mixed in the war

During the Anti-Japanese War, the US government successively sent many generals to China.Among them, the most famous ones are Chennault, Stilwell, Wedemeyer... Needless to say, Chennault first came to China to serve as an air force advisor to Song Meiling, and then with the support of the Chinese government, he recruited American pilots to form the Flying Tigers to fight in the Chinese War of Resistance Under extremely unfavorable circumstances, he defeated the Japanese Air Force many times, and attracted the attention of the United States after the outbreak of the Pacific War. As a result, he finally got rid of the rank of retired captain and embarked on the road of general.

And after Chennault came Stilwell.

The famous "Jiang-History Controversy" can be said to have run through the entire late period of China's Anti-Japanese War.As the loser of this "struggle", Stilwell was eventually driven back to the United States by Lao Jiang.But the problem is that although Stilwell failed in the power struggle, he won the posthumous reputation. At least, his reputation is much better than that of Lao Jiang.

But Qin Wei didn't see it that way.

In Qin Wei's view, Stilwell was simply a self-centered person.He doesn't know how to consider the actual situation at all, and he doesn't know how to consider all aspects of cooperation, let alone ignore the well-intentioned warnings of others, and only arranges everything with his own will.However, after arranging the battle with his will and finally failing, he would only blame others for not being able to do it.

"Controversy between Jiang and History", although Lao Jiang was the final "winner", he did not leave a good reputation, but Qin Wei felt that he was a little wronged in this matter.The leader of a country, when he saw Stilwell, an outsider, directly told the other party that his army was far behind the enemy in terms of combat effectiveness, that he could not attack without five times the enemy's strength, and could not attack without three times the enemy's strength. You can't defend, and you can't concentrate your forces casually, because once they are concentrated, they may be wiped out by the enemy in an organized way.How embarrassing is this?But Lao Jiang still did it.Is this a confession?But what about Stilwell?He felt that Lao Jiang's tactical arrangements did not match the traditions of the US military, so.He directly denounced Lao Jiang as "a stupid donkey"!

Well, from the perspective of strategy and tactics, Lao Jiang is indeed not much better than a stupid donkey.But what about Stilwell?

Even Chennault said that Stilwell regarded himself as a "foreign master".His blind command on the Burmese battlefield caused China to lose the two most elite divisions, and to a considerable extent led to the fall of Burma.Later, Du Yuming had to lead an army of 110 to cross the Savage Mountain, and almost all his troops were wiped out, but this General Stilwell led [-] people out of the Savage Mountain, but he became a hero in an instant... Is there such a hero?

Stilwell always talked about American history.To cover up his and his staff's incompetence in command matters.And this aspect is most prominent in the conflict between him and Chennault.Chennault's air combat thought was very practical at the time, and it can be said to be grand and complete, so.Even with what Stilwell called a "poor army," the tactical design of the Flying Tigers' many battles still achieved accurate results.The Flying Tigers have a brilliant record.Stilwell was always in trouble.Roosevelt didn't understand, so he asked Stilwell about the situation, but Stilwell put the blame on Chiang Kai-shek, saying, "He is a cunning, dishonest, and indecisive villain."

The irony is that Stilwell used the factional struggles of the Communist Party's interests and corruption and incompetence as an issue, and publicly declared that the Communist generals were "second-rate" at best.But he himself is a pioneer in the US military who is jealous of talents and capable, and has the habit of fraudulent deception.Chennault led the Flying Tigers to successive victories, and Roosevelt personally wrote a long letter to express his praise, claiming that the Flying Tigers were "great wisdom and courage. Their performance is astonishing, and the entire United States is proud of it."However, Chennault asked Stilwell to submit an important military report to the US high-level, but Stilwell put it on the shelf, and at the same time beat Chennault's small report to the domestic military and political circles.The contradictions between the two sides intensified day by day, and finally Roosevelt had to send a special envoy to mediate. During the mediation process, many of Stilwell's lies were exposed.However, this still could not restrain Stilwell. In March 1943, Chennault was promoted to major general, and the Flying Tigers supplemented the bombers and obtained the command of the Hump route. hide.This matter was brought up a month later, and in the end, the two had to go back to Washington to "resolve the conflict"!As a result, in the debate at the Pentagon, Stilwell's various lies were once again self-defeating, while Chennault gained Roosevelt's attention.After that, Roosevelt met with Chennault privately three times to listen to Chennault's opinions on the Pacific strategic arrangement.And just a year after the Pentagon debate, Stilwell was recalled to the United States.

All in all, Stilwell is a self-willed person who has no scruples to achieve his goals.It's a pity that he has a good friend: Marshall, Chief of Staff of the US Army!Moreover, as a "professional" personnel from the Pentagon, he has a lot of connections in the top ranks of the US military.Therefore, after the war, Chennault could only become an Air Force lieutenant general by virtue of his many victories, but his brother, who always had problems and even lost battles, got a four-star general to retire.In other words... it's all about relationships and origins.Chennault was just a small low-level captain at the beginning, and was forced to retire because he offended his superiors. In fact, he didn't get much favor from the high-level US military. "No matter how great the credit is, how can it compare to Stilwell, who was born in the upper class?

