At 996 meters above sea level, Mt. Lap is located in the northwest of the Mekong Delta, in Tay Ninh Province, near the Pit Bowl area of Cambodia.

It is a strategic point in the northwest of Saigon, about 8 kilometers away from the Cao Dai altar, known as the "Heart of the People", and is a sacred mountain in the hearts of South Vietnamese Buddhists and Cao Dai believers.

After leaving the Cao Dai Sect, Trần Minh Se used the Black Po Mountains as a base and used both political and military means to control a large area in the northwestern part of the Mekong Delta.

Lansdale saw the trip as a good start to unite the various factions of South Vietnam, so he took it upon himself. Li Weimin will not rob him of his job again and again, he came here to save people and see if he can redeem the business partners of the Li family for decades from Zheng Mingshi.

The truck drove on Route 22 for more than half an hour and entered the defense zone of the "coalition" troops. At a checkpoint in a small town called a pot, be interrogated by Union soldiers in French military uniforms with grenades on their waists.

After reading the documents and listening to the intermediary's explanation, a male-faced, bearded officer stared at Lansdale for a while, then suddenly grabbed his hand and said, "Oichaoi! Then he ordered the soldiers to bring a few coconuts and food, and they chatted with the four of them very enthusiastically.

It went better than expected, and Lansdale was happy.

After eating some coconut meat, scattering a circle of cigarettes, resting for about half an hour, accompanied by the officer, he set off again for the headquarters of the "Alliance".

Continuing north along a rugged mountain road, along the way the rivers crisscrossed the river, the rice fields stretched as far as the eye could see, and the distant mountains were either woods or bushes, and after about an hour of driving, we finally came to a small village at the foot of Heipo Mountain.

The car stopped on the path at the edge of the village, and a group of children walked up the ridge. Immediately afterwards, a group of armed militia quietly emerged from the woods, too well hidden, I paid attention to it just now, I didn't expect to hide so many people, Li Weimin was really startled.

The head of the militia was a skinny young man, like a middle school student. Dressed in a faded khaki shirt and trousers, with a pair of tennis shoes on his feet and a rifle on his back, he had a warm smile on his face.

He smiled, and Lansdale smiled.

They clasped hands, and Li Weimin helped translate: "Hello, we are Americans, and we are here to see Zheng Mingshi." ”

"I am."

Li Weimin thought he was a guide, and he was stunned for a moment, so surprised that his jaw was about to drop, and he couldn't believe that this thin and short young man in front of him would be Zheng Mingshi, who the French hated the most.

After listening to the translation, Lansdale was also stunned, no matter how he did not believe that the very young and childlike man in front of him, who was only seventeen or eighteen years old, would be a thief who the French hated to the bone and did not want to get rid of him all the time.

Looking at their surprised expressions, Zheng Mingshi's eyes were full of smiles.

He let go of Lansdale's hand and pointed to the truck and suggested, "Colonel, Mr. Lee, let's quickly hide the car and get off the road." There are French patrols nearby, and they will come at any time. ”

"Well, it's up to you here."

With the help of the militia and children, the truck was quickly pushed into the woods, camouflaged with branches and weeds. Then follow him up the hill and finally come to a pale yellow former French manor owner's luxurious villa.

Zheng Mingshi only knows a little French and Japanese, but not English. The middleman's English proficiency is not high, so Li Weimin can only continue to work as a translator for them.

"Mr. Colonel, I have heard of Ngo Dinh Diem, he is a true patriot, a man of integrity, honesty and ability, and I believe that he can lead the Vietnamese people to real independence."

He spoke highly of Ng Dinh Diem, and he couldn't help but say two things. After all, compared to other warlords, he is the most capable of fighting, and the living environment is also the worst, and he urgently needs external support. However, in the process of translating, Li Weimin noticed that they kept communicating with each other with their eyes and facial expressions. It was evident that Lansdale had a bit of a liking for the young grassroots warlord.

"I'm glad that you think so, General, because the U.S. government thinks so too, and we hold the same view. What I want to know most now is, your political advocacy. ”

Zheng Mingshi's entire Vietnamese version and realistic version of "Song Jiang" is very much looking forward to being recognized and recruited by the government. After expressing his admiration for Ngo Dinh Diem, he took out a pamphlet and said solemnly: "Colonel, my political proposition is to obtain complete national independence and individual freedom from the hands of the French colonists, to use social justice to safeguard individual independence and freedom, and to develop self-managed rural ......."

