When it comes to how much "matching funds" are needed to receive military aid, it is necessary to bargain and make careful calculations. After all, the Republic of Vietnam is poor, and if you spend lavishly, the Americans will think that you need not military aid, but military purchases.

For those who have been giving sincere help to the Republic of Vietnam, especially the Vietnam Industrial Village Investment and Development Company, for several years, we must be generous.

The current US officials are not as incorruptible as they imagined, and they are not boldness by one or two points for personal gain.

A good example of this is the Boston-based United Fruit Company, a U.S. colonial agency in Guatemala that has been a community of interest in the investment and ownership of U.S. dignitaries from the very beginning.

They have obtained the right to engage in banana cultivation and production in the area east of Hautta Verapaz, Guatemala, and have 2,280 square kilometers of fertile land, which can be called "a country within a country". In order to ensure its economic interests and its position in Guatemala, it did not hesitate to interfere in Guatemala's internal affairs and launched a coup d'état to overthrow the **** president.

The regulations on the declaration of officials' assets did not exist until 1978, that is, after the **** Wen H Revolution. The "Government Ethics Law" has not yet been promulgated, and only the people are not happy, and there is no "official life".

It is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation to repay kindness, and we must give a little reward to those who have provided help.

It's not easy to get around, providing private jets, helicopters, limousines and paying for first-class tickets is nothing, and it's not worth it to handle some bills. In order to allow friends to play an active role at critical moments, the investment funds and wealth management companies managed by Qingqing have been providing investment and financial services for members of the "Friends of Vietnam" association for a long time. The "rate of return" is too high to resist.

The two-day holiday ended quickly. Senator Mansfield and other dignitaries returned satisfied.

Member of the "Defense Equipment Requirements Committee" on standby in New York. Immediately, accompanied by colleagues from the company's overseas department, he rushed to Washington to discuss military aid.

After reading the top-secret accounts provided by the eldest lady, He Tianming sighed and said with a smile: "Mr. Li, the total budget for ship upgrades and modifications and the purchase of aircraft spare parts shall not exceed 7 million US dollars, but nearly 10 million US dollars have been spent on bribes, where is this?" ”

The farmer has to be like a farmer.

Li Weimin decided to experience the life of an American farmer and changed into a set of work clothes. While shoveling horse manure, he asked with a smile: "Can't figure it out?" ”

"It's not that I can't think of it, it's that I feel a little too much."

"Tianming, the more than 9 million US dollars is not only for this military aid, but can be regarded as this year's out-of-hospital activities. There are more than 40 new and old friends, and the average is not much for each person. We can only barely count as a local government now, and there is a lot of resistance to getting military aid, and they have to do a lot of work for us. ”

Li Weimin put the shovel to the side, and continued: "In fact, political support is more important than this military aid. It can be said that there is no acquiescence to them. We will not be able to maintain the status quo in the lower six provinces. What's more, they also have a scale in their hearts, and they will give us something back in other ways. For example, in terms of facilitating our logistics services and trade policies for the U.S. forces in Vietnam. ”

The Buddhists are making trouble, Washington is becoming more and more dissatisfied with the current government, Nguyen Gao Qi is using the "left and right hook operation" to issue a strong challenge to the Gia Long Palace and the top level of the Nationalist army, the situation in South Vietnam is becoming more and more chaotic, Ngo Dinh Diem may collapse at any time, and the boss is obviously preparing for the next more complicated situation.

He Tianming reacted and said: "Mr. Li, during my field research in the Fourth Tactical Zone, I have come into contact with the pilots of several air groups, and they all want to be equipped with new models instead of these backward propeller planes on the list. ”

"Who doesn't want more advanced equipment, the key is not what we want."

Li Weimin turned on the faucet and washed his hands, got up and said with a smile: "When providing military aid, the Pentagon and the Military Aid Command will first consider a practical demand problem, the North Vietnamese Air Force has not yet developed, and even a few MiG fighters dare not fly over the 17th parallel. What's the use of equipping us with a 'Sabre' and who to hit with it?

