Chapter 360: Chapter 360 The Start Of Hardy's Revenge
Johnson's speech in Las Vegas was a great success. On that day, a high stage was set up in the square outside the Hardy Hotel, surrounded by a crowd of up to 20,000 people. To accommodate the speech, the casinos shut down for three hours.
The square was filled not only with locals from Las Vegas but also with many tourists. President Johnson delivered a passionate speech.
The day after the speech ended, President Johnson abruptly interrupted his trip and returned to Washington with his team. Upon arriving at the White House, Johnson immediately summoned U.S. Secretary of State Acheson and instructed the State Department to issue a public announcement. In light of the international situation, the U.S. would temporarily suspend all forms of aid to the Chinese government.
"Your Excellency, Mr. President, are you going to completely abandon China?" Acheson asked in surprise.
Johnson replied calmly, "It's time to make a choice. To be honest, if they betrayed me today, they will betray the U.S. tomorrow. They have proven themselves untrustworthy, and there's no need to waste more resources and effort. From now on, the U.S.'s foreign strategy will primarily focus on Europe and Japan."
As for betrayal and humiliation, Johnson will not eat this loss or let it go with just stopping aid, he was the President of the U.S he has the power and right to impose crippling economic sanctions.
Johnson's true counterattack hasn't started yet.
...
Two days later, the U.S. State Department officially announced to the public that the U.S. would change its previous policy towards China and suspend all aid, including but not limited to supplies, military, and political support.
When this news reached China, many were shocked. Some still held fantasies that the U.S. would send a large army to support them. Even many in the military would often talk about having the backing of the Americans, but now, this dream has shattered.
The U.S. publicly announced the cessation of all aid, causing panic among many, including the Chinese president and his party.
"How could they do this? The Americans are so untrustworthy! They always say that China is important, but when it comes to aiding China, they're unbelievably stingy. If they had been more generous with their economic and military assistance, would things have reached this point?" The Chinese president shouted angrily.
Then he thought of his recent actions. Could it be that his support for Dewey had been discovered? It was very possible. After pondering for a long time, he finally decided to send his wife to the U.S. to negotiate.
...
Meanwhile, on Hardy's side, after a week of preparation, they were ready to take action.
Arnold, whose public identity was a reporter for the New York bureau of the Global Times, had served in World War II. He joined the newspaper during the New York bureau's expansion, and his quick wittedness had led him to report on several significant news stories, making him one of the bureau's main reporters.
As for his other identity, he was a peripheral member of the HD Security Intelligence Group.
In a rented apartment, a telephone was connected to a tape recorder, with a portable handheld camera set up next to it.
"Click."
Arnold pressed a button and spoke into the camera, "This is a very risky operation. I want to leave some evidence behind. If anything happens to me, please give this to the police."
"I've discovered something, a candidate has accepted money from foreigners, which is a violation of federal law. I'm now preparing to call this person to obtain more information."
After speaking, Arnold picked up the phone on the table and dialed out.
"Ring, ring, ring~!"
The New York State government residence was in the small city of Albany, about 240 kilometers from New York City.
The governor's office phone rang.
The secretary picked up the phone. "Hello, who is this?"
"I'm looking for Governor Dewey," Arnold replied.
"May I know who's calling?"
"Just tell him I have something very important concerning Governor Dewey's life, safety, and political future," Arnold said.
The secretary was startled. "Please hold on."
The secretary found Dewey, who was meeting with his campaign aides, discussing plans for a nationwide tour. Johnson's approval rating was slowly rising, which made Dewey feel threatened. Even though everyone was optimistic about his chances, he couldn't afford to be complacent.
Who knew if that "dead fish" might flip over?
He couldn't underestimate any opponent, especially when the opponent was the President.
The secretary came up to Dewey and whispered, "Governor, we just received a call. The person didn't reveal their identity but said it concerns your life, safety, and political future. Should you take the call?"
Dewey frowned deeply after hearing the secretary's words.
Concerning his life, safety, and political future? What nonsense. It was probably just some bored individual trying to scare him with alarmist talk.
"Don't take it," Dewey said irritably.
The secretary went back and picked up the phone, saying, "I'm sorry, sir, the governor is in a meeting and doesn't have time to take your call."
Arnold chuckled twice, "Tell him: China, political donations. I believe he'll take the call."
The secretary paused for a moment but decided to inform the governor.
When Dewey heard the words "China" and "political donations" from the secretary, his expression changed.
The last time he met with Song Yong was very secretive, and he deliberately kept a low profile. In truth, the meeting was no big deal, but what mattered was that the person mentioned "political donations." As a former prosecutor, how could Dewey not know that accepting foreign political donations was a violation of federal law.
Dewey thought for a moment, stood up, went to his office, picked up the phone, and said in a low voice, "Hello, this is Thomas Dewey. Who are you, and what do you want?"
"Governor Dewey, let me first state my identity: I am a reporter. As for why I'm contacting you, it goes like this. That day, I was at a certain golf course in New York and accidentally witnessed some events, which I recorded."