Prior to Pearl Harbor, the United States had been a country where isolationism was rife. This tendency of "glorious isolation" became more and more obvious www.biquge.info especially after the United States sent troops to participate in World War I, but was ostracized after the war and failed to reap the expected benefits. In this era when there are no intercontinental missiles and long-range bombers, the two oceans of the east and the west give the American people enough security, who would believe that the US mainland will one day be attacked? So for the war that broke out between China and Japan, 90% of Americans think that it has nothing to do with them.

President Roosevelt, of course, was not among the 90 percent. In fact, on October 5 last year, Roosevelt tried to speak for the Chinese. At that time, at the opening ceremony of the Chicago Outer Ring Bridge, Roosevelt delivered a speech entitled "Plague Quarantine," condemning the Japanese indiscriminately bombing the civilian area of Nanjing a month earlier.

Roosevelt was a very shrewd politician. His mentor on the political path, former President Woodrow Wilson (the president of the United States during World War I), was in the late years of his administration, and he knew that this sensitive issue should not be touched lightly. So he named the speech "Isolation", which was like a red light to the Japanese, scaring them that they could not continue like this.

As a result, the Japanese were not so frightened that they put it aside for the time being, anyway, the Americans were frightened by his speech. Six isolationist groups united to organize 25 million anti-war signatures calling for "keeping America away from war." Thus, Roosevelt's first attempt to intervene in Sino-Japanese affairs could only end there.

Fortunately, no one at the table is isolationist at the moment. What big monopoly capitalist does not salivate over the vast overseas market, and only the middle class who are small and prosperous are content to play with themselves behind closed doors. So this will, Roosevelt's argument is very marketable at the dinner table.

In this discussion, John was very active. Not only did he unequivocally support Roosevelt's views, but he also sharply pointed out the harmfulness of the policy of appeasement. These John had learned all of them in his previous secondary school history textbooks. John persuaded President Roosevelt to find a way to balance the balance of power between China and Japan. Even if we can't help China defeat Japan, we must consume Japan's power in China as much as possible. The situation in the Far East since 1931 (the September 18 Incident) has shown that the Japanese will not stop there once their needs have been met. If the price they pay for their goals is too small, it will only stimulate their greed. Once they are allowed to easily eat China, then the whole of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and the eastern Pacific islands, which are under the sphere of influence of the United States, will no longer be safe in the next step.

President Roosevelt was intrigued by John, a young man he met for the first time. Thanks to old Henry Ford, he still knew a little bit about John. Just now when he saw John eating without saying a word, Roosevelt thought that he was just a bit of a business-minded man who didn't care much about politics. Unexpectedly, this young man also has a unique vision on international issues.

"Mr. Vanderbilt's idea is quite novel, do you think the Japanese will attack the Philippines?" Roosevelt asked John a question with great interest.

"Just call me Little John, Mr. President." John straightened his mind and continued: "Not in the short term, but in the long run it is a possibility. What the Japanese could get from China was nothing more than coal, grain and manpower, and possibly timber and manganese-nickel-tungsten ore. But China doesn't have the oil, iron ore and rubber they desperately need. Where are these things, Southeast Asia and Australia? If Japan succeeds in digesting China, they will definitely attack these regions with their character of Longwangshu. ”

In order to show his knowledge of China and increase the credibility of his arguments, John also deliberately used a Chinese idiom "Delong Wangshu" and explained the meaning of this idiom to Roosevelt. Thanks to the absence of Chinese at that time, the effect of this trick was not bad. It's not that John used the idiom incorrectly, but that he spoke Mandarin with a native Sichuan accent. That's right, it's the legendary "Trump".

Originally, Mandarin was different from the pronunciation of the "Chinese" officially used in China at this time, and if he had a standard Mandarin point, or a little Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangdong accent, he could still speak it, after all, many Americans had been to these places. For example, because Reilly served in the 15th Regiment, his Chinese accent is a bit Tianjin. But John has never been to China in his life, and his Sichuan accent is what's going on. If there is a Chinese on the scene, he will have to reveal the stuffing in minutes. Fortunately, no one could understand at all at this point, and John was able to get away with it.

President Roosevelt took John's views very seriously, and he invited John to have a cup of coffee in his living room after the dinner and talk in detail about his views on the Sino-Japanese issue.

