In the blink of an eye, the time was October 1941.

On the surface, the small southern town of Alexandria still seems as peaceful as it was two months ago. But it is not difficult for careful people to find that the smoke of gunpowder on the other side of the ocean is changing the atmosphere here little by little with the bleak autumn wind.

Before you know it, in addition to the weather, the harvest, the costumes and the drama, the topic of war has also become the focus of conversation in the streets of the town. Especially after the Third Army, which had ended its exercises, passed by and stopped briefly in Alexandria during its withdrawal, there was growing concern about when the United States would enter the war.

As the general's wife, Adele was also asked these questions when attending various salons of local celebrities.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, John, who rarely slept well, sat at his dining table, reading the newspaper while trying to use the brunch that Adele had made for him. On the gramophone, a tenor sings an excerpt from the opera The Ring of the Nibelungen in German. Lately, Johann has been consciously practising his German in an attempt to regain what he had done at university.

"Honey, would you like some more coffee?" Adele asked, hugging little Eric who had just drunk her milk.

John glanced up at the wall clock on the wall, "It's still early, let's have another drink." ”

Over the past few months, the 82nd Division has been like a tireless machine, running like crazy in order to successfully pass the assessment of the General Staff.

This difficult and lengthy process of "exam preparation" finally came to an end yesterday. Tomorrow, an assessment team from the Army General Staff will arrive at the Krebo barracks for a five-day inspection and acceptance of the results of the 82nd Division's training since its reorganization.

In order to ease the tension of the soldiers and meet the "big test" in the fullest state, the 82nd Division was on vacation today without any training tasks.

John also took time out to return home yesterday evening and spent a weekend night with his family.

Of course, as the deputy commander of the 82nd Division, John could not rest all day and do nothing like ordinary soldiers. After a while, he had to rush to the airport to greet the staff inspection team on behalf of the 82nd Division.

This work should have been done by the division commander Li Qiwei. However, firstly, the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Wald, will also come this morning (his rank is higher than that of the members of the appraisal team), and secondly, John is from the army staff and is still an old friend of the leader of the appraisal team. So this glorious mission fell to John.

"What are you looking at, and what's the big news today?" Adele asked as she poured John coffee.

"Nothing, a report on the PQ convoy." John replied without raising his head, "They arrived in Russia yesterday, more than 2,000 miles, and they have been running for more than half a month. ”

In early October, an escort group consisting of the cruiser USS Suffolk, two destroyers, and an anti-submarine battle group escorted the first shipment of American aid from Iceland's Hvarfjord to the Soviet Union. After more than ten days of difficult sailing, breaking through the threats of ice floes, ocean storms and German submarines, we finally arrived at our destination.

"That sounds like good news, right?" In Adele's subconscious, both the Nazis and the Red Soviet Union were evil enemies. She did not know much about the complex international situation and did not know the significance of the PQ-1 fleet's trip.

"That's right. Now the Russians and we are on the side. With this batch of supplies, Stalin could hold out a little longer. John patiently explained: "The Germans' tanks are almost under Moscow, and the Russians need these things to defend their capital." ”

As far as John knew, Moscow's outer defensive line was already crumbling under the onslaught of German tanks. In the first phase of Operation Typhoon alone, the Russians lost 660,000 men, and strategic locations such as Orel, Bryansk, and Vyazma also fell one after another. Marshal Timoshenko's return route was cut off and had to fly to safety.

Now in charge of the desperate defense of Moscow is the son of that village shoemaker - General Georgy Zhukov. Stalin mobilized more than 500,000 people, including a large number of women and children, to defend the capital of the Red Soviet Union and was working overnight to repair a new line of defense around Moscow. The entire project included 5,000 miles of trenches, and many of the supplies transported by the Q-1 fleet were necessary for the construction of the new defensive line.

"Will they be able to hold back the Germans? I've heard that our embassies have been evacuated. Adele remembered a news she had heard at the salon not long ago.

"Rest assured, the USSR is not France, they will not give up their capital. The embassy moved to Kuibyshev only for security reasons......"

Speaking of this, John suddenly realized that it was not inappropriate to say French in front of Adele, and hurriedly made up a sentence, "And the weather is also good for them." Winter is coming, and the weather there is enough to make it difficult for any enemy to move an inch. ”

"I hope so." The Sood-German battlefield was too far away for Adele to be of interest to her. Soon, Adele shifted the subject elsewhere, "What time are you going to the airport?" I heard Miller say that Mark is leading the team from the staff this time, should we invite him to our house for dinner? A few days ago, when little Eric had his birthday, he also sent a birthday gift to him. ”

"Don't worry, it's too late to leave around 11 o'clock." John also had no interest in continuing to discuss the Soviet-German war with Adele, "Mark, the head of the assessment team, is just a nominal one. He is a busy man now, how can he stay in the 82nd Division for 5 days. He will be back in Washington the afternoon after tomorrow, and during the examination, it is somewhat inappropriate to still have private contact. ”

John and Adele are talking about Mark is none other than their old friend, the newly baked Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army's Ground Forces, Major General Mark Clark.

A few months ago, Clark was just a minor lieutenant colonel in the Army Staff Training Service when General McNair was sent to the 82nd Division to inspect the "All-American House" program.

In just a few months, with the help of John, he entered McNair's eyes, transformed from Marshall's peripheral brother to McNair's confidant, and played an important role in the reform of the army's organization and the training of troops.

Not long ago, the reform of the army's upper organizational structure was completed, and three major commands of ground forces, aviation units, and logistics were established. Clark was even appointed by McNair, commander of the Army's ground forces, and was promoted to his major general's deputy chief of staff.

may think that he can rise to the top this time, and he has been somewhat stained with John's light. Clark is now very enthusiastic about John, and on the occasion of Eric's first birthday, he also gave a special gift. In this assessment, he also took the initiative to apply to lead the team, which obviously meant to escort the 82nd Division.

Although John didn't think that the 82nd Division needed to go through the back door in the assessment, it was not a bad thing that someone in the court would take care of him. Moreover, this assessment is only the first step on the road to the reorganization of the Airborne Forces of the 82nd Division. In the next competition, Clark's role will also be crucial. John could take the opportunity to communicate with him and make some preparations for the next move.