Just as Saigon, Hue, Da Nang, Vung Tau and other major cities were putting up lights and flying Catholic flags everywhere in preparation for the grand celebration of the 25th anniversary of Dih Dinh Kuk's tenure as bishop, Li Weimin, who was vacationing at a cherry farm in New Jersey, received an invitation from the chief of staff of the White House.

Kennedy wanted to see him, and Li Weimin felt a little strange, but at the same time not particularly strange.

Curiously, despite the good personal relationship between the two sides, Kennedy did not want to be influenced by too many preconceived notions when it came to Vietnam, and rarely consulted him; Li Weimin, on the other hand, has always been worried about the fate of this Mr. President, and does not want or even dare to get involved in those conspiracies that have not been figured out by later generations, and has always carefully kept his distance.

In contrast, her sister Li Weiqing has not so many scruples and can take the "lady route".

It is not surprising that the "Left and Right Hook Operations" had just achieved unprecedented success, and many Americans who supported Vietnam were still basking in the joy of victory, when a shocking news suddenly came from Saigon: In a place called Yi Bei, South Vietnamese government troops and American military advisers were ambushed by Vietnamese guerrillas, and three American helicopters and two rescue helicopters that were landing South Vietnamese troops were shot down.

The commander of the operation was Major General Huang Wengao of the 7th Division of the Government Army, and the senior military adviser was Lieutenant Colonel Paul Vane, who was on an observation plane at the time when he noticed the helicopter falling and immediately ordered the armored personnel carriers of the 7th Division of the Government Army on the ground to attack and advance to rescue the survivors from the helicopter, but the convoy commander refused to act.

Among the pilots of the helicopter were three American soldiers, and the South Vietnamese army refused to rescue them. Agitated, Lieutenant Colonel Vane eventually ordered an American adviser to shoot the officer. Take command yourself.

The convoy finally began to move forward. However, in the face of the resolute and well-trained firepower of the Vietnamese guerrillas, they had to stop.

The lieutenant colonel asked Huang Wengao to send more troops. was also rejected by Huang Wengao, which directly led to the guerrillas taking advantage of the night to escape. And a paratrooper unit that participated in the operation suffered heavy casualties because it missed the landing site. In the end, the guerrillas lost only 18 men, but killed about 80 South Vietnamese soldiers and 3 American soldiers.

Incredibly, early the next morning, Hoang Van Quo ordered his troops to attack the village, which had been empty for a long time, only to kill several South Vietnamese soldiers instead. And almost killed several American journalists.

The reporter listened to Lieutenant Colonel Vain's blunt description, and the newspaper immediately reported the incident, and public opinion was in an uproar. Some people are anti-war, and some people point to the White House's policy toward Vietnam, which has made Kennedy anxious.

At this time, Diem was not worrying.

Unable to stand the criticism of the American side and not even allow the Americans he considered unfriendly to remain in Vietnam, Lieutenant Colonel Vann was retaliated against for his comments in the press, the Saigon government blamed Vane entirely for the defeat in the battle, and the Military Aid Command went so far as to dismiss a qualified officer. Move him to a remote and unvisited place as a gesture of retreat.

The American media is-for-tat. Almost all the newspapers criticized the Ngo Dinh Diem brothers as indecent.

Ngo Dinh Diem saw all this as an insult to him, because the enemy was Viet G, not him and his family. He held frequent press conferences and launched press wars to criticize the United States for interfering in its internal affairs, trying to extract huge concessions from Vietnam's sovereignty with negligible aid, and trying to turn South Vietnam into an object of animal testing and profit-extraction.

So much aid, so many sacrifices of American soldiers and civilians, but in exchange for such a result.

Many Americans were not happy and held demonstrations, strongly demanding that Washington recall its ambassador and stop military aid to Vietnam. Relations between the United States and Wu have dropped to a freezing point, and domestic pressure is increasing, and Kennedy must adjust his policy toward Vietnam as soon as possible.

With his resurrection, history has changed dramatically, and anything is possible.

On the plane from the farm to Washington, Mr. Lee wondered what kind of strategy Kennedy would adopt, whether to support the State Council in pushing for a "change" of government in Saigon, or to take the opportunity to withdraw from Vietnam.

"Lee, thank you for coming, it's all messed up, Mr. President is very eager to hear your opinion."

