipped his coffee and complained, "What's even more terrifying is that the war isn't over yet, and the American guys still have to continue shedding blood and sweat in the tropical jungles of the Malay Peninsula!"

　——Although the US troops in the Vietnam battlefield have been completely driven into the sea at this time, the anti-US war in Southeast Asia has not ended.

　After the three Indochina countries (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) and Thailand turned red one after another, Malaysia to its south also welcomed the red Thai army crossing the border with nuclear bombs, and the Malayan Communist Party guerrillas flourished after receiving generous assistance.

　Faced with the communists who had activated the nuclear bomb plug-in, the corrupt and disorganized Malaysian government forces were quickly defeated and collapsed.

　The Pentagon can only deploy a large number of US troops to intervene in the Malaysian civil war again this spring, just as it did when it joined the Vietnam War.

　But the problem is that the US Army Command in Singapore is now mostly composed of defeated troops who have just withdrawn from the Vietnam front.

　The US military presence in the Malay Peninsula appears to be substantial, but they are already exhausted, and their morale and organization are extremely worrying.

　In this situation, the best way is to draw fresh troops from elsewhere to support and withstand this wave of enemy attacks first.

　But the Pentagon had almost no troops to deploy at the moment.

　At this point, the remaining U.S. Army had been largely depleted, and with the anti-war movement surging again nationwide, the U.S. military was having a difficult time recruiting new soldiers. The strength of U.S. forces in Europe had also dropped to a critically low level.

　According to the current commander of US forces in Europe, only four divisions remain of US ground forces in Europe. If more are withdrawn, facing the onslaught of Soviet armored forces, the entire Iron Curtain will be shattered like paper!

　Similarly, the US troops stationed in South Korea on the 38th parallel also stated that the situation on the 38th parallel was very tense and there were no spare troops to be transferred to other battlefields.

　As for the US military stationed in Japan, it has always been mainly composed of navy and air force, and the ground force is only three to four thousand people. Even if all of them are transferred to Malaya, they will not be of much use.

　Therefore, General Earl Wheeler, who flew to the Singapore Command and took over as the commander of the US troops in Malaysia, had no choice but to hold his nose and urgently reorganize the US troops that had been withdrawn from the Vietnam front, replenish them with a group of new recruits with questionable quality, and send them to fight against the communists.

　Among these remnants of the defeated army was the 1st Marine Division, which had just suffered eight consecutive defeats in Vietnam, and a group of "McNamara's idiots" - although Secretary of Defense McNamara had left office, his conscription system for conscripting idiots had not been abolished and was still in operation.

　As for the mental outlook, morale, and combat effectiveness of these defeated soldiers and foolish recruits?

　Even the American journalists who were allowed to interview these troops privately expressed despair.

　Sure enough, these American troops, who had already suffered a mental breakdown, soon hit a new low again. In the Battle of Perlis at the end of March, 30,000 American troops were defeated head-on by 800 Malayan Communist Party guerrillas. They abandoned hundreds of tanks and mountains of supplies and fled in panic with their tails between their legs. This was a huge joke.

　Seeing that the "American Heavenly Soldiers" who always boasted in the past performed so badly on the battlefield, Malaysia's ruling party "UMNO" was also anxious and angry. The capital Kuala Lumpur was undercurrent for a while, causing some reporters to claim that "it was as if they saw Saigon ten years ago again."

　Meanwhile, the US Navy's blockade of the Kra Isthmus was also not going well. After the Gulf of Thailand coast east of the isthmus came under bombing and artillery fire from US naval and air forces, the Thai Communist Party rerouted its southward transport routes to the Indian Ocean coast west of the isthmus, even using a section of Burmese territory north of the Kra Isthmus to avoid US naval and air fire. This was dubbed the "Thailand's Ho Chi Minh Trail" by the press.

　——What? The Thai Army's Transportation Department

　When the team forced its way through Myanmar territory, didn’t Yangon say anything?

　Well, there are protests, but that's all they are. After all, if the Myanmar central government in Yangon could truly and effectively control these border areas, would the civil war between the Myanmar military and various local armed groups have continued endlessly from independence to the 21st century?

　Finally, the anxious Pentagon once again approved the use of nuclear bombs on the front line, and ordered the Strategic Air Force's B-52 bombers to drop multiple hydrogen bombs on the narrowest part of the Kra Isthmus in succession to completely cut off the logistical supply lines of the Red Alliance on the Malay Peninsula.

　It was said that the effect seemed to be very good. The explosion caused the Kra Isthmus, which was more than 50 kilometers wide, to shake everywhere. Not to mention the roads, even the tunnels were destroyed. The European press described it as "The Americans used hydrogen bombs to help Thailand dig the Kra Canal!"

　As for whether the Kra Canal could really be blown up with a hydrogen bomb, Firi said he wasn't sure. But he knew it would definitely be a hot news topic for some time to come—so why would a war correspondent visit him on Kunlun Island instead of going to the front lines to report the news?

