When Tom went to Washington to receive the Medal of Honor, he flew through Hawaii. In fact, when he arrived in Hawaii, it was not too early for the ceremony in Washington. The reason why he came to Hawaii so early was simply because Tom's injury was just right, and his complexion was not very good. If it appears in front of the public at that time, it will still be like this, and the relevant departments feel that it will affect the image of the US ** team, especially the Marine Corps. Besides, there are also Army people who receive the Medal of Honor, and the upper echelons of the Marine Corps feel that their soldiers must look better than the spirit of the Army. In addition, Tom's previous record was not very good, and he had never read any books, so he would always habitually bring out foul language when talking to others. If it is time to present the awards, in front of the public, he will also come to the mouth and become dirty, then he will not lose the face of the Marine Corps. So the Marine Corps arranged for him to recuperate in Hawaii for a while, and then go to Washington, D.C.

When it comes to face-saving projects, Americans are not as unproficient as we usually think. In fact, just look at how Second Lieutenant Sheskopf in "Catch-22" managed to create a marching queue without waving his hands. It wasn't long before Tom learned that damn etiquette training was worse than going to war.

It's better for the Army, Ron only needs to recuperate in peace and stability now, although he also received an order to return to the United States to receive the Medal of Honor, but the Army did not specifically arrange etiquette training for him. After all, looking at Ron's resume, he is a real college student. This 'one' reading 'novel' ybdu education was still very good at the time, and people with this education also had basic etiquette training, so Ron had a lot of leisure time.

The combination drug therapy did work, and Ron's condition was basically cured, but he still needed to be hospitalized for a period of time. Because malaria tends to come and go, and although falciparum malaria is almost universally absent, it's always right to be careful. Because there was actually nothing to do, as a result, the time to visit the patient was extended. His hospital room was filled with people who had come to visit him all morning, including old comrades from previous naval battles, as well as a few other visitors. During this time, Hailan also came twice, but not for long. She told Ron that the company was trying to use the Marines as a breakthrough to sell the kind of automatic rifle that used intermediate-power rounds.

At 8 a.m. on December 3, Ron boarded a transport plane and headed for the North American continent. As soon as he got on the plane, Ron saw an acquaintance at a glance: Hailan was sitting in a seat in the cabin near the wing, she was throwing her cowboy hat on the empty seat next to her, twisting her head, peering through the porthole next to her.

Ron walked over, picked up the hat she had thrown on the chair beside her, and said:

"Miss, is there anyone here?"

"Oh, someone's!" Hailan quickly turned her head and saw that it was Ron, and her eyes, which had been impatient, suddenly brightened.

"Ron! …… How did you just come up, in a few minutes, you will miss the plane. ”

"Ah, I was a little late at the terminal...... Is there anyone here? Where am I going? Ron said with a smile.

"It's someone!" Hai Lan raised his face, his eyes bulged out, and he stared at Ron viciously, "You go over there!" ”

"Hehe, anyway, there's no one else here now, I'll sit down first." With a wicked smile, Ron sat down next to Hailan and shook her cowboy hat as a fan.

"It's so annoying, like a fly ......" Hailan pretended to be angry, snatched the hat from Ron's hand, and whispered without raising his head while carefully arranging the hat, "I hate it, I broke everyone's hat!" ”

"Hey, you're going to receive the Grand Medal, how do you feel?" After a moment of silence, Hai Lan asked in a low voice.

"Oh, that's good, there's a free ticket in the future. Unfortunately, the law says that this thing cannot be sold, otherwise it would be nice to transfer it to you, and you will always have to fly around. ”

……

Ron lifted his wrist and looked at his watch, it was almost time to take off.

"Well, the plane is about to take off, aren't you in a hurry?"

"What's the hurry?" Hai Lan asked puzzled.

"The people here." Ron pointed to the chair under his buttocks, "If he doesn't come up, he's going to miss the plane." ”

"Miss it, miss it, let him die." Hai Lan replied with a grin.

At this moment, someone really boarded the plane again. However, the person who came up was obviously not the one who had made an appointment with Hailan. He was dressed in a Marine uniform, and as soon as he came up, he went straight to a vacant seat next to him.

"Hey, Tom!" Ron recognized the man and hurriedly said hello.

"Ah, Chief Ron, you're on this plane too." Tom replied as he walked over to his side.

"Oh, this is Sergeant Tom," Tom introduced to Sea Blue, "the Warrior of the Marine Corps." I went to receive the Medal of Honor when I returned home this time. ”

Then he was about to introduce Tom to Aqua when he turned his head and saw Tom stammering, "Ah...... Miss Hailan...... I really didn't expect it...... Will meet you ......"

"You know?" Ron asked, confused.

"Hello, Tom." Hailan stood up and stretched out his hand to Tom. Tom reached out and shook her hand in a bit of a panic.

"Tom and I have done some small business in New York and Mexico at our company. I didn't really see him so good on the battlefield at that time. After Tom hurriedly took his leave and ran away, he explained to Ron.

The plane took off, and the flight from Hawaii to the North American continent was still a long one. After chatting for a while, everyone gradually became sleepy......

A slight jolt woke Ron up. He noticed that Hailan was resting her head on his shoulder, sleeping soundly......

The plane landed in San Francisco. While Helan had business to attend to while Ron was on his way to Washington, D.C., he needed to report to his immediate boss, General Arnold, before meeting the president.

