American Strategic Deception Bureau

　The North Vietnamese army continued to fight with various armed groups on the Hue Plain.

　The Saigon regime suffered a devastating blow during the civil war, but with support from the United States, it seems to be slowly recovering.

　The dry season is about to end and the rainy season, during which military operations cannot be carried out, is about to arrive... Has North Vietnam really decided to stop in Hue this year?

　Just as the two were discussing something, with the French guys beside them occasionally interjecting, there was a burst of exclamations from the other end of the bar. Immediately, half of the people in the bar left their seats and rushed to the radio to listen attentively. Even the band stopped playing.

　Because the content of this vague news was that the South Vietnamese government had moved from Saigon to Vung Tau and called on overseas Chinese to evacuate voluntarily.

　In other words, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, is about to fall, just like Seoul, the capital of South Korea many years ago!!!

　Listening to the breaking news on the radio, Dr. Kissinger was stunned for a while, and then he couldn't help but hit his forehead with his fist.

　"Oh, what an idiot I am! Why didn't I think of that? The Vietcong's real target has always been Saigon!"

　So, just one hour after the battle began, the Tan Son Nhat Airport and the South Vietnamese Army General Staff Headquarters, located northwest of Saigon, were easily captured by the Viet Cong guerrillas. Highway 4, which runs from Saigon to the Mekong Delta in the south, was also completely cut off by the Viet Cong guerrillas.

　At the same time, a Vietcong special forces team disguised as South Vietnamese police directly broke into the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam at No. 39 Ham Nghi Avenue. They first sniped the Marines guarding the gate, and then used submachine guns and rocket launchers to kill the civilian staff who were caught off guard.

　In the melee, a rocket even hit Ambassador Rocky's office, blowing the entire room and a female secretary in the room to pieces.

　Fortunately, Ambassador Lodge was not in the office at the time, but went to the toilet, otherwise his fate would have been very serious.

　It was not until this moment that Ambassador Lodge woke up from his dream and realized that the relatively calm situation in South Vietnam in the previous few days was just an illusion.

　Why did the Viet Cong guerrillas in Xining Province voluntarily withdraw from Heipo Mountain, a strategic location close to Xining City, the headquarters of Cao Dai?

　Why were the Hoa Hao militias able to capture cities in the Mekong Delta and easily take over several counties that were once occupied by the Viet Cong?

　Why did the North Vietnamese army stop at the Hue Plain and not continue to rush to Hai Van Ridge and attack Da Nang?

　That's because the Viet Cong is shrinking its forces, clenching its fists, and preparing to launch a powerful attack on Saigon!

　Whether it's Heipo Mountain or the several counties in the Mekong Delta, even Da Nang is nothing compared to Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam!

　However, he and General Harkins mistakenly believed that the situation in South Vietnam had stabilized and the Viet Cong's offensive had temporarily stopped. They even sent several optimistic reports to the country with the theme "We are winning" to cover up their series of disastrous operations that almost brought down the country.

　These overly optimistic reports, along with a series of fabricated or greatly exaggerated reports of victory, confused the White House and the Pentagon in late April, leading Washington to believe that the situation in Vietnam was not yet extremely urgent and that there was no need to rush to organize reinforcements for Saigon.

　Now it seems that for Ambassador Rocky, who is in the middle of the situation, this kind of operation that tries to cover up the truth has really shot himself in the foot!

　However, even if they woke up now, it was too late. A Vietcong suicide squad of more than 200 people had already reached Ambassador Rocky's door. The entire embassy had turned into a bloody slaughterhouse. Shells and rockets rained down, blowing the embassy staff to pieces and causing them to scream in pain.

　The few remaining U.S. Marines lay on the roofs and windows, fired back with their rifles, trying to stop the Viet Cong from slaughtering them.

　However, the US Embassy was so large and contained so many rooms that they couldn't maintain even a basic defense after the gate was breached. Instead, the Viet Cong mounted heavy machine guns on trucks and fired everywhere, their intense firepower barely allowing the Marines to raise their heads.

　Meanwhile, the panicked civilian staff inside the embassy also used their pistols to defend themselves. But in the chaos, with screaming and swaying figures everywhere, and the civilian staff lacking specialized training, they accidentally wounded and killed far more of their own people than they killed Viet Cong.

