There were zero casualties in the "capture" of the General Staff by the Paratrooper Brigade and the Marine Battalion, as well as in the occupation of the State Radio. It was only during the assault on the presidential palace, the police headquarters and several police stations that there was a fierce exchange of fire, which shows that most of the officers were sympathetic to and even connived at the coup.

Army Chief of Staff Le Van Khai did not give the order to attack when the vanguard of the 7th Division arrived, but went alone to negotiate.

The truck drove to the entrance of Johor Son Nhat Airport, and when he saw that the pursuers did not catch up, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a low voice: "General Ji, I'm sorry, I have to wronged you." ”

The Air Force is not the Army, and Li Wenji cannot command it, and he cannot command it now.

God knows if they can grab a plane and escape smoothly, if they can't escape and fall into the hands of Ngo Dinh Diem, who knows what they will confess, and if they say more, they will be wrong, Li Wenji simply kept silent, and continued to be his "hostage" with an iron face.

Running for her life, Ruan Zhengshi also doesn't have so much time. After apologizing, he pushed the car door and pushed Li Wenji, who was tied behind his back, into the grass on the side of the road.

The truck in front of it accelerated suddenly, and the iron gate was slammed open with a "clang", and the soldiers at the sentry post were stunned, not knowing whether to shoot at them or not. The moment the guards lost their minds, the two cars had already rushed into the airport and rushed to the air force apron on the southeast side.

Nguyen Gao Qi returned from his studies at the US Air Force Command College last year and was promoted from lieutenant to major and served as the captain of the airlift brigade.

He had just been promoted and had a close relationship with Li Weimin, chairman of the Industrial Investment Company.

Nguyen Zhengshi was worried that he would not be reliable, so he was not informed before the coup.

There are quite a few planes at the airport, including vintage airliners from American Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Singapore Airlines. There are Boeing 707 jetliners from Phu Quoc Airlines. There was a coup d'état in the city. The captain and the crew were all evacuated, and it was not known whether there was fuel in the plane, and even if there was oil, no one would be able to pilot.

So far, Ruan Zhengshi can only ask Ruan Gaoqi for help.

The truck braked sharply at the entrance of the brigade department, and he jumped out of the car and shouted eagerly: "Gao Qi, Gao Qi, we have failed!" We must flee quickly, or Ngo Dinh Diem will ask for our heads. ”

Afraid of what comes.

Woken up by his subordinates from 3 a.m. Ruan Gaoqi, who had been paying attention to the situation, suddenly got big, ran out of the office and glanced in the direction of the entrance, and after confirming that there were no chasing soldiers, he asked angrily: "Where can't I go, I have to come to the airport, do you want me to abandon my wife and children to send you away, or give you a plane and let Wu Dinh Diem want my head?" ”

"Gao Qi, only you can help us now, hurry, there's no time!"

Although the paratrooper brigade is subordinate to the General Staff, it is often trained in conjunction with the air transport brigade. Relations with the Air Force are very good. When you look up, you don't see you when you look down, and you often eat and drink together.

It's all old friends. He was too sympathetic to them for the coup d'état, and Ruan Gaoqi really didn't want them to fall into the hands of Ngo Dinh Diem, so he ran to the tarmac with them and gritted his teeth and said: "I can't fly you away, if you do that, you will never come back, Cousin Zhaohong is in front, as long as he wants, I can give you a plane." ”

The reason why he came here was that a distant relative of Nguyen Zhaohong worked as a pilot under him. But if the plane wants to take off smoothly, it must first pass him.

Ruan Gaoqi was willing to help, Ruan Zhengshi finally breathed a sigh of relief, and turned back and said, "Thank you." ”

"No thanks, be strict after leaving, just don't betray it."

"Don't worry, we won't betray our friends."

In order to allow their friends to pass the pass of the Ngo Dinh Diem brothers, everyone found a rope before boarding the plane and tied Nguyen Gaoqi tightly.

The C-47 transport plane taxied to the runway, and the 21st Division and the "special forces" loyal to Ngo Dinh Dieh arrived just in time, but they were still nearly a kilometer away from the runway, and they could only watch the transport plane roar into the blue sky and gradually disappear from sight.

Tan Son Nhat Airport is a dual-use airport, in addition to the C-47 Air Transport Group, there is also an F8F Panda Combat Squadron, and a major battalion commander of the 21st Division ordered the fighter squadron to take off immediately to intercept it.

It was the comrades-in-arms who flew the plane, and it was the old friends who fled by plane.

The Air Force is the "pride of the sky", with the fastest promotion and the highest salary, and it has always looked down on the army and is already dissatisfied with the dictatorship of the Ngo Dinh Diem brothers, so how can they take off in a plane to intercept their comrades-in-arms and old friends.

The squadron leader refused to carry out the order on the grounds that he only accepted orders from his immediate superiors, and when he finally waited for the order, the radar showed that the transport plane in which the coup officer was flying had entered Cambodian airspace.

The people ran away, and the officers of the 21st Division and the special forces who were loyal to Ngo Dinh Diem's brothers were furious, believing that the air force had deliberately let them go. The Air Force not only had pilots and maintenance personnel, but also ground guard units, and when a dispute broke out between the two sides, the airport was suddenly in chaos.

It was only when the tower commander and the officers of the U.S. Military Advisory Corps who arrived hurriedly informed them that the U.S. ambassador's plane would land soon that they gave way to the runway and waited for orders from the Independence Palace, the Department of Defense, and the General Staff.

Ambassador Debro bitterly asked Li Weimin to come to Saigon to persuade Ngo Dinh Diem that the coup d'état was such a major event, and the attitude of the national army in the coup was so ambiguous, and Ngo Dinh Diem even more earnestly asked him to return to Saigon to help stabilize the people's hearts and the army's morale.

