Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Vietnam War (3)
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North Vietnam first calmed down the Viet Cong units that were in the thick of battle with the South Vietnamese army as they prepared for their offensive.
“Cease fire for now and withdraw to the liberated zones.”
“What? We’re just getting into it—why stop?”
“The time for the decisive battle is coming soon. To rise up all at once then, we need to conserve our strength.”
“Ah, understood.”
Seeing the Viet Cong pull back, the South Vietnamese generals quickly seized the chance to toot their own horns.
“Our division drove the Viet Cong out of our sector.”
“Our corps’ Viet Cong pacification operation was a resounding success.”
The reports from the South Vietnamese generals once again created an illusion in Washington.
“General Nguyen Van Thieu’s got some real chops.”
Washington was encouraged by the unexpected results from Nguyen Van Thieu’s reforms.
“Since things have turned out this way, we should back General Nguyen Van Thieu.”
“Do it.”
To bolster Nguyen Van Thieu, the U.S. approved all the reckless policies he was pushing.
Here’s a look at General Nguyen Van Thieu’s new policies:
First, he cracked down on the opposition and the press.
“Hey, South Vietnam’s supposed to be a free democracy.”
“What is this, back when we were scratching tiger balls? Wanna fall behind?”
Second, he imposed the death penalty on anyone committing drug trafficking, robbery, rape, prostitution—any crime that disrupted social order.
“Hey, people could get framed. Is summary execution really right?”
“That’s why they should’ve behaved.”
Third, anyone suspected of joining communist organizations was arrested without trial.
“Hey, you need evidence to grab people. Just calling them commie suspects out of nowhere?”
“The military reports and judges properly—what evidence? You think this is America?”
In less than a month, political prisons were packed with thousands of inmates.
“How does anyone run a country like this?”
When the opposition protested, the general replied:
“Even Korea, Asia’s top advanced nation, had times like this. Isn’t it natural to emulate extraordinary measures for extraordinary times?”
Nguyen Van Thieu drew justification for his rule from South Korea’s Yushin era.
He even borrowed a few of Lee Seong-jun’s governance techniques.
“Vietnam needs to champion democracy Vietnamese-style.”
Nguyen Van Thieu advocated for Vietnam’s own brand of democracy.
It was essentially a carbon copy of early Korean-style democracy, just with “Vietnam” slapped on the label.
The general even mimicked Lee Seong-jun’s propaganda.
Nguyen Van Thieu made a show of his strong-leader image by going on big-game hunts whenever he had the chance.
But he didn’t go into the slums like Lee Seong-jun.
“Do I really have to go into those filthy places?”
Nguyen Van Thieu thought Lee Seong-jun’s mass-propaganda tactics were overkill.
He didn’t see the need to impress the rabble that much.
“The lowly masses will live contentedly if you toss them scraps.”
Ruling like this, Nguyen Van Thieu couldn’t significantly expand his support base.
Two months after the coup.
Nguyen Van Thieu’s regime still lacked a solid foundation.
Compared to his predecessors, the general had just one strength.
Firm control over the military.
Amid this delicate atmosphere, fateful November approached.
In the meantime, North Vietnam had smuggled substantial supplies and troops behind South Vietnamese lines via routes detouring through Laos and Cambodia.
South Vietnam remained completely oblivious.
“Ah, whatever. The big shots up top will handle it.”
On November 1, North Vietnam’s military chief, Vo Nguyen Giap, ordered a surprise offensive against South Vietnam.
“There’s one goal for this offensive: Highlight South Vietnam’s incompetence as much as possible.”
Shake Saigon to the core and make them look like dead weight to the Americans.
Vo Nguyen Giap and the Vietnamese Communist Party aimed to sow doubt about South Vietnam in American minds through this attack.
At dawn on November 1, from the outskirts of Saigon—South Vietnam’s capital—to as far south as Hue, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched attacks across a vast area.
The South Vietnamese army was caught off guard by the simultaneous strikes but mounted a response.
The situation was messy, but regular troops losing to commie guerrillas? No way.
That’s what the South Vietnamese generals thought.
“We’re short on men, but we’ve got plenty of heavy weapons, so we’ll manage.”
The problem was, weapons or no, the soldiers had sold them off to survive.
That’s what the officers thought.
“We’re light on heavy weapons, but we’ve got numbers, so we’ll hold.”