　Other diplomats tried to seek help, but Saigon had long since lost its water and electricity, and the phone was unreachable. Who could they turn to for help?

　In the end, it was General Harkins who abandoned the defense on other fronts and managed to assemble three companies of "Green Berets" special forces from the US military headquarters in Vietnam five blocks away. He formed a fast-moving force and rushed to the embassy in armored vehicles to carry out emergency rescue.

　After a fierce battle, well-trained American special forces drove out the Viet Cong and rescued Ambassador Lodge and the last few dozen survivors in the embassy.

　The consequence was that Saigon's outer defenses collapsed simultaneously. The main force of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, marching from its headquarters in Cu Chi, 35 kilometers away, carrying the NLF's red, blue, and gold star flag and driving American tanks and armored vehicles captured from defecting South Vietnamese troops, infiltrated Saigon like a cascade of mercury, isolating and encircling the mere several hundred American troops in isolated strongholds, then defeating them one by one.

　At this point, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which skirted Laos and Cambodia, had only just been opened, and its transport capacity was relatively limited. While North Vietnam could transport small items like guns and ammunition, it was possible. However, deploying T-34 tanks across South Vietnamese territory was impossible.

　However, the Viet Cong in the South didn't need Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi to send them Soviet tanks. They already had more than enough American tanks and armored vehicles captured or "delivered" from the South Vietnamese Army, and maintenance was much easier.

　The South Vietnamese army had been killing each other for a month, and many defeated and collapsed South Vietnamese armored soldiers drove their tanks directly to surrender to the Communist Party!

　As the saying goes, "If we don't have guns or cannons, the enemy will make them for us." Today, the Viet Cong's situation is that "the enemy will provide us with armored vehicles and tanks."

　It is conceivable that it is difficult to imagine how the American special forces trapped in the checkpoints would feel when facing the muzzle of the M24 tank.

　In short, after the bloody battle at the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam at 39 Ham Nghi Avenue, Ambassador Lodge, who had just recovered from the shock, quickly sent a telegram to the White House to report the situation, and at the same time quickly contacted the Nguyen Ngoc Thu government in South Vietnam to ask whether they were safe.

　Who

　However, he later discovered that a number of high-ranking bureaucrats of the South Vietnamese civilian government, such as Nguyen Ngoc Thu and Vo Van Mu, had fled as soon as Saigon was attacked. They had taken a car to Vung Tau Port, a hundred kilometers away, before the roads were blocked, and left Saigon in the chaos to the U.S. military!

　Well, how can you be so lazy as to not even defend your own capital? This kind of irresponsible behavior is absolutely unacceptable!

　Although Ambassador Lodge was filled with resentment towards these treacherous South Vietnamese civilian officials, the gunfire outside was still getting more intense, and he could not care less about his impotence and rage. He could only send his servants to quickly pack their bags and prepare to flee Saigon as soon as possible.

　However, the U.S. Embassy at that time had not yet been modernized, and there was no helipad on the roof for helicopter takeoff and landing.

　Therefore, the retreat route arranged by General Harkins, commander of the US forces in Vietnam, for Ambassador Lodge was to rush eastward out of the Saigon city center in an armored vehicle, go along Highway 1 to Bien Hoa Airport, and then take a military transport plane from Bien Hoa Airport to retreat back to the United States. Thanks to the "Green Berets" special forces deployed in Bien Hoa in advance by General Harkins, and the assistance of local Catholic militia, Bien Hoa Airport was temporarily still under the control of the US military.

　"Mr. Ambassador, please retreat with us quickly! We must race against time!"

　A captain suddenly rushed over with several soldiers and shouted to Ambassador Lodge, "Viet Cong tanks have already entered this street!"

　——Just as he finished speaking, another cannon shot was heard not far away, causing the dust on the ceiling to rustle and fall down.

　"But many confidential documents have not been destroyed yet. I can't leave them to the Vietcong..."

　Ambassador Lodge looked at the burning papers in the brazier next to him and the folders and file bags piled messily on the floor, and spoke hesitantly.

　"It's too late! Ambassador! We will blow up the entire embassy! Come with us now!" The American captain ordered the soldiers to pour gasoline on the floor, and without saying anything, he forcibly carried Ambassador Rocky out of the building and dragged him into an M113 armored vehicle.

