The common people want to celebrate the New Year, the soldiers want to celebrate the New Year, and the land-ruffians-hooligans also want to celebrate the New Year.

After being humiliated, Le Van Yuan did not stupidly launch a coup d'état immediately, but made frequent contacts with senior officials of the French Expeditionary Force Command and warlords of various sects.

Lansdale did the wrong thing with good intentions, and Li Wenyuan thought that he was being tricked by the Yankees.

Claiming that Lansdale was a liar, he threatened to offer a reward for his capture, to disembowel, to stuff mud into his stomach, and to leave his body drifting in the Saigon River.

Li Weimin was dragged to participate in the negotiations, and he was also remembered.

Because the reputation of "Mr. Minh" among people, especially North Vietnamese Catholics, was so good that even the Vietminh did not know how to accuse, Le Van Yuan could only talk about his identity. He said that he was a "Tangshanian" who was not qualified to serve as president of the Vietnamese Red Cross Society and a member of the Refugee Committee and the Aliens Management Committee, and that he did not enjoy the same treatment as Lansdale's "disembowelment" and "drifting corpse on the Saigon River".

The more fierce the troubles he gets, the worse the people's opinion of him, and the higher the government's approval rating.

Ngo Dinh Diem did not engage in a "war of words" with Nguyen Van Thanh as he did with him, but retaliated by holding a grand parade to accept the reorganization of the Trạng Minh Minh.

At 10 a.m. on Feb. 13, Lee, who had been busy with preparations for the past few days, made his first public appearance on the South Vietnamese political stage, sitting on a viewing platform with government ministers to review Trung Minh Se's "coalition army."

This was the first large-scale event held by the South Vietnamese government since Ngo Dinh Diem became prime minister of Vietnam.

Officials of various government departments, senior officers of the General Staff, diplomats of various countries in Vietnam. General of the command of the French Expeditionary Force. Officer of the U.S. Military Advisory Corps. Representatives of all political parties and social organizations...... Except for Le Van Yuan, almost all the people with heads and faces in Saigon came.

The soldiers wore collarless shirts, black trousers with elastic bands, and jungle hats of the former French army (which was their only standard "equipment"), and those with shoes walked outside the square, and those without shoes in the middle of the square. Because most people don't have shoes, they walk very briskly and without sound. Plus the clothes are all black, like a ghost army.

But their morale was high, their shiny rifles glittering on their shoulders, and the sides of the road leading into the city to the square were crowded with citizens who looked with curiosity at this army, which consisted entirely of peasants, poorly equipped but brave and skilled, and kept the French awake.

Zheng Mingshi walked at the front of the team with high spirits, and Defense Minister Li Yuzhen said quietly: "Does Mr. Min know what he has done in the past three days? ”

"Which one?"

Li Weimin thought that Li Wenyuan was very direct, Li Yuzhen glanced at a few Hehao Sect officers on the left, put his hand to his mouth and said, "I'm talking about Zheng Mingshi." Yesterday afternoon, he personally led his troops to raid the headquarters of the Hoa Good Church. Li Guangrong was injured and did not know if he died. ”

No wonder the officers' eyes were on fire.

This guy is not ruthless at all, for fear that after accepting the reorganization, Li Guangrong will also fall to the government, and there will be no excuse to retaliate at that time, so he actually came to a "decapitation operation" the day before accepting the reorganization.

Cowman, Li Weimin was completely convinced.

Just as he was about to say something, a mockery came from the right side of the viewing platform.

A French officer who hated Zheng Mingshi to the core, for fear that the American military adviser would not hear it, sneered: "Look at the group of soldiers that Lansdale has found, it is better than them to find a group of refugees outside the city." ”

Ngo Dinh Diem had an ugly face, and was obviously very dissatisfied with his ridicule, and in fact he had always been dissatisfied with the French.

Although he had made Lansdale disgraced in the matter of Le Van Yuan, he had to take the same side now, and Landsdale replied loudly: "Gentlemen, these are brave soldiers who have been in battle for a long time, who have defeated the Viet Minh, who have defeated well-equipped foreign armies, and who are not vases who often participate in military parades. ”

Even the commander died at the hands of others, are you qualified to mock it, the officers of the US military advisory group immediately burst into laughter.

Zheng Mingshi's troops, guided by officers of the General Staff, lined up in the center of the square.

Ngo Dinh Diem walked to the square and personally presided over the swearing-in ceremony, announcing that Trung Minh Se had been awarded the rank of brigadier general of the Vietnamese National Army and that he would be given a general's hat.

Immediately after, they walked up to the viewing platform together.

Zheng Mingshi saw Lansdale, who had a "knowing grace" for him, and he couldn't control it for a while and ran over to salute each other, Lansdale and other American officers congratulated him one by one, and Wu Tingyan, who was left behind, looked confused and didn't know where Zheng Mingshi had gone.

When he saw Zheng Mingshi with the American officer, he had a very reluctant smile on his face.

Should it accept the reorganization of the government or the integration of the United States Military Advisory Group?

Is it the government army or the American army?

