After catching up with his old colleagues, John was about to go to the dining room for lunch when Captain Fox, General McNair's secretary, came over. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"Colonel Vanderbilt, I'm George Fox. General McNair asks you to come to his office. ”

"Hello, George. Just call me John from now on. John was very enthusiastic about this "big secretary" who won the trust of McNair. Last time Pope, he still owed this "little fox" a favor, so naturally he wouldn't put on a show in front of Fox.

Pushing open the door to General McNair's office, John found that in addition to McNair, there was a lean old man in a suit.

"John, come, I'll introduce you." McNair turned out from behind his desk and introduced him: "This is Lieutenant General Stanley Embick, who is now an advisor to our Army Restructuring Office. ”

"Hello, General Embik. I've heard Albert talk about you a lot in the past, and it's a real pleasure to meet you today. John hurriedly stood up and saluted the former commander of the Third Army.

Don't look at this old man who has retired, but he still serves as President Roosevelt's personal military adviser, and his status in the US military circles is transcendent. What's more, his friend Weidemeyer is still his son-in-law, no matter how you look at it, John is a junior.

"You're welcome, John." The old man Embick smiled and motioned that he didn't have to salute: "I can save a life this time, thanks to you and Principal Alfred." ”

"That's what I'm supposed to do. The general does not have to take it to heart. In fact, General Embick's heart problems are not too serious, and he has survived without John's help in history. John was only asked by Weidemeyer to arrange an operation for Embick, and it would be too much to really think of himself as a "life-saver".

"Sit down, John." McNair patted John on the shoulder, "I heard that you are coming to the staff for a meeting, and Stanley came to you on purpose today." ”

"Looking for me?" John was a little puzzled. Weidemeyer didn't have his phone number, and General Embick didn't need to go to the staff in person if he wanted to find him, let alone go to him through McNair.

"It's up to you, Leslie. I have retired and am no longer the commander of the Third Army. Embick hesitated, but handed over the right to McNair.

"That's right, John." McNair cleared his throat and said, "Something has happened on the Third Army's side, and a new logistics chief is needed. Stanley and I both think you're a good fit. ”

Listening to McNair's words, John was first startled, and then a little moved. The post of director of logistics of the group army is generally held by major generals, and at the very least, it must be brigadier general. He was still envious of Clark just now, could it be that his good luck came?

However, John, who had always been cautious, quickly suppressed his inner impulse. He would not have taken a position lightly until he had thought it through, especially until he had figured out what had happened to the Third Army.

"General McNair, General Embick, thank you very much. It's just that I've only been in the 82nd Division for 4 months, and a lot of work has just started, so I need time to think about this matter before I can give you an answer. ”

"Of course, for good reason." Embik nodded and said, "Please forgive me for being an impatient old man. Although I have now left the Third Army, I founded this unit single-handedly, and it is really difficult to part with my feelings. Lieutenant General Krueger is a good commander, but he has only just taken office, and now the chief of staff is not yet in place, and the chief of logistics has had another accident. I really can't bear to see the Third Army continue to be so chaotic, so I have the cheekiness to come to you. ”

"John, I know you're doing a good job in the 82nd Division. You've done a great job in both logistical reform and recruit training. Wald mentioned you in front of me more than once, saying that you were the most promising of all the colonels of the Fourth Army. ”

McNair first praised John a lot, and then said: "We can understand your concerns, it was not easy to open up the situation in the 82nd Division, and it is indeed a pity to give up as soon as everything is on the right track." But the situation with the Third Army was somewhat urgent. You also know why the afternoon meeting is open. The Third Army is about to carry out the reform of the logistics supply system, and how can it do without a logistics director. Only if you, the architect of the reform plan, are in charge yourself, can we truly rest assured. ”

"And it's only early June, John. If you can take office before the end of the month, you should be able to catch up with the promotion in the second half of the year. If Embick's persuasion is to move with emotion, McNair is to know the reason before inducing it.

To say that John was not moved would be a lie. The Third Army, that is the absolute trump card of the US Army. During World War II, under the leadership of the three commanders of Kruger, Hodges, and Patton, this unit fought from North Africa to Italy, from France to Germany, and hundreds of thousands of troops (in the later period, the Third Army had a total of 350,000 people in 6 armies and 42 divisions) all the way.

In contrast, the Airborne Forces, although claimed to be the elite of the army, are after all lightly armed troops, and they are much smaller in size. In total, there is only one 18th Airborne Army and several airborne divisions, which is at best an important supporting role in World War II.

Even if there is no such thing as being promoted to brigadier general, the prospects for development in the Third Army seem to be good. Besides, Eisenhower was about to go to the army group to serve as chief of staff, so should he take the opportunity to cultivate feelings with the future Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces?

After coming out of General McNair's office, John's mind was full of thoughts. So much so that when I had a meeting in the afternoon, I was a little distracted. Fortunately, he was already familiar with the things of logistics reform, so he was not asked by the logistics directors of the various armies and divisions who attended the meeting during the program introduction.

General McNair, who was presiding over the meeting, certainly knew why John was absent-minded, and did not deliberately embarrass him. After John had finished introducing the reform plan and answering a few questions, McNair took the microphone and began to assign work to the two armies. It was just over two hours before the meeting came to an abrupt end, nearly an hour shorter than expected.

When the meeting was adjourned, John looked at his watch, and it was only four o'clock. There were still hours to go until the evening meeting at Director Nevins' house. He decided to go home first and gather his thoughts. The events of noon happened so suddenly, his whole mind was in a hurry, and he needed to be alone to be quiet and think carefully about what to do next.

What bothers John the most now is that he is not as well-informed as he used to be after leaving Washington. Staying in the Klaibo barracks all day and night, he didn't even know that something had happened to the logistics chief of the Third Army.

In his memories of his previous life, he could only recall that when Patton was the commander of the Third Army, the person in charge of the logistics of the Third Army was a guy named Worrall Mahler.

John was able to remember the name because of the famous oil shortage at Patton during the march to the Rhine. At that time, it was this Mahler who came up with the trick of encouraging soldiers to steal oil and giving those who had merit in stealing oil a three-day holiday. This made Mahler a legendary logistics officer, known as "the last man to get supplies in the entire European theater of operations".

However, this Worrall-Mahler seems to have been with Patton as early as when he formed the Second Panzer Division. He went to the Third Army with Patton in 1944 and apparently had little to do with it.

John felt that tonight's gathering at Director Nevins' house would be a good opportunity to find out what had happened to the Third Army. Perhaps, he could get some useful information out of it.