After the seminar, John, who was quite satisfied with his performance, was relaxed, and even had the leisure to fulfill his previous promise and take Pakarina's little beauty to the Washington Hotel to enjoy a big meal. How did he know that many military bigwigs had already blown up because of his "sudden rise".

At Boleyn Air Force Base in Washington, a group of senior officers of the Air Corps gathered in an office. Among them are Barney Giles, assistant chief of staff of the Air Force Command, Lewis Brilton, commander of the 3rd Air Force, George Kenney, commander of the 4th Air Force, and Spatz, who is not currently working, as well as Barton Young, chief of training of the Air Command, and Delos Emmons, chief of combat planning, who have been waiting for news from the base.

At the moment, they are all waiting for the latest "instructions" from General Frank Andrews.

Despite the fact that Arnold is already the deputy chief of staff of the army and commander of the army aviation, in the eyes of these senior army aviation officers, General Frank Andrews, the former assistant to the army chief of staff and now the commander of the Caribbean defense zone in Panama, is the first person in the army aviation.

In 1926, when Brigadier General William Mitchell, the legendary leader of the Army Air Corps, was forced to leave the military service, it was Frank Andrews who carried the banner of the Air Corps with his wisdom and perseverance when the development of the Air Corps was severely limited by the upper echelons of the Army.

During those most difficult years, the nominal top leader of the Army Aviation, the Chief of Aviation, had no command authority at all and was not even a member of the Army Staff. All 32 squadrons of the Army Aviation were commanded by their superior Army Commands, and there was not a single officer of the Aviation Corps in those commands who could speak.

It was General Frank Andrews who led the officers of the Aviation Corps who, through unremitting efforts, succeeded in regaining the dominance of the Aviation Forces from the "layman" (Major General Farus, then Chief of the Aviation). The high-ranking members of the aviation forces present, including General Arnold himself, were single-handedly recruited by Andrews when he was the first director of the Aviation Administration.

"Hello, I'm Frank." After being busy for a long time, Britton and the others finally dialed the phone number of General Andrews's office. The familiar baritone voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello, Frank, I'm George. With regard to the Airborne Forces, the situation has changed in a new way. "Speaking to Andrews on behalf of everyone was Brigadier General George Kenney, commander of the 4th Air Force. When Andrews was the head of the aviation commission, Kenny was his assistant. Of all the people present, he had the closest relationship with Andrews, and the most casual communication.

"Hello, George. I've heard about the seminar, Henry [Arnold] called me just now. Andrews, who was accustomed to seeing strong winds and waves, said unhurriedly.

"What did he say?" During the daytime meeting, as the boss of the army aviation unit, Arnold actually did not say a word the whole time. Kenny, Britton and others inevitably felt a little resentful in their hearts, feeling that he did not defend the interests of the aviation force to the death like his predecessor Andrews.

"That's the end of it. If we continue to entangle, it will not be worth it to affect the reorganization of the army organization next year. "Frank has apparently reached a consensus with Arnold on the issue of the subordination of the Airborne Forces.

"Frank, we still have a chance. We can have a direct airborne division under the Aviation Command. Now that the expansion of the Airborne Forces was inevitable, Kenny and others retreated to support Spats's proposal instead.

"There's no need, George. The key to the aviation to get rid of the dependent position is the long-range bomber force. "Frank is a big picture guy and sees this issue a lot more thoroughly than Kenny and the others.

Aviation with only destroyers, attack aircraft, and medium- and short-range twin-engine bombers is destined to be an auxiliary force supporting the operations of the ground forces. In order for the aviation to break away from the army, it is necessary to have long-range bombers to carry out independent missions. This is also the reason why Andrews would rather tear his face with the then Army Chief of Staff Cragg in the first place, and desperately save the four-engine bomber project.

In Andrews's opinion, the formation of direct airborne troops is just the icing on the cake, a feeder project to enrich the means of combat of aviation. Compared with the plan of the army aviation to form a strategic bomber unit, it is not worth mentioning.

And Arnold is a new generation leader that Andrews has carefully picked. It was he who single-handedly promoted Arnold to commander of the 1st Mixed Operations Wing and promoted him step by step to the throne of commander of the Army Air Force.

Compared to other Army Aviation officers, Arnold is most satisfied with Andrews in that he is mature and knows how to compromise. Arnold is even better than Andrews himself in handling high-level relations with the Army, which is the main reason why the Army Air Corps has developed so rapidly in the past two years.

What's more, Arnold himself and Marshall have a very good relationship, having worked together in the Philippines 30 years ago. Andrews' appointment as chief of aviation was already on par with the Army's conservative hierarchy, and Marshall's support was crucial to them.

Andrews himself unsuccessfully sought re-election as chief of aviation, and was assigned to the 8th Air Force in San Antonio by conservative "elites", and if Arnold hadn't caught Marshall's line, the air force would not have known what it would have been like to be dismembered by those conservative "elites".

Even Andrews himself could not have been as glamorous as he thought (the first thing Marshall did after taking office as chief of staff was to recall Andrews back to Washington). You know, Michelle was caught in the 8th Air Force and went to a military court. Cragg sent him to San Antonio, which was meant to be concocted.

Therefore, Andrews felt the need to appease these old subordinates who were fascinated by the good situation in front of him, and help Arnold stabilize the rear.

"George, you know, neither of us has the experience of commanding such a large scale of infantry. Rather than being infiltrated by those infantry officers at that time, it is better to put the airborne troops directly under the infantry bureau. Anyway, without the cooperation of transport aircraft, the Airborne Forces are just a bunch of ordinary infantrymen. ”

"You mean, the Airborne Forces are subordinate to the infantry, and they will ask us to cooperate in turn, and we will be more proactive?" Kenny and the others are not stupid, and they immediately grasp Frank and Arnold's intentions.

"That's right, but we can't completely ignore the matter of the Airborne Forces. In the selection of commanders, we must make our voices heard and choose a person who knows how to cooperate. William Lee is a good man, but the color of the infantry on his body is too strong. Frank paused: "Henry recommended someone like me, Colonel John Vanderbilt. I heard that this man was the owner of Hughes Aircraft Company before he enlisted in the army? ”

George Kenny had previously worked in California (where the 4th Air Force was based) and didn't know much about John. was asked by Andrews like this, and he could only look at the people around him with inquiring eyes.

"Yes, Frank. We've been in contact with him a few times. He recommended the two fighters and one long-range bomber we are using. This time it was Vandenberg's immediate boss, Delos Emmons, who answered Andrews, "Also, he helped Henry set up the Statistical Control Office of the Headquarters." ”

"Good. You should have more contact with him, and it would be great if he could be used by us. Andrews's words mean that the Army Air Corps has seen John as one of the potential targets for cooperation. For mobile phone users, please browse and read,