After receiving a valuable tip from Donovan, John declined the offer to stay overnight and drove home satisfied. Tomorrow afternoon, he will go to the White House to attend the preparatory meeting for the Atlantic Conference. Before that, he had to take time to go around the Munitions Industrial Production Committee and learn about the revisions to the Viotory-Program, also known as the U.S. Rearmament Program.

As early as the beginning of this year, in order to cope with the sharp increase in demand for arms and other supplies caused by the Lend-Lease Act and the expansion of armaments by the US Army and Navy, Roosevelt ordered Deputy Secretary of the Army Patterson to lead the Military Industrial Production Committee to formulate a long-term plan for the production and supply of military materials. The plan, which had received preliminary approval from President Roosevelt last month, is being revised under the auspices of Stimson, Knox and Hopkins, among others.

John received news from Marshall that the "Victory" plan would then be sent to the "Atlantic Conference" for further discussion. After the White House and the British side reach an agreement and consult the Moscow side, it will be handed over to the Military Production Committee for implementation.

This is not a small business of tens or tens of billions of dollars, and the bosses of all the United States are holding knives and forks, staring at this piece of fat with saliva. Even John, who was "imprisoned" in the barracks, did not stuff smuggled goods into the plan through the "old colleagues" of the Military Industrial Commission. Fortunately, Hughes Aircraft, Kaiser Shipbuilding, and Caterpillar all had people worried about this, and John only had to say hello to Draco Defense Technologies for Reilly, who was not enough for the cast.

Early the next morning, John drove to the Military Production Committee as an adviser to the president. His old boss, Donald Nelson, who was in charge of weapons and equipment procurement, was already waiting for him in the office.

"Haha, John. It's been a long time, you're so aware, you're all in the White House! As soon as they met, Nelson, who was wide in heart and fat, hugged John warmly, and his big hands that were as fat as bear's paws slapped John's back numb.

"It's been a long time, Donnie." John managed to break free from Nelson's bear hug with great difficulty, "You're fatter than the last time we met." It seems that the Military Production Committee is indeed much more nourished than Sears (previously, Nielsen was the general manager of Sears and the spokesperson of retail tycoon Robert Wood). ”

"It's all the same, it's all the same." Nelson smiled and gave John a "you know" look. Nielsen has worked hard in the business industry for many years, and is also the number one person in the industry, and it is impossible to be willing to work for others for the rest of his life. In such an important position, it would be hellish if he didn't take the opportunity to make some plans for his future.

After the pleasantries, John quickly got to the point. In order to force the British to make concessions on the colonial issue, in addition to the direct dispatch of troops that is not realistic for the time being, material aid is undoubtedly the most important bargaining chip. He gestured with his finger with a "V", "What's going on with this now?" ”

If it had been 20 days ago, Nelson might not have understood John's gestures. Recently, however, thanks to Churchill's propaganda, the "V-for-Victory" campaign is in full swing. At the BBC's call, millions of people expressed their determination against Nazi rule by painting a "V" on the walls of buildings or striking the first bar of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which is three short and one long, the same as the "V" in Morse code. The tide soon spread from Europe to the United States, and now even a child understands what John is saying.

"We're having a headache about that. According to estimates, next year we will produce up to 6 million tons (deadweight) of merchant ships, 28,600 combat aircraft, 84,000 tons of aerial bombs, 20,400 tanks, 6,300 antiaircraft guns, 7,000 anti-tank guns, and 168,000 machine guns. Nielsen opened his mouth to report a series of data, "However, the big boss of the White House is not very satisfied." He demanded that the number of aircraft, tanks, artillery and light weapons be at least doubled on this basis, and that aerial bombs should be 720,000 tons. This is simply not possible unless the whole country is transferred to a wartime economy. ”

John smiled when he heard this, and this was the end of the day. Nielsen also underestimated U.S. industrial production capacity. If he knew that in the 1943s, the United States planned to produce 100,000 combat aircraft alone, he would not be crazy.

"If the production is not enough, expand production, what are you worried about? It's not that no one pays the bills. As long as the order comes down, some people are willing to put money into it. John relieved Nelson.

"Is it a problem with money? Where do the workers come from? What about the equipment? What about raw materials? Nelson reminded John not to overthink the problem. The implications of such a large-scale armament program are far more than just a matter of funding.

John patted his head, he was misled by the image of the American tyrant in World War II. True, during World War II, the production capacity of the United States was really incomprehensible. The speed of the ship's ship was faster than the Germans could sink it. On the front line, the US military did have the habit of spending lavishly, chewing gum, drinking Coca-Cola, eating chocolate and canned luncheon meat, and saturating and attacking local positions at every turn. However, such an astonishing production capacity is not without a price. At least in China, ordinary people still tighten their belts and live a "hard life" for a few years.

Not to mention anything else, the rationing system of non-staple food and the restriction on gasoline purchases alone have greatly reduced the quality of life of ordinary Americans. In order to appease the discontent of the people, Roosevelt had to count the beans to make coffee. At one point, the commerce minister even took the initiative to commute by bicycle. Although all three of his family's cars have an F-class, the highest (unlimited supply) gas quota. Other strategic materials such as rubber and metals are more strictly controlled, and the Oscar statuettes can only use gypsum instead because they do not have quotas for copper and tin.

Of course, a rich man like John doesn't have to worry about a lack of fruit and meat at the dinner table or a car without spare tires and gasoline. However, he also had to think about his own business. When the time comes, he goes to Europe, what if he can't take care of it for a while, and he can't grab other competitors when he grabs supplies?

John was pondering who would be the right person to be his "spokesperson" when someone suddenly pushed the door open and walked in. "Mr. Nelson, I have a question about the production plan for diesel engines and tractor chassis."

As soon as John turned around, it was his old friend Crawford who walked in. "Robert, why are you here?"

"Hello, John!" Crawford was also stunned when he saw John. "I've been sent to the Murder Committee by Jairo, and I've been working here lately."

"Murder committee?" The strange name made John feel a little confused.

"It's for the group that specifically finds fault with the winning plan." Robert explained with a smile.

John probably understood that the "murder committee" was supposed to be the body where the military evaluated and sharply criticized the "Victory Plan" in order to uncover some negligence and unrealized planning mistakes. In later generations, this model of evaluation was a standard part of the process before the U.S. military's program was officially introduced.

"What went wrong?" Nelson has recently been frightened by the "killers" of the "murder committee" and asked busily.

"The current plan does not take into account the needs of the Russians. Diesel engines and tractor chassis are in great demand on the Moscow side......"

Looking at Nelson and Crawford, who were discussing how to adjust the plan, John suddenly had an idea. In the future, one of these two people will be the senior level of the military-industrial production committee and the core figure in formulating the production plan, and the other will be the head of the logistics supply department of the Allied Supreme Command and an important member of the military's logistics system. 21010