　As soon as Ambassador Rocky got into the armored vehicle, he heard a deafening roar from outside, followed by a blazing flame and scorching heat waves that shot in through the still-open hatch, illuminating his face and the faces of the soldiers across from him.

　This made him close his eyes and silently lament that his work in South Vietnam seemed to have come to a terrible end.

　-

　And so, like a good man who never turns his head to look at an explosion, Ambassador Lodge left the burning embassy and set out on his escape.

　However, he soon discovered that the evacuation route from Saigon to Bien Hoa was not easy. Thousands of Saigon citizens, perhaps fearing the iron fist of the proletarian dictatorship, were scrambling to pack up their belongings and flee the city. American troops and refugees were crammed onto the only road still being harassed by Viet Cong guerrillas. Hysterical panic spread everywhere, and the retreat soon turned into a collapse and a massive traffic jam.

　As a result, the armored vehicle carrying Ambassador Lodge had to wriggle through the crowded streets for half an hour but was unable to break out of the Saigon city area.

　Hundreds of American civilian soldiers, expert advisors, and journalists from various countries crowded the roads, each one grumbling. Some bravely got out of their vehicles and prepared to retreat on foot, but many lacked the courage and simply sang complaints to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star": "We're winning, we know that. General Huggins told us so."

　In the delta, the flames of war are raging and bullets are flying in the mountains.

　But we are winning, and we know it. General Huggins tells us so.

　If you doubt his words, McNamara can also testify!"

　Next, Ambassador Rocky, who was sitting in the armored vehicle and becoming increasingly annoyed as he listened to the singing, received good news and bad news from the radio.

　The good news is that the US troops stationed in Vietnam finally called for reinforcements. A paratrooper battalion was airdropped into Saigon and put into combat, temporarily resisting the Viet Cong offensive.

　The bad news was that the New Port Bridge, which led from Saigon to Bien Hoa, had just been taken over by a Vietcong armored unit. A short but fierce tank battle had broken out between the US and Vietcong at the bridgehead, ultimately resulting in the bridge being blocked with debris and strewn with explosives of all kinds, making it completely impassable.

　In other words, Ambassador Lodge could not take a car to Bien Hoa Airport and had to turn around and return to Saigon, finding another way to withdraw from the battlefield.

　—And so, two hours after the bombing of his own embassy, ​​Ambassador Lodge once again returned to the charred ruins of the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam at 39 Xianyi Avenue in the twilight, filled with sadness and grief...

　However, the M113 armored vehicle he was riding in did not stay for long at the ruins of the embassy where smoke was rising. Instead, it continued to drive about another kilometer, braving stray bullets on the street, and arrived at the Gia Long Palace, the presidential palace that had been reduced to ruins a month ago.

　To be precise, it is the helicopter pad next to the ruins of the Presidential Palace, which was originally used by Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​plane and is still in good condition.

　Three Huey helicopters that had been urgently transferred were starting their engines and waiting here, ready to take Ambassador Lodge and other embassy diplomats to the Coral Sea aircraft carrier anchored in the South China Sea. The aircraft carrier was originally preparing to bomb Hue and assist the Da Nang defenders in holding the Hai Van Ridge defense line in front of the main force of North Vietnam.

　Before the matter was even started, bad news came from Saigon, so the mission was switched to a rescue mission.

　Unfortunately, on the tarmac next to the ruins of the presidential palace, there were still many Western journalists, American civilian advisers and Vietnamese civilians. They were all shouting and crowding over, trying to fight for seats on the helicopter and arguing with the Marines who were trying to maintain order.

　"Get out! Get out of here! There's no place for you here!"

　Two strong Marines pushed through the crowd and used their elbows to protect Ambassador Rocky, allowing him to board an overloaded helicopter.

　But there was also a skinny Vietnamese translator from the embassy who was holding on to the helicopter door tightly from the outside, and kept begging the ambassador not to abandon him, saying that the Viet Cong would definitely shoot him as an "imperialist running dog" if they caught him.

　The impatient Ambassador Rocky raised his arm in the cabin and punched the thin Vietnamese man in the face, knocking him out... He completely ignored the fact that the famous scene of him swinging his iron fist and beating his lackey was captured by a reporter's camera not far away and spread all over the world a few days later.

　However, even though Ambassador Lodge wielded the "Saigon Iron Fist" and knocked away the Vietnamese who got in his way, he ultimately failed to escape the city.

