American Strategic Deception Bureau

　——Using the buffer time of these few days, the Wall Street financiers who supported Congress finally won over the East Coast terrorist mobile teams and some militia organizations with huge bribes and generous promises, and selected a group of elite soldiers from them to enter Washington to arm and defend Congress!

　The FBI agents were surprised to find that there were more than 1000 enemy troops and a tank at the Shoham Hotel!

　Seeing that the Shawham Hotel was heavily guarded and could not be captured after a long attack, the arrest team sent by the White House finally returned empty-handed.

　After the initial exchange of fire, because the Shoreham Hotel was severely damaged in the melee, the temporary Congress was moved to the northwest of Washington, D.C., to the newer Watergate Building, under the auspices of House Speaker Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, and established its headquarters at the Watergate Building.

　In this way, a situation of confrontation between two power centers, the White House and the Watergate Building, was formed in the US capital Washington.

　In the next few days, Congress and the president began to mobilize further troops, gathering forces towards Washington, preparing for a larger-scale conflict.

　Relying on the generous donations from the financial backers behind the scenes, the temporary Congress in the Watergate Building not only won over the terrorist squad and some militia organizations, but also won the support of the National Guard of the Capital District, plus some defected FBI agents, CIA private armies, etc., and finally gathered a motley crowd of 15,000.

　President Nixon was nominally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but the Pentagon still expressed its unwillingness to fight a civil war (waiting for a price).

　Admiral Thomas Mueller, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a press conference, publicly declaring that no air force would be allowed to bomb the capital. Any bomber attempting to fly over Washington would be shot down by the military. Furthermore, Mueller stated that if anyone dared to bomb the capital with ballistic missiles or even nuclear bombs, the Pentagon would consider them traitors and deploy regular military forces to suppress them!

　- In short, the Pentagon's attitude is to maintain neutrality while reducing the intensity and losses of the impending civil war.

　At the same time, far away from Washington, 37 states that had previously jointly opposed Washington announced the formation of an "Armed Neutrality League."

　The governors of these states expressed their strong support for President Nixon's proposal to dissolve Congress and hold new elections, and would immediately begin campaigning for their state's senators and representatives. However, until a new Congress was formed and the legal rights of the states were fully protected, the 37 states that had joined the "Armed Neutrality Alliance" would not contribute any troops to the White House's civil war.

　According to the governors, the current Congress in Washington is indeed perverse and has lost all credibility, becoming an "illegal Congress" disavowed by the majority of states. However, Nixon, an unelected president, does not seem to have much legitimacy either.

　If these governors wanted to recognize Nixon as the real president, a vote would have to be held and passed in a new Congress that was generally recognized by the whole country. Only then would the 37 states that participated in the "Armed Neutrality League" recognize Nixon's presidential power.

　Before that, these 37 states will remain neutral for the time being and will not accept the "orders" of either the "illegal president" or the "illegal Congress."

　In addition, several other states have also made similar statements separately, neither recognizing Congress nor the president.

　The Pentagon therefore stated: Since Congress is an illegal Congress and the president’s legitimacy is questionable, why should the US military get involved?

　Let’s wait until the new Congress that is truly recognized by the whole country opens!

　Therefore, President Nixon, who had not yet gained widespread national recognition, only summoned some scattered Marines, militiamen and "volunteers" who had left the regular army to join the US in the capital Washington, and together with the original troops, totaled about 5,000 people.

　Congressional troops of 15,000 vs. Presidential troops of 5,000.

　On the surface, the armed forces of Congress should have an absolute advantage, at least in the Washington, D.C. theater of operations.

　Hugh Scott, who presided over the temporary Congress, looked at his own large number of people and boasted that "the advantage is mine". He was also worried that the states of the "Armed Neutrality Alliance" and the Pentagon would change their attitude and join President Nixon's side.

　, he ordered the Congressional Army to take the initiative to attack, approach the White House, and attempt to destroy the Presidential Army in one fell swoop.

　Then, as expected, something unexpected happened.

　- The National Guard of the Capital District. Although the middle and upper-level officers support Congress, the lower-level officers and soldiers are extremely angry at the insects in Congress. They have long been tired of the endless overseas wars throughout the 1960s, the soaring prices and the increasingly chaotic social order. They don't want to be inexplicably sent overseas to fight endless security battles. They just want to return to the "good old days" of the 1950s.

　President Nixon also sent lobbyists to the National Guard in the U.S. District of Columbia to lobby them to switch to his side.

　So, a Washington, D.C. National Guard unit that was ordered to enter the city mutinied on the outskirts of Washington. A group of non-commissioned officers and lieutenants suddenly revolted, kidnapped their commander and most of the middle and senior officers, and took control of the 1500-strong force.

