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April 21
The President of South Vietnam has been forced to resign accusing the
United States of betrayal
1975: Vietnam"s President Thieu resigns
England have
The President of South Vietnam has been forced to resign accusing the
United States of betrayal.
In a TV and radio address, outgoing President Nguyen Van Thieu said his
forces had failed to stop the advance of the Vietcong because of lack of funds
promised to him by the Americans.
In a scathing attack on the US, he suggested US Secretary of State Dr Henry
Kissinger had tricked him into signing the Paris peace agreement two years ago,
promising military aid which then failed to materialise.
"At the time of the peace agreement the United States agreed to replace
equipment on a one-by-one basis," he said. "But the United States did not keep
its word. Is an American"s word reliable these days?"
He continued: "The United States did not keep its promise to help us fight
for freedom and it was in the same fight that the United States lost 50,000 of
its young men."
Pressure to go
The general - a fervent anti-Communist - first came to power in 1965 having
helped overthrow the government of President Diem in 1963 with US support.
But the appetite for war has gradually waned in the US and at the same
time, Thieu has stripped South Vietnam of many of its democratic
institutions.
The pressure for him to resign has been intense - from politicians in
Saigon as well as from peace negotiators representing North Vietnam who will not
have any dealings with a man they regard as a dictator.
In the last few months, the communist Provisional Revolutionary Government
(PRG) has said President Thieu must step down before any peace talks with Saigon
could begin.
President Thieu"s departure means peace talks will now be able to move
forward.
US President Gerald Ford, however, denied his government had asked
President Thieu to relinquish power. "There was no pressure by me or anybody
lese form here. He made the decision all on his own," he said in a TV
interview.
North Vietnamese troops have surrounded Saigon and military expert are
predicting the city will fall within weeks if not days.
Five divisions of South Vietnamese infantry troops, a division of US
Rangers and two brigades of US Marines in position around Saigon are outnumbered
by more than two to one.
Soldiers celebrate the fall of Berlin by hoisting the Red Flag over the
ruined Reichstag
1945: Red Army enters outskirts of Berlin
Artificially 1969:
The Russian troops have captured some outlying suburbs of Berlin at the
beginning of what promises to be a bitter battle for control of the city.
The Red Army approached the German capital from three directions, north,
east and south-east. The northeastern suburb of Weissensee is the closest to the
centre being only three miles away.
The Nazi minister of propaganda, Josef Goebbels, has issued a statement
saying Berlin will be defended to the last.
He said anyone who showed cowardice, hoisted the white flag or attempted
sabotage would be treated as outlaws.
The Russians were advancing and all POW camps were being evacuated.
People"s War memories
The Germans are understood to be terrified of what might happen to them if
Berlin falls into Soviet hands. Since 1941 Nazi forces have laid waste to large
parts of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet troops under Marshal Georgi Zhukov are pushing towards Berlin
from the north and east and Marshal Ivan Konev and his forces from the south.
They are both keen to achieve the honour of capturing Berlin, the heart of the
Nazi movement.
American forces are also pushing towards Berlin from the west and are now
said to be only hours away from joining up with Russian troops.
Reports from Berlin say shells have begun to fall in the centre of the
city. Correspondents say they have been fired from southern positions taking the
Germans by surprise. They had been expecting Marshal Konev"s forces to press on
towards Prague and Dresden.
The Russian advance has been supported by its air force. Although the
weather has been poor it has not stopped its low-level attack aircraft, the
Stormoviks, sweeping the enemy lines and the improved Soviet dive-bombers are
also halting counter-attacks.
The final assault on Berlin began on the night of 15/16 April when Soviet
forces launched a powerful artillery barrage against the German forces dug in
west of the Oder River and to the east of the city in an area known as the
Seelow Heights.
A German military spokesman said they were attacking under what he called a
permanent "air umbrella" with "fresh Soviet troops coming forward as though on a
conveyor belt."
After two days of fighting and failing to make any significant breakthrough
at Seelow, however, Marshal Konev"s forces were ordered south and Marshal
Zhukov"s to the north thus bypassing the German 9th Army at Seelow and
surrounding Berlin.
Hitler is reported to have celebrated his birthday yesterday in his
underground bunker in the city, cut off from the reality of the fighting above
his head.
Reports say Marshal Konev"s forces to the south of Berlin have taken more
than 10,000 prisoners in the past four days. They also claim to have captured 96
aircraft and more than 150 tanks and self-propelled guns.
Marshal Zhukov"s troops, heading from the north and east, claim to have
taken more than 13,000 prisoners. They have captured 60 aircraft and more than
100 tanks and self-propelled guns. But in their haste to capture Berlin many
Soviet soldiers have also been killed and tanks lost.
Vocabulary:
scathing: bitterly denunciatory(严厉的)
dive bomber: 俯冲轰炸机
bunker: 掩体，碉堡 |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:21:02