After Stimson left, those present looked at Eisenhower differently. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 In their view, Stimson, the "big man" who would preside over their future fate (the Secretary of the Army was responsible for issuing promotion orders), had come not so much to see Durvers off as to see Eisenhower on his way. Old classmates and comrades-in-arms constantly came forward to congratulate him on his "ascension," which overwhelmed Eisenhower.

In the end, it was the old boss Brigadier Davis who saved him. "How's it going, has the final destination been decided?" Davis pulled Eisenhower aside and asked in a whisper.

"15th Infantry Regiment, as regimental chief of staff." Eisenhower replied truthfully. Although the 15th Infantry Regiment was a second-rate unit in the U.S. Army, Eisenhower was already satisfied with being able to return to serve on home and as a front-line unit (according to tradition, front-line commanders had a better chance of promotion than officers in office).

"The 15th Infantry Regiment, it seems that that kid has put a lot of thought into it." Davis said something Eisenhower didn't understand. As an old fritter at the War Department, he knew too well why John was doing this.

As for how to make Eisenhower owe himself favors, but not to change the original historical trajectory and affect Eisenhower's future "prosperity", John really used his brains. With his relationship with Uncle Stimson, it was just a gesture for him to transfer Eisenhower back home. But John was concerned that this would affect Eisenhower's future development.

John knew very well that in the future, the person who would have the greatest influence on the US Army was not Uncle Stimson, but the current Deputy Secretary of the Army, General Marshall, the future Chief of Staff of the Army. It was only because Eisenhower was transferred to the Operational Planning Division because he had entered Marshall's "magic eye" during an exercise, and since then he has been at the pinnacle of the military. It became known that the characters in Marshall's pocket were quickly promoted.

If John had helped Eisenhower through Stimson now and caused him to lose Marshall's appreciation in the future, it would have been more than worth the loss. Historically, though, Stimson and Marshall worked well together during the war, and there were no factional struggles. However, this is mainly because Uncle Stimson is not very power-hungry, and he is old, so he does not interfere much in the specific affairs of the army. Marshall was also politically minded and knew how to advance and retreat.

But to say that there is no contradiction between the Secretary of War and the Chief of Staff is not to be believed. Besides, no matter how well the two cooperated during the war, looking at the final outcome of the two cronies and generals after the war, it was a world of difference.

Eisenhower will not talk about it, Marshall's favorite general Bradley was a five-star general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after the war. Even Mark Clark, who was nicknamed "a model of incompetent generals in the U.S. Army" (the one who signed the Korean Armistice and miscommanded the Fifth Army in the Battle of Cassino during the European War, causing heavy casualties) served as commander of the U.S. ground forces and commander-in-chief of the Far East.

As for Devers, Stimson took a fancy to Devers, who was the commander of Army Group like Bradley during the war, and only earned a semi-official position as chairman of the American Battle Memorial Committee after the war, and finally retired early to go into business.

John also counted on Eisenhower to represent the Republican Party in the White House in the future, and it would be bad if his "good intentions" ruined his future prospects. But apart from Stimson, John couldn't find a second person who could help him in this kind of thing. In the end, John came up with what he thought was the best of both worlds. He personally visited Uncle Stimson and asked him to help put Eisenhower in the 15th Infantry Regiment.

The 15th Infantry Regiment had just been withdrawn from the Far East and was being reorganized, and the entire command team had been changed. More importantly, this infantry regiment, which was stationed in the Tianjin Concession all year round, was where Marshall started. Marshall himself served in the regiment for a long time, serving as a battalion commander, deputy regiment commander, and regiment commander, and many officers of the regiment later benefited from this and became generals, forming a unique "China Gang" in the US Army.

Placing Eisenhower in this regiment will have some affection for Marshall in the future. With Eisenhower's ability, doing a good job in this position may not be impossible to get Marshall's reuse. With Stimson and Marshall on his back, Eisenhower's path to promotion may be smoother.

Stimson had not known Eisenhower before, and it was not clear why John had made overtures to such a lieutenant colonel. But he had a good relationship with MacArthur, and John was his more important nephew, so he did not refuse John's request to ask him to take care of MacArthur's former adjutant. Anyway, he was about to take office, and arranging a job for a senior lieutenant colonel was just a matter of effort.

The so-called helping people to the end and sending the Buddha to the West, Stimson can do more things than John. As the standard-bearer of the Republican Party's main battle faction, he was very busy with his work and did not intend to accept Devers's invitation. But when he agreed to John's request, he not only personally called MacArthur, Brigadier General Davis, and others to inquire about Eisenhower's situation, but also made a special trip to West Point to "stand on the platform" for Eisenhower.

The reason why Stimson deliberately arranged this meeting with Eisenhower was to let Eisenhower owe John a big favor, and also to lay the foundation for John's future contacts with military circles. Although John himself did not appear at this gathering of West Point graduates, in the eyes of "people with hearts" like Brigadier Davis, he has become an influential and noteworthy figure.

Stimson's approach worked surprisingly well. At the suggestion of Brigadier General Davis, after Eisenhower returned to Washington, he took the initiative to come to John's door to express his gratitude for his "enthusiastic help" and introduced several of his good classmates to John.

For Eisenhower's classmates, John had admired him for a long time in his previous life. Historically, 59 of Eisenhower's 164 West Point graduates have become generals, including 2 five-star generals, 2 four-star generals, 7 three-star lieutenant generals, 24 two-star major generals and 24 one-star brigadier generals, known as the-class-the-star-fell-on.

Although these men were still only colonel-level officers, John was thrilled to see them. Among Eisenhower's close friends were not only Bradley, the future five-star general, but also Wartime Far East Air Force Commander Strattmeier, Ninth Army Commander Charles Ryder, 12th Army Commander Fort Owen, and Deputy Commander of the Mediterranean Theater Joseph McEnany.