　Because, just as the helicopter carrying him took off and was less than five meters above the ground, an RPG rocket flew in and hit the helicopter's cockpit, killing the pilot on the spot. The entire Huey helicopter also instantly stalled and plummeted to the screams of the passengers and the people on the ground.

　The rapidly spinning blades and flying aluminum skin swept across like the scythe of the god of death, instantly taking away more than a dozen lives.

　Immediately afterwards, accompanied by chaotic gunfire and loud military bugles, several more rockets flew over and hit the armored vehicles parked nearby, killing a number of unlucky people. All the people who were crowded near the ruins of the presidential palace waiting to get on the helicopter let out desperate howls.

　After Ambassador Rocky used his last bit of strength to barely climb out of the wreckage of the crashed helicopter, he fell into a coma and knew nothing.

　It was unknown how long it was before Ambassador Rocky regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying in a spacious tent. It was already bright outside and the air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant.

　He wanted to raise his hands to check if there were any parts missing from his body, but he found that his limbs were tied tightly and he could not move.

　At this moment, a military doctor wearing thick bottle-bottom glasses seemed to have heard the noise, and walked over to his side. In heavily accented English, he said word by word, "Hello, Mr. Ambassador, you are in good health. I hope you will remain calm and cooperate with us. You are our prisoner now, and I promise you will be treated appropriately. The war will be over soon, and you will be able to go home soon..."

　Ah, so I've become a prisoner of the Vietcong? This is truly humiliating!

　Ambassador Lodge lamented in his heart, but he remained unyielding: "The war is over? I don't think so! Even if Saigon falls, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy will organize a new government in Vung Tau Port, and then rely on American aid to continue fighting you..."

　"Vung Tau Port?" A sarcastic smile suddenly appeared on the military doctor's face. "We have already captured Vung Tau today."

　-

　Almost at the same time as Saigon fell, South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Ngoc Thu, Foreign Minister Vu Van Mau and other senior civil servants, who had just fled to Vung Tau Port and announced the establishment of a provisional government there, were horrified to hear intensive gunfire coming from not far away before they had time to hold a meeting to discuss the current situation.

　"Comrades, fight bravely and completely destroy this reactionary puppet government!"

　Major General Chen Wenguang, commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, gave the order to attack over the radio.

　Next, a Viet Cong commander who looked Chinese shouted, "It is better to use the remaining courage to pursue the enemy than to seek fame by imitating the tyrant," and led his guerrillas to charge straight at the city hall building, which had sandbags and barbed wire at the door.

　Over ten thousand Vietcong guerrillas and newly defected South Vietnamese "liberation fighters" subsequently split into three groups and poured into Vung Tau, which was severely depleted due to the lack of American reinforcements.

　On the morning of May 1, Vung Tau Port fell, Nguyen Ngoc Thu and Vu Van Mau were captured, and the South Vietnamese Provisional Government, which had moved here only one day, was declared destroyed.

　At this point, as a political entity, the South Vietnamese authorities no longer had a central government in any sense and entered a state of de facto national extinction.

　A difficult question was then placed before the White House and the Pentagon:

　Now that South Vietnam has been destroyed, should the Vietnam War continue?

　The radio on the conference table emitted a sound, and all the generals of the multinational coalition forces present could not help but look at each other.

　Although the South Liberation Front did not directly announce a merger with North Vietnam, but instead established a "Red South Vietnam" in Saigon, everyone knew that the Vietcong in the South were merely the Southern Bureau of the North Vietnamese Workers' Party. The Vietcong's entry into Saigon was like Ho Chi Minh's flag being hoisted in the South Vietnamese capital!

　South Vietnam today is not even on the verge of collapse, but the building has already collapsed!

　"So, less than two weeks after President Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​death, the Vietcong are already ruling Saigon?"

　Listening to the enthusiastic applause and cheers that followed the declaration on the radio, General Vang Pao, a Hmong warlord from Laos, ran a hand through his hair and muttered in French, "How much of this country...hasn't succumbed to the Vietcong yet?"

　"Major General Hoang Van Gao, commander of the Fourth Military Region, is still resisting the Viet Cong siege in Can Tho City. Troops from the Second Military Region are also holding their ground in the western highlands. Then there are the religious forces of Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, the navy on Phu Quoc Island, and finally, us in Da Nang.

