"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "In a hilly area eight miles east of Cralebo Barracks, puffs of soot were created by planted explosives and smoke charges. A battalion of 82nd Division infantry is conducting a short-range assault combat training in a simulated real combat environment.

This brand-new training subject is a new change brought about by Middleton after he was invited to visit the 82nd Division a few days ago. Since that night's party, Middleton and Bradley's relationship has gradually warmed up, and the two "daughters" actually have a bit of a feeling of sympathy for each other.

Considering that among the commanders of the 82nd Division, except for the artillery commander Brigadier General Swain, who had crossed the water in the First World War (Swain was wounded and returned home after the first battle), the others had no experience in the Great War. Even Bradley himself, only as a second lieutenant, participated in battles with the Mexican peasant forces (strictly an armed march). Bradley also took the initiative to invite Middleton, a "senior" of the Fort Benning Infantry School with rich experience in operational command, to visit and guide the 82nd Division.

Don't look at Middleton, who has been retired for nearly four years, he hasn't lost his ability to watch the war. After getting a general understanding of the current training situation of the 82nd Division, he found out several areas that needed to be improved. For example, the problem of the long distance between the standard of infantry shooting and assault training.

According to Middleton's experience in France, the vast majority of infantry battles took place within 50 yards, and the effective firing range was generally between 25 and 30 yards. As a result, Bradley was inspired by him to strengthen the training of short-range infantry assault tactics and close-range shooting subjects in a variety of terrain environments throughout the division.

Today, training in this hilly terrain is carried out by a battalion of the 504 regiment. What was different from normal days was that at an observation point on the hillside not far away, it was not the regimental headquarters training staff officers who were fighting, but Commander Wald and a number of high-ranking divisional commanders.

The 82nd Division, as the rebuilding division with the fastest training progress in the whole army, has given Lieutenant General Wald a long face during this time. As soon as he heard that there was a new measure in the division's training, he came to observe it early in the morning.

"Well done lads. Omar, you have a good batch of platoon commanders. Commander Wald said with satisfaction as he watched with a telescope how the platoon commanders led their soldiers to shoot at enemy targets (iron drums semi-hidden in fortifications) while charging.

"They were all picked out by Omar from the reserve officer school, and their quality is much higher than the previous batch." John, who accompanied Commander Wald and his entourage to observe the training, interjected at the right time. In his opinion, in addition to having a set of scientific and rational training plans, the most important thing for the 82nd Division to achieve today's results is that Bradley used his advantage as the principal of the reserve officer school to exchange for hundreds of outstanding second lieutenant officers.

Since taking office, Bullard has spent nearly a year sending more than 100 incompetent officers (mostly from the National Guard) to military academies for further training in four batches, replacing them with a group of outstanding graduates from the Fort Benning Infantry School and the Reserve Officer School.

Although this process was resisted by some senior officers at one point, most of the junior officers eventually could not resist the temptation to be promoted and obediently left the 82nd Division (due to the rapid growth of the U.S. Army, the chances of returning to the 82nd Division after completing their studies and being promoted were slim).

Now, several local gangs in the 82nd Division have long been dismantled, and even Colonel Martin, who is coaxing the cows, has begun to clamp his tail and behave. John estimates that when his brother Edward Martin is elected governor of Pennsylvania in November, he will most likely apply for transfer to the 28th Division (which is reorganized from the Pennsylvania National Guard, and the division is currently commanded by Edward Martin).

Commander Wald was of course happy with Bradley's approach, and it was always a good thing to improve the combat effectiveness of his troops. It's just that the current excellent grassroots officers are too sought-after, and without Bradley, a key figure, the method used by the 82nd Division cannot be promoted in other divisions. Therefore, he is more concerned about the various new training methods that have emerged in the 82nd Division recently.

"I heard this was Troy's idea for you?" Commander Wald lowered his binoculars and asked Bradley.

"Yes, Principal Middleton gave us a lot of good advice. His experience of fighting in Europe was very helpful to us. ”

"That guy from Troy is really good at fighting. Although I am a little too cautious at times, the ability is still very good. In the battle of Argonne Forest (Merz-Argonne offensive), he personally led the A battle group of the 4th Division to fight the main attack, and it was fought very beautifully. ”

Both Lieutenant General Wald and Marshall were "Chamont Kids" (during World War I, General Pershing's U.S. Expeditionary Force Headquarters was located in Chaumont, France, and a large number of young staff officers at that command later rose to high positions.) Known in the military as the Chamont Kids, including Marshall, Patton, Wald, and the late former Secretary of the Army Dean, they were among them), and they were fond of Middleton, who was once known as a twin star with MacArthur.

"It's a pity that he was unlucky, General Pershing was already ready to promote him to brigadier general and deputy division commander, but the war ended before he could report to Washington. People are like this sometimes, they miss an opportunity, and they probably won't be able to make up for it for decades. After the emotion, Commander Wald seemed to suddenly think of something: "By the way, is he still in Alexander?" ”

"Looks like you've already gone to Washington to report, right? John, Principal Middleton left that day? Bradley turned to John.

"I left the morning before yesterday, and Washington was in a hurry, and I heard that he was very likely to be sent to the 45th Division this time." John, of course, understood what Wald was thinking.

Who in the 4th Army didn't know that the mess of the 28th Division was Commander Wald's biggest heart disease. As long as Edward Martin Rai does not leave the position of division commander for a day, the problems of the 28th Division will not be solved for a day. It is estimated that Wald is now dreaming of telling Martin to get out of here. But for political reasons (midterm elections at the end of the year), neither Roosevelt nor Marshall would agree to him doing so. So, Wald can only do it in a hurry now.

John speculated that Wald might have taken a crush on Middleton and wanted to dig him into the 28th Division. Wait until the midterm elections are over at the end of the year so that he can take over Martin's class.

If, according to MacArthur's previous arrangement, Middleton would have to go to the Reserve Forces Committee for a period of time after his reinstatement before being formally appointed, it would be a good choice to accept the solicitation of Commander Wald. After all, no matter how bad the 28th Division is, it is also a division, and having the opportunity to serve as the division commander is also a good starting point for Middleton's second military career.

But now, Middleton has made a choice between Marshall and MacArthur, and Marshall's side certainly won't treat him badly. At present, the commander of the 45th Division, Major General McKins, is basically impossible to stay in the combat unit because of his age and serious knee injuries. If Middleton had gone to the 45th Division, it would have been very likely that he would take over as division commander.

Don't look at the division commanders, and the 45th Division is also adapted from the National Guard, but going to the 45th Division is much better than going to the 28th Division. At least most of the division's officers and men came from the four southern states, especially Louisiana, and Middleton, the former captain, had an easier time opening up the situation in the past. Unlike the 28th Division, the heads and brains are all from the Philadelphia elite, and it is difficult to produce results unless there is a major blood change.

"The 10,000-character division (the armband of the 45th Division was originally a red swastika, and in the early days of World War II, because it was too similar to the Nazi symbol, it was changed to the later Thunderbird, so it was also called the Thunderbird Division)." Wald muttered with a little regret, "It seems that Washington takes him very seriously." ”

None of the people at the observation point spoke again, and everyone's attention turned back to the training ahead. Only John glanced thoughtfully at Bradley.

Historically, it was Bradley himself who was finally ordered to clean up the mess of the 28th Division. John couldn't help but secretly laugh, he really didn't know how Colonel Martin, who was bent on "escaping" from the 82nd Division, would feel when he saw his boss become Bradley again.