Chapter 75: 75. End Of Vietnam War
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"Stark Industries?"
It was outrageous. According to the CATSA act, no American company was allowed to sell weapons or technology to America's adversaries, including the USSR, China, Vietnam and all other communist nations.
"I guess he's going to have to answer some questions or face the hammer of justice. This is not the America of old where the rich and powerful never get punished." Hector muttered as he picked up the mortar shell.
Logan scoffed, noticing something strange, "Well, it seems they don't take you seriously. But, either Stark is smart or a fool. If he was selling weapons illegally, why do they have the company name? It's too easy to raise questions,"
"Unless he sold it to a third party first in order to bypass the CATSA. Let's go. We should deal with this war first." he disarmed the mortar and put it in his pocket for safekeeping. Now he had another reason to take over Hanoi peacefully, it was to make sure all the records were not damaged. Only then can he find traitors within American soil.
...
Hector was in Saigon. A news came, he learnt that someone attempted to kill Kennedy, but he survived as he was not in a convertible. Hector wondered if it was Bucky. But why would Bucky be ordered to do this? After all, Kennedy had no power.
Forgetting that, he focused on his mission here. So far, about 200 soldiers have lost their lives in small skirmishes. Hector had never allowed them to invade yet.
"Sir... your letter, Lieutenant Dan from the post office sent it,"
Hector looked up, the voice felt familiar to him. And sure enough, the face was familiar, too. "You are?"
"Private Forrest Gump, Mr President General, sir." Forrest stood like a stick and screamed in reply.
~Who would have thought. The perfectionist OCD autistic hero is here too.~ he thought. "At ease, thank you for bringing the letter. Now you go back, tell Lieutenant Dan that you are to be relieved of your duty there and be assigned as my assistant right here. Okay?"
Forrest Gump stayed still and looked around just by moving the eyeballs. He was confused, why the heck would the President want this. "Have I made a mistake, M-Mr President General?"
"Just call me General when you see me in this dress. And no, you have not made any mistakes. I just like your spirit. Now go," he sent him off.
"Is he autistic?" Erik asked him.
Logan defended him for some reason, he probably had a soft spot for all those who can't defend themselves, "So what? He's still fighting for his country,"
"Woof!" Moony also barked, ~Same,~ he meant.
Hector chuckled, "Calm down you all. Forrest is a good, honest lad. He's just simple-minded and prone to be taken advantage of. That's why I called him here. I don't want to write a letter to his mother to inform her about his death."
His face turned sorrowful at that. It was his habit from World War. If there were a small number of fatalities then he would write all the letters himself, if there were too many then he'd sign them himself. This way, he had memorised the name of every soldier that has died under his presidency.
"Charles, is the map ready? The Air Force is waiting for the command,"
Raven handed him the map, "Red ones are the locations of all camps that do not have any civilians in them. All are Northern armies or full of Viet Cong. The green ones have civilians in them."
Hector didn't wait and walked to the hanger that based the Air Force commanders and their office. "Listen up, this is the map, the red ones are the targets. Sync your watches. We drop bombs on all of them at the same time at 10 AM. We have 3 hours until then, the jets are loaded and ready. Any questions?"
There were none. Everyone got busy, running around and preparing. Meanwhile, Hector went to the Army's Hanger. Although there were no allied Forces anymore, Hector's rank was recognised by the UN and NATO as the highest possible and unachievable anymore. Basically, he was living history. π»ππ¦π¦πΈπ¦π·πππ£π¦π.πππ
"Everyone, it's time. We are going to sweep clean the entire Vietnam. My boy, Moony, and Logan were able to locate and map out every tunnel the rats had dug. We know exactly where their entrances are. It's time to overwhelm them. The force of 400,000 shall move out with all the choppers we have as a backup. The tanks will provide us support whenever we are near the camps.
"Here is the map, the green ones are the target. But listen to me clearly and loudly, DO NOT KILL CIVILIANS! Any soldier found committing war crimes will face the same fate that Nazis did. We are liberators, not subjugators. Each unit shall have a communicator. You will hear the words of guys from the CIA, they will tell you in real-time who is an enemy and who is not. Go and repeat the command to the men," He ordered the commanders.
The operation was a big one. For the tunnels, they were going to use suffocating gas, oil and fire. All traps had already been found and marked by Logan and Moony. Charles Xavier was working overtime to map every single human in Vietnam.
The Vietnam war was known to be the first televised war in history. And because this was the case, the journalists were able to bring in stories of atrocities, videos and photos of war crimes. This built-up anti-war sentiment back home and started various protests, not to mention the civil rights movements that also took over.
But Hector had brought his magic. Civil Rights were not an issue since he solved it in the 40s. And about this war, he didn't deploy men to fight until now. He was a man who first plans, weakens the enemy and then sends the men.
His encounters with various small impoverished villages were also recorded, where he gave the people food and medicine. This was an alternate reality where America was truly the saviour.
At 10 AM, North Vietnam was shaking with synced strikes. Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, was already in a mess due to the assassination of Ho Chi Minh, leading to the subsequent battle for power. Various factions were fighting each other. It was as if their motive was not to win South anymore.
