bookrandom Chapter 1085 Don't underestimate the power of secret agents.
Chapter 1085 Don't underestimate the power of secret agents.
"Notify the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff," the leader finally spoke after an awkward silence.
"A comprehensive reassessment of the situation in South Vietnam, and... all possibilities for North Vietnam to receive external assistance, especially 'special technology' assistance. I want to see the most detailed analysis of that report on Himalayan weapons. Any large-scale troop reinforcements or operational escalation plans for South Vietnam shall be suspended until the new assessment is completed."
"As for the transfer of supplies to India..." He glanced at his chief of staff, "it can begin, but the initial batch should be reduced by one-third. At the same time, we need to immediately conduct a new round of intelligence exchanges and strategic coordination with Saigon and all our allies in Asia."
“We can’t make the same mistake twice,” the leader stood up, walked to the world map, and gazed at the vast eastern continent. “But we also cannot let excessive caution cause us to relinquish key geostrategic positions. Tell everyone that we need clearer intelligence, more level-headed judgment, and… more options.”
To be fair, aside from being single-mindedly focused on planting mushrooms for us and becoming the ultimate prophet, this person is actually quite capable at work.
The preliminary agreement on strategic directions for India and Vietnam eased the tense atmosphere in the office.
This was merely a high-level internal consultation on national security affairs, aimed at unifying the understanding and inclinations of the core decision-making circle within the executive branch.
The specific policy details, resource allocation, and especially the parts that may involve foreign military aid or budget adjustments, will require a lengthy bureaucratic process to form a formal national security decision memorandum. It will also likely require arduous communication and even negotiation with relevant congressional committees, especially the Appropriations Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee, to obtain the necessary authorization and funding for implementation.
But at this moment, the consensus reached in the Oval Office has set the tone for the Bald Eagle's actions in the two hotspots in Asia for some time to come.
Several key staff members and military representatives began organizing documents, preparing to leave, thinking that this long and oppressive meeting had finally come to an end.
But the leader did not make a gesture to adjourn the meeting.
While the questions of "what to do" and "where to go" that we just discussed are important, the fundamental question of "why did I find out so late" is like a thorn stuck in his body, making him extremely itchy.
"Gentlemen, please wait a moment."
The leader's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly froze everyone who was about to leave their seats.
"Strategic direction can be adjusted, and resources can be reallocated. But before we decide where to place our bets, I must first figure out if there is something wrong with the eyes and ears we rely on for decision-making."
"Phew...is it coming?"
At the conference table, CIA Director McConnell, who had remained silent, narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly behind his glasses on his habitually inscrutable poker face, his gaze seemingly unintentionally sweeping over FBI Director Hoover diagonally across from him.
Hoover, the FBI director whom some insiders privately call the "invisible government" or the "underground emperor," seemed to have anticipated the president's questioning. His expression remained calm, and his gaze briefly met Cohen's before quickly separating, so fast it seemed like an illusion.
"Why was such crucial intelligence regarding the Himalayan battle, especially the assessment of those 'special weapons,' delayed for so long before reaching my desk? By the time everything settled down, we had lost even the opportunity to react! What was our intelligence system, which is known as the world's most sensitive eyes and ears, doing all that time?"
The leader's gaze intentionally or unintentionally swept over Hoover, who represented the FBI, and the latter remained silent, eyes downcast—everyone knew that overseas intelligence, especially at the military and strategic levels, had always been the CIA's domain.
The blame clearly falls on the CIA.
“McCohen,” the leader’s voice became a few decibels louder.
"I need an explanation. Who is specifically responsible for intelligence gathering and analysis in the Far East, especially in the areas of China and India? Why did such serious delays and misjudgments occur?"
This has put us in a very passive position when dealing with the sudden changes in the situation across South Asia. What is your focus?
After the "Cigar Country," has the Far East become a blind spot?
The leader's chest heaved slightly, a long-suppressed anger surging in his eyes.
