In the event of such a vicious rebellion as the air raid on the presidential palace, it is impossible not to hold the military accountable.

Annoyed and ashamed, Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Diem began to intensify their efforts to control the country with strong tactics, and while purging suspicious elements within the national army, they frantically searched for anti-government figures from all walks of life. The "anti-sabotage war," which had just picked up a little, was abandoned halfway, and the Southern National Liberation Front, which had once again suffered serious losses, was given another chance to breathe.

The more you suppress, the bigger the rebound.

As Li Weimin said, the people in the army were "far away and afraid of the Wu brothers." Dissatisfaction with the government has reached a critical point in all sectors of society, and even workers in various industrial villages, who are rarely involved in political turmoil, have staged several demonstrations with the tacit consent of trade union organizations and management committees.

Instead of poverty, we suffer from inequality.

With so many privileges in the Catholic Church, some monks who are supposed to be pure in heart have become more and more radical, using the major temples in Hue and Saigon as their "base camps" to organize monks and nuns, call on Buddhists across the country to demonstrate, demand religious equality, emphasize freedom of belief, and oppose a series of government decrees that discriminate against Buddhism.

The whole country is like a huge powder keg, which can explode at any moment, and all that is missing is a fuse. All of this made the 1963 Spring Festival a little less festive, and almost everyone was talking about the political situation.

In order to cope with the situation of great changes in the future, the company celebrated its annual celebration more than a month later than in previous years, and changed the meeting place from Saigon or Vung Tau to Can Tho, where the headquarters of the Fourth Tactical Region is located.

Rather than calling it the annual meeting of the industrial investment company. It is better to say that it is a political consultative conference.

The organizer of the annual meeting is Yan Weiming, Chairman of the Management Committee of Can Tho Industrial Village. Special to Qian Xinlin, Gu Changgeng, Gui Qingshan and other main members of the "Yuehua Literature and Art Research Association". Wu Jingchen, Ma Anyi, Huang Ziheng and other presidents of large groups, Ruan Houchang, Li Huisheng, Ruan Youzheng, Huang Wenhao and "coal king" Chen Wenchun and other emerging capitalists issued invitations.

In addition, there are also representatives of the education sector such as Dinh Yousong, President of Phu Quoc University of Technology, Tan Kam Hua, Principal of Nghe An Middle School, Kang Cheng, Principal of Fude Middle School, and Pham Yi Son, Principal of Da Nang Industrial Village Yuren Middle School.

President of DreamWorks Pictures, General Manager of Saigon Film Company and other representatives of the film industry, as well as borrowing the embankment temples such as Phu Quoc Temple and Tin Hou Temple to worship, presided over by Phu Quoc Dabei Temple, and Phu Quoc General Fubo Temple Temple Blessing. Bishop Nguyen Tay Mao of the Catholic Diocese of Kim Ou, Le Chang Gui, leader of the Tran Thanh Church and other religious figures were all invited.

The conference was of such a high standard and attended by so many participants, unprecedented in the history of Vietnam.

The Can Tho Industrial Village Management Committee, which has become the "organizing committee", is busy with all sorts of things, and the Fourth Tactical Zone Command, the Industrial Village Security Team, and the Industrial Village Audit and Supervision Department are even more overwhelmed by security matters.

As the host, Li Weimin was really not competent, and he did not arrive in Can Tho by plane from Phu Quoc Island until two hours before the start of the meeting.

On the way from Chanuo Airport to the industrial village, Sun Ningyu held the schedule and introduced: "A plenary meeting is held today, and you, Mr. Guo, Minister Liu and General Ren will introduce the situation at home and abroad. Tomorrow and the next two days will be the group meeting of each group, and the company's senior management and the managers of each industrial village need to go to each group to participate. There will be another plenary meeting the morning after tomorrow. However, the theme is the economic development of the industrial village and the lower six provinces, and no political announcements are made and no resolutions are formed. ”

First there was the conference, then the group meeting, and finally the conference.

The company's senior management participated in the group meetings of each group, except that they did not show their hands to vote and did not form resolutions, which was no different from the people's congress of the Celestial Empire.

The main thing is to unite all walks of life and unify thinking in order to better deal with the future situation, Li Weimin felt very funny, took the draft report and looked at it, and asked absentmindedly: "Mr. Qian, in what capacity did they participate?" ”

"Mr. Qian is a representative of the education sector, Mr. Gu is a member of the Special Committee on Land Reform, Mr. Gui is a representative of the cultural sector, and Tianming and Wenshui are representatives of international students.

