I hadn't seen him for months, and Stimson seemed to be much more haggard than before. Although he seemed to be in a good mood and his laughter was still hearty, the fatigue on his face was very obvious.

"John, sit down." Seeing John come in, Stimson put down the pen in his hand and beckoned John to sit down and speak, "I heard that you did a good job in the White House, and Hopkins didn't want to let you go." Embick also said he was going to make room for you. ”

"Don't make fun of me, Uncle Stimson. You'd better find a way to transfer me back to the army as soon as possible," John said with a wry smile. He didn't want to stay in the White House. In fact, his spirit has been highly nervous these days, and he has to repeat any sentence of those big people for a long time, for fear that he will be bought in a sack without leaving a sound.

John didn't have many other merits, but he still had a little self-knowledge. He knew very well that if he didn't have the memory of his past life, he wouldn't be able to do his current job at all, let alone be favored by Hopkins and Roosevelt. It's good to take a short job at the White House to open your eyes and see the world. Being in the center seems to be majestic, but in fact it is full of dangers, and it is not a place to stay for a long time.

Maybe in another ten or twenty years, he will be able to stir up the storm in the center of the storm, but not now. He doesn't have the capital and wisdom to join this dangerous game right now. Instead of being like a small shrimp in the vast ocean, worrying every day, for fear that one day he will be killed on the beach by a huge wave that he doesn't know where it came from, it is better to go back to the small pond of the 82nd Division and become his chief of staff.

"Hahaha." Stimson was amused by John's sad face. "You're still a little self-aware. William: They're still worried that you kid doesn't know the sky and the sky is thick, and you plan to stay in the White House. ”

"How is that possible?" John breathed a sigh of relief, listening to Stimson's tone, there should be a door for him to return to the army, "You still don't know how many pounds and taels I have." I'm looking forward to going back to Louisiana sooner rather than later. ”

"Of course you can go back, Marshall's side has already arranged it for you." Stimson nodded, "But I suggest you wait a few more days, do you know why?" ”

John was stunned by Stimson's question, "You mean wait for the Senate vote to end?" The idea popped into his head that Stimson had brought him to the White House as an adviser probably because of the congressional battle over the extension of the Compulsory Military Service Act.

In the 82nd Division, John secretly thought it was ridiculous when he saw Bradley and Ridgway worried about the imminent expiration of the Compulsory Military Service Act. The United States will enter the war in a few months, how can it be possible to retire more than 900,000 newly recruited recruits.

It wasn't until he returned to Washington that John discovered that the U.S. Army was on the cusp of storms. Previously, Commander Wald's so-called extension of the service period of new recruits had been firmly established, but it was just a means to stabilize the morale of the army.

A few months before the Pearl Harbor attack, the U.S. Army was almost wiped out by the "peace-loving" American people. Such a funny and ridiculous thing really almost happened.

In fact, as the summer begins, with 900,000 recruits coming to the end of their one-year term of service, families are eager to get their children back from the barracks, and the opposition to the extension has become overwhelming. To make matters worse, the situation inside the barracks was also terrible. Units like the 82nd Division were rare, and the morale of the vast majority of recruits was low.

The recruits did not understand why they were in the army, and they complained bitterly about the president's promise to them that they would only be punished for one year under the leadership of the officers. And the military also does not seem to be ready to train them, few units are fully equipped, and some newly formed armored units can even simulate tank training with trucks.

All the efforts of the military over the past year or so have been a ridiculous waste of time, under the propaganda of those who oppose it. The Japanese had clearly become bogged down in China, Hitler was finding it increasingly difficult to get out of Russia, the war seemed to be more distant from the United States than ever, and the Compulsory Military Service Act was a mistake made by arms dealers and warmongers, completely non-existent, let alone prolonged.

John knew better than anyone what a catastrophe would be if a proposal to extend the Compulsory Military Service Act was rejected by Congress. He shuddered at the thought that the war would come a few months later, and that 900,000 recruits would have been "disarmed and returned to the fields."

However, he could not intervene in this level of struggle at all. At the most critical juncture of the congressional struggle, he could only honestly go to Newfoundland with Roosevelt to attend the Atlantic Conference. Stimson, who had just returned from Hawaii, was left behind in Washington to make a last-ditch effort to keep the Army.

To a certain extent, Roosevelt left Washington at the most critical juncture of this "battle" and was somewhat suspected of escaping. But in reality, even if he stayed in Washington, it wouldn't help. Democratic congressional leaders have made it clear to him that they have done their best, but it is unlikely that they will be able to get enough votes to extend the Compulsory Military Service Act. The only variable in this battle will be how many votes Stimson can help them get back from their Conservative seats.

John didn't know how much Stimson had put into it behind the scenes, but judging by his haggard look, it certainly wouldn't be easy. Fortunately, he finally withstood the pressure, and in the final vote in the House of Representatives yesterday, he pulled 46 votes in favor (88 against) from the Republican Party, helping Roosevelt win the congressional battle by one vote.

It's no wonder that the Atlantic Conference has been over for so long, and its own orders have not come down. John only came to his senses at this time that Stimson had temporarily transferred him out of the army, and there was a layer of meaning to "protect" him. Once the resolution to extend the Compulsory Military Service Act is not passed, then there is no point in him remaining in the 82nd Division. Let him stay out of the matter one step earlier, in fact, in order to have more room for operation in the next step. It is likely that he was able to become Roosevelt's army adviser this time, which was itself one of the bargaining chips between Stimson and Roosevelt, in order to give him a head start in the new round of power distribution after the army.

To have an elder think about this for himself made John's heart warm. At the thought of it, just after the most difficult House of Representatives (the forces supporting Roosevelt still had the upper hand in the Senate), Stimson hastily summoned him, apparently taking his business to heart. This made him even more grateful to Stimson.

"Thank you, Uncle Stimson." John expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Stimson.

Stimson smiled heartily: "Don't you want to hear what Marshall has to do with you?" ”

"Just say it, I listen to you, I'll go wherever you tell me to go." John was doggy faithful.

"Alright. Prepare to go back to the 82nd Division to take over the position of brigadier general and deputy division commander. Stimson smiled and patted John on the head.

"Deputy division commander? And what about Ridgway? John asked Ridgway, but what he thought was, could it be that Bradley was going to be transferred away so soon?

"Bradley and Swain are going to be transferred to the 28th Division. Li Qiwei took over the division commander, that is, in the past two days. Stimson advised, "After you go back, you must pay attention to maintaining the stability of the troops, this is no joke." The 28th Division even had the gate of the division headquarters written in chalk O-H-I-O (over-the-hill-in-October, which means desertion at the end of the first year of military service in October), you must be careful, no one can save you if something happens. ”

"Don't worry!" John gave a military salute. He just reacted at this time, and he was actually a general? Has there ever been a general in history who became a general in less than two years after joining the army? He was a little dizzy, and before he came, he was worried that he would not be able to return to the 82nd Division, but in a blink of an eye, he was the deputy commander of the brigadier general, and the ups and downs of life were inevitably too exciting.