Unlike later American presidents, who used to use the Treaty Room as a living room, the Roosevelts set up the living room in the Monroe Room of the White House. Although the room was named after President Monroe, upon entering the room, John noticed a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt hanging on the wall. John tried his best to hide his surprise, but was still recognized by First Lady Eleanor. As she poured John coffee, she explained with a smile: "Originally, we were going to leave the portrait of my uncle (President Roosevelt Sr. was not only a distant cousin of President Roosevelt Jr., but also the uncle of First Lady Eleanor) in the house on Sixty-fifth Street, but since the house there was to be rented, we couldn't rent my uncle out, so we brought it here." ”

John, who was well aware of the grievances between the uncle and nephew presidents, did not dare to accept the first lady's words, and after taking a sip of coffee to suppress the shock, he transferred the topic to Sino-Japanese relations. This time, John began to peddle his "China Aid Volunteer Air Corps" plan.

John told President Roosevelt that the Chinese navy had been completely lost, and that the entire eastern seaboard had been settled. "But China has enough strategic depth and abundant human resources, and once the social mobilization is completed, it is completely possible to take advantage of the favorable terrain in the southwest to drag the war into a stalemate."

Roosevelt basically agreed with John's judgment, and he knew very well that this stalemate would be beneficial to the United States, because both China and Japan would have to ask for the United States at that time.

"But there's a loophole in that," John continued, "and that's that China's air force is too weak. Japan's ground forces could be blocked, but China was not capable of withstanding the attack of Japanese aircraft. If Japanese planes were allowed to bomb the Chinese rear, it would probably lead to the collapse of the entire front. So it is in the interest of the United States to help China build an air power. ”

After a long pause, Roosevelt admitted that John had a point, "But little John, you know, last year Congress passed the third Neutrality Act, and it is illegal to send weapons to belligerents. Roosevelt went on to say: "There is now a strong isolationist force, and although most people are disgusted by Japan's aggression and sympathetic to the Chinese victims, they are unwilling to intervene, much less to risk the lives of their own young people." ”

Roosevelt took off his glasses and rubbed his temples with some reluctance, "You also saw what happened last October, and it feels terrible. When you are leading the team in front, you look back and find that there is no one with you. ”

John was well aware of Roosevelt's difficulties, but he was unwilling to give up: "There are ways to circumvent the Neutrality Act. We can't export fighters, but civilian aircraft can. Do you still have an impression of Howard Hughes's H1 aircraft? ”

Roosevelt, of course, remembered that last year Howard Hughes flew his own H1 plane over the continental United States in seven and a half hours, setting a record for a non-landing flight across the continental United States. At that time, Roosevelt also personally received Hughes and presented him with a medal.

"Hughes was a great lad, and the H1 was a good plane, and I encouraged him to convert the H1 into a fighter." In this era, it is not uncommon for racing aircraft to be transformed into excellent military aircraft, such as the British Spitfire and the German Bf109.

"But the military did not adopt the H1, they chose the P-38 from Lockheed. So the H1 is still a civil aircraft. We can export H1, weapons systems to China for reinstallation. "In these years, the most important thing in the aircraft is the engine, the fire control and everything are very primitive, there is no radar electronic system, and even the fuselage is made of plywood. John once considered that if it was difficult to export the whole machine, he would only export key components such as engines, and the rest would be made in China.

Roosevelt thought he had seen through John's purpose. His son, Franklin Jr., was a member of the same flying club as John and Hughes. So he had heard about the relationship between John and Hughes, and knew that John had quite a few shares in Hughes's aircraft company.

It seems that Hughes has set its sights on foreign markets after losing orders from the military? Over the years, relatives have really thought a lot. Roosevelt didn't care about John's "selfishness." Years of political experience have taught him that selflessness is the most terrible, because there must be a conspiracy behind it.

"You're walking a tightrope, little John." Roosevelt thought John's idea was feasible, but a little too risky: "Congress will not give up when it knows it." ”

"I thought I could give it a try, I don't know if I could ask Mr. Delano for a favor." Mr. Delano mentioned by John was Roosevelt's uncle. Since the death of Roosevelt's maternal grandfather, who was engaged in the opium trade, his uncle, Mr. Delano, has been running the business of foreign firms in Hong Kong, and is said to have done business with Cantonese generals such as Chen Jitang, Yu Hanmou, and Zhang Fakui. John offered Laderano to join the gang because he was afraid that Roosevelt would cross the river and tear down the bridge. In case something happens in the future, he also hopes that Roosevelt can help him somewhat.

"I haven't seen him in years, you can contact him yourself through the Hong Kong consulate." Roosevelt knew very well that John's calculus would not be easily baited. But after thinking about it, Roosevelt decided to give John a little support, in case the kid went back and backed down. Roosevelt picked up a sticky note on the coffee table and wrote down a phone number. "I just thought of a guy who is definitely interested in your point of view. You can get in touch with him. ”

John glanced at the name on the note—Henry (Stimson). The future Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Army. John accepted the note and got up to say goodbye to the president.