After leaving the White House, John did not contact Stimson immediately. www.biquge.info From the memories of his previous life, John knew that the former secretary of state, the future secretary of the Army, was a representative figure in the American political arena who opposed isolationism, had a tough attitude towards the German, Italian, and Japanese fascists, advocated opening up a second battlefield in Europe as soon as possible, was responsible for supervising the development of the first atomic bomb, and suggested a nuclear assault on Japan. But that wasn't enough, and John felt the need to do a little more homework.

Lawrence was surprised to hear John ask him about Stimson. "How could you not know him? Aren't you neighbors? ”

It was only after Lawrence's reminder that John connected this "big man" in the history books of his previous life with the "Uncle Henry" he had seen as a child. Henry Lewis Stimson was born on an aristocratic estate on Long Island, New York, just across the stream from John's winery. John's father seemed to have a good relationship with this "Uncle Henry" before his death, and his photo album contains many photos of the two of them riding horses, fishing, and playing tennis together when they were young. John also recalls that his favorite western cowboy hat as a child was a gift from "Uncle Henry." However, he had not seen his uncle since his father died when he was 10 years old, except that he had heard that he seemed to have gone abroad.

Lawrence is now slowly getting used to John's political "idiocy". With a sigh, he began to give John a detailed introduction to Stimson. Stimson spent his early years as a lawyer in New York, and was appointed District Attorney for the Southern District of New York by President Roosevelt Sr. from 1906 to 1909. In 1911, after losing the Republican bid for governor of New York, he was appointed Secretary of War by President William Howard Taft. During the First World War, he went to France as an artillery commander, receiving the rank of brigadier general. He later served as Governor General of the Philippine Islands and Secretary of State in President Hoover's administration during the Great Depression.

"Stimson was a nimble, internationally minded politician who was a Republican, but not partisan. When Roosevelt came to power, he got along well with his successor Secretary of State, Democrat Cordell Hull. As a special adviser, he carefully guided Hull through foreign affairs, and was rumored to be a good story in Washington. Lawrence reminded John in particular: "Stimson was a man of gentlemanly manners and traditional morals. When he was Secretary of State, he ordered the abolition of the Codebreaker Office presided over by Yardley, because he adhered to the traditional moral code of not reading the letters of others. ”

"And what about his attitude towards the Sino-Japanese war? When Japan invaded Northeast China in 1931, he must have been the secretary of state. John asked a question that was of greatest concern to him.

He first sent a diplomatic note to Japan and China, declaring that Japan's aggression against Manchuria was an interference in the internal affairs of Chinese territory and a violation of the Treaty of Versailles, so the US government did not recognize it. But the next day it said that the United States had no intention of interfering in Japanese operations in Manchuria. ”

"Neither admit nor interfere? It's funny. After figuring out Stimson's position on the Sino-Japanese issue, John decided to personally visit this "Uncle Henry", whom he had not seen for more than 20 years.

Stimson was a little surprised by John's surprise visit, but he welcomed it. He warmly introduced John to his family and invited him to lunch. At the dinner table, Stimson also talked about the story of teaching young John to ride horses, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

After lunch, John told Stimson about his plans and his previous conversation with President Roosevelt at the White House, asking for his advice and help. Perhaps because of his tenure as Governor General in the Philippines, Stimson has always been concerned about the situation in the Far East. He agreed with John's judgment on the situation of the Sino-Japanese war, and was also very supportive of the plan of the Volunteer Air Force to aid China. However, Stimson is neither Secretary of War nor Secretary of State now, so it is inconvenient to intervene directly. He sought out a good helper for John in military circles, former Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur.

Although General MacArthur had retired from military service (in November 1930, MacArthur was appointed Chief of Staff by President Hoover with the provisional rank of four-star Army General. After his term expired in 1935, he was transferred to the rank of major general and served as a military adviser to President Quezon of the Philippine government. In 1938, he had just retired from the U.S. Army and became commander-in-chief of the Philippine Army, beginning the formation of the Philippine Army. It was only after the United States entered the war in 1941 that he was re-drafted into the army to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Far East Army), but his influence in the U.S. military was unquestionable.