Many people didn't care, but Lee-Weimin knew that Ngo Dinh Diem was unhappy because he was the kind of person who wanted help but didn't want to be a puppet, and he didn't like the interference of other governments, including the United States, in Vietnam's internal affairs.

There were only more than 2,000 soldiers in total, and all of them were infantry without mechanized equipment, and the parade ended hastily.

Trangh Minh See's army was relocated to a new barracks north of Saigon, and he became a brigadier general, and his subordinates were now paid by the Ministry of Defence, which greatly influenced other warlords.

As soon as the parade ended, Lansdale, who had just sent Zheng Mingshi away with Li Weimin, was surrounded by a group of officers who had been reconciled.

The leader was Ruan Duwu, who was older and embarrassed to say a lot.

The young officer did not have so many scruples and said bluntly: "Mr. Colonel, we want to make a deal, you provide money and weapons, and we accept the reorganization of the government. ”

"Gentlemen, as long as you support the government and accept the integration, the Ministry of Defense will provide military spending and equipment."

"Colonel, you're right, but how to explain the deal you made with Zheng Mingshi, I heard that you gave him a lot of money."

Li Weimin was also curious about this question, and Lansdale said with a sincere face: "Gentlemen, don't believe the rumors spread by the Viet Minh, I have not given money to General Zheng Minh. Nor has he the right to give money to anyone. It's true. I can swear to God. ”

Don't say what he says, and the officers don't believe it. Even Li Weimin didn't believe it.

As you can imagine, a group of young officers surrounded him and demanded equal treatment, which made him anxious.

On the way to the headquarters of the Bank of East Asia, Lansdale said angrily: "A bunch of insatiable bastards know that they want money, they only have money in their eyes, and they use the army as a tool to make money." Such an army has morale and can fight? ”

"Colonel, it's called not suffering from poverty but suffering from inequality, so the Viet Minh's theory is very marketable here, and we will encounter more similar challenges in the future."

"What do you mean?"

Li Weimin sighed lightly, leaned on the driver's seat and said with a wry smile: "Your government and the international community have done a lot to evacuate and resettle Catholic refugees, Bishop Spelman and Father Harnett only care about their 'children', and will continue to help Catholic refugees in the future, and as a result, the refugees will live better than the local farmers."

I take this into account as much as possible when distributing donations and social donations. In the face of pressure from all sides, half of the funds and materials raised overseas will be distributed by the government, and the other half will be used by churches and other institutions according to their own wishes. There's really nothing I can do about it. ”

Lansdale understood and muttered, "They want to be as respectful as possible to the donors." ”

In fact, it's not just churches, it's also other non-profit organizations. For example, my compatriots, of course, will give priority to their own compatriots, and are willing to donate generously to more than a dozen Nong refugee settlements in the south, but are not very willing to help others, which objectively widens the gap between the rich and the poor between the local farmers and the refugees who have migrated south. ”

"The government has little say in how church and social donations are used, and they will blame the government for all this?"

"And the Vietminh would be happy to take advantage of this."

Some opposition groups in Vietminh and South Vietnam will take advantage of this to make a fuss about Ngo Dinh Diem's religious beliefs. There is no way to reason with the peasants, they are gullible and do not look at problems rationally.

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Lansdale said with concern: "Lee, this is a headache, and it's hard to solve. Unless the industrial villages can be developed in a short period of time, the government will have enough financial resources to help the poor local peasants who have neither the help of the church nor the wealthy relatives. ”

There is a reason why I have so much to talk about you, Li Weimin lost no time in saying: "So you can't just focus on the military, but also pay attention to the economy, especially industry." As for the industrial village plan, it needs not only the support of Mr. Prime Minister, but also the support of the U.S. government, such as the U.S. Navy, Army, Marine Corps and Air Force for some low-tech bulk purchases, and it is best to give priority to Vietnamese companies. ”

He was not in a very high position and had little influence in Washington, but his reports were sent directly to the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department.

In order to accomplish this, it is not enough to rely on the "Association of Friends of Vietnam", but it is necessary to exert influence from all sides.

How could Lansdale not know what he was hauling for, and couldn't help laughing, "My friend, you're tougher than those bastards just now. ”

"They're for themselves, I'm for the country."

"So we're friends, speaking of friends, I'm sorry about Li Wenyuan, I shouldn't have taken you with me."

"Colonel, do you think he'll like me if you don't go?"

"At least not like it is now."

On the issue of rejecting Le Van Yuan's surrender, he was disgraced, and he had even more of an opinion on Ambassador Collins, who already had an opinion on Ngo Dinh Diem.

Li Weimin was silent for a moment, and then said lightly: "Professor Anderson sent me a telegram yesterday saying that Mr. Ambassador expressed serious doubts about the competence of Premier Yan, and even suggested in his report to the White House that a replacement be considered. ”

Although Ambassador Collins did say so in his report, and that he intended to return to the United States to meet President Eisenhower on the issue, Lansdale flatly denied it: "Speculation, rumors, Washington has never lacked such gossip. ”

"Colonel, speculation or rumors, I know it doesn't matter, but it's better not to let Mr. Prime Minister know." (To be continued......)

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