After returning to the United States and resting for the night, Ron was summoned again by General Arnold.

"General!" Ron walked into Arnold's office and saw Arnold looking up from a pile of papers.

"Ah, Ron." Arnold smiled, and he could see that he was in a good mood, "Sit down, you're doing a great job in Burma." ”

Seeing Ron sit down, Arnold handed him a document.

"Ron, look at this document."

Ron flipped through the file and looked at it.

This is a plan to build a series of airfields in China and then use them as a base for strategic bombing of Japan. According to this plan, the United States will deploy a batch of B-29 bombers around Sichuan, China, to bomb Japan's Yawata Steel.

Ron read the document carefully, then handed it back to General Arnold.

"Ah, I'm done." Arnold reached out and took the document, looking up at him, "Ron, you just came back from the Chinese war zone, what do you think about this plan?" ”

"Ah, General, can you find me a room with a typewriter?" Ron said, "I have some ideas, but they're not quite systematic. I need a little time to sort it out. ”

General Arnold looked at him and laughed, "Haha, Ron, you're really a serious person." Well, that's how young people should be. Okay, I'm looking forward to your opinion. ”

Then he called an officer and told him to take Ron next door. Ron thanked him and stood up to follow the officer out.

"Ah, Ron, you wait first," Arnold called to him, "you can take this too, it's easier to write it against it." General Arnold handed Ron a document. Ron glanced down, and sure enough, it was still the same document as before.

"Thank you, General!"

……

After two hours, General Arnold looked up from the file and asked, "Isn't Ron ready?" …… Are you going to check it out? ”

"General, Colonel Ron is ready. Waiting outside. An officer replied.

……

General Arnold looked at the piece of paper that Ron had handed him, and tucked it into the plan.

"Ah, Ron, it seems that you don't think much of this plan."

"Yes, General. I think the efficiency of this program is questionable. This is first and foremost due to capacity constraints. "Ron was determined.

"Well, if you only use the Hump route, it will be really difficult to support a large-scale strike on Japan in terms of capacity. But Ron, in the future we may have another shipping line. ”

"General, is the other route you are talking about referring to the Yunnan-Burma Highway?" Ron asked.

"Ron, how do you know?" Arnold looked at Ron in surprise.

"General, it's not hard to think of this. China now has no access to the sea. Even if we don't consider whether the KMT army has such capabilities, even if we can launch an offensive and retake Guangzhou," Arnold hung a large map behind him, and Ron simply pointed at the map, "Until the Philippines is taken back, the port of Guangzhou will not be usable." Therefore, the only possibility is the Yunnan-Burma Highway. ”

"You go on." Arnold said.

"General, this passage is just a road through the rainforest, and the capacity is quite limited. In addition, the road passes through rainy rainforests and mountains, and the geological conditions are also very bad, once it encounters the rainy season, it is easy to collapse and other problems, and its transportation capacity is still difficult to afford a European battlefield-style strategic bombing. ”

"But Ron, Japan's industrial power is far inferior to that of Germany, and there are not as many targets to bomb."

"General, I don't think so. I've read some of the materials that say that a lot of Japanese industry, especially the production of parts, is done by small cottage factories. These small factories are huge. To completely destroy their industry from the air, it is not enough to hope for the destruction of one or two large factories. Moreover, even if only the big factories are targeted, the capacity will still not be enough to sustain the long-term crackdown. ”

Seeing that General Arnold did not speak again, Ron continued: "The second point is that from Sichuan, the bombers have a long range to pass over the area controlled by the Japanese army, which is equivalent to giving the Japanese a long warning time. So that the Japanese could take off fighters from here, here, and here for multiple batches of interceptions. And our fighters will not be able to escort bombers because of range limitations. In this way, our losses will be significant. ”

"Ron, our proposed B-29 is an epoch-making bomber that flies at a higher altitude, is faster, and has more firepower for self-defense, and they are more than enough to counter the Japanese fighters."

"General, against the Japanese, this is not enough. The Germans would pretend to ram when attacking. But the Japanese, they will play really. On Kuah Island, their wounded would pull grenades when our men went to their aid; In Myanmar, they also have a record of direct hits with transport planes on several occasions. They're all a bunch of crazy people! Unless you can destroy the bombers before they get close, the bombers will suffer a lot of losses. ”

"So, what do you think is the best place to launch an air raid?"

"Of course, the islands in the Pacific Ocean that are close to Japan, like this one...... And here! Ron immediately pointed out a few places on the map.

"Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa...... Well, if the Navy can take them, these positions are very good. And ......," Arnold laughed, "it shouldn't be harder for those bullish navies to take them than it is to take the Philippines and Taiwan, right?" ”

"General, I think so too." Ron smiled too.

