AH Challenge: Reverse the roles of North and South Vietnam

With a POD no earlier than 1939, have the Vietnam War be a largely conventional fight between a South Vietnam that receives large amounts of US military aid but no troops and a North Vietnam that is largely supported by Soviet Long Range Aviation. Bonus points if this involves an Operation Linebackerski flying against Nike-Hercules missiles.
 
With a POD no earlier than 1939, have the Vietnam War be a largely conventional fight between a South Vietnam that receives large amounts of US military aid but no troops and a North Vietnam that is largely supported by Soviet Long Range Aviation. Bonus points if this involves an Operation Linebackerski flying against Nike-Hercules missiles.
Oops. Read it wrong. I thought you wanted Communist South, US-backed North- which would require PODs like Nationalists winning the CCW.

As far as Linebackerski goes, you need:
Much more widespread popular support for the capitalists. Perhaps a different French colonialism (requires an early POD), or some other occurrence perhaps involving Mao, means that the Viet Minh/VC, when they appear, are anti-Buddhist- perhaps the French also industrialise the North, so there is VC support among urban workers in Hanoi. However, the rest of Vietnam is opposed to the movement. Perhaps you get a brief VC coup followed by a Soviet invasion, like in Afghanistan.
Such an invasion might be more likely if more surrounding countries are Communist- successful Pathet Lao/Khmer Rouge earlier? This would also give Soviet bombers somewhere to operate from.
 
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