　Then, this defected National Guard, under the guidance of the president's special envoy, stabbed the remaining congressional troops who were still kept in the dark, and brazenly raided the 1000-strong terrorist mobile team that had just been deployed on Capitol Hill and was preparing to attack the White House.

　For a moment, the Capitol, which had just been burned down by a fire not long ago, was once again filled with smoke and bullets flying.

　The 1000-strong terrorist squad was caught off guard and quickly defeated by the National Guard of the U.S. Capitol. During the melee, a grenade struck the squad's fuel and ammunition storage area, immediately triggering a series of explosions and fires. Plumes of black smoke rose from Capitol Hill into the sky!

　——David Halberstam, a war correspondent for The New York Times, who was at the scene, excitedly recorded this scene with his camera.

　With the defection of the National Guard in the capital and the Capitol Hill on fire again, the Capitol Army, which had thought it had the upper hand, was suddenly thrown into chaos.

　At that moment, the 116th Infantry Brigade of the Virginia National Guard arrived from Richmond to join President Nixon's forces. President Nixon immediately ordered this fresh force to move out, coordinating with five Marine battalions to launch an attack on the Capitol Army headquarters at the Watergate Building.

　Faced with the massive counterattack by the presidential army, the congressmen in the Watergate Building showed extremely poor ability to withstand pressure.

　Only a corner of the Watergate Building collapsed due to the artillery shells, and Speaker Hugh Scott and a group of congressmen fled on their own. They abandoned the congressional troops who were still fighting in various parts of the city, and fled with a small number of guards to Baltimore, the capital of Maryland, 50 kilometers away from the capital.

　But before these congressmen could gain a foothold in Baltimore, they received an eviction order from their local masters. The governor and state legislature of Maryland, under the lobbying of Thomas D'Alessandro II (Pelosi's father), a famous Baltimore gangster, also announced their defection and supported President Nixon. They also dispatched the Maryland National Guard to "courteously send off" the remnants of the congressional army.

　Still shaken, Speaker Hugh Scott and his fellow legislators dared not engage the Maryland National Guard and retreated northward to Philadelphia, the nation's first capital. There, the congressional forces joined forces with the 28th Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard and gathered thousands of fleeing soldiers. Finally, they regained some strength and were able to continue their standoff with the president's forces.

　The Marines pursuing the Speaker soon clashed with the Maryland National Guard upon arriving in Baltimore. President Nixon had no choice but to travel to Baltimore in person to negotiate terms of cooperation with the Maryland Governor. The pursuit of the congressional forces had to be put on hold for the time being.

　At this point, President Nixon won the first battle, broke through the enemy's "main camp" Watergate Building, and drove the Congressional forces out of the capital Washington.

　But the confrontation between the two sides has not ended, it has just moved to a bigger stage: Washington’s Presidential Army VS Philadelphia’s Congressional Army!

　--Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York supported Congress, while Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia supported the President.

　The remaining 45 states have either declared neutrality, erupted in civil unrest, or remained silent and have not yet expressed their stance.

　As the world's eyes fixed intently on the United States, breathlessly awaiting the outbreak of a second civil war, Colonel Philip King, Commander of the US Space Force and Commander of US Forces in Vietnam, and Dr. Henry Kissinger, White House National Security Advisor, quietly left Hong Kong and rushed to Washington...

　During the chaos, mobs rose up and fires raged. The number of civilians killed and injured in this chaos is probably more than 10,000.

　The White House, once the focal point of the armed conflict between the two sides, still looked devastated despite repairs having been carried out.

　Sitting in a lounge, Fieri watched with boredom as several construction workers used brushes and rollers to repeatedly paint the White House walls, which had recently been blackened by smoke and fire - just like the scene a century and a half ago after the British army burned down the White House during the War of 1812.

　Looking around, there were even bullet holes on some of the furniture and paintings in the White House. Almost all the staff coming and going in the White House were new faces. Everyone had a stern face and was serious. This must be the result of President Nixon's major purge of the White House.

　But it also made it difficult for Fili to find someone to talk to here.

　Oh, forget it, stop thinking about it, just wait patiently for President Nixon’s summons!

　Firi looked away and found that Kissinger was flipping through a recently printed political propaganda pamphlet. The cover was a political cartoon: Nixon, wearing a laurel wreath, was riding a warhorse and showing off his power in front of Capitol Hill, while a group of little men wearing the toga robes of ancient Roman senators were fleeing in panic.

　——Americans are keen to see the United States as the "New Roman Empire", so it is natural for them to try to use the Roman Civil War to illustrate the American Civil War.

　Unfortunately, the causes and course of the last Civil War during President Lincoln's time were very different from the civil wars in the ancient Roman Empire.

