"A massive airborne landing affects the suddenness of the operation, how can an airborne operation be successful in such a situation?" An army aviation lieutenant colonel stood up to refute John's point. This is already John's sixth challenger.

"I need to correct that the strategic suddenness of airborne tactics is indeed not as great as before, and the great fear of airborne operations in the early days of the war is basically gone. But there is still a way to guarantee the suddenness at the tactical level......"

John was full of excitement, and took out the usual secrecy measures before the operation, camouflage and deception methods, and even including the use of metal shavings to jam the radar, and the airdrop dummy to induce the defenders to be fooled, completely leaving the lieutenant colonel who asked the question speechless.

"How can a large-scale airborne operation avoid confusion in organization and command?" Another senior member of the aviation authority questioned it.

"That's what I talked about earlier. Airborne operations, no matter how large, are conducted in conjunction with frontal forces and are an integral part of the entire campaign. The organization and command of airborne operations involves both coordinated operations with aviation and the main forces on the ground. ”

"First of all, the general planning and preparation of airborne operations should be carried out under the supervision of the theater commander. For large-scale airborne operations, it is necessary to establish a joint airborne operations command center, with the participation of representatives of the airborne troops, transport aviation units, tactical aviation units, and other relevant services and arms. Airborne combat plans include ground combat plans, airborne landing plans, airlift plans, and various support plans. ”

"Among them, air-ground coordination is not just as simple as transporting paratroopers to the battlefield with transport aircraft. Air supremacy is a necessary condition for winning an airborne operation. It is necessary to have enough fighters to escort the transport aircraft group to break through the enemy's defense lines, enough bombers to destroy the enemy's anti-aircraft firearms under the airborne route and in the airborne area, and, if necessary, to ensure the supply of materials for the subsequent operations of the airborne troops. In short, it is impossible to successfully conduct a large-scale airborne operation without reliable air cover, fire support, and material supply......"

"The Airborne Forces are light infantry and can achieve outstanding results in small battles. Can a large-scale airborne landing be up to the task of a campaign? "The person who spoke this time directly questioned the combat effectiveness of the Airborne Forces.

"It's still a matter of working together. The airborne troops do not have the ability to attack fortified positions, and the combat operations of the airborne troops are aimed at coordinating frontal operations, and they should be given combat missions within their capabilities. Moreover, the Airborne Forces, having held out behind enemy lines for a certain period of time, will have to join up with frontal forces. Therefore, the depth of airborne landing should be determined by the actual combat capability of the frontal forces. Generally speaking, in airborne operations on the regimental and battalion scale, the airborne troops should usually rendezvous with the frontal troops within a few hours, and in airborne operations at the division level and above, they must also meet with the frontal troops within 2-3 days......"

Originally, Marshall only gave John about half an hour to speak, but there were too many people who couldn't stand up to ask. By the time John had broken down and explained clearly the issues that should be paid attention to at each stage of the airborne operation, almost one and a half hours had passed. This seminar on the Battle of Crete became John's personal show. Even the scholars of the military academy were very impressed by John's theoretical attainments in airborne tactics.

So much so that after John's speech, the seminar was cold for a while. With John Zhuyu in front, the others seemed to have no intention of continuing to speak. In the face of Chief of Staff Marshall's inquiring gaze, all the army aviation generals looked at each other helplessly and smiled bitterly and expressed their abandonment.

As a matter of fact, all the senior officers present here know in their hearts that the core issue of today's debate is not whether or not the Airborne Forces should be expanded. To put it bluntly, today's seminar is an attempt by the air force to wrestle with the infantry for the right to speak on the new branch of the airborne forces.

Relative to the infantry officers who have long held the upper echelons of the army, the aviation is already at a disadvantage. It's just that in the past two years, the strength of the air force has grown relatively rapidly, and I heard that the air force will be on the same level as the ground force and the logistics force in the future. Only the generals of the aviation forces with big hearts will have the idea of taking a risk. Now that John's sudden rise has been made, there is no need for the two sides to be entangled.