General Taylor personally greeted him at the airport, which showed how serious the situation was, Li Weimin shook his hand tightly, got into the car and said with a wry smile: "General, in fact, you foresaw this possibility. ”

"The question now is how to solve the problem."

There were too many troubles in South Vietnam, not only the Ngo Dinh Diem brothers, but also Viet G, and there were officers who did not obey anyone, Li Weimin did not want to express his attitude too early, and did not express any views, so he rushed to the White House in silence.

Kennedy was watching the news on television in the Oval Office, with Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, CIA Director John McConn and his younger brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, all present.

They were all old acquaintances, and they had often dealt with each other before their current government was elected, and his sister was a frequent visitor here, so many high-ranking officials were waiting for him, Li Weimin did not feel flattered, and nodded first to Robert Kennedy, who opened the door to welcome him in.

"Lee, my dear friend, sit down casually and listen to what this guy has to say first."

The situation was serious, but Kennedy, who had experienced the more serious Cuban Missile Crisis, looked calm, even smiling enthusiastically as usual.

After greeting McNamara and others, Li Weimin noticed that the TV was broadcast live on a talk show, the host was very famous, and the guests interviewed were also not small, Pulitzer winner, the famous New York Times reporter David Hoberstein, and he had just returned from Saigon.

“…… He received a lot of aid without the intention of letting the United States direct his government and his war, and in the words of his former ambassador to Vietnam, de Brow, the reorganization of the military establishment actually required him to share power with people outside his family, which he was extremely reluctant to do.

Washington constantly urged him to expand his government base, he always said that Vietnam was an underdeveloped country and lacked proper human resources, and that he and his brothers were becoming more and more suspicious of us, doing everything possible to limit the sphere of American influence and even limit our understanding of the internal situation in South Vietnam......"

The moderator sharply asked: "David, can I understand that Washington's policy toward Vietnam seems to be tough." Not actually determined? ”

"That's true."

David Hoberstein's body language is extremely rich. While making gestures. "De Brow and the embassy staff believe that South Vietnam must carry out fundamental political reforms, and in fact it is very necessary. As he said earlier, reform requires sharing power with others, and Ngo Dinh Diem cannot accept it, believing that this is a criticism of him by the United States.

And our government naively thinks that it is unwise for De Brow to put forward an 'ultimatum' on political reform in South Vietnam, and that De Brow has become an obstacle to cooperation between the United States and Ngo Dinh Diem. The former commander of military aid, McGar, even told the Ministry of Defense that such an action would weaken the combat capability of the Saigon government. This will lead to further victories over the G. ”

The moderator asked: "So Washington has decided to replace him with the current ambassador, Nordin, and pinned all the hopes that will affect Dinh Diem on maintaining his confidence and respecting his ultimate authority." The request for first improvement, and then an increase in military aid, was finally quietly put away? ”

"I couldn't agree more."

David straightened his tie and continued, like a political analyst: "I think Washington quickly took the restoration of confidence and the rebuilding of rapport between the United States and Wu as the starting point in view of the fact that previous attempts at reform and the ambiguous attitude in the attempted coup d'état in November 1960 had damaged Wu's confidence in the United States." Obviously, this is tantamount to stipulating that no serious efforts to promote improvement should be made. ”

The moderator flipped through the information, looked up at the camera and said: "I noticed that the current ambassador to Vietnam previously served as the deputy permanent representative of the United States to NATO. There is a complete lack of experience related to Asia. From Mr. David's analysis, it is conceivable why he was elected to his post. Perhaps it is just because he behaves elegantly and politely, which is just in line with the need to improve relations between the United States and Wu. ”

"Mr. Nordin clearly meets that need."

David took over: "From the point of view of promoting improvement, he is undoubtedly the worst candidate. He completely abandoned the 'turnip and stick' policy of his predecessor de Brow, and used the most optimistic possibility to explain Ngo Dinh Diem's behavior. Since he became ambassador, he has been almost obedient to Wu. ”

"Baiyi Baishun, is he the ambassador we have appointed?"

"It sounds unbelievable, but it's true. He only dealt with the upper echelons of the Saigon government and didn't care at all what that country was really like. If you get along well with the government and report it to the level of what is happening, then you are doing your job...... He forbade members of the embassy to talk to any Vietnamese who disagreed.