"We'll take a closer look at your opinions. In addition, your comments on the improvement of the P-51 are also good, and they will definitely help the manufacturer. Arnold stood up with a smile, "Good boy, you'll have a great future." Also, I congratulate you, young man, for the Army's readiness to confer on you the rank of Brigadier General for your outstanding performance in Burma, and the approval should be forthcoming. Well, at such a young age, you are going to become a general. Well done! Arnold reached out and pressed his hands heavily on Ron's shoulders.

"General, I have a new idea." Ron said.

"Oh? Let's hear it. ”

"General, you know, sooner or later we will have to go to the European continent to fight. By that time, the tasks of our close direct fire support, as well as the task of preventing close direct fire support from enemy fighters, will increase significantly. And we don't have much experience in this area, either in Europe or in the Pacific. And our enemies, from the very beginning of the war, have been doing this. So, I wondered, can we use diplomatic means to invite some pilots from allied countries to communicate. This is especially true for pilots from countries with experience in near-ground squad fire support and air supremacy. ”

Arnold smiled: "Ron, when you say experienced countries, you mean the Soviet Union, right?" Although the Soviets are difficult to deal with, the idea is still very interesting, but anyway, it is always good to get to know the Soviets. We will consider this suggestion of yours. ”

……

To say, General Arnold's efficiency is really not covered. Just a week after Ron's return to the "Reverse Cross", a list of Soviet pilots who had come to exchange was placed on Ron's desk.

According to the description of the document, the Soviet delegation was not small, there were nearly 100 people, including officials, technicians, and some people who did not know who they were. There weren't enough pilots, only a dozen. But there's something really interesting about these people. For example, this one:

"Valia, Gender: FemaleAge: Unknown

Profession: Fighter Pilot ......"

If you want to talk about female fighter pilots, Ron has seen them in his previous life, but he has never seen one in his life. The reason for this is super simple. In the previous life, the newer fighters were already fly-by-wire. The operating lever has a booster system, and even if you want to pull a large overload of about 10g out, the pilot does not need to exert much effort. And at this time, it was still World War II. WhatsMiner telex is still operating the technology of Zenith. All fighters rely on brute force to pull rods and push rods. And women are naturally inferior to men in strength, so there are naturally very few female pilots, and female fighter pilots are simply unimaginable. So although it was known before that there were female fighter pilots in the USSR, and even a queen card. Ron still found it hard to imagine. What does this woman have to look like to be a fighter pilot!

Look down and take a look, well, there are photos attached, and the photos look very beautiful. It's just that there is only the head on the photo, and you can't see what the figure is.

"It shouldn't look like Long Aotian, right? The face is delicate, and the waist of the tiger is bearish. Ron couldn't help but think.

But Ron knew that the Soviet Union was different from other countries. The Soviets genuinely believed in the equality of men and women. But their understanding of equality is completely different from the so-called feminists that Ron had met in his previous life. The Soviets sincerely believed that equality meant not only the same rights, but also the same responsibilities. So they think that whatever a man can do, a woman can do. Women have the same obligations and responsibilities as men. The women of the Soviets, like the men, worked in the farms, produced in the factories, and like the men, carried steel guns and bayonets on the battlefield, braved enemy fire, shouted 'Ula' to charge, and then shed their blood and died in the vast expanses of Russia like the male warriors. They can't be looked at all with the eyes of ordinary women, they are not "second sex", they are completely men with chromosomes that are a little different from ours.

Ron thought to himself as he continued to look down:

"Record: 55 aircraft shot down individually, 22 aircraft shot down collectively (by cooperating)."

Oh my! It's actually a super trump card! You know, the fighter pilots of the Soviet Air Force are almost the most bitter fighter pilots in the world. In order to protect low-flying attack aircraft, they must not avoid fighting and flee when they are at a disadvantage, and they must not chase after the fleeing enemy when they are at an advantage.

Their enemies made it clear in the tactical manual: fighter pilots could get out of battle in the event of an unfavorable situation. (As for your own bombers and ground troops, ask for more than you please.) Let's go, bye-bye! But the tactical manuals of Soviet pilots stated: fighter pilots must do everything possible to protect attack aircraft, to protect ground forces, and any cowardice is a crime against the Soviets!

In terms of the recognition of the record, the German pilot only needs to have another aircraft to testify to the record. And in the USSR, in addition to this, the testimony of the ground forces was needed, as well as the wreckage of enemy aircraft. Many times, Soviet pilots achieved results over enemy-controlled areas, but were not recognized because the wreckage was with the enemy. The great Pokryshkin was even more unlucky, the war had been fought for almost two years, and as a result, a fire burned all his previous records, so that his results had to be recounted from zero. (According to this buddy's own words, without this fire, his record would have reached three digits)

How could a woman who was naturally inferior in strength achieve such a result?