American Strategic Deception Bureau

　If the US military could deploy three to four divisions, plus two aircraft carrier battle groups, to the African battlefield, it would undoubtedly achieve a crushing military advantage. By then, let alone an overwhelming force, it would be uncertain whether the French troops in Africa would even have the courage to resist.

　It's quite possible that no sooner had the US made a show of "maintaining peace" in West Africa, and no sooner had opposition groups in French-speaking Africa hoisted their banners and called for the "expulsion of French colonists," than France withdrew its troops in disgrace, and the black rulers of various countries would have knelt before the Stars and Stripes. A bunch of "mangosteen/sugarcane people" or black compradors, with their black skins and white hearts, really thought they were the revolutionary leaders of an independence movement? They wouldn't kneel before their new father.

　Of course, the process of changing ownership in French-speaking Africa will inevitably lead to some losses, such as the landlocked Chad, which is likely to be lost. But this is of no concern to the United States, as it is like selling the land of the father to the son.

　Just like when robbers rob a house, they usually don't take every penny, but instead often leave some bulky belongings behind.

　According to Colonel Haig, as long as the two ports of Dakar and Libreville were captured, Africa could be taken over without bloodshed.

　- Don't think that this is just a fantasy plan on paper. With Colonel Haig's family background and connections, as well as President Nixon's support and favor for him, his operational draft will probably be revised and improved by the Pentagon's staff soon, and will become a reality within a few months!

　By then, France's sphere of influence in Africa will be wiped out, the lifeblood of the French economy will be snatched away, and it will inevitably fall into depression and hardship.

　After seizing France's reserved territory, the United States will be able to make up for the losses suffered in Southeast Asia and re-establish its hegemonic prestige in dominating the world.

　However, according to Phiri, such changes will only cause some hardship to the French, but will be good for both Americans and Africans.

　——At this moment, the United States is not the decadent empire that will be engulfed in "de-industrialization" in the future, relying entirely on hype and financial games to suck the blood of the world, and no longer representing advanced productivity. Instead, it still maintains the hard power of the world's first industrial power.

　American products are still selling well around the world. Although the United States' infrastructure capabilities have been shrinking and declining, they have not yet collapsed.

　Under these circumstances, if the French, who are occupying the latrine without doing anything, can be driven out and the vast expanse of black Africa can be brought into the US economic sphere, not only will US industry and construction gain access to a new, large market, American factories will be able to snag a flood of new orders, and American civil engineers, already broke as hell, will be able to embark on a series of new projects in Africa. On the other hand, this will also be a good thing for Africans; at least for the time being, they should be able to receive a number of US aid projects, giving their homes a brand new look.

　So, if you want to successfully implement this plan, there is an off-site factor that you must try to eliminate in advance.

　"Colonel Haig, in order to launch this African expedition, we must mass our forces and fleet on the Atlantic side of the Atlantic. This obviously cannot be concealed. We must find a way to mislead the French and divert their attention."

　After thinking for a while, Firi said, "Otherwise, if France gets wind of this and urgently sends more troops to Africa, or even sends a few black representatives to lodge a complaint against my country at the United Nations before our fleet reaches the African coast, the White House might be a little embarrassed.

　Therefore, we need some explosive and hot topics to attract public attention..."

　"You mean fake news... No, intelligence deception, or cognitive operations? I know that."

　Colonel Haig took a sip of coffee and complained, "But if we don't have the right material and just rely on making things up, it's hard to generate buzz."

　However, at this moment, the TV in the corner of the room, which was originally playing a boring soap opera, suddenly flickered a few times, and then interrupted with a piece of blockbuster news: Just now, the Soviet Union, as the other pole of the Cold War, also suffered a nuclear explosion on its homeland!

　A miniature nuclear bomb, carried by an ultralight civilian aircraft, flew from Sweden across the Baltic Sea to the Soviet Union. It then exploded in the suburbs of St. Petersburg/Leningrad, creating a mushroom cloud and instantly causing tens of thousands of casualties. The windows of the Winter Palace were shattered!

　I heard that the Soviet Union was also bombed, and the KGB agents did not perform much better than the CIA and FBI in the United States, which made everyone present sigh.

　Lie.

　"Great, we have the ingredients for this deception! The enraged Soviet Union is likely to go berserk, so our troops are gathering on the east coast so they can head to Europe to help our allies resist Soviet retaliation. This will probably conceal the mobilization of ships and supplies for the African invasion..."

　"How about this headline," Phiri said to Colonel Haig, "Europeans should learn to live with radiation from nuclear explosions?"

