Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Black-White Conflict (1)
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The Stevenson administration's approval ratings were already scraping the bottom of the barrel, and if they showed such a feeble response now, it would be game over.
Washington had no choice but to react strongly.
"North Vietnam needs to provide a convincing explanation on this matter."
The United States wasn't just bluffing.
The U.S. 7th Fleet, stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines, advanced toward waters off Vietnam.
In response, the Soviets issued their own threats.
"If you use this as an excuse to attack North Vietnam, we won't sit idly by. If you don't want to stir up trouble, then settle it with words."
"You think we're such a joke that we'll back down at a few words from you?"
The United States was seriously preparing for bombing raids on the North.
"Those commie bastards kidnapped and killed our officers, and we don't even retaliate once? Can you call this a proper government?"
As long as McCarthy was swinging the knife from behind, the Stevenson administration had little room to back down on its own.
That meant I had to step in.
Before the U.S. bombers could take off from Clark Airfield, I sent a telegram to Washington.
I intended to persuade them somehow before they let go of the reins of reason.
"Mr. President, allow me to mediate this issue."
I proposed a four-party summit involving South Vietnam, North Vietnam, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
"If this goes all the way, Europe could turn into a sea of fire. That's not the picture Washington wants, is it?"
I awaited the U.S. response.
"Will Washington agree to mediation?"
"They won't want to go all the way with Moscow either, so they'll surely accept our mediation proposal."
I expected Washington to agree to mediation this time too.
Just as they had before.
But my prediction was spectacularly shattered.
"Sir, the Americans have bombed near the 17th parallel."
The United States had crossed the 17th parallel in a lightning strike and bombed North Vietnam.
It wasn't a major city, but the North bombing alone was provocation enough to rile up the Soviets and North Vietnam.
I doubted my ears for a moment.
"Is what you just said true? Stevenson issued that order?"
"We'll need to assess the situation further, but it looks like the U.S. military's hardliners won out."
The military hawks here?
Thinking about it, the U.S. military was dealing not with a battle-hardened Eisenhower, but with a lame-duck Stevenson.
Given how they'd toyed with President Kennedy back then, a North bombing was entirely plausible.
"What's the Soviet response?"
"No information has come in yet."
If this continued, the escalator effect could spiral the crisis anywhere.
I needed to contain it before then.
In the meantime, I urgently fired off a telegram to Moscow.
Fortunately, Khrushchev replied immediately upon receiving mine.
"I know what concerns Your Excellency has. We're not an irrational bunch like the imperialists."
But those who always preached reason were the ones who often acted irrationally.
I sensed a hint of unease in Khrushchev's words.
"Comrade Secretary, this incident is extremely serious. The Americans did this out of sheer fury, so if we retaliate, they'll hit back even harder."
"We can't just sit on our hands either. Hardliners here are demanding a response."
That made sense.
Men like Marshal Zhukov were prime examples.
"Please keep it to the minimum level. If you retaliate outside Indochina, Moscow will face criticism too."
After much persuasion, Khrushchev finally relented.
The problem was the United States.
Even if the Soviets responded minimally, if America rode the escalator, all this effort would be for naught.
For now, I needed to scare the Americans enough that they couldn't push their hardline stance any further.
No choice.
I decided to detonate the time bomb called the black-white conflict that hadn't been dismantled yet.
With the Tuskegee syphilis scandal already riling up the blacks, igniting racial tensions would plunge American society into chaos with ease.
Once the blacks rose up, America would fracture along camp lines and be too busy fighting itself.
Then the Stevenson administration wouldn't have the bandwidth for foreign issues.
The issue was that the fallout was unpredictable.
Still, stopping a war came first.
I summoned the Intelligence Director.
"Sir, you called for me?"
"There's something you need to handle right away."
I instructed Intelligence Director Kang Su-cheol on the operation I'd been mulling over.
Since America had launched this insane North bombing without consultation, I had no options left.
This was karma Washington had brought on itself.
I resolved to teach the Democratic administration a harsh lesson for touching the escalator to war.
