Iron Cross

"Your Excellency, I'm sorry."

Although there have always been rumors, Turner was at a loss when he heard "withdraw" from Trudeau's door. At that moment, he felt that he had caused the president to lose his chance of re-election.

A few people, including Marshall, General King and Li Hai, knew the inside story. This was also the reason why General King resigned due to illness. However, now that Truman has made his position clear and even recognized by the top leaders of the Democratic Party, everyone knows that there is no room for maneuver.

The fact that soldiers are not party members does not mean that they have no orientation. Which of the current leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not personally promoted during President Roosevelt's time? To put it bluntly, they are all members of the Democratic Party. Everyone felt sad and guilty that Truman finally had to withdraw from the election.

"You should think carefully and see who can take your place. There are some remaining issues that need to be made up for as soon as possible... Dewey will definitely launch a purge after he comes to power." Truman also hinted that these people should get rid of the shit under their butts as soon as possible. Wipe it clean, "I'm sorry everyone, I failed to lead you to victory. I...I am sorry, but I will not surrender. I will fight with the axis to the end in the next term and win a more ideal for the new president." "

After the meeting, Eisenhower watched Marshall walk out of the room with a heavy face. Just as he was about to ask about the situation, Marshall was already greeting him: "Ike, come to my office."

As soon as he entered, Marshall told him to close the door, and then said something extremely shocking.

"The president is considering withdrawing from the race. It is expected to be officially announced to the public after the general election debate at the end of this month. I will also resign after that..." Marshall's tone was very calm, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "What do you think? Who is better to take over this position?”

"Sir, is this true? Is it not a rumor?"

"The president has just admitted it personally, and the top leaders of the Democratic Party have also reached a consensus."

"If you resign at this juncture, it will have a great impact on the morale of the army. You should think twice. You can cooperate with Dewey."

Marshall shook his head: "That's impossible. I'm thinking about a better way to retire. Resigning would seem to be a showdown on Dewey. What if I get sick too? Can't we arrange a car accident?"

Eisenhower opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Personally, I had hoped that you could take over my job, but it seems unlikely now. Your qualifications are not deep enough, and you will have to work hard for a few more years as deputy chief of staff before you have a chance." Marshall Mouth full of bitterness.

Eisenhower's qualifications were indeed a problem. If it had not been for the Cape Verde campaign that led to the dismissal of Devers, another deputy chief of staff, he would not even be qualified as first deputy chief of staff.

Eisenhower was very self-aware. After thinking about it, he said: "If we want to control the situation, there is only one person at the moment, but I don't know if he is willing to come back."

Marshall's eyes lit up: "You mean Doc?"

Eisenhower nodded.

Douglas MacArthur was the principal of West Point Military Academy in the same year as Marshall. He served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army more than ten years ago, from 1930 to 1935. He was considered Marshall's predecessor and had no problem with his qualifications. MacArthur's problem was whether he could effectively handle the relationship with the president and other generals - he was always a bit arrogant and arrogant, although he had the capital to do so.

"That's him! As for whether he can have a good relationship with Dewey, that's his business, it's not my place to speculate!"

"I think the Navy will support it," Eisenhower added in a subtle twist.

Marshall nodded repeatedly: MacArthur and Nimitz had been competing for resources, attack direction, and dominance. Once Nimitz was transferred away and replaced by Ingram, the Navy gradually became unable to handle MacArthur. If MacArthur was transferred back from the Far East, The pressure on the navy can be reduced a lot, which in turn can lead to better cooperation.

“Who can go to the Pacific to replace him?”

"What do you think of me?"

"You?" Marshall was not mentally prepared for Eisenhower's request. He was a little surprised and said hesitantly, "This mess in the Pacific is not easy to clean up now."

"So we must work together, not only with the navy, but also with Australia and New Zealand, instead of being superior. In view of my qualifications, if you agree, can I give me an agent title?"

"What will the army headquarters do after you leave?"

"My position can be replaced by General Clark. As for who ranks higher between him and General McNerney, I suggest asking General MacArthur to judge." Eisenhower expressed his thoughts, "The commander of the South American theater also needs to adjust the current strategy. The arrangement means that the Navy will temporarily withdraw from South America and the operations will be dominated by the Army. Moreover, General Nimitz will soon replace General Kim. It seems inappropriate and inconvenient to command him to concurrently serve as the commander of the South American theater. "

Marshall nodded, Eisenhower's consideration was more appropriate.

Mark Clark was a well-rounded and skillful man, which could just make up for MacArthur's overly aloof character; since Nimitz was going to return to China to serve as the leader of the navy, the South American Theater was indeed no longer suitable for him to serve as commander.

"But if Nimitz and General Clark are taken away, only George will be left in South America. I'm afraid of his personality..."