The upcoming annual meeting is also a meeting where the "Vietnamese Chinese Literature and Art Research Association" and the Industrial Investment Company converge.

For this day, Qian Xinlin, Gu Changgeng and others have been preparing for several years. It is hoped that through the platform of the industrial investment company, the Chinese will truly integrate into Vietnam, and at the same time, more Vietnamese people will integrate into the unique Chinese society of the "industrial investment system".

The convoy arrived at the industrial village, and the participants had already entered the venue.

The so-called venue is actually the canteen of the industrial village management committee.

After several days of preparation, the cafeteria was renovated, and the tables were arranged in a very elaborate manner, like the United Nations venue, in a circular shape, and the representatives of the various groups sat around the middle speakers' table, forming a "round table".

"Mr. Min, Mr. Min has arrived!"

"Father, I've kept you waiting."

Li Weimin clasped the hand of the bishop of the diocese of Jinou, nodded to the people who stood up to greet him, and explained apologetically: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry, the US congressional delegation is inspecting the SAR, and the head of the delegation, Senator Mansfield, is an old friend for many years. Let you wait for a long time, sit, sit quickly. ”

"Mr. Min, we just arrived in the morning."

"Arrive early and arrive late, as long as you are not late." Li Weimin held the arm of the abbot of the Great Compassion Temple, and reminded with a smile: "There is a chair in the back, master be careful, don't trip." ”

Seeing that he was entangled in the religious group, Chen Shiguo raised his hand and greeted: "Chairman, your position is here!" ”

"I'm sorry, I'll go first."

No matter how privileged the Catholic Church is, it is impossible for the government to treat each other with such courtesy as the Industrial Investment Company, and Bishop Nguyen Tai Mao was so excited that he could not believe that he could be on an equal footing with such famous figures as the chairman and vice chairman of the Industrial Investment Company, the Minister of Economic Affairs of the Government, the Deputy Mayor of Saigon Military Management City, and the Commander of the Fourth Army.

"The meeting is about to start, Mr. Min, come over quickly."

As soon as he sat down in the group seat of the industrial investment company, Yan Weiming, Chairman of the Management Committee of Can Tho Industrial Village and Manager of the Industrial Village, walked to the speaker in the center of the venue and warmly welcomed all the guests and solemnly introduced the representatives of each group. The order is clockwise. There is no such thing as a high status. Who has a low status.

After announcing the agenda of the meeting, Chen Shiguo walked to the speaker table amid long-lasting applause and took the lead in introducing and analyzing the domestic situation.

“…… The current government is considered unpopular and has low approval ratings, so it is very likely that it will be wiped out by socialist North Vietnam. In reality, however, there were not many staunch North Vietnamese Workers' Party elements in South Vietnamese society. In addition to the nearly 2 million refugees who have been evacuated from the North and the South since 1954, there are not many who are staunchly opposed to North Vietnam, and the centrists are in the majority. ”

Chen Shiguo's speeches have always been based on facts. Be objective and fair, let alone say empty words and lies, and will not sing high-profile like those politicians.

His concise and unobtrusive opening remarks immediately attracted everyone's attention, and many people, including Li Weimin, picked up pen and paper to record from time to time.

"Rather than opposing the government because of their support for North Vietnam's ideology, social system, and way of life, the centrists have always been resistant to North Vietnamese ideology, and if the current government can seek common ground while reserving differences, it will expand its mass base. However, it is clear that the current government has mishandled the situation, and the series of actions that President Yan has done since taking office are tantamount to digging his own grave. ”

This is the first time that the "Department of Industry and Investment" has publicly stated its political stance. The attitude is sharper than expected.

Some representatives of educational, cultural, and religious circles all looked at Li Weimin, because in their minds "Mr. Min" supported the Ngo Dinh Diem brothers, and they felt very unbelievable about what was happening.

Qian Xinlin was sitting in a precarious position, and He Tianming and Jiang Wenshui, who had just returned from studying in the United States, were very excited, and in their opinion, they could do a big job in the future, and they could take advantage of the situation to achieve a goal that many generations of Vietnamese Chinese could not achieve.