　Chapter 587: If everyone is hit by a nuclear bomb, the world will not be in chaos! (Part 1)

　On the morning of March 1, 1971, a Cessna 172 took off from a remote airfield in rural Sweden. It circled in the morning glow, then turned eastward, soaring toward Soviet territory across the Baltic Sea, embarking on a journey from which there would be no return.

　——The Cessna 172 aircraft was developed, produced and launched by the American Cessna Aircraft Company in 1956, code-named "Skyhawk".

　Although the code name sounds very powerful, the Cessna 172 is actually just a slow-flying single-engine, four-seater piston small general-purpose aircraft. It is the most successful and most produced small civil aircraft in Western history. It has a very low driving threshold and is often used as a sports aircraft in youth aviation clubs.

　When this small Cessna 172 plane flew to the center of the Baltic Sea, it quietly adjusted its course and flew towards Leningrad, the second largest city in the Soviet Union, or St. Petersburg, the old capital of Tsarist Russia, and turned off all communication equipment except the radio compass, making the plane disappear from the radar screen.

　An hour later, the Estonian air defense radar picked up an unremarkable target. But as the Cessna 172 swooped down, dropping altitude and skimming the sea, the radar signal was lost again. Consequently, the Estonian radar station failed to report the target.

　——Ever since London, England, was attacked by a nuclear bomb by the Irish Republican Army last year, causing the first mushroom cloud to rise on the European continent, the Soviet border guards and radar stations have been ordered to increase their combat readiness levels, and have been on high alert and keeping their eyes open, ready to guard against any foreign enemies from the sky at any time.

　However, Soviet radars were still not very reliable at the time, and even less reliable were the vodka-drinking operators. Under constant strain, they frequently triggered false alarms—some due to dazzled operators, some due to malfunctions in the radar itself, some mistaking reconnaissance balloons for missiles or enemy aircraft, and some due to the radar system detecting nothing at all. And the alarm system operator, after drinking too much, sounded the alarm without authorization...

　As a result, the Kremlin became alarmed three times a day. Brezhnev was dragged out of bed by guards five times in half a year, and was frightened into hiding in underground shelters eight times by false alarms. For an old man in poor health, this was an unbearable and terrible torture.

　Even more devastating was the fact that the Soviet air defenses, operating at a high level of readiness, repeatedly failed to fire due to false radar alerts, wasting expensive missiles. They also shot down two of their own passenger planes, killing over 200 passengers and crew. They then shot down a Finnish maritime search and rescue aircraft and a Polish government official's plane, sparking widespread outrage within the Soviet Union and widespread criticism abroad.

　Finally, and most unnervingly, after six months of such frantic efforts, no aerial spies were apprehended. Even the anti-Soviet terrorist gangs captured by the KGB in Ukraine had hidden miniature nuclear bombs on smuggling ships and attempted to transport them by sea to Odessa and other places.

　So, why are the air defense forces so nervous? Are they specifically trying to harass their own people?

　Faced with widespread complaints from the Kremlin to ordinary people, the Soviet army had no choice but to issue a secret order at the end of 1970: if it is impossible to determine whether any UFOs have entered the country without permission, no alarm shall be issued without authorization, and air defense forces are prohibited from opening fire at will.

　Therefore, after discovering the fleeting unknown signal, the Estonian radar station did not dare to report it casually and could only remain vigilant.

　Ten minutes later, as the Cessna-172 entered the Gulf of Finland, the Soviet radar station once again captured its trace. This time, the radar station did not dare to play it safe. Instead, it called the other party to try to confirm the identity of the aircraft while urgently calling to report the news.

　As a result, in response to the Soviet border guards' radio calls and inquiries, the Cessna 172 remained silent and did not respond at all.

　But even so, the Soviet army did not dare to launch missiles at will to shoot down the plane - what if the plane's radio was just broken?

　In order to confirm the true identity of the UFO, two Soviet MiG-23 interceptors took off from an Estonian military airport to intercept it.

　However, the surface of the Gulf of Finland was covered with fog at that time. The pilots of the Soviet MiG-23 interceptors that took off urgently could not see the Cessna-172 aircraft flying low over the sea at all. It was also not very suitable for a high-speed jet to search for a low-speed propeller aircraft.

　The supersonic jet made several circles in the sky, while the small propeller plane at a speed of 200 to 300 kilometers per hour was probably still slowly "climbing" below.

　Another five minutes passed before the pilots of the two MiG-23 interceptors discovered the small Cessna 172 plane on the sea.

　After circling and issuing three warnings without success, and with the skyline of Leningrad already faintly visible at the end of the horizon, the pilots of the MiG-23 interceptors finally received permission from their superiors to fire and shoot down the enemy.

