"Good evening, Mrs. Weidemeyer, and happy birthday to you!" On the last night before leaving Fort Leavenworth, John was invited to Weidemeyer's house. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoToday is the fortieth birthday of Mrs. Weidemeyer Anderbeck, and half a month ago, Mr. and Mrs. Weidemeyer sent him an invitation to the party.

"Thank you! Mr. Vanderbilt. Ambick took the gift from John and said enthusiastically, "It's great that you're here." Albert has told me many times that Stanley is thanks to your help in this surgery, thank you so much. ”

"It's just a gesture, ma'am, and you're so polite." John hurriedly said, "Also, you can call me John directly." ”

"Okay, John. Don't call me Madame, call me Ambic. So saying, Ambick led John into the house: "Come in, Albert is going to pick up someone, and he will be back in a moment." ”

When he entered the house, John realized that there were quite a few people who had come to the party tonight, and there were more than a dozen people sitting in the living room alone. Most people John didn't know. Judging by their mannerisms, John guesses that they are probably Ambick's writer friends (Ambick is a female writer).

However, John soon found an "old friend" among them. "Mrs. Walsh, I didn't expect to see you here."

John stepped forward in surprise and hugged Pearl Race. The last time he met Pearl Race was in 1938 when the Chinese in New York held an anti-Japanese demonstration.

"It's a pleasure to see you, John. We haven't seen each other in almost three years. Pearl Race was also pleasantly surprised to see John. Although they have not met directly in the past two years, they have maintained correspondence. Every year, John would donate a large amount of money to the Alliance for the Defense of China (an organization founded by Soong Ching-ling in Hong Kong to raise funds and materials for the anti-Japanese war) through Pearl Race.

"yes, it's been almost three years in the blink of an eye." John also sighed: "You haven't changed at all, you're still so young. ”

His little compliment made Pearl very happy, and while the two were chatting energetically, Ambick came over and asked curiously, "Pearl, John, you used to know each other?" ”

"We met in the salon of Margaret (the author of Gone with the Wind) in '38. John is very fond of Chinese culture and speaks Chinese very well. Pearl replied on his behalf.

"Yes, John, you're amazing." Ambick exclaimed, "It's so hard for me to speak Chinese. I lived there for three years and could only understand a few simple sentences. Albert is better than me in this regard, and he can at least communicate with the locals. ”

John had heard that Marshall, when he was in the 15th Infantry Regiment, asked his subordinates to learn more Chinese. In previous lives, many historical sources said that Stilwell and Weidemeyer were proficient in Chinese. But thinking about Reilly's Chinese proficiency and his Tianjin dialect, John can probably guess what Weidemeyer's Chinese level is.

"Pearl, how did you and Albert meet?" John was also a little curious about the relationship between Pearl and the Weidemeyers.

"That's early. In 1929, Albert and I had known Pearl not long after we arrived in China. Ambick replied first: "Albert was a lieutenant at the time, and he spent most of his time in the barracks. If it weren't for Pearl being with me, introducing me to friends, and teaching me how to write, I don't know how I would have survived those three years. ”

John understood that the relationship between Pearl and Weidemeyer and his wife had been friends for more than ten years, and it seemed that she was still the leader of Ambick on the path of a writer. But since Pearl Race is so familiar with the Wedemeyers, does she also know Reilly, John asked with some curiosity.

"Reilly, is that bearded guy who used to go to your house to eat? It's the one who went to the church school with a gun to chase a female student, and was reported in the newspaper? Pearl hesitated for a moment, she seemed to have some impression of the name, but she was not sure, so she asked about Ambik.

"That's right, it's him." Ambick nodded: "He started with Albert in a company, and later retired to go into the arms business." ”

The conversation between Pearl and Ambique made John on the side almost try to find a crack in the ground to get into. Reilly's guy is too tasteless, he went to a Chinese church school with a gun to chase girls, and he also appeared in the local newspaper. Are you a pickling girl or a kiss. If this matter spreads in the United States, the face of the old Fan family will be lost by him.

Fortunately, at this time, Weidemai returned, with a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses behind him. From his straight waist and standard soldier's head, it is not difficult to see that this man is also a professional soldier.

Both Pearl and Ambique apparently knew the new guest, and they both greeted them at the same time. While the four of them were greeting, John found a seat and sat down.

Thanks to the timing of Weidemeyer's return, otherwise Pearl asked about his relationship with Reilly, and John was too embarrassed to admit that the tasteless guy was his cousin.

Just as John was secretly rejoicing on the sidelines, Weidemeyer spotted him and hurriedly beckoned him, "John, you have arrived." Here, let me introduce you to Maj. Gen. Stilwell, the commander of the Hourglass Division (named after the hourglass for its punctuality in completing combat missions). ”

No wonder John felt that this man was a little familiar, it turned out to be the famous General Stilwell. If he hadn't been wearing a military uniform today, John would have recognized it. John was still lamenting that he had finally seen a living person, and Weidemeyer's next sentence put him in an embarrassing situation.

"Joseph, this is Colonel Vanderbilt of the Operations Planning Division of the General Staff, and he is a cousin of Reilly from our regiment."

As John shook hands with Stilwell, he could clearly feel the strange stares from Pearl Race and Ambick. Still, he was cheeky, pretending not to see it, and chatted enthusiastically with Stilwell.

Now, Bradley is just getting started, Eisenhower is still eating sand at the grassroots level, and Stilwell is the hottest figure in Marshall's lineage. As Marshall's most loyal junior brother, Stilwell rose steadily after he was transferred back to China in August 1939.

He first went to the 2nd Infantry Division as the commander of the 3rd Brigade, and was promoted from colonel to brigadier general, and a few months later became the commander of the 7th Infantry Division, and then changed from brigadier general to major general. John had heard from his colleagues in the office not long ago that it was Major General Stilwell who was now competing with Commissioner Bull for the position of commander of the Third Army.

John also knew that in history, the last person to win the throne as commander of the Third Army was Stilwell, who had just been promoted to major general for 10 months. As a result, he quickly became a lieutenant general and achieved a two-year triple jump.

In fact, if this old man hadn't been too quick-tempered, too harsh and unsympathetic, there might not have been anything to do with Eisenhower. According to some information, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was Stilwell, not Eisenhower, who was first ordered to formulate a landing plan in North Africa and proposed to be the commander of the US Expeditionary Force.

No matter what the future holds, this is the time for Stilwell. Such an iconic Marshall figure traveled thousands of miles from Wheeler Barracks, Georgia, to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for Mrs. Weidmeier's birthday party. To say that it was just because of the friendship that served together in China back then would be too insulting to John's IQ. John felt that there must be something else in this.