*
Leading the hawks in the U.S. military, Strategic Air Command Commander Curtis LeMay strongly backed the North bombing.
They'd wanted to bomb not near the 17th parallel, but Hanoi itself from the start.
But Stevenson wasn't that crazy.
"Absolutely not Hanoi."
"Sir, the commies won't compromise at some arbitrary line. You need to go strong."
Despite the hawkish military's constant prodding, Stevenson was aware not to provoke the Soviets too much.
The president flatly rejected LeMay's proposal to bomb Hanoi.
"End the North bombing near the 17th parallel."
Stevenson wanted the conflict to wrap up at exactly this level.
In fact, the Soviets didn't react drastically.
Informally deployed Soviet bombers had crossed the 17th parallel, conducted light South bombings, and returned—that was it.
The Soviets took no further action.
That emboldened the U.S. military hawks to boast to Stevenson that the North bombing had worked.
"Sir, the commies fold when you hit them hard. Just look at this incident. Even when we bombed them outright, they didn't have the guts to stand up. Honestly, back in the Italian War, if we'd just dropped about 30 nukes decisively, the commies would've backed off. President Truman was too timid then. You mustn't repeat that mistake, sir."
Even to Stevenson's ears, it didn't sound entirely wrong.
'Certainly, a moderate hardline stance hasn't hurt me.'
By taking a tough stand against the communists this time, Stevenson had reaped benefits.
His approval ratings ticked up a bit, and he effectively parried McCarthy's attacks.
"You need to retaliate against this South bombing too. Scare them so badly they won't even dream of retaliation, and this incident will be resolved."
The hawkish military pushed for another North bombing.
'Another North bombing.'
The first wasn't hard; the second wouldn't be either.
Stevenson had already tasted success with the North bombing.
"Sir, just give the order, and we'll handle it cleanly."
LeMay fanned the flames, saying that if things escalated, they could just bomb North Vietnam back to the Stone Age.
'If there's a guarantee the Soviets will back off, another North bombing isn't a bad idea.'
As the president pondered the pros and cons of another North bombing, an aide rushed in with urgent news.
"Mr. President, please watch TV. There's important news."
Stevenson turned to the TV the aide had switched on.
Nothing remarkable at first.
Just a crowd of blacks gathered, making some demands.
What was this?
Some NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) event?
The moment the president felt puzzled, it happened.
"America must reflect! It must realize that it needs to abandon shameful, disgraceful policies like segregation. How long do you plan to live like it's the 19th century under slaveholding planters?"
Stevenson jumped in shock at those words.
"Where is that speech coming from?"
"Alabama, sir."
Only then did the president grasp the severity.
This was no ordinary problem.
It could spark a direct clash between blacks and whites.
The issue was that no matter who clashed, Stevenson would take the hit.
If he sided with the blacks?
The Southern white vote—Democratic bedrock—would crumble away.
If he sided with the whites?
Not only the staunchly Republican blacks, but progressive whites too would turn their backs on him.
The answer to such a damned problem was to avoid it altogether.
Unfortunately, as president, Stevenson couldn't dodge it.
"Why the hell did the race issue explode out of nowhere? They've been quiet until now."
The aide was baffled by that.
Out of nowhere?
Black anger had been boiling since the Tuskegee experiment was exposed.
"Sir, this was an issue bound to erupt eventually. Didn't Tuskegee just blow up recently?"
Only then did Stevenson understand the situation.
Thoughts of a second North bombing or retaliation vanished from his mind.
Who cared about that when a bigger domestic crisis had emerged?
Stevenson pondered how to handle it.
'A headache.'
Whichever side he picked, he'd end up covered in shit.
Better to minimize the damage.
'Just play dumb. Speaking up will only get me curses from all sides.'
Blacks leaned heavily Republican to begin with.
Layer on Tuskegee, and they'd hardened into concrete Republican supporters.
Siding with them wouldn't help Stevenson's reelection odds one bit.
Stevenson decided to sit it out.