At Fort Leavenworth Military Academy, John is busy preparing for his upcoming final exams. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info although most of the assessment of this kind of short course is just a formality, there are very few cases of failure. But if your grades are too bad and you fall last in the class, you will always look bad on your face. Moreover, John also intends to test his true level through this assessment, so he naturally does not dare to slack off in the slightest.

In contrast, the rest of the class was not as calm as John. Except for a few students who, like him, have already decided on the "receiving unit", most of them are focused on where to go after the "graduation" of the event.

Originally, their three-month short-term course was different from the two-year formal academic education, and the trainees generally went back and forth after "graduation", and there was no problem of redistribution. But now the situation is special, and there is a shortage of personnel in all units, and there are a lot of vacant positions. If you don't have a good future in your activities, wouldn't you be sorry for your hard work in the past few months.

Therefore, in the last month of this training, there were a lot more students in the class who took leave to go out. The military academy also knows what these people are going to do when they ask for leave, and as long as it does not affect the assessment of various subjects and the defense of their dissertations, they will generally be released happily.

John didn't pay much attention to the classmates who often disappeared every once in a day or two. At this time, they began to "cramm", which can only show that they do not have a strong backstage, and they are not calm and steady enough. John is not very optimistic about the future of this kind of person. The only exception to this is probably only Lucius, the "lemur".

Lucius had waited for more than a month since he and John had a "good conversation" in the service bar that day, and he didn't see John do anything. During this time, Lucius tried to knock on the side a few more times, and when he saw that John didn't pick up, he understood that he was not so easy to fool and would not take the bait easily. So Lucius stopped talking to John about Groves.

Fortunately, both of them have their own careful thoughts, and the relationship between them is not bad on the surface. If there was any question about the sappers, John would take the initiative to ask Lucius for advice. Lucius was also very welcoming, never tired of John's questions being too pediatric.

Recently, however, seeing that the training course was about to end, Lucius's whereabouts began to be secretive. Not long after returning on New Year's Day, he took leave and disappeared from school. John inquired through Fred that there were already rumors in the Construction Department of the Engineer Corps that Lucius would soon be transferred to a planning department under the Military Production Committee. John estimates that this "lemur" may be back in Washington and make a last-ditch effort.

Of course, there are also many people in the class who have an "uncertain future" and can be as good as John, such as Bradley's old classmate Van Vleet. At present, the 48-year-old lieutenant colonel deputy regimental commander is still working his paper on the characteristics of firepower and personnel allocation at the first level of the army divisions of various countries, and does not care at all about when he will be able to become the regiment commander.

"Hey, James, it's rare to run into you here, aren't you usually in the library at this time?" One day after dinner, John was walking on the school playground when he unexpectedly ran into Van Vliet.

"Hi John." Van Vliet wore a tracksuit with a whistle around his neck. After greeting John, he introduced a big man next to him, who was also wearing a tracksuit, to John: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Weidemeyer of the Cadet Management Department, and we were ......colleagues in the Fort Benning Infantry Training Brigade before."

"No introduction, James, we know each other." John interrupted Van Vliet's introduction with a smile: "Good evening, Albert! General Embick is in fine health. ”

"Good evening, John!" Wei Demaier smiled honestly: "Thank you for your concern." This time, thanks to Mr. Alfred, Stanley's surgery was so successful that he was discharged home before Christmas. ”

John had met Albert Weidemeyer a year earlier through Railly, and the two had been a company comrade when they had served in the 15th Infantry Regiment. After entering the Fort Leavenworth Military Academy in November last year, John made a special trip to visit Weidemeyer several times, and got along well with the tall, mild-mannered German lieutenant colonel.

Some time ago, Weidemeyer's father-in-law, a veteran of the conservative army and commander of the Third Army, Lieutenant General Stanley Embick, was hospitalized with a heart attack. It was John who arranged the surgery for him through Alfred (who also managed Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt Educational Foundation, and Alfred himself was a well-known American medical scientist and an authority on cardiovascular medicine).

In John's mind, Weidemeyer, a lieutenant colonel, was no less important than Major General McNair. Not only because historically, Weidemeyer would succeed Stilwell as Chief of Staff of the Chinese Theater and Commander of the U.S. Army, but also because he was one of the few guys in the U.S. military during World War II who could stand in front of various factions.

On the one hand, Weidemeyer was a member of the Army's "China Gang", and his experience in Tianjin, China in the late 20s won him Marshall's trust and appreciation, and at the same time, he also formed deep friendships with Stilwell, Ridgway, Walker, and other members of the "China Gang".

On the other hand, due to the relationship of his father-in-law Embick, Weidemeyer's acceptance of the conservatives in the military is also very high. Don't look at Lieutenant General Embik, who has already bid farewell to the Third Army he formed single-handedly because of a heart attack. This old man had close ties to the Roosevelt family and was a trusted private military adviser to Roosevelt. After the United States entered the war, in order to ease relations with conservatives, the elder Embique was re-invited to serve as deputy chief of staff of the US Army.

And that's only within the Army, and in politics, Weidemeyer's godfather was veteran Republican progressivist Senator George Norris (after whom the famous Norris Act was named). This veteran of the Republican Party, who has stood in Congress for more than 40 years, not only has high prestige among centrist Republicans, but is also the key figure who took the lead in defecting to support Roosevelt in the 1933 US election, and has a good relationship with Roosevelt's New Deal.

Even without the historical information obtained from his previous life, based on Weidemeyer's background and his own abilities, John could have judged that he would not be in the pool in the future. After all, a talent like him who can be accepted by all forces is too scarce. If John doesn't take the opportunity to get on good terms with him, then his brain will be in water.

"James, Albert, what are you doing here?" John asked curiously.

"There's a game on the varsity football team next week, and I'm going to ask James to help coach it." Weidemeyer said with a smile: "James is the best guard in the history of the West Point varsity team. While teaching at the University of Florida's Military Department, he also served as the head coach of the varsity football team, which won the NCAAF (American College Football League) divisional championship. ”

"That was a long time ago, and my set is long outdated." Van Vliet waved his hand again and again: "I'm just going to the event." John, would you be interested in going over and having fun together? ”

"Forget it today, I'll have something else to do later." John quickly declined the other party's invitation. He's not Van Vliet, he's almost 50 years old, and he's physically good enough to play physical confrontation with a bunch of young muscular men.

But then again, he still admires Van Vliet's determination and bearing. At this time, you can still not be in a hurry, do not fight or grab, it is time to learn and learn, and it is time to exercise. It's no wonder that this guy lived a long life (historically, Van Vliet didn't die until 1992, just after his 100th birthday), and this mentality is unconvincing.