Adding the various assassination attempts by the CIA on various leaders, which were planned to fail, making sure each leader keeps thinking about his rivals. They never thought it was the CIA fooling them.
All this resulted in one thing. The military generals responsible for fighting were left to fend for themselves. The entire Northern army got divided into various factions. They stopped sharing resources and intel, leaving some with extra firepower and others with nothing but sticks.
Everything that could go wrong for them, did go wrong. And then came the airstrikes, ushering Hanoi into madness as they tried to make a sense of the situation. But sad for them, it was already too late.
...
The campaign lasted until the next day. By then, Hanoi was surrounded and 99% of Vietnam was captured. Heavy deployment was sent to guard the border with China to make sure no land invasion occurs.
The result of the internal strife in Hanoi was the rise of Le Duan, Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party. He became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Now it was his responsibility to deal with the Americans, but sadly for him, there was not much left to deal with. However, what he didn't know was that Hector had a special plan for him.
It was a reality that in the case of Vietnam, the South capitalistic and democratic part was weak and the Communist side was stronger, with better weapons and more soldiers. They had infiltrated every village possible. Hence, after this war, stabilising the country was nigh impossible. He needed to use the Communist leader himself now.
So, he sent a letter to the Party office in the surrounded city. Le Duan was advised to come out and meet him. The man took the offer immediately, he had guts, that was clear.
Soon, a meeting took place in an enclosed room with no recording instruments. "Son, tell me, do you want to be the first president of a unified Vietnam?"
Yup, Hell's Inquisitor was back. He didn't reveal his demon face yet though. He looked at the uncomfortable face of Le Duan.
"Why are you asking me this question?" He inquired.
"Because you can if you play your cards right. I will make you the President of Vietnam. You can make a lot of money, of course, you won't be communist anymore but instead a capitalist. I will pump your economy, you shall convert the communist nation into a capitalist. Just imagine, you will be more famous in history, Le Duan, the father of Vietnam. Your picture will be on banknotes. Generations to come will take your name in reverence for creating a nation so rich and modern." Hector simply told him all the things any man with power dreams of. Hitler's wet dreams, basically.
Le Duan was conflicted, "Why would you do that? What makes you believe I will follow you?"
At this point, Hector did use his power as a Crossroads Soul Buyer Demon. His face turned demonic. Le Duan screamed and jumped back, he started slamming at the door, "LET ME OUT! DEMON!"
But Moony and Logan guarded the door outside. No one came to help him. Hector sighed, there was only one way to calm him down.
*SLAP*
A nice smack in the face and Le Duan sat down like a scared schoolboy who got his pants pulled down. "I am 100 years old, America is the strongest and the richest nation in the world. I am respected and loved around the world. Do not see my face, see the deal I am offering. If anything, this proves I have the magical powers to grant you your wish."
Le Duan stuttered, "W-what is the price?"
"Your compliance to follow my orders, turn the nation capitalistic. In return, you shall have my support as the President of Vietnam for as long as I am in this world." He proposed and put down a document on the table.
"Sign it with your blood and it will be done,"
Le Duan picked it to read, but Hector started tapping the table to make the man nervous. He didn't want him to read through the lines and learn that the words "I give my essence" meant he was giving up his soul.
"I-I... what if I don't accept?" he inquired.
*BAM* Hector slammed his fist, "Then you die, pipsqueak."
Wasting no time, Le Duan pricked his thumb on the pin attached to the paper and pressed it at the bottom of the paper. The document shined for a second and the deal was done.
"Now sign the instrument of surrender," he added in another paper.
In no time, soldiers with cameras entered and clicked photos. The war in Vietnam was over. Hector took a sigh of relief, the war cost America 1200 soldiers but it was a big win.
~This was probably my last war on Earth. *sigh* I'm getting bored of being the president now,~ he thought to himself.
1971, January 27th, the war in Vietnam ended. A war that was close to Hector's heart because this was where he lost his legs in his original world. If he had not become a cripple, he may not have met Satan and he'd not be here.
He wanted good for this small nation from the bottom of his heart. So, soldiers would remain as the nation was under his occupation now. The leader of the occupation was newly promoted Brigadier General Erik Lehnsherr. It was supposed to last for 5 years.
Hector, meanwhile, returned to America to prepare for his next election and to start looking for mutants to house in his new school/orphanage.
"Forrest, son, what do you think about the mutants?" he inquired. He had brought Forrest Gump with him on Air Force One. He liked talking to the boy because the thought process Forrest had was something that can keep rich and powerful grounded.
Forrest was happily eating ice cream since he does not drink, "My momma says they are sick folks, they need help. But... I think they aren't that sick. They ought to be smarter, more gifted than me, after all."
~This fucker, he knows he's mentally limited,~ Hector realised. He used to think Forrest didn't know he was different.
"You may not be the smartest, but are certainly hard-working. Well, let me tell you a story of a pathetic man who was crippled in a war just like the one we ended and how he became a god... or a demon..." Hector started.
[A/N: A new major Marvel character is incoming in the next chapter. HINT: 1977 and red.]
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