The next day, Ron took a plane to Washington. After a night's rest, on December 5, Army Airlines sent a car to take him to the Pentagon to meet General Arnold.

General Arnold was the founder of the U.S. Army Air Corps, later known as the U.S. Air Force. He has always believed that because of the emergence of air power, war has become three-dimensional. Air power can massively attack the enemy's ground forces and surface ships, penetrate deep into the enemy's strategic rear, disrupt the enemy's rear supplies, industrial economy, transportation hubs, and even densely populated central cities, and destroy the enemy's will to resist as a whole. Therefore, there is no need to invade and occupy the territory of the enemy country at all, and the use of air power alone can force the enemy to surrender and thus end the war.

Under the influence of his ideas, although the United States has not yet established an independent air force, it has established one of the largest air forces in the world. This force proved its worth in World War II and became a nightmare for the entire Axis powers. Because of his outstanding contributions, he was promoted to a five-star general in the army after the war. Later, after the Air Force became a separate army, he was awarded the rank of five-star general of the Air Force.

But now, General Arnold still holds the rank of lieutenant general. However, his air force has already shown great effect, which makes his promotion to general almost imminent.

Led by a lieutenant officer, Ron walked into the general's office.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant Colonel Ron reports to you!" Ron raised his hand in salute to the general.

"Ah, here comes our hero." The general raised his hand to the brim of his hat and returned the salute, "Sit down, let's talk." ”

Ron sat down.

"Mention that you got malaria not long ago, how are you doing?"

"It's all right, General!"

"What do you think about the prospects for this war? Where do you think the most important battlefield for our army and aviation? "It is very strange that the general did not ask much about the situation on Kuah Island, but asked such a question.

Ron looked at General Arnold suspiciously, and then began to think about it.

Based on the history of World War II, he knew that the Pacific Ocean was not an ideal battlefield for the Army for the time being, and there was no airfield for the Army to attack strategic targets. And attacking such a moving target as a warship is not up to the task of the four-engine strategic bombers of the Army Aviation. Now the most important battlefield of the army aviation is in Europe. There, there were very suitable bases, and bombers taking off from the UK, whether B-17 or B-24, could drop bombs on the hinterland of fascist Germany. In addition, among the enemies of the United States, Germany is the first in any case, and Europe first and then Asia is also the national policy that the United States has always adhered to in the war.

"General, it's Europe!" Ron replied firmly, "Because there is the most suitable base and the most suitable target there!" ”

"Haha, you're on the point." The general said happily, "There is just one more question, I would like to consult with you, because you are the best fighter ace of our Army Aviation." General Arnold then asked:

"The British have always chosen to bomb German targets at night, but with poor results. We want to carry out precision bombing during the day, and only in this way can we ensure the effectiveness of strategic bombing. But it also means that we will face a more powerful interception force. Judging from your operations on Kuah Island, the daytime bombardment launched by the Japanese against you suffered heavy losses after being intercepted. So, some people have a lot of concerns about daytime air strikes, do you think daytime air strikes are feasible? ”

"General, the anti-air raids on Kuah Island and the counter-air raids on the European continent cannot be compared." Ron thought for a moment and replied.

"First of all, the Japanese bombers were extremely wrong in terms of design from the beginning. They actually tried in vain to let the bombers evade the blows of the fighters through their maneuverability. But this is impossible, no matter how agile the bomber is, it cannot be compared with the fighter. And in order to meet their mobility requirements, they definitely weakened the defense and self-defense firepower of the aircraft. The result was that even a few .50 bullets could have caught fire on their bomber, and if it did, it would almost certainly have crashed. And our bombers are extremely strong, and the firepower for self-defense is also very strong. This is the first different ......"

Ron spoke for a long time in one breath, including the difference in the altitude of the combat airspace, the defects of the German aircraft, and so on. But in the end, Ron still said honestly: "If you don't get the escort of fighters, the loss of bombers will be very large." We urgently need a long-range escort fighter. ”

"Can the P-38 perform such a mission?" The general asked.

"I'm afraid not, the P-38 is more suitable for interception missions, and if you escort an escort, its roll is too slow, and it is easy for the enemy to find a gap to attack the bomber."

"Ron, we have a mission for you." After listening to Ron's answer, the general spoke, "I'll give you a fighter unit, and you can take them to imitate those Germans, and let all the bomber units come to you to practice before fighting the Germans, and get familiar with the state when they are intercepted." What do you think? ”

"Oh my God!" Ron's eyes widened all of a sudden, and he almost popped out of his sockets, "Isn't this old man also a cross-edger?" How did you get out all at once the set of simulated enemy troops and Red Flag Exercise 1? ”

Notes: 1 Red Flag Exercise: A Red Flag exercise is primarily conducted at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Eielson Air Flag in Alaska

Advanced air combat training held at military bases. Beginning in 1975, U.S. Air Force and other U.S. affiliates and allies participated in the exercises, each lasting six weeks. The Red Flag Exercise is held 4~6 times a year and is held by the 57th Combat Training Squadron (also known as the "Red Flag Squadron") of the 414th Wing. It is a very realistic aerial combat exercise. Its purpose is to train pilots from the United States, NATO, and other allies to provide training in real-world combat situations. This included the use of "enemy" hardware and the use of live ammunition in the Nevada Test and Training Range (with the legendary "Area 51" in between) during bombing training.