……

"But I remember that when you asked the Americans to send an observation team, you asked this Stilwell to come by name... Now that the Americans are willing to send people over, what do you mean?"

He Yingqin was puzzled by Qin Wei's refusal.In fact, not only him, but also Lao Jiang and others... This is also because Eisenhower and others performed so well.Speaking of which, there is someone like Eisenhower who has a high enough military level, is good at coordinating relations, and can calm down to observe the environment carefully and is willing to work hard to adapt. Most of them are not very successful, and naturally they can't show any arrogance when facing a large group of senior Chinese generals.And even if he is a little arrogant, he is just a member of the observation team and doesn't have much power in his hands, so what can he do?Therefore, Lao Jiang and others were very satisfied with the observation team of that session, and naturally had an excellent evaluation of Eisenhower and others.As a result, he has great trust in Qin Wei's "vision".And Stilwell was also the one who Qin Wei named.Therefore, when the Americans said it, they already nodded in their hearts.Unexpectedly, Qin Wei, the "instigator", chose to oppose it.

"Stilwell is good friends with Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, and the two have a good relationship. And Bradley, who also works in the U.S. Army Department, is also very important to Marshall... In other words, point to these two people It’s not because of their abilities, but because they hope to influence Marshall, Roosevelt’s important assistant in military strategy!” Qin Wei explained. "But now the Americans send them to command the U.S. military to cooperate with us in combat. There are big problems here... A general's character and his position determine his choice. This General Stilwell has no combat Experience, and it is rumored that he is very headstrong... Imagine. A person who has no actual combat experience, but is headstrong. He doesn't like to listen to advice. Can he cooperate well with us? When the time comes, will the U.S. military cooperate with us in combat, or We cooperate with them?"

"Is it that serious? The US military only has 3 people." He Yingqin said.

"The number of troops is not a problem. They have a backer, and we will have to rely on their assistance in the future. What are we fighting for these days? It is money! If you have money, no matter how few soldiers you have, you are still a master!" Qin Wei said, "So. If this If Stilwell insists on grabbing the combat command, he will definitely have a huge impact on the entire Western Pacific war situation."

"That is to say, this Stilwell is not good?" Lao Jiang asked in a deep voice.

"I really can't!" Qin Wei shook his head and said, "And we can't risk our overall strategic layout."

"But I have already promised the Americans!" Lao Jiang said.

"..."

*****************************************************

"La la la la..."

When Qin Wei was surprised at Lao Jiang's self-inflicted hardship.The fat Prime Minister of the British Empire is happily taking a bath, rubbing soap on his body, and humming a folk song from somewhere in the UK... He really has reason to be happy.Although Zhongyi Nagumo is attacking Australia with hundreds of troop carriers and more than [-] troops, he is attacking one of the two most important logistics bases of the British Empire.But this still couldn't make him restrain his joy.

"Compared to American aid, what is Australia's loss?"

Churchill was well aware of what the Japanese attack on Australia meant.Some time ago, a group of American political and military forces headed by MacArthur suddenly broke out and tried their best to explain to the United States the importance of the strategy of "first Asia and then Europe".And because MacArthur had just won a battle, coupled with the support of the American oil consortium, even Roosevelt was almost shaken.Because MacArthur's victory gave the Americans the hope of defeating Japan...Compared to the appearance that the Germans can only be left to wreak havoc on the European battlefield at this time, the United States is of course willing to fight first and choose a better target.

At that time, he, the Prime Minister of the British Empire, was so anxious that he almost jumped up and down.

Unexpectedly, this bad situation did not last long, and the Japanese suddenly attacked Australia... With the current situation in Australia, it is almost certain that it cannot be defended there.In fact, even if he could defend it, Churchill is a little unwilling to defend it now.Because without the frontier position of Australia, it would become a pipe dream for the Americans to resolve the war in Asia from the east.No matter how powerful the United States is, it is impossible for it to travel thousands of miles by sea to fight such a huge war.But Europe is different, Great Britain is still there, and the mainland of the British Empire can serve as the frontier for the Americans.Moreover, the Japanese attack on Australia not only means that the Americans must adopt the strategy of "first Europe, then Asia", but also means that the British Empire, which restricts the east-west air routes, can increase its influence on the Chinese to some extent... because If the Chinese want to obtain foreign aid, they must first pass through the sphere of influence of the British Empire.

"It shows that God is still on our side after all."

Turning on the faucet, Churchill picked up a bath towel and wiped off the fat on his body casually, then wrapped it around his waist, opened the door and walked out.

"grown ups!"

Churchill's secretary was outside with a folder in his hand.

"What's the matter?" Churchill asked.

"There is an urgent call!" The secretary's expression was not very good, "I called you a few times, but you didn't hear me. And you were taking a shower, so I..."

"It's okay." Churchill waved his hand and "grabbed" the folder over, "Asia? Well, this should be sent to..."

Before he finished speaking, Churchill suddenly stopped, and then the folder in his hand fell to the ground with a "snap". (To be continued..)