He stared at McConnell's perpetually calm face, but inwardly he was roaring: Humph! I might not be able to easily provoke that real "underground emperor," but McConnell's CIA, can't I just give them a piece of my mind whenever I want? Don't forget, it was you who orchestrated that utterly stupid "Bay of Pigs Invasion" two years ago!
Utter defeat!
That disastrous operation not only caused the United States to lose face internationally and become a laughing stock in the global media, but also forced its new president, who had only been in office for three months, to grit his teeth and go head-to-head with that bald guy from the alliance, ultimately triggering the Cigar Nation missile crisis that almost destroyed the world.
Afterwards, the ringleader publicly took responsibility, but privately, he vented most of his anger and frustration on the CIA.
He believed he had been completely misled by Dulles and his intelligence bureaucrats with false hopes and exaggerated intelligence.
This feeling of being "betrayed" by his own people made him far angrier and more wary than external enemies.
The leader responded forcefully: he fired then-CIA Director Dulles and his key deputies, and appointed the relatively conservative Republican McConnell to take over, attempting to rein in the increasingly bloated and self-serving agency.
An even more ruthless move was that, over the next two years, the leader cut a full fifth of the CIA's annual budget, drastically reducing the CIA's authority for covert operations around the world!
This unprecedented purge caused the CIA to plummet from its post-war dominance as an "invisible empire" to rock bottom, struggling to make ends meet.
It was precisely because of the drastic cuts to the official budget that the CIA's desire for illicit income reached an unprecedented peak.
Whether the heads of various regional stations can keep their positions largely depends on whether they can find stable ways to make money, fill the budget gaps for headquarters, and maintain the operation of overseas intelligence networks.
Only people like Uncle Jin, who supposedly have special "money-making" channels and can bring extra resources to the department, can secure the lucrative position of Director of Far East Intelligence.
Even more devastating was the dismissal of Dulles and other veterans, the budget cuts, and the gradual reduction of their operational authority, which brought discontent within the CIA towards this bigwig to its peak.
In the eyes of this group of agents whose very core values are “loyalty to the country and loyalty to the intelligence cause”, this leader’s attempts to shift blame and purge after the Bay of Pigs Invasion were utter betrayals!
The agents risked their lives to carry out an operation personally approved by their leader, but after failing, they became scapegoats to save face for him. This resentment had been quietly brewing in the shadows for two whole years.
McCorn met the leader's almost fiery gaze and slowly spoke, his voice so calm it betrayed no emotion: "Sir, there are indeed some... objective reasons for the delay in the Far East intelligence."
"Objective reasons?" The ringleader almost laughed in anger:
“McCohen, tell me, isn’t the lesson from Cuba profound enough? Or have you shifted your focus entirely from the Caribbean to the moon, to the point that events on the roof of the world, events that could alter the regional balance of power, only become known when they’re on the front page of the newspapers?”
At this moment, General Wheeler, the Army Chief of Staff and a senior military advisor sitting next to McCorn, showed a strange expression on his face.
He glanced at the furious ringleader, then at McConnell, who seemed hesitant to speak, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to speak.
“Sir,” Wheeler’s voice carried the bluntness of a soldier, “you…didn’t you see the relevant internal briefing? Regarding the situation of Mr. Kim, the Far East intelligence chief.”
"What's going on? What's going on?" The leader frowned, waving his hand impatiently. "What I'm asking about now is the quality and timeliness of the intelligence itself!"
It's not surprising that the leader agreed to let Wheeler take the hit, after all, most of the CIA members were transferred from the regular army and had very close relationships!
Wheeler thought to himself, if you had focused even a fraction of your energy on those report summaries, you wouldn't be asking such a... basic question right now.
He cleared his throat, trying to keep his tone even:
"Mr. Kim, along with the deputy commander of the 1st Cavalry Division who was traveling with him, was ambushed by North Vietnam's armed forces while inspecting Da Nang Air Base."
When Wheeler mentioned the base's name, he deliberately emphasized it, as if to remind the leader that this location had appeared more than once in the frontline weekly reports.
"The attack was extremely fierce, using weapons including new rockets. The deputy division commander was killed on the spot. Mr. Kim himself... was also seriously wounded."