How to get the refugees safely to Hanoi and then board the ship from Hanoi to Haiphong is the weakest link in the entire Freedom Trail operation.

With the support of the Church and the acquiescence of the International Red Cross, Li Weimin soon set up a "Joint Conference on Refugee Relief" composed of all sectors of society and international public welfare and charitable organizations, and in his capacity as the interim chairman of the Joint Conference, he quickly integrated the resources of all parties and changed his direction to take over the refugee camps in Hanoi and Haiphong, which was just the right way to fill this link.

Professor Fisher is about to lead the "University of Michigan Group" to Vietnam, and he will rush to Washington before his departure to consult with senior officials of the "Association of Friends of Vietnam" on the most pressing issues mentioned by Professor Anderson in his telegram.

"Mr. Senator, Lee is the most outstanding Asian-American student at our university, he is a very capable and strong young man with a lot of ideas, and he has an amazing appeal in the Vietnamese business community. Not long ago, they had just guided Vietnamese Chinese businessmen to acquire more than 100 North Vietnamese factories from the French, and used legal weapons and public opinion to force the French side to acquiesce in the dismantling and shipment of the purchased factory equipment to South Vietnam, thus creating extremely favorable conditions for the next industrial village project. ”

Senator Mansfield lifted his glasses, put down the document in his hand and smiled: "Professor, I know your student, is he in trouble now?" ”

"It's not his trouble, it's the whole free world."

Wesley-Fischer took out a telegram from Professor Anderson from his bosom and stared him into the eyes: "The North Vietnamese refugees were poorer than we had imagined, and they arrived at the camp exhausted and empty-handed, and the '480 Public Law Aid' could not be applied at all. ”

"That's why they call them refugees."

"Yes, they can't afford to buy food."

"So your students are in dire need of food right now?"

"The situation is clear, many people do not want to live under Viet Minh and want to leave North Vietnam, but transportation takes time; Although it is only 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Hanoi to Haiphong, you can imagine how difficult it is to travel without sufficient means of transportation and priority for the French army to use roads and railways.

More than 200,000 refugees have gathered in Hanoi, and the number is increasing every day, and he and his friends have to feed at least 500,000 of the refugees stranded in Haiphong. Without or without timely access to adequate food, those refugees have no choice but to return to their respective homes. ”

Senator Mansfield asked suspiciously, "Professor, are you saying that the Vietminh will give them food?" ”

Professor Fisher shook his head and said, "Of course it's impossible, but they can harvest in the autumn when they go back, and as long as they have land, they can support themselves and their families." ”

The food in Operation Freedom Trail was only supplied and resettled, and the plan was never made with the passing North Vietnamese movement in mind, and Senator Mansfield realized that this was a big loophole and that if there wasn't enough food, there wouldn't be enough people to vote with their feet.

"Oh my God, how many more days can they last?"

Li mobilized the Nong ethnic group to put out a reserve of grain for an ethnic minority refugee living in northern Vietnam, which, together with what he had prepared for the industrial village project, lasted about six days. If the number of refugees increases faster than expected, it may only last for four days or less. ”

"Damn bastards, they should have consulted with Vietnam experts before making plans."

"Saying this doesn't help, what can be done now is to remedy it."

"I think I should go to the White House, Professor, and you'd better communicate with the Bishop as soon as possible, and you can't put your hopes entirely on the efficiency of the government."

"Mr. Senator, in fact, I have already communicated with the Bishop before I came, and he is trying to figure out a solution."

"Okay, let's split up."

All along, the U.S. press has been unenthusiastic about reporting on Vietnam. With the announcement of the results of the Geneva conference and the increasing number of American journalists invited by Li Weimin to Hanoi and Haiphong, the Vietnam issue finally appeared in the headlines of major American newspapers.

New York Times reporter Dielman, New York Herald Tribune veteran reporter John Higgins, and Time and Life Magazine reporters have all focused on refugees.

Dierman said in the report: These people have been away from their homeland for many days, there is no food, no water, no medicine, only a firm belief to leave the north!

Newspapers and magazines in the American Catholic community were full of news about North Vietnamese refugees, who portrayed Vietminh as the most brutal persecutor of Catholics in history.

Newark's The Advocate begins with "Let our people go!" The title describes how Vietnamese Catholics destroyed the Viet Minh's barbed wire enclosed labor camps and fled to Hanoi to prepare for the south.

How could American Catholics watch their Vietnamese brothers and sisters persecuted, donate money, clothes and milk powder, and the church chartered six transport planes to carry them to Hanoi and the sea every day. The proceeds will be deposited with the Bank of East Asia's US branch, which will be procured by the Industrial Investment Company in Vietnam and neighboring countries in Vietnam.

In just one week, more than 5 million US dollars were raised, and Li Weimin insisted on it for 6 days, even if it lasted for half a month. The reason why Professor Anderson turned to Fisher for help was entirely in preparation for the next even greater wave of refugees.

The Hanoi office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has put up a sign that reads "Joint Conference on Refugee Relief," and he sits in John Becky's office, spending the money of the American people with great pleasure.

As soon as he finished signing the document to pay each volunteer 30 piastes per day, he looked up and said, "Secretary Ruan, count how many people there are in several theater troupes and film projection teams, and pay subsidies according to the standard of volunteers." Didn't Saigon just come to a mockery troupe (traditional Vietnamese theater), count them in? ”

It turned out that charity also made money like this, Ruan Mingxiu was completely convinced, took the signed document and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll arrange someone to count." ”

She left the office with her front foot, and the Prime Minister's secretary and press officer, Huang Thi Liliu, who had arrived from Saigon a few days ago, knocked on the door and walked in, and while flipping through the press release, she reported: "Mr. Min, the press conference at 4 p.m. has four contents: first, to protest against the occupation of the highway by the expeditionary force, which affects the transfer of refugees to Haiphong; second, to protest against the Viet Minh's destruction of the road from Vinh Yen to Hanoi, creating obstacles to the free movement of refugees; The third is to announce the number of new refugees from 12 noon yesterday to 12 noon today; Finally, the use of relief supplies will be announced. ”

"It's useless to just send a press release, so contact Professor Anderson and Mr. Becky and ask them to go to the French headquarters and the Viet Minh representative to negotiate with each other."

