If it weren't for John, Middleton wouldn't have said the following to anyone else, even his closest friend or junior. After all, it is not necessarily a good thing for a temporary colonel who has been in the army for less than two years to venture into the game between a general's chief of staff and a former chief of staff and the current lieutenant general's district commander.

If you don't have the ability to control your own destiny, then it's better to be honest and at the mercy of the above. The more you know, the more you have to worry about it, and it's easier to make mistakes.

But John is different, his origin, background and ability determine the identity he plays in this big chess game. Although it is not enough to be a "chess player" for the time being, it is not an ordinary "chess piece" without autonomy. Whether it is Marshall, MacArthur or the other "chess player", before using John's "chess piece", they need to weigh it carefully. Because one day, he may become one of the "chess players".

In Middleton's opinion, it was only a matter of time before John got involved in the high-level game anyway. It is also necessary to let him know more about the "insiders" of the senior level in advance. This was an essential moment in John's formative life.

"I've been working with Daudlas 27 years ago, and I've known Marshall for 20 years." Middleton recalled: "They were both the same age, and they both came from military families, but they were completely two kinds of people. ”

"Didn't Chief of Staff Marshall's father open a coal mine?" John couldn't help but interject. He knew a little bit about most of the important figures in the army. Chief of Staff Marshall's father was the chairman of a coke furnace company in Pennsylvania and owned several rich coal mines. After Marshall Sr. died, Marshall's brother took care of the property.

"What's so strange about people in that era who were soldiers." Middleton had a strange expression on John's face, "Marshall Sr. served in the Potomac Regiment of the Northern Army (the Confederate Army also had a Potomac Regiment), was a lieutenant platoon leader under General Hood, and participated in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. ”

John nodded, and that made sense. Such low-ranking officers were abundant during the Civil War. Moreover, the elder Marshall estimated that he was disarmed and returned to the field to do business as soon as the war ended, so not many people knew about it.

Middleton drained the rest of the glass in one gulp, "But for Marshall, his father's military experience was of little help to him other than a little useful when submitting his application to the Virginia Military Academy. But Douglas is different, his father's influence in the Army, I don't say you must be clear. ”

Of course, John knew the famous Arthur MacArthur II. At the age of 17, he joined the 24th Infantry Regiment in Wisconsin, and at the age of 19, he became famous in the Battle of Chattanucia (which took place in Tennessee during the Civil War), received the Congressional Medal of Honor, and a year later served as the regiment's commander, becoming known to women and children as "Colonel Doll".

This prestige reached its peak in the Spanish-American War. It can be said that almost the entire Philippines was fought down by him with his troops. After the war, MacArthur Sr. served for many years as military governor in the Philippines (before the Philippines was self-governing, it was jointly administered by the military governor and the executive governor), and finally became a three-star lieutenant general, becoming the mainstay of the old Lion's (Theodore Roosevelt) line in the army.

Now, the reason why President Roosevelt Jr. licks his face and begs MacArthur to come out of the mountain is because the father and son (MacArthur himself served as the commander of US forces in the Philippines) have unparalleled influence in the Far East.

"Speaking of which, Derath was a born soldier just like his father. He grew up in the barracks and was the number one in the school at West Point (MacArthur's graduation score of 98.43 was a record for West Point's graduation score, a record that no one has broken to this day). From the first day he joined the Army, he was generally favored by the top brass. ”

Middleton said with emotion: "As soon as Douglas graduated, he first served as an adjutant to his father, and then was picked by the old lion to enter the White House military advisory team. As a lieutenant, he spent his days dealing with the President, the Secretary of State, the War Department, and the Chief of Staff, and was used as a training object for the future Chief of Staff of the Army. ”

John is also a little staggered, *** it's just different. He also has a deep background, but he can't compare with MacArthur, who was covered by a large group of high-ranking uncles and uncles in the army as soon as he joined the army.

"I met Daudlas in 1914. At that time, our regiment was sent to Mexico to fight against the Villa gang, and he was parachuted from Washington to our company as a company commander. I fought with him in Mexico, and when I returned I was a second lieutenant, and he became the secretary to the major to the Secretary of the Army. ”

Seeing that Middleton had unknowingly poured half a bottle of high spirits and began to ramble in his speech, John quickly reminded him not to go off-topic. "You just said that MacArthur and Marshall didn't deal with each other when they were at the Fort Leavenworth Infantry School?"

