"Welcome back, John!" When John walked into the Office of the Operations Planning Division of the Army Staff again, Chief Bull personally greeted him at the door. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Behind him were Brigadier General Nevins, Colonel Jairo, and a group of John's men.

"Hello, General!" John was a little flattered, and hurriedly saluted Director Bull and the others, and greeted the others separately. "How are you doing?"

In fact, John arrived in the United States the day before yesterday, but because there were still some "British guest boys" to be resettled and handed over, he was delayed in New York for another day. By the time he returned to his home in Washington, it was already past five o'clock in the afternoon. He called Commissioner Bull and agreed to report back to the office this morning. I didn't expect everyone to come out to greet him collectively, which is too grand.

"Chief of Staff Marshall has gone to Fort Lewis, and before leaving, he has entrusted me to pass you a gift." With that, Major General Bull took out a piece of paper and began to read out: "To thank Lieutenant Colonel John Vanderbilt for his outstanding service to the Army over the past 12 months...... With the approval of the Secretary of the Army, Stimson was promoted to the rank of Provisional Colonel of the Army. ”

"Congratulations, John! Well done! "After Major General Bull read the promotion order, he immediately replaced John with an eagle epaulettes." It's my pleasure to be able to help you put this on. ”

"Thank you, Director. It's also my pleasure. To the applause of his colleagues, John successfully completed his first military rank promotion ceremony. Everyone stepped forward to shake hands with him and congratulate him, and the lively Pakarina gave him a big hug.

Regarding this promotion, John was mentally prepared. Before they set off for Great Britain, Stimson and Marshall had hints at each other. Since Marshall was going to wait for John to return to China and arrange a new job for him, it was natural that he had to evaluate his previous work first. Is there a better way to evaluate it than to advance the ranks?

Of course, John was only promoted to a temporary rank this time, and the permanent rank was still lieutenant. After all, he had only just completed a year of service, and if he wanted to be promoted to captain, he would have to wait at least another 6 months. This is not wartime, and a lieutenant must work for at least 18 months before he can be promoted, which is clearly stipulated in the Organic Law of the Army.

"Come on, tell us about London." After a while of greeting everyone, Major General Boer pulled John into his office. The two deputy chiefs, Nevins and Jairo, followed.

"Overall, the situation in Britain is not bad. By the time I left, Hitler had already announced the indefinite postponement of his landing plans. Goering's bombing of London continued, but the RAF had gradually recovered from the previous battles to defend the airbase and radar station. ”

John loosened his collar and took a cup of coffee from Major General Bull: "The 250 aircraft engines we sent over helped them a lot, and in September the Royal Air Force added a total of 417 new fighters. ”

"What about civilians? I've heard from others who have come back that London's lack of supplies seems to be a serious problem. Jairo, the deputy chief in charge of logistics and supplies, asked.

"It's not enough to go hungry, but it's harder to eat comfortably. The BBC says housewives may not be able to make marmalade this year. Because although they got extra sugar, Franco was not willing to sell them oranges. A high-level trade mission is in urgent consultation with Madrid. I guess Franco wanted to get more benefits. ”

Historically, Spain remained neutral during World War II, in large part because their economy was in trouble and they were simply unable to fight a foreign war. The British government spent £20 million in bribes to the top of the Spanish government and military, and forced Franco to adopt a neutral attitude through large foreign trade orders.

"So, now the two sides are mainly fighting in the sky and sea, and there will be no major changes in Europe for the time being, right?" Nevins didn't care if the Brit could eat marmalade, he was more concerned about the next development of the war.

"The war in Europe is expected to be at a stalemate for the time being, and a new point of contention has shifted to North Africa. The Italians, who now control Ethiopia and Somalia, are preparing to invade Egypt. If possible, they also want to take Greece and Crete. ”

John put down his coffee cup: "But Admiral Wavell (Commander-in-Chief of the British Command in the Middle East) has been strengthened. He now has two new Australian divisions at his disposal, as well as a number of Indian and Arab troops. Moreover, Marshal Graziani was not as combative as Mussolini, and his army of 250,000 occupied only a few small towns on the border between Egypt and Libya. ”

"It was the Free France, whose plans to establish a base in French West Africa had suffered a major setback." John couldn't help but think of the scene when he went to visit the headquarters of Free France.

At that time, John did not meet de Gaulle, but only Dr. René Carson, Commissioner for Justice and Public Affairs of Free France (a famous jurist who was the head of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights after the war, drafted the Declaration of Human Rights, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968). He forwarded Dr. Carson Adele's $1,000 donation and a handwritten letter to Madame de Gaulle. As a token of appreciation, Carson gave him a French tricolor (the flag of Free France) embroidered with a Lorraine cross.

John was unable to meet de Gaulle because he had already led his troops to French West Africa. They were accompanied by the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier USS Athletic and the battleship USS Barham.

At the time of the French surrender, the governors of French Equatorial Africa (later Gabon, Congo, Central Africa and Chad), French West Africa (Senegal), and Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) in their colonies in Africa had expressed their determination to continue fighting. This time, De Gaulle, with the support of the British, sent troops to Africa in order to seize control of these areas before the Vichy French government and establish a solid base for Free France.

It's a pity that he is still a step late. While they were still at sea, the black Senegalese governor-general who supported Free France had already been removed from office, and the French white police, loyal to the Vichy government, ruthlessly purged the black Senegalese middle class who supported General de Gaulle. It is ironic to think that the colonial blacks who were willing to fight for France were suppressed by the French colonists who surrendered to the Germans.

When de Gaulle and his men arrived outside the port of Dakar (the capital of Senegal) to persuade the local garrison to surrender, they were shelled by shore batteries and the battleship Richelieu. To make matters worse, two days later, three more cruisers from Vichy France arrived, who also brought a reinforced army unit. After a difficult landing attempt under the command of de Gaulle, he had to admit the failure of the operation, leaving Dakar and French West Africa to Vichy France.

"It's just a standard French fight, and these guys are quite energetic to fight themselves." Major General Boer was disdainful of the French, who were low-eyed, and he even gloated a little over de Gaulle's defeat.

"I reckon de Gaulle thought he could easily persuade the other side to surrender, and when he heard that the planes he sent to attack the Dakar were loaded with leaflets instead of bombs, he was beaten severely...... Oh, I'm sorry, John. In the middle of speaking, Director Boer suddenly remembered that there was a supporter of Free France sitting next to him, and quickly closed his mouth.

"It's okay, Director." John smiled wryly. In fact, it was Adele who really supported Free France, but everyone seemed to count it on his head. As if he was a die-hard supporter of De Gaulle's "white-eyed wolf", where is the reason?