What's more, as a member of Congress, you can't always be absent from the sessions of Congress.

Li Weimin arrived on the same plane, and as soon as he got off the plane, he asked the major officer of the 21st Division about the situation.

The name of a man, the shadow of a tree.

In front of the well-known Mr. Min, the major did not dare to take a stand, and saluted and reported: "Twelve rebel officers including Nguyen Thanh Thi and Wang Van Dong hijacked a transport plane and fled to Cambodia an hour ago, if nothing else, the plane should have landed at Phnom Penh airport, and we suspect that Captain Nguyen Gao Qi of the Air Transport Brigade helped them escape." ”

Knowing that the kid might be involved, Li Weimin asked quietly, "What about Ruan Gaoqi?" ”

"In the custody of the special forces."

Li Weimin said expressionlessly: "I understand Major Nguyen Gao Qi, he will not help the rebels, and hand over people to me." I took him to the Independence Palace. ”

I didn't say put it. Rather, it takes people to the Independence Palace.

No one can refuse this request. The major and special forces officers could only ask Nguyen Gao Qi to be escorted to the car sent by Binh Dong Industrial Village to pick him up.

After doing a lot of things, I don't know that I am afraid.

When he was interrogated by the special forces, Nguyen Gao Qi realized that the matter was not as simple as imagined, as long as Ngo Dinh Diem wanted to investigate, it made no difference whether there was evidence or not.

He pinned all his hopes on Li Weimin, but he didn't expect Li Weimin to come so quickly, and he didn't expect that Li Weimin would directly ask for someone from Wu Ting's special forces.

Ah Cheng is an acquaintance, and Sang Pingxiang, the secretary of the chairman, is an acquaintance, and one drives in person. One was sitting in the co-pilot, there were no outsiders in the car, Ruan Gaoqi asked nervously: "Mr. Min, it's not good to do this, what if it affects you?" ”

It's a bit of a conscience, at least I know that I can't affect people.

Li Weimin asked with a smile: "Listen, you did help them?" ”

If he can't be trusted, then there is really no one in this world who can be trusted, Ruan Gaoqi gritted his teeth and said bluntly: "I gave them a plane." There are a few people in the brigade who know, but they probably won't betray me. ”

"Probably not. It's easy to put it. ”

"What then?"

"What are their names, report their names to Pingxiang."

Ruan Gaoqi was stunned, and said again and again: "Mr. Min, they ...... They...... They were innocent, they didn't participate, they didn't know anything, they just saw me send Ruan Zhengshi and Wang Wendong to the tarmac. ”

"Major Qi, have you watched too many conspiracy movies, do you think I will kill people and kill people?"

Li Weimin glared at him, patted the co-pilot's seat, and said casually: "Pingxiang, you remember the name, and then arrange someone to unify the caliber with them." Then ask General Lionel to help, and ask the U.S. military advisers to keep an eye out for their safety while they are being investigated. ”

"Yes."

Ruan Gaoqi was embarrassed and hurriedly reported the names of those insiders.

This kind of thing can't be delayed for a minute, Sang Pingxiang got off the bus halfway when he got the list and unified the caliber, Li Weimin Guan Acheng asked for a box of cigarettes, and asked while lighting it: "Gao Qi, what do you think about this matter?" ”

The quarrel between Li Weimin and Wu Dinh Yao is an open secret in Saigon, and he is not the only one who once supported the Wu family brothers who are now dissatisfied or even opposed, but his status is different and his influence is relatively large.

Ruan Gaoqi had nothing to hide, leaning on the car window and saying with a wry smile: "If you want to build a coalition government, you can't even see the plan to delay the army." They shouldn't trust Diem and should take the Independence Palace in one go. ”

"So you sympathize with them?"

"You don't sympathize?"

Li Weimin shook his head and said, "I don't sympathize. ”

Ruan Gaoqi asked puzzledly: "Why?" ”

"Because they only know about the coup, but they don't know what to do after the coup. Forming a coalition government is easier said than done. Fortunately, it failed, and if the coup succeeded, Saigon would be in chaos and Hanoi would have applauded. ”

Ruan Zhengshi and Wang Wendong and others have almost no influence at all, let alone leading the country, and maybe they can't even suppress the national army.

Ruan Gaoqi reacted, half-leaned back in the seat and smoked a cigarette, and stopped talking.

Li Weimin patted him on the arm and said slowly: "When I see Wu Tingjiao or Chen Jinxuan, don't be nervous, and explain to them the nonsense I just made." The attitude should be sincere and the review should be profound. If you say too much, you will lose, and at the same time, you can't say more, let alone leak your mouth. ”

Air Force pilot, the plane takes off with his head in the sky, this psychological quality is still there, Ruan Gaoqi nodded heavily: "Thank you, Mr. Min, I know what to say." ”

When a man is rich, he becomes bad, and when a man has power, he becomes bad.

In history, this guy was a "Tran Shi Mei", and after taking power, he abandoned his wife and children and married a flight attendant of Vietnam Airlines. Now history has changed dramatically, such as the just-aborted "Double 11 Coup", which took less than 14 hours from the beginning to the defeat, not more than 30 hours in history.

With his own help, he will definitely be able to keep it, and it is a matter of whether this major captain can continue to do it.

The times create heroes, only in that position can he have a chance, and I don't know if he will have the opportunity to participate in the next series of coups, Li Weimin sighed secretly and said meaningfully: "It's good to know, pay attention in the future." If you don't think about yourself, you should also think about your wife and children. (To be continued.) )