49. In the Aftermath...

of the March 18th coup. There were a few army tanks in the vicinity of the National Assembly building, that's why foreign media looks at it as a coup. No blood shed, only one casualty: Col. Seng Sunthay. There were protests from Kompng Cham province, 3 casualties: Lon Nil a younger brother to General Lon Nol, and 2 deputies:  Kim Phon ans Sos Saoun. It was the beginning of more troubles... from other provinces...
    On the other hand, the sacking of the their Embassies and the ultimatum to leave immedately  their borders encapments sounds like a declaration of War aginst the Viets Communists. According to Justin Corfield, Pham Van Dong, the Premier of North Vietnam, flew secretly to Peking on March 21st to "offer Sihanouk the support of Cambodian communists then in Hanoi, as well as both the NFL and the North Vietnamese Army."
    Two days later, on March 23, 1970, a call -to-Arms by the Prince was broadcasted by Radio Peking and announcing a formation of a United Front including the Khmer Rouge. It was followed by the set up of Royal Government of National Union - in GRUNK in french acronym. The new war was about to begin...