Page 42 of Cry Havoc (Tom Reece #1)

“I am confident that Tet is a critical turning point. It now needs to be managed. Tet will turn more Americans against the war. After the Kennedy assassination and now Tet, trust in their government is at an all-time low. If these headlines are any indication, the press will now exacerbate it.”

“You said that the battle for Hue is still ongoing.”

“Yes, the fighting in the city has been particularly brutal.”

“I was briefed that the Vietnamese in Hue were the most likely to take up arms against the United States once the attacks of Tet began.”

“When that failed to happen, the NVA and VC should have retreated. They continue to fight, but they are facing insurmountable odds. Hue will be destroyed, not by the VC, but by the Americans, further demonstrating to the people of the South that their government cannot protect them. The longer they hold out in Hue, the more fighting the press will have to cover. It extends the life, and therefore the political impact, of Tet.”

“What are our options?”

“I recommend we do it again.”

“What? You just said yourself that this was a catastrophe.”

“I said it was a military catastrophe. It has been a psychological victory. We wait and further evaluate, but operating under the assumption that Tet will be a massive military defeat across the South, I recommend we hit them again in a few months.”

“Why would we do that?”

“To show the world, through the free press, that the citizens are still not protected. We hit the same targets but with a smaller, more manageable force. In all likelihood, we will be defeated again, and in all likelihood, we will win another psychological victory. After that defeat we hit them a third time, in late summer or early fall. We will be defeated again on the battlefield, but we further our psychological victory, which is how this war will be won. Let 1968 be the year the Americans start their slow bleed to defeat in Vietnam.”

“This is an interesting perspective, Deputy Director Penkovsky. I will be called to testify before a closed-door session of the Politburo. They will want to know why the extensive aid we have provided the North Vietnamese has led to the failure of Tet. I will tell them that it was not unexpected, that it was in fact a major victory.”

“And that even the American press is on our side.”

“If this continues to play out the way you have projected, I might be back at the KGB before long. That means that this desk may soon be yours.”

“Thank you, Director.”

“Our next phase, as you say, is to keep bleeding the Americans in the South. The equipment from the USS Pueblo will help open the wound. If the Americans are to pull out of Vietnam, we have a limited window to use decrypted communications to compromise their SOG Teams in Laos and Cambodia.”

“Yes, Director, Major Dvornikov and Sergeant Voronin are in Hanoi. As soon as we have one of the Pueblo’s encryption machines paired with the latest keying material from the NSA, we can begin to compromise SOG Teams in Laos. The machine and key are being tested in East Berlin now.”

“I know you have your reservations about Major Dvornikov. I may be at the KGB before the Americans leave Vietnam, so the decision as to what to do with him for his next assignment will fall to you.”

“I know he is comfortable in Paris, perhaps too comfortable.”

“That gives him certain advantages. He has given us no reason not to trust him.”

“I will do what is best for the service,” Penkovsky said. I would like to keep him closer. Perhaps Berlin.

“That will be entirely your decision.”

“There is also the matter of Gaston DuBois,” the deputy director said, opening another file.

“He owns a rubber plantation and a sizable import/export business. We have been courting him for years. He never commits, but has helped us with background, introductions, and atmospherics. We almost lost him in Tet.”

“He is getting up there in age I believe. His daughter is poised to take over the company, if memory serves.”

“That’s right. They were celebrating the lunar new year, hosting a party in Saigon when they were detained by Viet Cong guerrillas who thought it was a U.S. military party because of its location in district one. Here is the interesting part: three Americans saved them. Killed all eight Viet Cong.”

“What makes you bring it up?” Lavrinenko asked.

“Two of the Americans were also with Colonel Tran when he was assassinated.”

“That is interesting.”

“The CIA has also been attempting to recruit Gaston for years. We are quite certain that he does the same for them that he does for us.”

“He plays both sides?”

“He does.”

“And the attacks of Tet might push him into the hands of the Americans.”

“It’s possible.”

“Put together a report from our asset at the embassy in Saigon and have Major Dvornikov give us an assessment from Hanoi. In the meantime, we will double down on our support of the North: weapons, training, oil. Let Major Dvornikov know he can expect to be running capture operations against MACV-SOG within the month.”

“Consider it done, Director.”

“It is time the Americans lost a war.”