Chapter 1270 Tokyo Bay Incident

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The Gulf of Tonkin patrol program was viewed by some as worthless; most of the South Vietnamese agents sent to North Vietnam were either captured or killed, and the naval attacks were insignificant.

It was a waste of fuel for the U.S. Navy to protect such a group of South Vietnamese agents, but soon the Pentagon would prove that the patrol plan worked, but not everyone would like it.

Several South Vietnamese patrol boats attacked two North Vietnamese islands in Tonkin Bay believed to support infiltration operations to the south. Early the next morning, the USS Maddox, a destroyer on DeSoto patrol mission, arrived in Tokyo Bay far away from the two islands.

At 3:40 p.m., Maddox reported several fast gunboats approaching her, and a few minutes later the ship came under torpedo and automatic weapons fire. There were no casualties and no losses on board the Maddox.

There was no doubt that the Maddox was under attack: the crew removed shrapnel from North Vietnamese shells from the deck and sent the shrapnel to the Pentagon to confirm that an attack had occurred.

Compared with the USS Maine half a century ago, the United States today is completely different in all aspects, and there is no need to sacrifice a battleship to achieve its goals.

At the time of the incident, the Maddox was anchored in the high seas, more than 25 miles away from the coast of North Vietnam. North Vietnam, which had only theoretical sea power, would not tolerate an attack on the world's largest navy. The entire United States is boiling. U.S. Navy warships were attacked on the high seas. This is a provocation to American dignity.

South Vietnam's ambassador, Maxwell Taylor, objected to the decision to downplay the incident. In a late-night cable to the State Department, he pointed out that failure to respond to unprovoked attacks on U.S. destroyers on the high seas would be seen as "a sign that the United States fears direct confrontation with the North Vietnamese."

The whole world's public opinion was boiling, and Britain was even ahead of the United States. The major newspapers in the UK were extremely shocked, and their headlines were all sensational, expressing a reporting concept that I didn't understand but which shocked me greatly.

The cabinet secretary was in a good mood, completed the day's work energetically, and went home anxiously to express his loyalty to the female president.

"You are so good today." When Pamela Mountbatten saw her husband come in, she turned off the TV with the remote control and floated towards her husband.

"When did I misbehave?" Alan Wilson hugged his wife's body and said in a tone of voice that no one was more loyal to his wife than him. "A good relationship with the media will help your career and my career."

"Do you think a destroyer without even a single casualty is worth triggering a large-scale war?" Pamela Mountbatten acted according to her husband's words,

It doesn't mean that she agrees with the man's point of view.

"It's right for everyone. It's not necessarily true for the United States. Aren't they the world's hegemon?" Alan Wilson sat down together while holding his wife's hand, and said with great joy, "Americans have something to do, and they have nothing to do with the world, including the United Kingdom." For most countries, this is a good thing.”

"Then what are you going to do?" Pamela Mountbatten asked with a frown. South Vietnam was very close to Malaya, and she really didn't want the situation in her husband's mouth to develop like this.

Gu Yu

"Of course we are calling for peace. We must emphasize the importance of Europe and persuade the United States not to start a war." Alan Wilson said categorically in a pacifist tone, "Isn't it the majesty of a world hegemon? In fact, as long as the bottom line is Being flexible enough, it’s not particularly important.”

The more you don’t want to do something, the more you have to keep emphasizing that you have to do it. This is a very basic principle. Is the British persuasion effective? Of course, it was completely useless. Britain also dissuaded us from the beginning of the Korean War, but the United States still entered the Korean peninsula without hesitation. Our efforts to maintain peace at this time were infinitely equivalent to the effect of the Great Sage Huntuo.

The Gulf of Tonkin incident seems to have been brought forward a little earlier. I wonder if it will affect the US aircraft carrier being sunk by North Vietnam. It would be a pity if it was affected. After all, it was the only aircraft carrier sunk after the war. Alan Wilson still hopes that this crown can be won by the hard-working and brave Vietnamese people.

Armstrong, the British ambassador to the United States, was implementing domestic instructions and doing his best to save peace. He approached the U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk to explain Britain's views on the matter. The British official attitude was the same as that of the Korean War, believing that North Vietnam was not worth fighting.

"Dear Secretary of State, war is terrible after all. Britain is worried about the development of the situation." Armstrong expressed Britain's worries without concealment.

"Mr. Ambassador, I very much understand your and the British concerns about this matter, but I can't promise anything." Dean Rusk is a very people-friendly person, and he took time to receive the British Ambassador at such times, but this Planting to be close to the people won't change anything, and it's too late to say anything now.

"The U.S. warship was not damaged, not even a single casualty. In fact, it can be considered a misfire." Armstrong is still fulfilling his mission. This mission is to make the United States reduce major issues to trivial matters, and regard this attack as a Didn't happen.

This means that even if the attack is true, the United States will not suffer any losses. This view is very painful to stand up and talk about. Now even American public opinion knows that a US warship was attacked on the high seas.

How could Dean Rusk pretend that nothing happened? This is an election year, and it is time for elections between the two parties. If the United States remains silent, the Republican Party will seize the opportunity to make a fuss. Not to mention the United States, now even the British know about this matter. How can the United States reduce a big issue to a trivial matter?

The Pentagon claimed that the Maddox sent a telegram saying that an attack from some unidentified ships appeared to be imminent. The Maddox's intelligence came from highly classified reports from the National Security Agency, which intercepted various North Vietnamese orders. An hour later, the Maddox telegraphed that radar contact had been established with three unidentified ships.

Dark clouds and stormy winds made the night darker and visibility was extremely poor. In the hours since, Tokyo Bay has been in chaos.

The Maddox and Turner Joy reported being hit by more than twenty torpedoes, and they saw torpedo wakes, enemy ship aft cabin lights, flashlights, and automatic weapons fire. Radar and sonar waves were received.

At this time, the Pentagon was having a heated discussion on how to give a head-on blow to North Vietnam, which despised the majesty of the United States. Armstrong said goodbye to Dean Rusk in disappointment and returned to the embassy to tell London that the belligerence of the Americans made persuasion full of thorns.

"That's such a pity." In the Cabinet Secretary's Office, Alan Wilson tilted his head and held the microphone between his hands, and said with joy, "We still can't give up our efforts to save peace, Dixon, when I express my condolences and thanks to Ambassador Armstrong, he has already Did everything that could be done.”

Putting down the microphone, Alan Wilson stood up and walked around the desk, lit a cigar and took a long puff.