MacArthur's father, Arthur MacArthur II, was a famous "baby colonel" during the American Civil War, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the rank of three-star lieutenant general in the Army. MacArthur has been thriving in the military since graduating from West Point. During World War I, he commanded the "Rainbow Division" (42nd Infantry Division), which performed so well that at the age of 39 he became the youngest West Point principal in history. When he became Army Chief of Staff in 1930, Marshall was still an instructor at the Fort Benning Infantry School, and Eisenhower was his adjutant major.

Although because of the Korean War, John has always been less interested in this five-star general who likes to put on a show. But he also has to admit that MacArthur is a very good candidate to work with right now. After hooking up with Marshal MacArthur (who was then the Philippine Field Marshal) through Stimson, everything went very smoothly. Soon, with the acquiescence of the White House and the military, an import-export company based in Manila was quietly established. The chairman of the board was Mr. De Garno, the uncle of President Roosevelt, and the list of shareholders also included John, Hughes, Stimson, and MacArthur.

The main business of the import and export company is to import H1 aircraft from the United States and convert them. Some of these planes will be sold to the Philippine military, but most will be quietly imported into China through Hong Kong. With MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the Philippine Army, under the cover, Congress easily approved the export plan and the accompanying agreement to hire flight instructors and mechanics from retired Army Air Corps personnel.

While some lawmakers may see the hidden issues in the deal, so what? Even if the fighter jets are directly exported to the Philippines, it does not violate the "Neutrality Law", and it is not an engagement zone, not to mention that the H1 is still a civilian aircraft in name. Even if the Japanese find out in the future, if you want to protest, please go to the Philippine government. This is what the Philippines sold to China, and it has nothing to do with the United States. Cutting off people's financial means is like killing their parents, none of the shareholders of this import and export company are easy to mess with, and the smart members of Congress have chosen to ignore the possible cattiness in it.

Hughes was overjoyed by John's unexpected delight and immediately began recruiting troops to expand production. John ran advertisements in major newspapers recruiting retired pilots and mechanics. The advertised salary is very attractive, with a monthly salary of $200 for ground staff and up to $500 for elite pilots. When the men signed a non-disclosure agreement with the company, they were told that their salaries would be increased by another 50 percent if they were willing to volunteer in China. There was never a shortage of adventurous pilots, and soon John recruited more than 300 people.

Historically, it is generally accepted that in 1941, it was President Roosevelt who authorized the formation of the Flying Tigers through executive order. However, this is not the case, and there is nothing about the Flying Tigers in the 381 executive orders issued by the president in 1941 and in the Federal Register. The Flying Tigers are more of a free mercenary force made up of bounty hunters. They had all sorts of strange identities on their passports, including bank clerks, businessmen, musicians, students, missionaries, but none of them were pilots. The famous "Flying Tiger General" Chennault is no exception, this Texas cowboy went to China when he went to China, and his passport said that he went to China to "inspect agriculture".

Just in case, John borrowed this trick. With Stimson's help (and the company's shares were not taken for nothing), he succeeded in arranging fake identities for the volunteers who were willing to go to China. There was a small episode in this later. One of these pilots was a playboy who was removed from the Army Air Corps because of the "Peachy Incident", and it happened that he was assigned the identity of a missionary. On a ship from Manila to Hong Kong, the guy tricked a young lady from a wealthy British businessman into bed in the name of making a confession. As a result, as soon as the ship arrived in Hong Kong, this unlucky man was sent to the patrol house by the father and brother of the rich businessman, and he was imprisoned for several months.

In any case, John's "China Aid Volunteer Air Force" plan can be regarded as everything, and only Dongfeng is owed. As H1 planes rolled off the assembly line at Hughes, John waited anxiously for Reilly to bring him good news from China.