day for Paris. By this point, reports of the clashes in South Vietnam had reached the United States, sparking an outpouring of support for Diệm among Congressmen and the general public. Collins' judgment was no longer acceptable to Eisenhower and Dulles, and the president opted to completely back Diệm. The VNA wiped out the Bình Xuyên remnants in a matter of a few months, save for a few minor groups that joined with the Việt Minh. Generals Ngộ, Ba Cụt, Soái, and Thành Nguyên of the Hòa Hảo declared war on the Saigon government in late May 1955, furious that they had not granted the Hòa Hảo enough privileges. They knew that a direct confrontation with the VNA would be catastrophic, so they burned down their bases and dispersed their army of 16,000 men into the jungle to operate as guerrillas. The Americans did not discourage Diệm from fighting back this time. The VNA, led by General Dương Văn Minh, went on an offensive on 5 June and, by mid-June, the army had crushed Soái's forces near the Cambodian border, forcing him to retreat into Cambodia. Ngộ and Thành Nguyên, disappointed by the rebellion's ineffectiveness, surrendered and turned over their armies to Saigon; the guerrilla struggle in South Vietnam was only maintained by Ba Cụt. For the rest of 1955, 20,000 army men pursued Ba Cụt's 3,000-strong army across the countryside. 1955 referendum During a referendum organized by Diệm in October, Hòa Hảo forces staged sporadic attacks on the polling stations of Cần Tho, though there was not much opposition to this political maneuver. Communist politician Lê Duẩn met with Soái and Ba Cụt, and, despite their ideological differences, they agreed to form the Southern Committee of the Patriotic Front, which eventually included remnants not only from the Hòa Hảo but also the Cao Đài and Bình Xuyên rebel armies. Soái declared the referendum unconstitutional, stating his preference for a true democratic state. Diệm's political maneuvers were also criticized by Ba Cụt, who claimed that the referendum was an opportunity to force the people to "depose Bảo Đại and proclaim the puppet Diệm as the chief-of-state of Vietnam". Diệm reportedly received $4 million in aid from the American government and American Catholic organizations to support the referendum, which Ba Cụt stated was part of an "American effort to Catholicize Vietnam". Diệm, according to Dân Xã, exploited American aid money for