　But the course of this American Civil War has many similarities with Caesar's "The Civil War" - President Nixon's lightning-fast trip to Washington and fighting against the Congressional Army is very similar to Caesar crossing the Rubicon River, launching the Roman Civil War, and eliminating Pompey and the Senate.

　"Well, Nixon is Caesar who crossed the Rubicon and entered Rome, the Provisional Congress is the Senate that escaped Rome, Speaker Hugh Scott is Cato the Younger, and Barry is

　Goldwater (Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican presidential candidate) is Cicero..."

　Fili looked at the cartoon on the cover of the booklet and said, "Then who is

　Pompey? And who is Cleopatra?"

　"

　Pompey? That, of course, is General Curtis LeMay, who has just been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Congressional Army."

　Kissinger looked up from behind the pamphlet and said to Fieri, "This is a truly puzzling decision. Why would Congress let a retired Air Force general command the Army? Do politicians really like to let outsiders command experts?"

　"

　Maybe, just like during the Russian Civil War in 1919, somehow the commander of the White Army turned out to be Admiral Kolchak.

　Of course, the more likely possibility is that the Congressional Army failed to recruit other generals of sufficient reputation and had to let LeMay be the commander-in-chief."

　Firi shrugged. "What's even more surprising to me is why General LeMay accepted this appointment? Does he really like fighting?"

　"Who knows? Perhaps, in these chaotic times, many people will be confused by the current situation and lose their ability to make accurate judgments?

　"

　Recalling his past encounter with General LeMay, the "Cold War Eagle" and "Tokyo BBQ Master," and the thought of facing off against this hard-core ruthless warrior, Kissinger couldn't help but feel a sense of uncertainty. He sighed and said, "Just like I still can't understand why Ludendorff (the famous German general in World War I and the father of total war) would hang out with Hitler in 1923 and participate in the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch."

　"Well, whatever Admiral LeMay thinks, he has now become a low-profile version of Pompey for our time."

　Ferry said disapprovingly, "As for Cleopatra? Well, in a real imperial civil war, Miss Elizabeth Taylor wouldn't be qualified to play the role. Perhaps we could invite Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom to make a cameo appearance?"

　"You mean to say that General LeMay would flee to England after his defeat and be beheaded on the banks of the Thames?"

　Dr. Kissinger couldn't help laughing. "Haha, that's impossible, Brother Fieri. General LeMay probably won't have the chance to go into exile in Britain. It's even hard to say whether the two sides will go to war again. After all, the military-industrial complex has already bowed to the president..."

　In the past few years, the United States has been mired in the quagmire of war and has been unable to escape it. In addition to the fanaticism of right-wing war advocates, the policy hijacking of the military-industrial complex is also a major reason: after all, who doesn't like war?

　However, as the situation in the United States was completely messed up, when the war broke out in the streets of Washington and artillery shells roared at the White House and Capitol Hill, the military-industrial complex, which had been afraid of chaos in the world and wanted to make money from the war, finally panicked.

　If the United States is truly broken apart and becomes divided among warlords, will the companies and assets of the military-industrial complex still be their own?

　——After all the heroes have been grabbing land on motorcycles across the United States, the next basic operation is definitely to confiscate property on a large scale to support their troops!

　What do you mean by protecting private property from infringement? It's just talk. Haven't European and American countries expropriated property without compensation during wartime?

　As for war profits? Once the civil war breaks out, the entire United States will become a hunting ground for warlords and strongmen. Do you think your money will still belong to you?

　Don't think that keeping your money in Swiss Bank

　If it works, it's guaranteed! Swiss banks colluded with Nazi Germany during World War II, wiped out countless wealthy Jewish and other individuals! Others might not know about this, but how could the US top brass not know about it? Their predecessors also received a lot of hush money thirty years ago!

　The prerequisite for arms dealers to make money from war is that they have to stay in a peaceful place!

　If the arms dealer himself is also on the battlefield... then forget about making war profits, it's good enough to be alive!

　Therefore, after President Nixon won the three battles in Washington and successfully expelled the old Congress, many representatives of the military-industrial complex rushed to the White House, surrendered to President Nixon, and were willing to spend money and effort to atone their sins, just to survive the catastrophe before them.

　"Yes, if the military-industrial complex doesn't see the current situation, then they will be put on the list of public enemies of the state and their property will be confiscated and their families will be exterminated."

　Fili nodded in agreement and said, "Since this is a civil war in New Rome, it's natural to draw up a list of public enemies. Otherwise, how will President Nixon reward the heroes? By the way, Doctor, what do you think the president wants to give us by recalling us from Hong Kong this time?

　"The White House is in a great state right now. Why would Mr. President need us? Could it be... to persuade the terrorists to surrender?"

　——As President Nixon gained complete control of the capital, Washington, the situation in the United States was rapidly becoming clearer.