As long as you don't hear it, it doesn't exist. As long as you don't see it, it never happens. His policy was to agree to whatever Diem asked for in order to establish a relationship of trust with Diem in the hope that one day he would be rewarded. ”

David Hobbstein was decidedly anti-war and even imitated it vividly: "He even made a public comment saying that I have no doubt that the United States has done a very good job in giving this regime full support." Based on our approach to this at home and abroad, I think we can begin to provide broader support for the regime.

However, this is not the case.

Ngo Dinh Diem received so much aid but did not make any changes, many senior officials resigned in anger out of disgust, Vice President Nguyen Ngoc Tho was secretly demoted in order to divert the corruption he had done when he was finance minister, Ngo Dinh Diem's fake reforms could not fool anyone, and the morale of the army remained sluggish.

Since neither Notting nor Washington looked at improvements, the U.S.-Wu negotiations became almost entirely a U.S. aid negotiation. As for the amount of aid, the White House sent a special financial delegation headed by Eugene Staley, director of the Stanford Institute, some time ago, and the delegation went so far as to give top priority to 'understanding' the Saigon government, and its starting point was in line with Nodin's request that Washington satisfy Ngo Dinh Diem as much as possible.

They returned to Washington with a report that actually represented Nodin's point of view that the Saigon government army needed to be increased to 270,000 as the situation deteriorated. To that end, the United States will need to increase aid by $42 million. Note that this is only military aid, in addition to the proposal to increase the economic aid ...... by $120 million"

"Will this help make a difference?"

"I can tell everyone unambiguously that the tremendous amount of American aid that the United States Government has provided over the years has not yielded any of the results that we would like. The ****, corruption and unpopularity of the Saigon regime have reached outrageous levels. A large amount of funds for strategic villages have been embezzled, farmers told me during field interviews. They have been working for 6 weeks. Not a penny is paid. They strongly complained about unpaid work.

Ngo Dinh Diem, on the other hand, tells us that in some areas, the districts, villages, and villages themselves are quite wealthy and enthusiastic, and are able to carry out this plan mainly on their own. ”

The host glanced at the information again and asked with interest: "David, as far as I know, there are places in South Vietnam that are still very good, such as their industrial areas. and the southern region, where political reforms are being pursued. ”

"Yes."

David took out a map and pointed to the dozen or so blue dots and the Jinou Peninsula representing industrial villages, and objectively and impartially introduced the difference between the areas controlled by the "industrial investment system" and the areas controlled by the government army.

Kennedy shrugged his shoulders, turned off the TV and smiled, "Lee, you can see that they think highly of you." ”

"Thank you, in fact we just did what we were supposed to do, and that little bit of achievement is inseparable from the support and help of gentlemen."

To Li Weimin's surprise, Kennedy did not invite him over because of a small trouble caused by Ngo Dinh Diem. It's the big trouble in North Vietnam.

Kennedy took a document from the CIA's hand and said with a serious face, "Lee." Mr. Chief brought me bad news, Hanoi was not relented by the military action taken by the South Vietnamese government forces against the Vietnamese G command some time ago, and they were organizing more troops to infiltrate the south, and there were all kinds of indications that the battle in which Lieutenant Colonel Van En was involved was only a prelude to their retaliation. ”

CIA Director John McConn added: "Mr. Chairman, the intelligence sources are very reliable, Ping Panel, I'm sure you've heard of it. ”

I knew it earlier than you, Li Weimin felt very funny, and pretended to be surprised and sighed: "My God, it's really bad news. ”

Kennedy was full of worries about the future of South Vietnam, and said solemnly: "There seem to be only three options before me, either send a large number of troops to intervene militarily on a large scale, or send a small number of troops to establish an American 'presence' in one or two important positions, or increase military assistance without sending more combat troops."

In fact, we all know that the support force and the combat force are completely a play on words, and it is difficult to say that there is any fundamental difference, and in the event of an attack, the support force will respond as expected, and the result will only lead to an escalation of the situation, so there are only two options to be exact. ”

I don't know what kind of medicine he sells in his gourd, Li Weimin can only follow his topic and ask: "Which one does Mr. President think is more suitable?" ”

Kennedy's calmer than imagined and blunt: "They suggested sending more American troops, saying that in order to restore confidence, in order to maintain morale, it must be done." But, it must have been the same as in Berlin, where the army marched in, the military music was loud, the people cheered, and after four days everyone forgot about it. Then he asked us to increase our troops, which was like drinking, and when the strength of the wine had passed, we had to have another drink.