He was greatly influenced by the Japanese, and even the cover of the pamphlet was written in Japanese, and these political ideas were probably instilled in him by the Japanese.

Li Weimin was surprised that this guy was not a little smart, in order to win the favor and trust of Lansdale, he had done a lot of homework in advance, talking about the Philippines, mentioning President Margosay, claiming to have known the story of Lansdale helping Magsaysay defeat the People's Resistance Army to quell the rebellion, and claiming to have admired Lansdale for a long time.

In the remote rural areas of Vietnam, there are bosom friends.

Lansdale was deeply moved, at least superficially, and shook his hand again: "General, President Magsese's philosophy is the same as your manifesto. As an American, I must tell you that I was deeply moved by your declaration. They remind me that we Americans fought for these ideas during the founding of the United States. ”

Zheng Mingshi stood up suddenly and said impassionedly: "We are also fighting for this!" ”

One is better than the other, and his face is not red and his heart is not beating, Li Weimin is completely convinced.

At this time, Lansdale wasted no time in speaking of the possibility of integrating his troops into the government army, and encouraged him to set a good example for the warlords of all stripes.

Empty words, no real money, how could Zheng Mingshi agree, pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "Colonel, maybe this is necessary, but not now, because ** is still under the control of the French, and there are too many bad people in **, it is impossible for me to cooperate with them." ”

As if worried that it would not be good to just say it like this, he added sincerely: "However, I can guarantee that Ngo Dinh Diem will be able to get my support after he officially becomes prime minister, and if he is overthrown, he can take refuge in me, and I will provide him with shelter and ensure his safety." ”

Landsdale also did not expect that he would be able to take substantive action in a few words, after all, this was the first contact, and he glanced at Li Weimin and said meaningfully: "General Shi, I think Prime Minister Dim Dinh Diem will be very happy and grateful for your assurance." Mr. Lee is Prime Minister Diem's best friend, as he can testify. ”

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister will certainly be very happy and moved."

Zheng Mingshi always thought that Li Weimin was just a translator, but he suddenly showed a disrespectful expression, stared at him and asked, "Mr. Li is the representative of Prime Minister Diem?" ”

Li Weimin shook his head: "General Shi, you misunderstood, I am a friend of Mr. Prime Minister and a friend of the colonel. The reason why I came to visit you with Mr. Colonel was to do something personal. ”

"What's the matter?"

"Find someone, find a few Frenchmen. I know it's hard for you, but they've been punished as they deserve. If their family is still alive, if possible, I want to take them away and let them go back to their country. ”

Trung Minh Se was a warlord and a strong nationalist with an unquenchable xenophobia, with an ethnic hatred of the French and the "Vietminh" (who he believed were also related to France), advocating "the complete eradication of them from Vietnam."

In order to confirm his determination, and to get what he wanted from the Americans and Ngo Dinh Diem in the future, he agreed to this request, and warmly invited them to visit the French captives who had been reduced to slavery, and asked him to find the person he wanted to take with him.

In the open space in the backyard of the "headquarters", a dozen French men in shackles were digging a large square pit bare-chested, surrounded by several heavily armed soldiers supervising in the shade of the trees. Large drops of sweat fell from the heads of the Frenchmen to the earth, and the iron shackles on their feet clanged.

Li Weimin was about to open his mouth to inquire about the whereabouts of the Rang family, when Zheng Mingshi suddenly said: "Colonel, I want to build this place into a strong headquarters as a fortress against the attacks of the French and other sects. If you can provide a radio station with the weapons and supplies that 3,000 soldiers need, I can even lead my army north to fight the Viet Minh. ”

I don't want to be co-opted, but I still want to help, how can there be such a good thing in the world.

Lansdale, who is also a master of not seeing rabbits and eagles, shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "General, although I know that you are in great need of this, I myself very much want to help. Unfortunately, I don't have the authority to do that. However, I can help you relay this to Prime Minister Dim Diem and the Military Advisory Group, and I believe they will consider it. ”