Those numbers were on paper only—reality was barely half that.
Misjudgments piled up from top to bottom, leaving the South Vietnamese army struggling against the Viet Cong.
Even those making sound calls and fighting to their actual strength faced:
“Who told you to judge and move on your own? Follow orders from above.”
The shackles General Nguyen Van Thieu had imposed hobbled the South Vietnamese army.
The U.S. military advisory group watched this insane mess in disbelief.
“What the hell’s gotten into these guys?”
The army they’d trusted as steadily improving up till yesterday had vanished without a trace, replaced by a ragtag mob unlike anything seen anywhere in the world.
On November 3, Viet Cong attacked right up to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Ellsworth Bunker, dumbfounded by the fiasco, fired off a cable to D.C.
“Everything’s a total disaster. Nothing’s functioning properly.”
Washington reeled from the ambassador’s cable.
How bad could it be?
Soon, photos of Viet Cong advancing near the Saigon embassy hit U.S. newspapers.
Those few images flipped American public opinion upside down.
With Korea and the Soviets already a handful, why pour resources into this pathetic country?
Just because they called themselves a free democracy?
“Cut losses now. Turns out it’s not even a democracy—just a military dictatorship. Why keep dumping tax dollars?”
People screamed to ditch South Vietnam immediately.
The Asian communist domino excuse rang hollow with the whole region under Korean influence.
If it went communist, Korea—not America—would deal with the fallout.
The U.S. government sweated under the abandon-Vietnam clamor.
Meanwhile, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong rampaged through South Vietnam’s rear, expanding liberated zones at will.
The Viet Cong struck like ghosts, inflicting defeats on the South Vietnamese army.
The more South Vietnam’s incompetence stood out, the stronger the dump-them calls grew.
“Come up with a way to stop these commies rampaging right now.”
As the president erupted, the military and CIA scrambled countermeasures.
“First, deploy international volunteers to South Vietnam.”
“We’ll burn through mercs this early, then what about hitting North Vietnam?”
“We can prep again once things stabilize.”
Annoying, but better than South Vietnam getting torched.
The U.S. rushed 50,000 mercs into South Vietnam.
These troops, led by Anglo-Saxon ex-military, fought far better than the useless South Vietnamese.
They racked up solid kills wherever they went.
Pretty impressive for a hastily assembled force.
But that was the extent of the good news.
Cheap armies always have their reasons.
These mercs were uncontrollable.
They raped and looted civilians at every opportunity.
“We’re fighting wars to have fun—what’s the big deal?”
Telling poor soldiers earning pennies a year to resist looting was like telling a cat not to eye fish.
Once mercs swept through, the area was stripped bare—not a spoon left.
Their notoriety spread fast.
“Ugly devils are coming.”
Young women had no choice but to join local Viet Cong just to protect their virtue.
The mercs were scoring kills, but the harder they fought, the more Viet Cong swelled.
The CIA, seeing this, concluded:
“There’s only one answer: The whole population was commies.”
The CIA demanded General Nguyen Van Thieu launch a program to root out commies.
The result: the Phoenix Program.
“Phoenix Program? What’s that?”
“A program to gather intel from civilians.”
“Sounds like a survey.”
Of course, it wasn’t.
The CIA and General Nguyen Van Thieu’s idea of intel-gathering involved torture, murder, kidnapping, and terror against targets.
“How’s that investigation? You nuts?”
“That’s CIA’s core business.”
The Phoenix Program’s effects were staggering.
In under a week, “commies” popped up everywhere.
“See? Investigation turns them up.”
Phoenix Program and mercs.
America’s two dropped options enraged South Vietnam’s people.
“Fuck it. Sitting still makes you a commie, dying fighting makes you a commie—so I’ll die fighting as a commie.”
Washington couldn’t fathom why commies weren’t thinning out in South Vietnam.
“Unbelievable. We’re racking up kills and rooting them out—why aren’t the commies weakening?”
With the war like this, even the military stopped talking North Vietnam strikes.
Gotta sort South first before pushing north, right?
The Republic of China watched, fuming inside.
“Bro, I’m counting on you alone—South Vietnam’s really getting handled, right? I can trust this?”
America couldn’t confidently say yes.
South Vietnam, with Viet Cong rising endlessly, was like quicksand.
Washington began pondering other ways out.