"Hello, Ike!" Receiving a call from Eisenhower, John was a little surprised: "The book was received so quickly? ”

"Books? What book? Eisenhower was a little confused by John's words. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

John knew that he was thinking badly, and quickly explained: "It's the Chinese military theory book I told you about last time, and the Military Academy Press gave me a few sample books, and I sent you one last week." ”

"Oh, the one you translated. You're too anxious, how can you be so fast, it's good to receive it at the end of the month. Eisenhower said with a smile.

"You're underestimating our FedEx company, wait, it should be almost there in the next two days." Although FedEx has not yet launched a personal delivery business, this does not prevent John, the boss, from using the company's channels to deliver some personal items, at least much faster than mailing. The book was John's gift to congratulate Eisenhower on his promotion to acting chief of staff of the Ninth Army, and he didn't want to risk losing it to the Postal Service gang.

"Okay, then I'll wait to read your magnum opus." Eisenhower, who was on the other end of the phone, couldn't help but feel a little emotional: John, a young man, was growing up too fast. When I first met him, he was a complete military layman. In the blink of an eye, a book can be published.

However, thinking that he still had questions to ask him for advice in a moment, Eisenhower gave up his plan to continue to ridicule John about this matter. "By the way, listen to Omar, you are still the logistics staff officer of the 82nd Division?"

"yes, he made a pit. I'm having a headache right now. Sixteen,000 recruits will be stationed at the end of the month, and less than half of the barracks construction has been completed so far. John couldn't help but complain a few bitter words.

"Hahaha!" Eisenhower laughed "unsympathetically": "John, if I were Omar, I would do the same." Who made you born to do this? You can do it, and we're confident in you. ”

"I thank you for your trust!" John said angrily, "Say, what are you looking for me?" If you congratulate me on my appointment, I will be spared. ”

"First of all, of course, I would like to congratulate you, and I have something to ask you." Eisenhower got straight to the point: "On the pilot of logistical reform." ”

John was immediately interested. First, he was quite interested in the ongoing pilot logistical reform of several armies under the Third Army, after all, this was also part of the results of his original efforts. Second, Eisenhower, who was also a teacher and friend, could ask him for advice in turn, which also brought a lot of satisfaction to his vanity.

"That's right, I received a report jointly submitted by dozens of logistics officers yesterday, reflecting that the reform pilot has affected the normal supply of troops, and requesting a postponement of implementation......" Eisenhower spent more than ten minutes telling John the general content of the report, what he had learned from the 113th Regiment in the morning, and the doubts in his heart.

John wasn't too surprised by what had happened to the Ninth Army. In fact, he had long expected that the reform would meet with resistance among the grassroots logistics officers. On the first day of his tenure, he asked Bradley and others for manpower, in order to reduce the interference of the original group of logistics officers in the future reform work.

"Ike, I think I can probably guess what the problem is." John deliberately bought a pass: "Most of those joint officers are responsible for the dispatch and distribution of materials in each regiment, right?" ”

Eisenhower pulled the report out of a drawer with his phone in his hand, and flipped to the signed page at the end. "I'm right, John, only two or three people aren't."

"That's not hard to understand, Ike." John said firmly: "In the new logistical supply model, these people are the ones who suffer the most, and it is normal for them to oppose it. ”

In order to give Eisenhower a better understanding of the problem, John made a detailed analysis for him: "According to the previous logistical supply model, it was difficult to meet the needs of the grassroots companies in a timely manner. Therefore, the usual practice is to distribute a certain amount of supplies to the regiments in advance (in the current US Army, there is no special logistics department for units below the regimental level, and the logistics work at the battalion level is generally handled by a lieutenant staff officer, and at the company level by the quartermaster sergeant). There is a great deal of freedom in the distribution and use of this part of the material, much more freely than at the army and division levels. And this is also a part of the material waste in the old logistics supply model. ”

"In the past, unless there was a particularly urgent need for supplies, the company would rarely take the initiative to apply to the above. Because there will be no response after applying, they are all used to passively waiting for assignment from their superiors. However, the core goal of the reformed supply model is to shorten the time for materials to reach the grassroots companies, and all material needs must be applied for by the company on its own initiative. In this way, those officers who are responsible for the dispatch and distribution of materials in each regiment will naturally be dissatisfied, because they have changed from the leader of the distribution of logistics and materials to the mere service provider. ”

With that said, Eisenhower was no longer familiar with the logistics workflow and knew what the problem was. "Are you saying that this reform objectively weakened the power of the logistics officers of the regiments, which is why it attracted opposition?"

"That's right, that's what it means." John smiled and said, "Don't you feel more headaches?" ”

"You can still laugh. It's as if your 82nd Division won't have this problem in the future. Eisenhower said angrily. The problem was figuring it out, but it was much more serious than he had anticipated.

Previously, he thought that either the new logistical replenishment model was flawed and needed to be readjusted. Either individual logistics officers are conspiring to resist reform because of their own selfish interests. It was only after John's explanation that he understood that the reform was touching the interests of a group as a whole.

At this point, Eisenhower was more understanding of the logistics officers who submitted the reports. Just as a military commander will not give up his command, a staff officer will not give up his right to draw up operational plans, and a personnel officer will not give up his right to personnel, a logistics officer will not be willing to give up his dominance over the distribution of materials. And this reform is precisely to shift the dominance of material distribution from the supply side to the demand side.

"Ike, don't be upset when I told you, our 82nd Division really won't encounter this problem......" Then, John told Eisenhower about his plan to set up three logistics centers at the division headquarters and move the logistics operations of each regiment to the line. When the time comes, I will transfer all the original logistics officers of each regiment to the divisional logistics center, reproduce the fixed posts and fixed formations, and appoint one or two more people for each regiment, who will only be responsible for the supply of materials to the regimental headquarters. ”

"That's a good idea, but it's only a newly formed division like you that can do that." Eisenhower thought about it for a moment and knew that John's method would not work in the Ninth Army. The 82nd Division now has a total of seven or eight hundred officers and non-commissioned officers, and there is not a single soldier, so no matter how much it tosses, there will be no major problems. The Ninth Army had tens of thousands of people, and logistical supplies could not be sent out in a single day.

Rejecting John's approach at the 82nd Division, Eisenhower made another difficulty. Since there is no problem with the reform measures themselves, the Ninth Army's experiments must be carried out. How can we get those regimental logistics officers to cooperate? Although he was only acting chief of staff of the Ninth Army during Brigadier General Meyer's illness, Eisenhower's personality meant that he would never back down in the face of difficult problems. As long as he is still sitting in this position, he will do everything he can to solve the problem.