Frankly, I think that the war in Vietnam can only be won if it is a war of the Vietnamese. If it were to be turned into a white man's war, the United States would suffer a defeat like France. I don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, and I don't want to be accused of losing a country and abandoning my allies. ”

"So you're planning to increase your aid?"

"Wu clearly wants to use his stubbornness to defeat the United States, and with the current situation in Saigon, I am afraid it will be difficult to make such a decision."

This doesn't work, that doesn't work, what the hell do you want?

Li Weimin was confused and simply remained silent, Secretary of State Rusk and Kennedy looked at each other, and said with a serious face: "Lee, just like what the reporter just said on television, you have unparalleled political influence in South Vietnam and have made outstanding contributions to the economy of South Vietnam and the stability of the southern provinces, and you should stand up at this critical moment." ”

If the United States can provide assistance without reservation, the "industrial investment system" may be able to hold half of the country with three or four percent certainty.

The key is that the US policy towards Vietnam is vacillating, and God knows if they will take this opportunity to get out. Thinking about fighting North Vietnam for more than ten years makes people shudder. What's more, the number of Chinese is less than half of the total population of South Vietnam, and taking over the mess now is tantamount to making a wedding dress for someone else.

Their proposal may be in the interests of the "industrial investment system", but it is by no means in the interests of the Chinese.

Later, the United States fought the Vietnam War for ten years, and although it failed politically, it did not fail militarily, and won almost every battle. Throughout the Vietnam War, North Vietnam and South Vietnam suffered millions of casualties, if history does not repeat itself, if we do not release a little more blood that should be released, how can the Chinese sit on the benefits of the fishermen.

You have to fight if you should fight, how can you do it if you don't.

Li Weimin would not be fooled by this, and said with a sincere face: "Mr. Secretary of State, I think I understand what you mean. First of all, allow me to express my heartfelt thanks for such a high opinion of you, but this issue was discussed with General Taylor as early as last year, and I am afraid it will be difficult to accept your proposal. ”

"What are you worried about?"

"It's not that I'm worried, it's that there are many practical problems that can't be solved, such as my Chinese identity, such as the tension between the government army and the Fourth Army and the industrial village security team, and the poor economic situation in the rural Midwest."

If the economy of the Jingu Peninsula can be developed, the social stability of the Jingu Peninsula can be maintained, and the more than 5 million people living on the Jingu Peninsula can be sincerely supported, why can't they succeed the unpopular Ngo Dinh Diem to rule South Vietnam?

Kennedy directly thought that he was not lacking in this ability and appeal, but that he was not mentally prepared, patted him on the arm and said, "Lee, you can definitely do it, I am convinced of this." And I know that the young commander of the Air Force is your man, and in the government army you are not without supporters. I will take the second proposal as long as you want, increase military and economic aid and give you everything you want. ”

Secretary of Defense McNamara wasted no time in saying: "Including the EC-121 AWACS aircraft." ”

These cunning politicians, in order to get out, are willing to spend so much money, you must know that the EC-121 AWACS aircraft costs more than 13 million US dollars, and the reason why it is on the list is completely because the drunkard does not mean to drink, what he really wants is actually a destroyer.

It was not appropriate to flatly refuse, Li Weimin decided to settle for the next best thing, and said thoughtfully: "Mr. President, I can't hide it, not only am I personally not mentally prepared for this, but my colleagues and friends are almost none. What's more, in addition to psychological preparation, a series of other preparations should be made. ”

"Where?"

"We must do everything economically, militarily, to transfer the economy to a wartime system, and to have an overwhelming superiority in the army, which is not only relative to the Vietnamese army, but also to the government army. It takes time to do all of this, and maybe we can draw up a timetable. ”

The talented musician in front of him does what he says, and his character is not one or two points strong.

Kennedy was so pleased that he could make such a promise and couldn't help asking, "How about a year?" ”

"One year is not enough, at least three years, because the three main divisions formed last year have still not been able to form combat effectiveness, not to mention the mobilization and formation of more armies in the future."

Kennedy bargained like a businessman: "Two years, two years at most!" ”

You don't know where you are after two years, Li Weimin pretended to be very embarrassed, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, just two years." However, taking into account the feelings of Saigon and the government army, I will proceed in the name of building a reserve force in the name of building an army. ”

Although it failed to solve the looming problem, there was at least one hope, and Kennedy laughed and said, "That's a good idea, like Israel." (To be continued.) )