　Fortunately, we still have control of the sea and air, and American troops from various bases in Asia will soon come to our rescue!"

　After listening to the translator's message, Ferry, the top U.S. military advisor in Da Nang, replied, "Unfortunately, Ambassador Lodge and General Harkins, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, were both taken prisoner in Saigon. Now, even if the Pentagon sends more troops to Vietnam to fight, it's unclear who will be in charge..."

　Everyone then analyzed the map and found that if calculated in this way, the battle situation did not seem too hopeless.

　Although the Viet Cong occupied the capital Saigon by surprise on April 30, captured the US Ambassador to South Vietnam Lodge and General Hawkins, the commander of the US forces in Vietnam, and captured the port of Vung Tau where the provisional government was moved in the early morning of May 1, they captured all the senior civil servants of the South Vietnamese government.

　However, the South Vietnamese government was only decapitated by the Viet Cong, and armed forces opposing the Viet Cong in various places continued to fight.

　Moreover, unlike those Latin American countries where coups broke out every other day as if it were child's play, South Vietnam was the front line of the Cold War. Even if the Viet Cong occupied the capital Saigon, they could not directly and easily take over the country's power.

　To sum up, this battle still has to be fought!

　As a result, the officers of the Da Nang coalition forces adjourned the meeting and went down to appease the troops and boost morale.

　In order to strengthen the fighting spirit of the troops from various countries on the Haiyunling defense line, Firi also found a way to obtain a reward of 200,000 US dollars for them.

　However, just a few hours later, a new series of bad news arrived at the Da Nang front.

　At noon on May 1, Major General Hoang Van Gao, commander of the 4th Military Region, trapped in a Viet Cong encirclement, fled Can Tho City by helicopter and landed aboard the USS Coral Sea, a US Pacific Fleet aircraft carrier that had just arrived off the coast of Vietnam. The remnants of the 4th Military Region immediately collapsed and raised the white flag to the Viet Cong.

　At this point, Can Tho, the largest city in the Mekong Delta, fell into the hands of the "Republic of South Vietnam" newly established by the Viet Cong.

　(Saigon is to the Mekong Delta what Shaoxing is to the Yangtze River Delta. Strictly speaking, it is only near the delta.)

　At the same time, the leader of the Cao Dai sect, Le Van Tong, delivered a radio speech from the Tay Ninh Cathedral, announcing his recognition of the "Republic of South Vietnam" established by the Communist Party of Vietnam in Saigon, and joining the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on behalf of the Cao Dai sect. Finally, he also demanded that the Communist Party of Vietnam guarantee religious freedom.

　In short, it means that the Cao Dai sect "embroidered the red flag overnight" and surrendered to the Viet Cong, only asking the Viet Cong to spare their lives.

　Tay Ninh Province, where Cao Dai is entrenched, lies on the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia. It is now surrounded on all sides by Vietcong bases. Deep inland, with no access to the sea and surrounded by mostly plains, the province lacks a sufficiently fortified geographical barrier to defend.

　Faced with the Viet Cong that had already swept across the country and the Ho Chi Minh Trail just around the corner, Cao Dai had no other way out except to kneel down and act like a dog.

　Although the rapid decline of Cao Dai, a powerful separatist sect, is understandable from a rational perspective, the actions of the Le Van Sect leader still dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the various armed forces resisting the Vietcong in South Vietnam.

　On May 2, under the siege of the main force of the Viet Cong, the Bien Hoa Airport, which had been defended for 48 hours, was finally lost. Except for a small number of American special forces and Catholic militias who managed to escape to Cambodia by plane, the rest were wiped out.

　Before that, areas such as Xuan Loc east of Bien Hoa had already fallen into the hands of the Viet Cong.

　By this point, the capital defense perimeter and the Third Military Region of the Republic of South Vietnam were completely under Vietcong control. In the Mekong Delta, the Fourth Military Region was left with only the Hoa Hao militia entrenched in the southwestern corner, still defending against Vietcong guerrilla attacks.

　But even so, An Giang Province, where the Hoa Hao religion originated, was mostly occupied by the Viet Cong guerrillas with an absolute advantage in manpower within just a few days of the Viet Cong's general offensive, forcing the Hoa Hao militia to move its headquarters to Ha Tien Port facing the Gulf of Thailand.