　A small plane was shot down and the nuclear bomb on the plane exploded!

　——This is a suicide kamikaze plane carrying an atomic bomb!

　So, the three million citizens of Leningrad were shocked to see a dazzling white light brighter than the sun rising from the western horizon. The subsequent scorching heat made them feel as if the calendar had fast-forwarded more than three months, and they were all in midsummer.

　Immediately afterwards, there was a deafening roar and an overwhelming shock wave, accompanied by huge waves, surging all the way!

　In the distance, a mushroom cloud slowly rose, the ground beneath my feet trembled, and the sea not far away seemed to be boiling...

　The glass windows of the Winter Palace shattered and fell in the tremors; the roof and the red flag flying on the flagpole caught fire!

　When the Soviet citizens of this old Tsarist capital regained their vision after the strong flash, the first thing they saw was a huge mushroom cloud.

　Then, with fear seeping into their bones, they soon discovered that the city they lived in had changed beyond recognition in an instant.

　The Kronstadt Fortress, located near the hypocenter, was hit the hardest and reduced to near ruins. Ships in the harbor, both merchant and warships, were swept by the massive waves unleashed by the nuclear explosion, with some stranded or capsized.

　As for the planes over Leningrad, they fell like meteors and exploded on the ground. The unburned fuel in the cabin turned into a burning rain of fire. The wreckage covered half of the city, and sporadic black smoke rose from all over the city, as if it had been attacked by air raid.

　The emergency fire brigade rushed through the streets, and there were howling, wailing, and hysterical roars everywhere.

　Overall, the situation in Leningrad was under control, but the loss of life and property was already severe.

　Under a drizzling, sticky black rain, laden with radioactive dust, countless historic buildings collapsed in the encroaching flames. The streets were littered with corpses, and the wounded overwhelmed the city's hospitals, plunging Leningrad into its worst suffering since World War II. The Soviet Red Banner Baltic Fleet was also severely damaged; even those ships anchored near Leningrad were contaminated by radiation, even if they were not damaged.

　In just 24 hours, the casualty figures exceeded 10,000, and the summary data after the cleanup is completed will probably be even higher.

　Of course, compared with this small number of casualties, the bigger trouble is that this shameful incident cannot be concealed at all - as the "window to the sea" since Peter the Great moved the capital, Leningrad (St. Petersburg) has always been the most westernized city in Russia and the city with the most extensive contact and exchanges with Europe.

　Even during the Soviet era, there were still many foreign journalists and tourists active here, recording everything that happened there.

　So, the nuclear attack on Leningrad had just happened, and this explosive news had already spread throughout Europe.

　Radiation monitoring aircraft sent by NATO also began to collect radiation and radioactive dust over the Baltic Sea to investigate the truth of the incident.

　As a result, as the sensational news spread throughout the world, the hegemony and prestige of the Soviet Red Empire would probably be shaken.

　After the United States hastily withdrew from the Vietnam War and the outbreak of the Second Civil War, the top leaders of the Kremlin almost felt that the Soviet Union had already secured victory in the Cold War. They were like bloodthirsty spectators in a luxurious box at the Colosseum, who only needed to watch the enemies tear each other apart and slowly bleed and weaken.

　But now, the mushroom cloud rising outside Leningrad gave the Soviets a heavy blow, telling them that everything had just begun.

　Any threat that could make the United States bleed could also make the Soviet Union bleed.

　Everyone still has to roll around in the mud together, and then rely on perseverance, resilience and indescribable luck to determine the final winner.

　In short, from now on, the Kremlin can no longer gloat over the constant nuclear detonations and global humiliation suffered by its archrival, the United States, or the reckless infighting and frenzied bickering among the established imperialist powers. Instead, it must confront the unprecedented crisis posed by global nuclear proliferation over the past two years, and the catastrophic specter of nuclear war and annihilation hanging over all of humanity.

　Next, after receiving such a severe slap in the face, before the Soviet high-level officials in the Kremlin could react or come up with a propaganda line, the local anti-Soviet group "Forest Brothers" active in the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) sent people to London to issue a declaration, claiming responsibility for the terrorist attack. They claimed that they had sent suicide squads to fly suicide planes carrying nuclear bombs from Sweden to launch a suicide attack on Leningrad. The purpose was to expose the Soviet Union's seemingly powerful facade, demonstrate to Moscow, and fight for the independence and liberation of their respective countries.

　Sweden then quickly issued a statement to shift the blame, saying that it was a neutral country and that the nuclear explosion in Leningrad had nothing to do with it.