　The states that had previously clamored for "armed neutrality" sent representatives to Beijing to "discuss national affairs" with President Nixon and discuss how to deal with the aftermath.

　During this period, a new batch of senators and representatives from various states who were urgently elected also arrived in Washington one after another to prepare for the reopening of Congress.

　Anyone with a discerning eye can see that as long as the new Congress is formed, the new regime in Washington is formally established, and it receives the support of the vast majority of states across the country, then the generals in the Pentagon will naturally obey the will of the White House and formally launch a campaign against the few rebellious states.

　The congressional army that retreated to Philadelphia was just a mob. How could they possibly withstand the attack of the regular army?

　In such a good situation, Fili really couldn't think of any use for him in President Nixon.

　After thinking about it, it seems that the president would only think of him when he needed someone to persuade the terrorist squad, which is an important pillar of the Capitol Army, to surrender.

　——Even if victory is certain, it would definitely be better if the opponent could surrender without bloodshed.

　"The Terrorist Persuasion Unit? Well, that seems possible. When Secretary of Defense McNamara agreed to form this foreign armed police force, you were quite involved. But that was a few years ago, right?"

　Dr. Kissinger looked at him suspiciously. "Does your reputation with the Terrorist Squad still matter?"

　"If the president wants me to persuade the West Coast terrorist group, which is mainly composed of Vietnamese refugees, to surrender, I'm about 70% confident I can do it.

　However, the three West Coast states are currently neutral, and the terrorist squads in those states are simply observing the situation and haven't joined the Congressional Army in Philadelphia—many have deserted, so there's no need for the White House to persuade them to surrender. As for the terrorist squads on the East Coast, I'm really not familiar with them!"

　Fili spread his hands and said with a wry smile,

　The terrorist attack squads under the Capitol Army standing in Philadelphia are new forces formed in the last one or two years. Most of the officers and soldiers are Latin American immigrants. Even if there are a few Asians, they are basically Indonesians. I don't have much friendship with them.

　"Well, Doctor, maybe you have some connections with them. After all, you spent more than a year in Indonesia!"

　"The friendship you're talking about doesn't mean I played with their wives, sisters, and daughters in the women's prisoner-of-war camp in Bali, right?"

　Dr. Kissinger gave Firi a strange look. "You want me to persuade them to surrender? Are you asking me to die?"

　"Huh? Sorry, I thought you'd come into contact with quite a few people there during your year in Bali."

　Firi quickly explained, "Think carefully, your position is National Security Advisor, so the tasks assigned to you by the President seem to focus more on international strategy. Perhaps President Nixon wants you to visit Europe and Canada to prevent foreign interference in the United States' civil unrest?"

　"I think so too. This is my job, but this is even more difficult."

　Dr. Kissinger lamented, "Whether it's the Soviets, the Chinese, or our Western European allies, or even the Japanese and Latin American countries, the whole world doesn't want the president and Congress to reach a truce and resolve disputes peacefully. They just want to see America shed a river of blood!"

　After hearing Kissinger's sigh, Firi fell silent.

　With the American Civil War now raging, the world's reaction is more one of excitement than apprehension. It's like the bloodthirsty spectators watching two groups of gladiators slug it out in the arena—well, waving their fists and shouting, "I want to see rivers of blood!"

　This is a civil war between world hegemons! The most gorgeous and high-end showdown!

　Despite the current unrest and insecurity across the United States, with Maryland and Pennsylvania, near the war zone, experiencing even more chaos, journalists from around the world are desperately rushing to the United States, even Red China, which has yet to restore diplomatic ties with the United States.

　When Phiri and Kissinger flew back to the United States, they were accompanied by several Xinhua reporters who came with Hong Kong passports.

　America breaks the news!

　He really enjoys watching the fun!

　It's easy to imagine that both the Soviets on the other side of the Iron Curtain and their "friendly nations" like Britain, France, and Italy on this side of the Iron Curtain were eagerly anticipating a major clash between the US president and Congress, ideally another Civil War. Or even a nuclear war, turning the US into a radioactive wasteland!

　In order to allow the disadvantaged Congress Army to hold out longer, there must be a mastermind behind the scenes who will generously donate money and arms!

　If the United States wants them to stop, it will have to give up a lot of benefits to appease them.

　Of course, this wasn't the most troublesome issue. The real nightmare was this: if the Soviet army suddenly launched a decisive battle between the two camps, sending a torrent of armored vehicles rushing from East Germany to the Atlantic Ocean... then the United States, in the midst of civil unrest, would be completely unable to respond!

　Well, although under the rule of the mediocre Brezhnev, the Kremlin would not have made such a bold decision.

　But the question is, what if the Soviet Union's steel torrent really rushed towards the plains of Western Europe?

　Don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the unexpected!