　"

　So, why did you come to this remote place of mine to wander around instead of staying in the real hot spot to grab the news? Mr. Reporter, whether it is the Isthmus of Kra or the Malay Peninsula, the fighting is in full swing right now, and the explosive news is also coming one after another.

　Ferry asked David Halbernstein, "There are only wounded soldiers basking in the sun on Kunlun Island. There's nothing exciting here."

　Author's words: PS: I suddenly realized that according to the timeline of Detective Conan, when Kudo Shinichi was in elementary school, it was the era of Japan's bubble economy.

　——The story begins in 1994, so Kudo Shinichi graduated from elementary school in 1991 and started elementary school in 1985.

　Many years ago, I had a time-travelling fantasy: I'd travel to the world of Detective Conan, only to be transported back to the days of Kudo Shinichi's elementary school days. But since I only had one plot point and couldn't come up with a specific idea, I gave up. Now that I think about it, layering all the real-life oddities of Japan's bubble economy era with the magical characters of Kudo Shinichi and Professor Agasa seems like a pretty fun idea.

　Chapter 464: Beware of Kamikaze Nuclear Attack Team

　"Of course, there were other reporters covering the nuclear explosion at the Isthmus of Kra and the jungle warfare in Malaya. The New York Times isn't so destitute that I have to deal with everything. General, I came to you to relax a little."

　David Halbernstein shrugged and told Firi frankly, "For the past six months, I've been surrounded by blood, death, and gun smoke almost every day, moving from one battlefield to another, from one ruin to another, and I've been hit by four bullets alone—all by my own people by mistake. The mental pressure on me was too great, and in the end, even drugs couldn't hold on. If I had held on any longer, I'd have gone crazy."

　Since I don't want to leave the front line completely, I plan to relax and rest for a while, so I came to you.

　Well, the reason I gave the newspaper was to interview you about your second term as commander of US forces in Vietnam, and to give myself a break on Kunlun Island."

　"Vacation? Well, if that's the case, Kunlun Island is indeed a good place to recuperate."

　Fili nodded in understanding - he had also been to the battlefield, and of course he knew how close an ordinary person's mental state would eventually become to collapse if he struggled on the brink of life and death for a long time in a high-intensity battlefield, with his nerves constantly tense.

　In order to avoid going insane or losing their brains, even the most dedicated war correspondents have to take a break from time to time.

　If David Halbernstein felt that his body and spirit had reached their limits, and that his visit was not to dig up news but to slack off on public funds, so he wandered to Kunlun Island... then he had indeed chosen a good place to relax and slack off.

　——Turning his head, he looked at the brilliant tropical sunshine pouring down from the clear sky, the swaying palm trees outside the window, the hammocks hanging under the palm trees swaying in the wind, the wounded soldiers lying in the hammocks dozing off while listening to the sound of the waves, the Hawaiian music playing on the radio, and the lazy atmosphere that seemed to be everywhere... Phili couldn't help yawning and nodded secretly to the reporter's choice of taking a vacation nearby.

　Although Kunlun Island's scenery isn't particularly outstanding among the many islands in the South China Sea, and its total area is only 75 square kilometers, it's indeed a bit small. But at least it has beaches, forests, coral reefs, abundant fresh water resources, and a decent town.

　The water is clear, the sand is fine, the coconut trees are swaying, and it is full of tropical atmosphere. The air is filled with the fragrance of flowers and fruits, just like other islands in Southeast Asia.

　Well, there are a few more bars on the island recently, and enthusiastic girls come from all directions to serve American soldiers and engage in prostitution.

　As long as there is no typhoon, you can spend a romantic tropical beach vacation here. For those who have left the battlefield, it is quite enjoyable.

　But what Ferry didn't expect was that David Halbernstein, the war correspondent, quickly changed the subject and brought the topic back to himself.

　"Major General Jin, it's already four o'clock in the afternoon, and we've been together all day. But during this day, I noticed that you were enjoying the Hollywood star's entertainment performance this morning.

　I just listened to the radio and read newspapers and magazines in the afternoon, but I didn't see you handling any official business at all..."

　David Halbernstein professionally produced a small shorthand notebook and a ballpoint pen and asked curiously, "This seems completely different from the time I witnessed you as commander of US forces in Vietnam, overseeing the Hai Van Ling campaign. The hectic and tedious schedule you were given seems quite different. Did you take today off specifically to give me this interview, or is it simply because life on Kunlun Island is more relaxed?"

　"Ah, I'm quite relaxed at the moment, because there really isn't much for me to do."

　Although he felt a little offended, Fili thought about it and told the truth, "Look, my jurisdiction is only this island, and I only have 3,000 soldiers under my command, more than 2,000 of whom are wounded and sick in recovery, and the rest are only enough to act as security guards at the field hospital.

　However, the Viet Cong is 185 kilometers away, separated from us by a vast ocean, so we don't have to worry about enemy guerrillas coming up for the time being.