As soon as it was dawn the next day, Miller drove over to pick up John. It's Sunday, and the recruits don't have to train, and the lucky few get permission from their commanders to go around Alexandria. But John's job as chief of staff is still full. If he still wants to be a guest at Bradley's house on time in the evening, he must hurry.

It wasn't until nearly 1 o'clock in the afternoon that John finished his last work of the morning, sending intelligence staff officer Lynch Jr., training staff officer Matthews, and communications battalion commander out of the office.

Originally, Lynch Jr. had brought the communications battalion commander over to report to John on the distribution plan for the latest batch of communications equipment. As a result, John only listened to the beginning, and called back Matthews, who was just about to leave for the 503rd Regiment to arrange the training of anti-tank bazooka fighters. The four of them discussed for almost two hours, and then assigned a new training subject to each regiment.

In fact, this can't be blamed on John's whim, mainly because some time ago his attention was attracted by the news of the Soviet-German war, and he didn't care too much about logistics. A week ago, when logistics staff officer Steven reported to him that a batch of new communications equipment distributed to the 82nd Division had arrived. John didn't pay much attention to it, but according to the usual practice, he asked Steven to connect with Lieutenant Colonel Lynch, who was in charge of the communications business, and do a good job of handing over the supplies to the communications battalion.

After listening to Lynch's debriefing today, John realized that he had made a mistake. As soon as he heard about the communication equipment, he took it for granted that it was distributed to the communications troops, but he didn't notice that this batch of newly arrived communication equipment was actually the originator of Big Brother - the famous Motorola wireless walkie-talkie.

In later generations, in many World War II movies, there are pictures of American soldiers on the front line of artillery fire, using something similar to a big brother to call for rear fire support. This communication device is the Motorola walkie-talkie.

The reason why John didn't notice it at first was mainly because he was misled by the name Motorola walkie-talkie. Motorola changed its name in 1947, and it was still called Calvin Manufacturing Company. And this new set of products is not called a wireless walkie-talkie, its scientific name is "portable infantry radio receiver transmitter".

Of course, it doesn't matter what the name of the device is. The reason why John is so aggressive is because he knows that this seemingly inconspicuous auxiliary equipment is actually one of the biggest winning weapons of the US military.

In later generations, some people once summed up the key to the victory of the US military in this way, one is the logistics supply capability that makes the opponent desperate, and the other is the battlefield organization and coordination ability that is ahead of all the participating countries. In the former, the Americans relied on Liberty wheels, C-47 transport planes, Dodge trucks and jeeps, while the latter US military mainly relied on this Motorola walkie-talkie.

This time, the 82nd Division received two models of wireless walkie-talkies: one is a BC1000 backpack-type walkie-talkie with higher power and is equipped for the first level of the company, and the other is a BC611 portable walkie-talkie with less power and is equipped with a first-class walkie-talkie for the platoon level. According to the test of the communication battalion, under the condition of good communication conditions, even the weak power of the portable walkie-talkie can reach a distance of 4 kilometers.

With walkie-talkies, the grassroots combat units of the US military will be able to contact friendly and neighboring units and their superiors at any time, and will be able to integrate infantry, machine guns, mortars, support artillery, tanks, naval guns, and even airplanes into an operational unit, and initially possess the cooperative combat capability that all commanders dream of.

Although the reliability of this walkie-talkie is not very good at the moment (after all, it is a product of the 40s), in relatively harsh environments, such as the dense forests of the South Pacific islands, the effective call range is even only 1 km. But this is also much stronger than the other belligerents.

The Germans had only installed radios on every tank in the Panzer Corps and every aircraft in the Air Force, and the means of communication for the infantry at the grassroots level were still scarce, at least down to the battalion level. It was even worse for the Soviets and the Japanese, who did not even manage to popularize the radio equipment of artillery. Historically, when the U.S. military complained about the rainy season affecting walkie-talkie calls in the Pacific theater, the communication capability of the Japanese troops on the opposite side dropped to the point of "basically relying on roaring".

However, it is one thing to have equipment, and it is another thing to be able to use it well. What John has to do now is not only to teach the platoon grassroots units how to use this walkie-talkie, but also to teach them how to use it correctly in battlefield conditions. This involves a series of issues of coordination and cooperation between combat units, and it is necessary to adjust the tactical training plan for the next step accordingly at the level of the whole division.

John was still at his desk sorting out the first draft of the plan that had just been discussed, and Miller, who had been guarding outside the office, pushed the door and walked in: "Sir, it's almost 1 o'clock, are you going to the restaurant for lunch now, or will you ask Grant to bring it back for you?" ”

"I'll go by myself in a moment." John didn't even raise his head, "You go and ask Bridge, does Master Bradley have time in the afternoon?" I have something to look for him. John was going to report to Bradley when he had put his plan in order, and by the way, he could talk to him about Middleton.

"Division Commander Bradley took Bridge to Fort Walker early in the morning, as if there was some activity on the Louisiana National Guard side this morning, and it is estimated that he will not be able to return until the evening." As John's aide-de-camp, it was one of Miller's job responsibilities to understand the schedules of the divisional commanders.

"Okay then." John remembered that today was the 127th anniversary of the Louisiana militia's thwart of the British attack, the first of Louisiana's entry into the Union, and Bradley had been invited to the celebration. Anyway, we have to meet in the evening, and John doesn't need to be in a hurry, so let's just go and fill my stomach first.

Today is Sunday, and it has already been a happy meal, and there are only a few people in the officers' cafeteria of the division headquarters. John asked for a chicken set, and as soon as he found a place to sit by the window, he saw Ridgway walk in with a few people pushing the door open.

"Matthew, here." John took the initiative to get up and greet Ridgway. At present, in the 82nd Division, the one most affected by the reorganization of the Far Eastern Army and MacArthur's departure from the mountains is Ridgway. Both in Washington and at the Clay Bo barracks, there was news that he had received an invitation from MacArthur to take up his post in the Philippines. John wondered what the current Marshallist stalwart, the former MacArthur junior, was thinking.

Ridgie turned his head slightly and talked to the officers behind him, and then sat down opposite John with a plate. "Didn't you go home last night, why did you come over to work overtime today?"

"There are some adjustments to the training plan for next month, come and work overtime." John smiled and said, "You're really calm. I hear that your old principal (MacArthur was the president of West Point when Ridgway was an instructor) has asked Washington to come by name. ”

Li Qiwei frowned, more than one old classmate and old friend had contacted him for this in the past two days. From the bottom of his heart, Li Qiwei did not want to leave the 82nd Division. Everyone understands the truth that good horses don't eat back grass. He had also made it clear to Marshall, but the final decision on the matter was not with him.

"Do you think the Philippines will be able to hold on to a war with the Japanese?" Ridgway did not answer directly, but asked John instead.

"Shou? What to keep? As soon as John's answer came out, he understood what Middleton was thinking. In the end, he is a halfway monk, and his way of thinking is still a little different from those old soldiers. Middleton and Ridgway always think about things from a combat point of view.

No wonder Middleton is eye-to-eye. He should have seen the possibility of the Philippines being strategically abandoned in the early stages of the war. Perhaps in his eyes, even MacArthur was chosen by Washington as a scapegoat, which is why he found a way to refuse the other party's invitation.

"I see." John muttered to himself. He already knew what Middleton and Bradley were going to talk about tonight's party.