When he met Chennault again, the former Army Air Force captain wore a crisp Chinese Air Force colonel's uniform, a cigar in his mouth, and the style of a successful man. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info couldn't tell that two years ago he was a down-and-out pilot who ran to China for a mere $1,000 a month.

John was glad he wasn't wearing a uniform today, otherwise he, the lieutenant colonel, would have saluted Chennault first.

It didn't take a few words for John to know why Reilly disliked Chennault more and more. This guy is probably because he is deeply trusted by the Chiang family in China, and has fought a few beautiful battles, and he is praised by the Chinese bureaucrats as a little unable to find the north.

As soon as they met, Chennault boasted about his exploits and sang a hymn to the Chiang couple. Listening to this southern Yankee, how the chairman of the committee was, and how Mrs. Chiang was, John really wanted to laugh.

"In the end, I was Chinese in my previous life, or you were Chinese in my previous life." Why are you more familiar with that set of words in Chinese officialdom than me? But for the sake of his contribution to China's anti-Japanese resistance, John listened patiently to him there.

Wealth does not return to the hometown, just like a brocade at night. Chennault has been depressed for half his life, and now he is still out of the blue, and he is not allowed to let others sigh.

In the end, it wasn't until Chennault mentioned the limousine and antique vase given to him by Soong Meiling for the third time that John couldn't help but signal Reilly, who was on the side, to interrupt him.

"Colonel Chennault, John is very busy working at the Army Staff and has limited time, what is the matter with you looking for us this time?"

Only then did Chennault realize that he was not bragging to his former comrades. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Vanderbilt." That's the thing, the boys of the volunteer air corps have been going to China for more than a year and have also made some money. Now the Army Air Corps is recruiting experienced pilots again, and some pilots want to return home. As soon as they go, there will not be enough manpower in the air force......"

John understood that this was all the work of Chief of Staff Marshall's expansion plan. General Arnold is working on expanding the size of the Army Air Corps. In the past, Reilly was able to recruit a few unambitious pilots from the army. Now that the expansion of the army is imminent and promotion is expected, who will resign and go to the Far East to become a mercenary. Even those pilots who had already gone to China couldn't stay anymore and wanted to use their combat experience to return to China and get a better position.

This problem is really difficult to solve. John was no ordinary businessman now, he was a member of the Army himself. If you dig into the corners of the army so blatantly, some of them can't be justified, and General Arnold will definitely give himself a good look if he knows it.

"How many people want to come back?" John asked.

"About thirty or so, all of them are good guys with shooting down records. The Chinese are generous and have an additional bonus of $1,000 for each Japanese plane shot down. Those who don't have a record of shooting down want to wait a little longer and make more money. ”

In other words, the pilots of the volunteer air force will be reduced by one-third at once, and they are all masters. No wonder Chennault was in such a hurry, which meant that the power in his hands was cut by more than half at once.

"It's a bit of a difficult thing to do, and it's hard to find experienced pilots right now." In order to fly the H-1 fighter jets to Newfoundland, John hired a group of pilots from Hughes's Trans World Airlines.

"It's really not good, and rookies can too. As long as you have received complete pilot training. "Chennault has been back home for a few days, and it is very difficult to know about this.

"Those graduates of the aviation school, but those who have better skills will be taken away by the military and various airlines, and the rest of the level is not very good, I am afraid that it will not be possible to go to the battlefield." Reilly was not too optimistic about this suggestion, but Chennault's words made John think of another solution.

Since the "918" incident, overseas Chinese in the United States have begun to set up aviation schools to train pilots for the motherland's anti-Japanese cause. These schools are not large, but there are quite a few of them, including San Francisco, Chicago, Portland, Pittsburgh, New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Some of them have been discontinued due to financial and other reasons, but some have been retained. Last year, Pearl Race approached him and raised $2,000 in donations from him for an overseas Chinese aviation school in Los Angeles.

From the very beginning, this group of overseas Chinese pilots rushed to return to China to participate in the war, and it should not be difficult for the volunteer air force to recruit them. Perhaps, Hughes Aircraft Company can also cooperate with these overseas Chinese aviation schools to jointly train pilots for the volunteer air force.

While Hughes Aircraft has taken the lead in the Chinese market, Curtis has recently been at odds with the Chinese government to sell their P-40s to China as well. It is indeed necessary for Hughes Aircraft to deepen its cooperation with the Chinese side.

If Chinese pilots had been accustomed to flying their planes since training, it would not have been so easy for Curtis to grab the market after the Lend-Lease Act was introduced. After all, that is a war zone, and the rapid formation of combat effectiveness is the first requirement, and the Chinese do not have time to wait for the pilots to slowly adapt to the new aircraft.

John told Reilly and Chennault about his idea. There are already quite a few overseas Chinese ground crews in the China Aid Volunteer Air Force. Chennault had a good impression of these young men, who were hard-working, enthusiastic about their work, and had a natural language advantage. Therefore, he did not have any opinion on recruiting overseas Chinese pilots to join his air force.

Reilly had lived in China for many years before he almost married a Chinese daughter, so naturally he would not have any prejudice against the Chinese. Since John handed over some affairs of the China Aid Volunteer Air Force to him, he has also had some contacts with Pearl Sai's gang of friendly people to China and some patriotic overseas Chinese organizations.

"Reilly, I'll leave this to you. I'll say hello to Hughes first on the Hughes plane, and you can just go to Tom Jr. John turned his head and said to Chennault: "Colonel Chennault, I still have trouble with you Chinese side about contacting the Overseas Chinese Aviation School. It's better for you to come forward for this kind of thing. ”

"No problem, I'll send a telegram to Mrs. Jiang when I get back." Chennault agreed very simply, but he made another request: "There is one more thing, Minister Song wants to meet you, I don't know if it is convenient for you?" ”

"There is no need to meet in person, I am now an active duty military officer, and it is not convenient for me to have private contact with foreign government officials." John knew what his uncle was up to, and he didn't mind being a favor. But with his current status, it is really not suitable to meet.

"You go back and tell Minister Song that I will try my best to help with the loan, it shouldn't be a big problem, but the amount won't be too much." With that, John was ready to get up and take his leave. As soon as he stood up, he thought of one more thing: "You give me a copy of the information of the pilots who are going to return to China, and I will write a letter of recommendation for them." ”

These people had a hard time in China, and John couldn't let them work in vain (the salaries and bonuses of the Volunteer Air Corps were paid by the Chinese side). Anyway, he is so familiar with the Army Air Corps now, and there is an urgent shortage of pilots with actual combat experience. John wanted to help them get a better position as much as possible, and he could be regarded as thanking them for their contribution to China's anti-Japanese cause.