　Obviously, the angry Kremlin would not accept the Swedes’ explanation at all. Brezhnev even waved his fist and roared on live TV: “The war has begun! Comrades! Mobilize our troops, assemble our warships, and prepare our missiles and bombers!

　If the hypocritical Swedish government does not give the Soviet people an explanation, we will burn their capital, Stockholm, to ashes!"

　Chapter 588: If everyone is hit by a nuclear bomb, the world will not be in chaos! (Part 2)

　In short, when the calendar of this plane

　By March 1971, the entire European continent was once again shrouded in dark clouds.

　Following the Berlin Crisis of 1947 and the Cuban Crisis of 1962, the two major camps of the East and the West once again came to the brink of a crisis of direct confrontation.

　——A civilian plane departing from Sweden flew across the Baltic Sea and delivered a nuclear explosion to Leningrad, and the Swedish crisis quickly broke out!

　Although the "Forest Brothers" of the three Baltic countries - who are still engaged in anti-Soviet activities 30 years after the three Baltic countries were annexed by the Soviet Union, and mainly only Lithuanians left - have claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack and claimed that it was they, the Lithuanians, who were responsible.

　At the same time, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme repeatedly and dryly emphasized Sweden's status as a "permanently neutral country," saying that as a Nobel Prize awarder, modern Sweden has always been peace-loving and would never take sides in the confrontation between the two major camps of the United States and the Soviet Union.

　But no matter what, the "terrorist plane" that bombed Leningrad took off from Sweden and crossed the Baltic Sea, so there is no way to deny this.

　Therefore, in the eyes of the Soviet Union, Sweden's so-called "neutral" status and so-called "friendship" were a joke among jokes - you have already allowed terrorists to use your country as a base to launch a nuclear bomb at the second largest city in the Soviet Union! How can this be called neutrality and friendship?

　Do you want to be treated as a goodwill and polite by dropping a nuclear bomb on you every now and then?

　So, how about a change? Let the Soviet Union, using Finland as a base, launch nuclear bombs across the Baltic Sea at Stockholm, the Swedish capital, every so often as a "goodwill gesture"? If possible, let the first "goodwill gesture" be a "world's first super-nuclear bomb" with a TNT equivalent of 100 million tons!

　I guarantee that all of you descendants of Viking pirates will be led up to heaven by the Valkyries and taken to Valhalla to meet the one-eyed Odin!

　In short, after calming down from its initial anger and grief, the Kremlin quickly mobilized its troops and other Warsaw Pact allies to launch military threats against Sweden. According to the Soviet side, Sweden must "atone for the atrocities against humanity in Leningrad." If Sweden wanted to avoid war, Brezhnev's minimum demands were, in addition to an apology and reparations, the Soviet army would be stationed in Sweden, the KGB would be sent to supervise the Swedish military and police, and the Swedish government would be "assisted" in eliminating all anti-Soviet political groups in the country. In addition, the Swedish government must be fully "Finlandized."

　What is Finlandization?

　This meant that Sweden, like Finland, would retain its capitalist skin, but would have to give up some of its sovereignty and regard the Soviet Union as its suzerain.

　After World War II, Finland, on the one hand, carried the original sin of allying with Nazi Germany and siding with the Axis Powers; on the other hand, due to geographical reasons, it was too close to the terrible Soviet Union and too far away from the longed-for West, so it had to exchange actual surrender for nominal independence.

　Throughout the Cold War, successive Finnish governments pursued pro-Soviet policies, following the Soviet Union in all international affairs. While Finland maintained its own flag, national anthem, and diplomacy, to the outside world, it appeared to be completely following the Soviet Union's lead, little different from a Soviet republic.

　This phenomenon is called "Finlandization" internationally. It was originally proposed by West Germany in an attempt to instigate anti-Soviet sentiment in Finland, but it was of no use at all - just as it is difficult for Mexico to be anti-American, it is also difficult for Finland to be anti-Soviet. After all, heaven is too far away and the Soviet Union is too close.

　Moreover, as a small country with scarce resources, Finland had to import more than 90% of its oil and natural gas from the Soviet Union, and more than 80% of its coal from the Soviet Union and Poland. Finland's industrial products were also shipped to the Soviet Union in large quantities. Economically, it could not break away from its dependence on the Soviet Union.

　Although Soviet culture has had minimal influence in Finland, with Finns generally disliking Soviet songs and films, American cultural influence is ubiquitous. McDonald's, KFC, and Coca-Cola are commonplace across the country, and far more Finns speak English than Russian.