Li Weimin paused, and added: "Notify the Ministry of Information and ask them to organize reporters to go to Yongan for on-the-spot interviews." In addition, we will keep the International Monitoring and Oversight Committee informed of the information we have in a timely manner. These are all violations of the Geneva Accords, and they have a responsibility and an obligation to monitor them. ”

Mr. Min is so great that he has not only miraculously integrated so many international organizations, not only organized more than 1,000 volunteers from the "Vietnam Youth Association" and the "Chinese Youth Association" to actually take over the refugee camp in just one week, but also mobilized the refugees to organize more than 40 "camp protection teams."

Under the leadership of volunteers from the "Viet Nam Youth Association" and the "Chinese Youth Association," the "battalion protection team" assisted in the distribution of relief supplies, maintained order, drove out of the camps one by one the Viet Minh elements who had infiltrated the propaganda activities, and managed hundreds of thousands of refugees from all over the world in an orderly manner.

Huang Shi Liliu quickly recorded the instructions and reminded with a smile: "Mr. Min, Premier Yan, Mr. Yao, and Mrs. Yao asked me to tell you not to patronize your work, and to rest when it is time to rest." We can't sleep in the camp again, as we did the night before, because it's too dangerous to sleep in a mixed camp. ”

A series of big and small actions have been made these days to offend the Vietminh to death.

Han Shuo received news that Nguyen Ke Hi, the leader of the Viet Minh underground organization who presided over the "labor movement" and "**" in Hanoi, had listed him as a "reactionary Chinese" and a "puppet government lackey" who had to be suppressed.

If it weren't for the fact that he carried the big sign of humanitarianism and changed his direction to represent the International Red Cross, he would have gone to the refugee camps from time to time to put on a show, and he would have had a certain prestige among the refugees.

You can't have the heart to hurt others, and you can't have the heart to defend people.

Li Weimin would not be stupid enough to continue to sing against the Vietminh, raised his arm and glanced at his watch: "This side is on the right track, I want to go to Haiphong to have a look." Secretary Liliu, please contact Lieutenant Qi, and say that I will go to the airport in an hour and ask him to prepare to fly to Haiphong. ”

He was the highest official of the new government in Hanoi, presiding over such a large-scale evacuation of refugees from the south, and Hoang Thi Liliu couldn't help but ask: "What ......about that?" That...... So what about this side? ”

"Mr. Becky is the vice-chairman, he has been in Hanoi longer than we are, and the French army will come when they return to Vietnam, and there will be no problem with him."

"Yes."

The big boss is going to move the battlefield, and the office is busy.

Packing up the papers, preparing the luggage, Han Shuo even took a few Catholic militiamen out to explore the way, and only let him get into the car after making sure that there was no danger around.

The radio station was set up at the airport, and as soon as he arrived at the tarmac, Lin Jiasheng ran over from the USAID mission to report breathlessly: "Chairman, the Prime Minister's Office has just sent a telegram confirming that the US Navy's Task Force 90 will depart from Japan on August 11, that is, the day after tomorrow, and they have compiled a mission letter of operation code 2-54, and intend to send it to us to ask for our opinions, so that we can better cooperate after we arrive. ”

Li Weimin greeted Ruan Gaoqi and asked, "What about the mission book?" ”

Lin Jiasheng shook his head and said with a wry smile: "The Americans are too exaggerated, the mission book is 114 pages in total, and it will take a whole day to send it all over, I can't stand it, and their telecommunications personnel can't stand it, so the US military advisory group will send a naval major over as a liaison officer." ”

It's so troublesome to give some US aid, Li Weimin was not surprised, and leaned on the cabin door and asked with a smile: "You probably know the content, right?" ”

"Yes."

The eldest young master said that he should speak Vietnamese as much as possible in front of the Vietnamese, and Lin Jiasheng hurriedly introduced it in Vietnamese: "The main ships participating in the operation include 6 APD (Fast Transport Ships), 2 APA (Armed Personnel Carriers), 5 AKA (Armed Cargo Ships), 5 LSDs (Dock Landing Ships), 21 LST (Tank Landing Ships), 2 ARL (Maintenance Ships), 9 LCUs (Universal Landing Ships), 1 UDT (Underwater Demolition Ships) and 5 MSTS (Large Transport Ships).

They plan for us and the French to transport the refugees from the Haiphong refugee camp to the Tu Son Peninsula by truck, and then the French Navy landing ships will ferry the refugees from the beach of the Tu Son Peninsula to the large troop carriers of the 90th Task Force anchored in the deep-water anchorage area, and finally send the refugees to Toulon Port, Vung Tau, Saigon, Kim Ou Peninsula, Thi Thi and Phu Quoc Island for resettlement. ”

After thinking about it quite thoughtfully, Li Weimin pondered for a moment and then asked, "Who decides which refugees will board the ship first and which refugees will be sent to which places?" ”

"The refugees are so anxious that everyone wants to go to the south first, and this order is not easy to arrange, and it is easy to get into trouble. The French simply pushed it to the 'Joint Conference on Refugee Relief', saying that the joint conference knew the refugees best, and that it was up to us to decide who would go first, and that the refugee committee would make unified arrangements for who would be sent to and where, but that the industrial investment company would have priority. ”