"We are a proud people with a history and culture, and in modern times we have suffered from Western colonial rule, and the common people have strong nationalist sentiments, which can be called simple 'xenophobia' among the uneducated masses.

As the backbone of society, many intellectuals sympathized with the National Liberation Front's program and goals for independence and reunification, but were wary of its North Vietnamese-style ideology. This is because most of the intellectuals, including myself, are Western-educated, believe in liberal and democratic political principles, are dissatisfied with the gap between the rich and the poor and social injustice, and at the same time harbor strong nationalist sentiments, but do not want to get too involved in politics and affect their own lives.

As a result, the intellectual stratum in general has an ambivalent attitude towards the National Liberation Front. While identifying with the position of the National Liberation Front for independence and opposing foreign domination, they were disgusted by its organizational subordination to the Workers' Party of North Vietnam and the leading role played by its theoreticians. ”

Chen Shiguo was very well prepared, did not read the speech script at all, and while looking around at the crowd, he said solemnly: "The North Vietnamese side is very good at engaging in united front work and winning over people in the middle. For a long time, because of one-sided collectivization and a strictly planned economy, as well as bloody land reform, the standard of living of North Vietnamese society was far inferior to that of the South.

Therefore, the North Vietnamese were well aware of the mentality of the majority in the south, and vigorously propagated that they would not impose their own system on the south, in an attempt to dispel the doubts of the centrists. For many years, they have openly declared that the South is "in a special situation completely different from that of the North," and for many years they have repeatedly shouted "building socialism in the North" and "developing a national democratic revolution in the South."

North Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong liked to say to Western visitors over and over again: 'No one has such a stupid and sinful idea of annexing the South; Over the years, they have repeatedly said and kept saying in various propaganda and statements, and even in internal party documents, that this propaganda is very influential for centrists in the South. ”

Of course, propaganda alone is not enough to get centrists who don't care about politics to side with them. Looking at the deteriorating situation, two reasons have played a decisive role. First, President Dim Dinh Diem has a narrow-minded and extreme personality, acting in extreme ways, brutally attacking dissidents who do not approve of his iron-fisted methods, and forcing a considerable number of centrist figures to the side of the Liberation Front.

At the same time, France's colonial rule over our country was different from Japan's colonization of South Korea, and France was relatively relaxed, so the situation in the early years of our country's founding was more complicated than that faced by Syngman Rhee in the early days of South Korea.

As a Catholic president, Ngo Dinh Diem not only cracked down on underground organizations during the 'purge of Viet Minh'. It also seized the opportunity to severely crack down on disobedient political opponents and flatten various factions. Crack down on other sects and organizations that have armed forces and turf. Such as Buddhism, Gao Dai, Hoa Haojiao, as well as the Pingchuan faction armed with gambling, **, smuggling, and gangsters.

These armed men are organized, armed, and have combat experience, and as more valuable territory and supporters of the local snakes, they originally tended to disintegrate after being attacked, just in time for the establishment of the Southern National Liberation Front three years ago, and vigorously recruited troops and horses to recruit heroes from all walks of life, so they joined the Southern Liberation Army one after another under the banner of opposing Ngo Dinh Diem. It has provided SLA with ready-made fighting forces and a mass base. Because of their old grudge with Ngo Dinh Diem, they generally behaved very decisively in battle. ”

I know that there are many problems in the country, but because there are so many problems, I can't figure out which are the fundamental problems.

Chen Shiguo's analysis made everyone suddenly realize that there was really a feeling of "listening to your words is better than reading a book for ten years".

Looking at everyone's thoughtful looks, Chen Shiguo continued: "Second, with the US military beginning to intervene in Vietnam two years ago, the war spread in rural areas and a large number of refugees poured into the cities. Traditional society tends to disintegrate, and ordinary people are angry at the heavy casualties caused by the indiscriminate use of firepower by the US military with modern weapons. They have made the whole nation suffer, and they are dissatisfied with the indulging of US military personnel everywhere.

And many people have historically distrusted the government mentally, but respected nationalism. Therefore, the Yugoslav Liberation Army carried out anti-US propaganda and described President Dinh Diem as a puppet supported by the United States to fight and defeat him. This kind of statement is easy for ordinary people to understand. On the other hand, the government's propaganda that the US military is here to help resist the Soviet Russian camp and establish a democratic government is not very convincing, which makes the anti-American sentiment in the whole society high......"