　However, even the most pro-American Finns ignored any instigation from the Western camp that the Finns should take action against the Soviet Union.

　On the contrary, in the international community during the Cold War, the Finnish government was always a follower of the Soviet Union and would never dare to jump over to the other side of the Iron Curtain.

　——The powerful Soviet Red Navy was parked at Finland’s doorstep and could take Finland’s life in minutes. How dare the Finns commit suicide?

　Now, in view of the fact that Sweden has become a nuclear strike base for anti-Soviet groups, which seriously threatens the security of the Soviet homeland, General Secretary Brezhnev demands that Sweden also learn from Finland and become a vassal state of the Soviet Union. He also wants to go a step further and order Sweden to accept Soviet troops stationed there, and all government departments must also place Soviet advisers... In this way, the anti-Soviet forces in Sweden will be eradicated from the root, and the entire Baltic Sea will become an inland lake of the Warsaw Pact!

　What? Sweden is a permanently neutral country? So what?

　Can a permanently neutral country shelter terrorists and drop nuclear bombs on the homeland of a superpower without any punishment?

　Why don't you send someone from Canada to drop a hydrogen bomb on Washington?

　If the US military had not flattened Ottawa and Toronto after the loss, the United States would no longer have to be maintained!

　So, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme uttered a desperate cry: "We are in the most serious security situation since World War II!"

　——Speaking of which, Sweden, a comfortable and wealthy country with high welfare in modern times, also once had a glorious period full of martial virtues.

　Let’s not talk about how the ancient Swedish Vikings carried their axes and rowed their boats.

　Long ships plundered everywhere; even after the end of the Viking pirate era, Sweden in the early modern period established a powerful military hegemony in the Baltic Sea, turning the Baltic Sea into a "Swedish lake."

　First, King Gustav I of Sweden conquered Germany during the Thirty Years' War and was known as the two greatest heroes of the time together with Wallenstein of the Holy Roman Empire; then in the mid-17th century, the warmongering Charles X launched campaigns in successive years, expanding Sweden's territory to its peak and bringing the country to its peak.

　At its peak, Sweden plundered Germany in the west, attacked Poland in the south, and invaded Russia in the east, and was almost invincible in the Baltic Sea.

　However, this cold and weak northern nation was ultimately unable to maintain an empire around the Baltic Sea for a long time.

　Under the test of continuous wars, the powerful Sweden, which rose like a meteor, fell like a meteor just a hundred years later.

　Next, Sweden, which lost Finland and Norway successively, completely withdrew from the European hegemony in the early 20th century, and then perfectly avoided World War I and World War II. Its national defense force cannot be said to be both civil and military, but at least it has not been tested by war for a long time, which really makes people lack confidence.

　Currently, Sweden has only 6 troops. Although it is equipped with advanced equipment such as jets and submarines, this "small but elite" army is only suitable for small-scale, short-term, low-intensity combat, and is not prepared for confrontation with major powers and all-out war.

　What’s even more terrible is that the size gap between the Soviet Union and Sweden is so huge that it is almost like the comparison between an elephant and a mouse.

　If Sweden's tiny army had been left to resist a Soviet invasion alone, no one in the world, let alone the Swedes themselves, would have believed they could win. In the Soviet-Finnish War, the Finns had already performed exceptionally well, but in the end, they were still beaten to their knees by the polar bears, and every inch of land they were supposed to cede was still taken!

　As for mobilizing all the people in the Kingdom of Sweden to fight a guerrilla war on their own soil?

　Well, although Sweden theoretically still has over 400,000 reserve soldiers, let alone the question of whether, as an ancient kingdom with many remnants of feudalism, Sweden actually has the capacity to mobilize such troops. Furthermore, with nuclear weapons now widely used in local conflicts, choosing a scorched-earth war with the Soviet Union would inevitably result in Sweden being completely devastated by radiation. Perhaps it would be better to just leave the Soviets stationed there!

　Anyway, even the most anti-Soviet Swedes did not think that they would be massacred by the Soviet army after they surrendered in Stockholm.

　——The Soviet army did not massacre the city after entering Berlin!

　Besides, it seemed extremely difficult to get the Soviet Union to keep quiet, as no one in the entire socialist camp dared to step in and mediate. After all, expecting the Soviet Union to remain silent and pretend nothing had happened after being hit by a nuclear bomb... that was simply wishful thinking.

　Therefore, although Nobel laureates around the world, mindful of their honor of having received their prizes in Sweden, all called for peace and humanitarianism, they were unable to come up with a proposal acceptable to the Soviet Union, and in the end could only perfunctorily shout empty words of love and peace.