Second, they need to give full consideration to the feelings of the Saigon side.

In any case, the Saigon government was the legitimate government of the Republic of South Vietnam, and the National-Army was the government army of South Vietnam, and they were under the main pressure to fight the Vietnamese G. If our equipment is much better than that of the national army, it will inevitably affect the morale of the national army. ”

Li Weimin shook his hand, took the towel and wiped it, walked out of the stable and continued: "As for the fact that we can equip the relatively advanced Keeling-class destroyers with a large tonnage, it is entirely because we do have this need. It is necessary not only to ensure the safety of the industrial base on Phu Quoc Island, to prevent the Soviet and Russian camps from using the southern ports of Cambodia to transfer materials to Vietnam and G, but also to ensure the safety of offshore oil fields, and at the same time to guard the long coastline of the six provinces.

Because in the eyes of the Americans, only the social stability and healthy economic development of the Jinou Peninsula can save them money and bear part of their obligations. In other words, no matter how tense our relationship with Saigon is, we must hand over as much as we should to the Ministry of Finance, and only as much as we need to do it. ”

………

The Americans are not as efficient as they think, and the Pentagon has a huge bureaucracy.

Despite the help of General Taylor, and even the Secretary of Defense McNamara personally greeted them, the four Keeling-class destroyers were still stuck in the Admiralty.

These civilian officers, who control naval policy, command, administration, and logistics, are a hundred times more difficult to deal with than officers on active duty. Passing the buck to each other and finding faults made Zhang Xingjian, a Navy representative of the "Defense Equipment Requirements Committee," grit his teeth.

"Sorry, we just received a conversion request, DD-826 (Agholm) and DD-825 (Carpenter) are all part of the conversion program, and they are only temporarily mothballed. As for DD-805 (Sevarier) and DD-838 (Ernest G. Small), they are included in the foreign aid negotiations and, if nothing else, they will be handed over to the Republic of Korea and the Republic of China, respectively. ”

People are under the eaves and have to bow their heads.

Zhang Xingjian scolded secretly, and pretended to be enthusiastic and said, "Mr. Munch." As far as I know. The modification of DD-826 and DD-825 was not very urgent. The whole plan is still on paper, and Congress has not even appropriated it. As for DD-805 and DD-838, although they were included in the negotiations, they were not negotiated. ”

The Yankee lifted his glasses and said with a look of surprise: "Man, you are very well-informed!" ”

The county official is not as good as the current management, Zhang Xingjian was completely convinced, and said with expectation: "Yes, sir." I also know that as long as you're okay here, there's no problem going on. ”

The "Keeling-class" is not the "John Butler class", and even less the "Cannon-class" frigate destroyers.

With a full load displacement of 3,480 tons, a total length of 119.02 meters, a total width of 12.50 meters, a draft of 3.81 meters, and a speed of 32 knots, it is a large combat ship second only to cruisers. South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines have long been eyeing them, and even Greece and Brazil have expressed great interest in these newly decommissioned destroyers.

Munch is in charge of this aspect of affairs, which can be called hot. From last year to now, I don't know how many times I have been invited to the reception of the embassies of the above-mentioned countries in Washington. How could it be so easy to hand over the warship to South Vietnam.

He pulled out a list from a drawer and muttered, "Man, these four destroyers are the property of the Navy, and I am responsible for the Navy. Given that you do have maritime defense needs, why don't we work around. ”

"How can I be flexible?"

"How about switching to AVP-35, AVP-24, MSF-300 and DE-584, and besides that, I can help you get two torpedo boats and six tank landing ships."

Are you kidding!

As the first naval instructor of the Reserve Officer Training Corps of Phu Quoc Institute of Technology, Zhang Xingjian has been dealing with US Navy advisers since 1955, and knows the ships in the US Navy's battle sequences very well, and knows very well what he is talking about.