This is an opportunity to demonstrate the ability of the high-level of the "industrial investment department", as the No. 2 person in the industrial investment company, Chen Shiguo is very sober, not like the Ngo Dinh Diem brothers, his speech won the respect of almost everyone, although he did not come up with any solution.

Major General Nguyen Chi Nhan, commander of the Fourth Tactical Region and commander of the Fourth Army, was the second to speak, and he walked quickly to the middle of the venue, first raised his arms and turned around, and gave a standard military salute to the delegates from all walks of life before he analyzed the military situation in a calm and frustrated manner.

"In your minds, the national army may be greedy for life and afraid of death, and the image of low combat effectiveness. As a soldier, I must admit that it is an indisputable fact that because of the low salary, it is difficult for soldiers to support their families, and there is a common phenomenon of rampant corruption and low morale in the national army, but the failure of military operations in the past period cannot be simply attributed to this. ”

He was indeed a soldier, but he was not an officer of the National Army, even though he had been awarded the rank of Major General of the Army, and served as the commander of the Fourth Tactical Region and the commander of the Fourth Army.

As the supreme commander of the armed forces of the "industrial investment department", Nguyen Zhiren defended the "sworn enemy" national army, which once again surprised everyone.

He held up a drawing board with the characteristics of an industrial investment company and explained slowly: "On the surface, the government has a million-strong army, weapons and equipment aided by the United States, a navy, and an air force, but in fact it is strong from the outside and capable from the middle.

Because of the so-called million-strong army, there are less than 200,000 regular troops, and the other 800,000 are local security forces, which are basically composed of old people and children, and these people are actually only symbolic. Of the nearly 200,000 regular troops, there are only ten infantry divisions in combat units, plus special units, marines, and airborne troops.

The Achilles' heel of the national army is that the ten regular divisions seem to be quite a lot, but in fact they can only be stationed in place to fight defensive battles, and have no ability to fight offensive battles. Only the Einsatzgruppen, the Marine Corps, and the airborne troops have received training in mobile warfare, and the 10 main divisions of the army have hardly received mobile field training, and there is a lack of means of transportation in their establishment, and they have not even conducted coordinated training for the arms above the battalion level.

Therefore, they had to stay put.

It is worth mentioning that almost all the families of the officers and men of these 10 divisions are stationed in the garrison, and the people in the vicinity of the garrison, including enemy spies, are well aware of the situation of the garrison. Therefore, it is okay for these troops to stick to the fortifications and defense, and once there is no help from outside, there is no hope of holding on, and when they think of the safety of their families after the defeat, they will lose their will to fight and the army will be defeated like a mountain. ”

Nguyen Chi Nhan put down the board and continued: "Contrary to the image of incompetent soldiers in most people's common impressions, the elite units of the government army, such as the Einsatzgruppen, the Marine Corps and the Airborne Forces, are very strong in combat, and even when the South Liberation Guerrillas and the North Vietnamese People's Army have the intelligence advantage and the right time and place, it is still difficult to defeat them in battle.

From the large-scale infiltration of North Vietnam to the south to the present, these elite troops have never been destroyed by battalion or above. Comparing the casualty exchange ratio of the two armies, it should be said that the actual combat effectiveness of these troops is far superior to that of their opponents. Because most of the troops could only be stationed in place, these elite troops had to assume the role of mobile combat reserves and fire brigades, but unfortunately the number was too small. ”

A representative of the business community couldn't help but ask, "General Ren, do you think that with the current strength, the Nationalist army can defeat North Vietnam?" ”

Nguyen Chi Nhon sighed lightly and said with a bitter smile: "North Vietnam is now mainly infiltrating the south, trying to achieve its goal through guerrilla warfare, by encircling the cities through the countryside. If the political situation is stable, there is no longer internal friction, and the main focus is on dealing with the Yugoslav solution, it may be possible to maintain the current stalemate situation.

Once North Vietnam launches a full-scale offensive like North Korea, it may only be a matter of time before it falls. Because the National Army actually does not have a strategic mobile corps at the corps level, it is difficult for it to fight for a long time against the North Vietnamese People's Army, which is all soldiers and has a size of hundreds of thousands. Therefore, the Fourth Army and the security team of the Industrial Investment Company have always had to play the role of strategic reserves. ”

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