"Well, thank you Colonel Vanderbilt for your excellent statement. That's all for today's seminar. Walter (Lieutenant Colonel Walter Smith, Marshall's secretary), went back and asked the Secretariat to get the minutes of the meeting together as soon as possible. Seeing that no one was speaking, Marshall stood up and declared the end of today's seminar.

"William, where did you get that Colonel Vanderbilt?" Immediately after the meeting, Major General Britton complained to his old friend, General William-Lee.

Originally, today's top brass of the Army Aviation wanted to use the Cretan Campaign and the Infantry Bureau to wrestle their wrists in the management and command of the Airborne Forces. As a result, Shengsheng was disturbed by John, the "Chen Biting Gold" who was killed halfway. For Britton, the generals of the Army Air Corps, who were bent on forming an "Air Marines," of course, they had to inquire about John's situation clearly.

"I met at the beginning of the year when I was in a meeting at Fort Leavenworth Military Academy. He gave us the idea of alternating the cabin in two formations to improve the efficiency of airborne, and it worked well after a try. William Lee coped with a haha.

"He's now 82 and is the chief of staff?" Major General Britton knocked on the side and said, "Could it be that the 82nd Division will be reorganized into an airborne division next?" ”

"How would I know that. Anyway, I only have a total of 3 battalions of paratroopers in my hands now, and I don't even have enough teams, and it's still early to form an airborne division. William Lee lifted the ball to Britton again: "I said you can't give me more transports?" What did so many transport planes do with the transfer of aircraft to the Transport Command (in April 1942, the command was reorganized into the Air Transport Command, and at the end of World War II, it had 123 transport squadrons under its jurisdiction, with a total of 10,456 transport aircraft). ”

"That's about Tenner (William Tenner, later commander of the Air Transport Command), and I was the bomber commander." Britton simply threw the pot out.

While Britton was asking William Lee for information, McNair and Embick were also talking about John.

"Looks like that kid didn't take the bait." In the office, McNair handed Embick a cigarette: "I didn't expect him to be young, but he was quite calm." ”

"Could it be Stimson?" Embick took the cigarette, put it under his nose and sniffed it, but didn't light it immediately. In his opinion, how could a young man who was less than forty years old not be at all tempted by the rank of general.

"It's hard to say. I saw it when he was training at the military academy. This kid has ambitions for commanding operations. I hear that Marshall initially gave him two options, one was to replace Smith as his secretary, and the other was to go to Drum (commander of the First Army) to take care of logistics. As a result, he didn't choose, preferring to go to the 82nd Division as a deputy chief of staff. McNair still knows a little more about his student than Embick.

"Also, how can a young man not want to be a commander." Embike nodded, "I thought that an officer like him who was not from a professional class didn't have this kind of obsession." ”

"This kid is so calculating, he can't even leave his hands. I think he has already taken aim at the Airborne Forces. With such a show today, it will be much easier for him to change from a staff post to a command post as long as he goes to the airborne troops in the future. There were few competitors, and he was once again known as an expert, and he also had a share of the credit for the expansion of the Airborne Forces, even William Lee had to pinch his nose and admit it. ”

"Really. Are young people so good nowadays? Listening to McNair's analysis, Embick also felt quite reasonable, "But what do we do next?" I guess Marshall saw it nine times out of ten. ”

"What else can I do, that old Stimson guy is clubbing there. If this kid doesn't take the bait, then we can only stop here. McNair said helplessly: "And this matter, maybe Stimson already knows, I'm afraid I'll have to find an opportunity to compensate that kid at that time." ”

"Compensation, how to compensate?" Embike asked.

"Didn't he want to go to the Airborne Forces? At the end of the year, when the organization was expanded, how about simply changing the 82nd Division into an airborne division. I'd like to see which of the three chiefs, Bradley, Ridgway, and Swain, can be squeezed out. ”

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