After a night of gossiping about Marshall and MacArthur's old adulthood, and wiping out an entire bottle of 1921 Pokma Gin, John sent Middleton, who was already slightly drunk, back to his room and briskly back to his bedroom.

Adele had already put both children to sleep and was leaning against the head of the bed while reading a book while waiting for him. When she saw John come in, she closed the book and asked with concern, "Why have you been talking for so long?" Have you encountered any problems at work lately? ”

John slapped his head on the door, he had been in the barracks for several weeks and had not come home, and as soon as he came back, he dragged Middleton in the study and talked until the middle of the night. It's no wonder that Adele misunderstood, thinking that she was in trouble with the troops and needed to ask the experienced Middleton for advice.

"No, it's that Troy is going back to the Army, ask me for some information." John quickly explained.

"Troy is going back to the Army? When was this? He's no longer the principal of the University? Adele was taken aback. Could it be that the situation has become tense to this point, and even an old man like Middleton, who is over half a hundred years old, has to re-enlist?

"It's only for a month or two. He came to Alexandria this time, mainly because there was some work to be handed over at the branch school, and by the way, he also said goodbye to his colleagues. ”

Seeing Adele's worried look, John comforted her again and said, "Now the army is most in short supply of officers with actual combat experience. Troy must be a senior commander when he goes back this time, maybe he will be the division commander directly. You look at his red face, it's like he's ten years younger. ”

Middleton's state today, Adele also saw it in her eyes and knew that John had a point. She could only sigh faintly, "Alas, why do you men like to fight so much?" ”

John stepped forward and took his wife into his arms, "It's not that we like to fight, it's the world that forces us to fight. Maybe when our generation is done fighting, little Eric won't have to fight. ”

"I hope so." Adele didn't believe John's words at all. Only 20 years after the First World War, the world was filled with gunsmoke again. No one can say how long this war will last, or whether there will be a third world war.

"By the way, Mary called in the evening and said that she missed the children and invited us to their house for dinner tomorrow night. She also made a point of mentioning Troy and inviting him to go with him. ”

John was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "I know, I'll be back to the division early tomorrow morning, and I'll go with Omar when the time comes. As for Troy, ask him tomorrow if he wants to decide for himself. ”

After chatting with Adele for a while, John washed up and went to bed. It didn't take long for Adele to fall asleep, but John couldn't sleep.

On weekdays, John eats with Bradley in the division cafeteria almost every day. And Mary, who is not idle, comes to their house almost four or five times a week. If you want the children, you can come directly to the door, what kind of guests are you invited to this year's festival. It is estimated that Adele will think that the Bradleys' invitation is simply to invite their family and little Eric's godfather to dinner.

John was a little emotional, he was still listening to Middleton in the study just now talk about so many things about Marshall's secret fight with MacArthur, but he didn't expect to encounter it himself as soon as he turned his head.

Marshall's actions this time were really fast enough. MacArthur hadn't even taken office yet, and he was just about to gather a group of old friends when he made a move. And the breakthrough of the choice is also quite ingenious.

As an old acquaintance with Middleton, Marshall certainly knows the details of the other party. Although Middleton and MacArthur have a deep relationship, in the final analysis, he was raised by the old Fan family. John, the leader of the new generation of the old Fan family, is completely influenced by his ability and influences Middleton's choice. And through him as an intermediary, it happens to allow Bradley and Middleton to establish some kind of connection.

To be able to come up with this trick, John still admires Marshall. However, what he admired was not the other party's cunning, but Marshall's ability to directly intervene in Middleton's appointment, but he did not do so.

Clearly, direct intervention in appointments is the most direct and effective option. But in order to avoid irritating MacArthur and causing the already tense preparations for war in the Far East to bring twists and turns, Marshall chose to give up. In particular, it can be seen that Marshall is indeed superior to MacArthur in terms of the overall situation.

John dared to make such a judgment so quickly, not only because of Middleton, but also because Marshall did help MacArthur twice in history.

One was in 1942, when the Philippines fell. At that time, it was clear to the US government and the military top brass that it was impossible to keep the Philippines and that it would be difficult to withdraw tens of thousands of troops from the encirclement. They have made a strategic decision to abandon the Philippines and retreat to Australia. The only question is what to do with MacArthur, who has always claimed to live with the Philippines.

Many people, including President Roosevelt and Eisenhower, the director of the Operations Department (after Pearl Harbor, the Operations Planning Division of the General Staff was upgraded to the Operations Office), advocated abandoning MacArthur. They believed that as the supreme commander of the unit, abandoning one of his subordinates and fleeing from the enemy, it would be dishonorable to the country, the army, and MacArthur personally. So, just let MacArthur be a martyr.

At that time, Marshall had every chance to push the boat and kill MacArthur. However, he took into account that the United States was losing one war after another, and its morale was very low. If MacArthur, the supreme commander of the theater, were to be killed in battle or captured by Japan, the morale of the troops would be even worse, and the United States would fall into a very unfavorable situation in terms of propaganda.

Therefore, Marshall strongly opposed the opposition to the abandonment of MacArthur. In order to find a step for MacArthur, who valued his reputation more than his life, Marshall also appointed him at the last minute as commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater with his headquarters in Australia. In this way, MacArthur went to Australia not to run away but to take office.

The other was the 1944 dispute between MacArthur and Nimitz over whether to attack the Philippines. At that time, MacArthur and Nimitz had a serious disagreement over the route of the march, with MacArthur to attack the Philippines first, and Nimitz advocating skipping the Philippines. In the end, Marshall sided with MacArthur for the unity of the Army (after all, it would be good if the Navy had the support of the Chief of Naval Operations, and as the Chief of Staff of the Army, he could not help but stand by the Army), helping him win the title of "Liberator of the Philippines".

John was still there flipping through memories from his past life, when suddenly, he realized a problem. How did the Bradleys know about Middleton with him? He didn't tell Bradley when he left the Klebe barracks.

This discovery made John sit up at once. Could it be that Middleton came to Alexander to see Bradley? I'm just a façade? Perhaps, Middleton didn't want to go to the Philippines at all, after all, MacArthur was not a good boss.

But why didn't Middleton say it to him before? What's hidden in this?