The AVP-35 and AVP-24 are Barnegart-class small seaplane supply vessels that provide fuel supply and pilot accommodation primarily for long-range patrol seaplanes.

With a standard displacement of 1,766 tons and a speed of only 18 knots, it is equipped with a single Mk.30127 mm / 38 times extension gun, 2 Mk.0420 mm Erlikon guns, 2 81 mm Mk2 mortars and 4 machine guns. Seaplanes were phased out after the end of World War II, and the only advantage of this small seaplane supply ship was that it was relatively low maintenance.

The MSF-300 is worse than the AVP-35, just a minesweeper with a standard displacement of 650 tons. The DE-584 is no longer comparable to the Keeling-class destroyers, just a "Ladro-class" escort destroyer with a full load displacement of 1780 tons.

Zhang Xingjian shook his head without hesitation: "Mr. Munch, please forgive me for not being able to accept this proposal, I still stick to my previous point of view. ”

If you don't give it to you, what can you do?

The Pentagon has the rules of the Pentagon, the Admiralty has the procedures of the Admiralty, and an transactional civilian official like Munch is not worried about what his boss will think of him, shrugs his shoulders, and says with a regretful face: "Okay, you think about it again, it's better to communicate with your boss again." ”

When the news reached the New Jersey farm, He Tianming was so anxious that he couldn't help but propose: "Mr. Li, why don't you call Secretary McNamara again, or simply go to Washington." ”

Li Weimin put down the newspaper and smiled casually: "Tianming, you must know that this is the United States, not Vietnam." No matter what game you play, follow the rules of the game. For this kind of petty bureaucracy, it is useless to suppress the above, and there is no other way to do it. ”

"What's the solution, bribe?"

"He's not qualified yet."

Li Weimin took out a telegram that Sun Ningyu had just received, and said with a smile: "The people who went to the naval shipyard have just finalized the refit plan, and the shipyard experts suggest dismantling the two quintuple 533mm torpedo tubes in the stern, installing a flight deck and a small hangar, and equipping the ship with a 500MD anti-submarine helicopter.

At the same time, the weapon control and electronic systems were completely upgraded, and the two twin 127 mm 38 times naval guns were replaced by three Mk.32 twin 5-inch high-level dual-purpose guns. The original radar was replaced with the advanced STIR radar, and at the same time, the Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missile, which had been successfully developed but had not yet been accepted by the Navy, was added. ”

"How much does it cost?"

"Normally it takes a lot of money, but our retrofit is experimental. Whether anti-submarine helicopters can safely take off and land on destroyers, whether the STIR radar is as good as the equipment manufacturer says, and whether the Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missile works or not all need to be verified, and we don't mind if they do this test. ”

He Tianming didn't seem to understand, and Sun Ningyu said with a smile: "There are more than 130 Keeling-class destroyers in the U.S. Navy, and it is a big business for shipyards and manufacturers of anti-submarine helicopters, STIR radars, and Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles to modernize and refit them all.

They give us the cost price, we ask them to do a modification test, as long as the test is successful, they can win the order. In other words, they will ask lobbyists to go to Washington to lobby for us, and the petty bureaucrats won't have to worry about us. ”

Li Weimin nodded slightly, and said with a thoughtful smile: "But as that Meng Ke said, we do need landing ships, not only tank landing ships, but also larger dock landing ships." ”

"Will they give it?"

"Qingqing will go to Washington tomorrow, and it shouldn't be much of a problem for her to be active again."

Miss Li is a person who can enter and leave the White House at any time, with the help of the wives of high-ranking officials, including the first lady, and she is not generous at all, it is indeed not a big problem.

He Tianming smiled embarrassedly: "It seems that I made a false alarm that made Mr. laugh." ”

"What kind of smile do you see, it's that there is little contact, there's nothing to do here, you go with Qingqing tomorrow, get to know a few more people, and get a familiar face." (To be continued.) )