"It's just a sign of competition between classmates and a lame relationship with each other academically, and it's not a big deal." Middleton finally changed the subject, "What really made them knot was an incident that happened in France in 1918. ”

At that time, Marshall was a colonel (provisional rank) staff officer at the Expeditionary Force Command, and Douglas was the brigadier deputy commander of the 42nd Division (Rainbow Division). At that time, the war was almost over, but Sedan was still in the hands of the Germans, and the conquest of Sedan was generally regarded as the last battle before the end of the war. ”

Two years ago, John might not have understood the meaning of the final battle. Now he naturally understands that the last battle not only means honor, but also means the last merit and the last hope for promotion, and no officer can easily let go.

"At that time, the closest to Sedan was the 42nd Division, which was only about eight miles. He was followed by the 1st Division, then our 4th Division. The French were still rushing to Sedang from more than 60 miles behind us. ”

"In order not to let the French take the lead, the headquarters of the expeditionary force sent an order to the divisions, to the effect that there was no need to wait for the French, no matter which unit arrived, as long as it arrived first, it could launch an attack on Sedan, and the defensive line was no longer binding. Marshall was responsible for drafting the order. ”

John was a little confused, didn't this order play into MacArthur's hands? How can the two have a conflict?

"The original order said that the demarcation line was abolished in order to motivate the front-line troops to fight bravely. As a result, the 1st Division, which was immediately behind the 42nd Division, received the order first, and rushed into the defense area of the 42nd Division at once. The two divisions were crammed into a pot of porridge on the road to Sedang, and the troops were completely scattered. MacArthur was so angry that he fought with the men of the 1st Division, and was detained by the gendarmerie. ”

"Originally, the commander of the 42nd Division was sick and returned home, and as soon as MacArthur, the deputy division commander, was detained again, the situation was completely chaotic. By the time the two armies had finally regrouped, the French had arrived. After our fourth division was broken, we stopped the French from passing. The French set up heavy artillery and declared that as long as they did not enter the city, whether it was German or American, their shells would continue to fire into the city! The two sides quarreled for several days, but before they could attack, Germany announced its surrender. No one won this battle. ”

"So, General MacArthur hated Chief of Staff Marshall? This is just a mistake, and Marshall is not to blame. John thought it was a little incredible, MacArthur was too small.

But Douglas didn't see it that way. He believed that if it had not been for that order that had no common sense (the order drafted by Marshall was indeed substandard, the existence of the defensive boundary line was of basic significance, and the abolition of it would easily cause confusion in the command and ranks of the army), Sedang would have fallen into the hands of the 42nd Division long ago. Moreover, Marshall had served as the acting chief of staff of the 1st Division, and the 1st Division had received orders an hour before him, and he believed that Marshall had deliberately wanted the 1st Division to take credit for his work. ”

Well, this kind of thing is that the public says that the public is justified, and the mother-in-law says that the mother-in-law is reasonable. However, John still had a question: "Is that just General MacArthur's unilateral opinion on Chief of Staff Marshall?" ”

"Do you think Douglas is the master who can swallow his anger?" Middleton pursed his lips and poured another glass of gin: "After he became the Chief of Staff of the Army, Marshall was driven by him to the National Guard. If General Pershing hadn't finally pulled Marshall, he would have gone home to sell coal. ”

It dawned on John that it was no wonder that in 1932, Marshall would leave the regular army and be transferred to the Illinois National Guard Division as a division commander. Thanks to Pershing still remembering his staff adjutant back then, otherwise there would have been nothing to do with Marshall in World War II.

In this way, Marshall and MacArthur are close to publicly tearing their faces. No wonder historically, U.S. Army personnel appointments in the Pacific theater have been so strange. Eisenhower, Middleton, and a number of MacArthur's old friends were sent to Europe. Collins, Collett and others, who had fought well in the Far East, were also transferred out one after another (Collett was transferred to Europe to serve as the commander of the 7th Army for more than a year before being dismissed). Marshall was clearly defending MacArthur.

"Troy, if you go to the Philippines, will you ......?" reminded John, with some concern.

"You can rest assured. Marshall and I haven't known each other for a day or two. He didn't dare to do anything to me easily. Middleton said disapprehantly.

Come to think of it, Middleton was one of the first faculty members at the founding of Fort Benning, and he was an old colleague of Marshall. More importantly, after nearly 20 years as a faculty member at Fort Benning, Fort Leavenworth Military Academy, and the U.S. Army Military Academy, Middleton's students can be said to be all over the army (historically, half of the 34 U.S. Army commanders in World War II were taught by Middleton back then). At most, Marshall will not send him to the Far East, and he should not do anything with him.