"George is very good at fighting, but his temperament is a bit troublesome. I recommend other candidates for the theater commander."

"who?"

"General Joseph Stilwell."

"Joe?" Marshall was shocked, "He is in China!"

Eisenhower raised two fingers: "First, he has more experience than George. At least on the surface, the Chinese battlefield is the only theater that repelled the Japanese army and recovered lost territory. No matter what method they used, his achievements as the chief of staff of the Chinese theater should be recognized. Second, the highest commander of the Chinese theater clashed with George many times, and he was in a difficult situation. Although the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has been restrained on the surface, there are undercurrents. He can't play a greater role there. Can he be asked to command the Chinese army to fight a civil war?"

As for how Stilwell broke out of the siege in China, Marshall didn't ask. There must be a way: the simplest way is to take a B-29 to fly north to the Bolshevik-controlled area, and then return home via the Kamchatka-Aleutian line. Although the Soviet Union and Germany ceased fighting and terminated their alliance relationship on the surface, the US government only recognized the Soviet Union as the full power government of Russia. The embassy was moved to Omsk, and other intelligence exchanges continued. Although big moves could not be made, small moves and transporting a few people were no problem.

As for the Chinese battlefield, it was indeed as Eisenhower said. After the European war stopped and the Communist Party controlled Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, southern Hebei, and western Shandong, the civil war gradually weakened due to changes in the international situation and the expansion of the liberated areas. The Chongqing authorities found that they could not continue to fight, and the Yan'an authorities were eager to consolidate the results. In addition, the Bolshevik big brother was beaten back to Asia, and the organizational and political pressure was very great, and they needed to recuperate.

During this period, Stilwell frequently criticized the two parties for ignoring the overall situation and allies, and almost became the most unpopular person in China. In addition, the United States was busy with its own affairs, and it was like a year in Chongqing.

"As for Joe's position, it is recommended that General Wedemeyer replace him-although I know this is very unfair to him."

Marshall nodded. With the signing of the Axis Agreement between Britain and Pakistan and the determination of Pakistan's status, Americans in Pakistan felt embarrassed. Although the British side still treated them with courtesy and was not affected by factors such as "coup" and "peace talks" in the country, the two sides could only talk about love. Transferring the Chief of Staff of the Southeast Asia Theater, Wedemeyer, and others from Pakistan to China (some to the Soviet Union) to start work was a move to lay out the post-war plan.

After Eisenhower's sorting and personnel refresh, Marshall felt that the overall arrangement was feasible.

That night, Marshall and Truman made a report. The latter basically agreed with the overall arrangement and only made some adjustments to the details: since the Pacific Theater had to work together, there would no longer be a distinction between the Southwest Pacific Theater and the Central Pacific Theater. The two theaters would be merged, with Admiral Ingram as the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Theater, Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of admiral as deputy commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General George Kenney as the commander of the theater's Army Aviation, and Lieutenant General Halsey as the commander of the fleet.

In history, Eisenhower became an admiral in 1943 because of the success of the Torch Plan. In this historical time and space, he withdrew from Africa in disgrace due to the failure of the operation, and the admiral was delayed for more than a year before he was given it - but Ike himself did not complain.

Marshall then sent a telegram to MacArthur, waiting for the other party's approval to make adjustments around the clock.

At dawn on August 22, Tsukahara led the bombardment fleet to approach Midway Island. In the air battle yesterday afternoon, the mobile fleet repelled the US air raid on Midway Island with an absolute advantage of more than 600 sorties vs more than 300 sorties, and defeated more than 90 US aircraft at the cost of losing 14 aircraft. But what made Kakuta angry was that the cunning and cowardly American aircraft did not dare to attack the bombardment fleet, but instead made a feint to attack the transport and landing forces with the worst defense capabilities. The latter sank 2 freighters, 1 old destroyer, 2 oil tankers, and 3 Sibel landing craft. The bow of the escort aircraft carrier Yunying was damaged and could not perform combat missions. Several other warships were injured by near misses.

Other losses were not important, and he was too lazy to ask how many army idiots died, but the sinking of the two ships, which were fully loaded with more than 6,000 tons and more than 8,000 tons of various fuels, made him feel sad for a long time. It was easy to replenish 15,000 tons of fuel, but it was a huge trouble to transport 15,000 tons of fuel from the mainland to Midway Island. Moreover, he dared to conclude that the sinking of oil tankers and cargo ships was just the beginning, and there would be a continuous loss of auxiliary warships in the future.

He finally understood why Commander Hori Teikichi proposed to buy ships from Europe after buying various equipment from Germany, including the Will and various tankers. The reason was here.

"Type 3 bomb, ready!"

"Fire!"

With the roar of the 460mm cannon, endless flames suddenly bloomed on Midway Island...