The last company executive John saw was his cousin, Security Minister Reilly. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Reilly, is Aunt Sophia feeling lately?" John greeted his cousin warmly, and it was evident that he had been "having a good time" with the White Mountain Brigade lately, and that he was much stronger than he had been last Christmas.

"She's fine. You'll be able to meet her at Christmas, and I heard that this year's party is still in New York? "The Vanderbilt family has a family reunion every Christmas, usually in their hometown of New York. Last year, Uncle Frederick was recuperating on Key Island, Florida, and the meeting place was temporarily changed there.

Today, the only three generations of the Vanderbilt family have been completely out of health and have been bedridden for months. Last month, Harold and others arranged a seaplane to take his elderly family to Presbyterian Hospital in New York. How long the old man can survive depends on God's will.

"yes, I heard it's still in the old place." The old place John was talking about was Grandpa William's old Manhattan home, where family gatherings were usually held.

"What's going on with the White Mountain Brigade lately?" Not long ago, Donovan "rented" the training base of the White Mountain Brigade from John, and by the way, he also poached a group of well-trained personnel from the White Mountain Brigade.

"Still looking for a new training base? It's not so easy to find the right place now. Reilly sighed, still upset that Donovan had robbed him of his turf.

"How many people did you arrange to go in?" When Donovan was digging into the corner of the White Mountain Brigade, John instructed Reilly to secretly arrange a few trustworthy people to enter the training course of the "Strategic Intelligence Agency". He did this for no particular purpose, but out of curiosity about the future "CIA", he played idle chess.

Anyway, historically, the Strategic Intelligence Agency was infiltrated into a sieve by major families at the beginning of its formation, and no family has ever stuffed anyone into it. John didn't have any psychological burden on this.

"9 people, 3 instructors, 6 cadets." Reilly was a little excited: "Donovan recently brought in a new batch of instructors from Canada, led by a middle-aged man codenamed K, who I guess is from the British intelligence agencies. ”

John reckoned that this "K" should have been someone from the British Special Operations Service. When Donovan was in the UK before, he had contact with the Special Operations Service. In later generations, it was always said that the British intelligence agencies were the teachers of the CIA, and it seems that this is true.

"Is there anything special about this K?"

"This guy has a good set of skills, and he tested all the students as soon as he came. He blindfolded everyone and led them to a barn without a glimmer of light. Let them follow the ladder and grope their way to the top of the four-story barn. Then let them roll over the railing and hang in mid-air. Reilly gestured with his hands, "and then he ordered the students to let go." Those who let go, in fact, only fall onto a hay mat that is only a few feet away from them. K said that these people have good obedience and execution skills that can be cultivated as action agents. ”

"What about those who won't let go?" John was also interested.

"Those who refused to let go and climb back over the railing thought they were eliminated, and K said they had good judgment and could stay as staff officers and make plans for the operatives." "The best part is that when these people are hanging there, less than two feet behind them is a ladder that leads to the ground, and they can climb down the ladder," said Reilly. Those who find the ladder are groomed by K as commanders, because they can think for themselves and find solutions to difficult situations. ”

"How are our people doing?" John asked curiously.

"All six people are commanders. In total, 11 people found the ladder," Reilly was proud.

John was also happy: "Yes, let them train well with Donovan, don't contact them if they have nothing to do." Give me a copy of these people's information, and it may be of great use in the future. ”

"Okay. I have kept the materials of these 9 people in separate custody and will not let anyone else know. Reilly replied.

John didn't think it was necessary, but there was nothing wrong with being careful, and it was always good to be cautious. "Are you running out of manpower now, I heard that the 15th Infantry Regiment has returned, so it will be stationed at Fort Benning."

When the White Mountain Brigade was first formed, John and Reilly had plans to recruit from the 15th Infantry Regiment, so they were not full at the beginning. After all, the 15th Infantry Regiment was Reilly's old unit, and he certainly preferred to recruit his old acquaintances.

"I went to meet those old comrades-in-arms last week and talked to them about it." "Things have changed," Reilly said. The original decision of the War Department was that after the return of the 15th Regiment, the 2nd and 4th Battalions were disbanded, and the 1st and 3rd Battalions were merged into the 3rd Brigade and 3rd Division at Fort Benning Base, respectively. But now, the situation in Europe is tense, and the nomenclature of the previous dissolution has been canceled. ”

"I also heard that Marshall is preparing to reorganize the 15th Infantry Regiment, and the command structure of the entire regiment has been completely changed." John knew this when he arranged for Eisenhower to be chief of staff in the 15th Regiment.

"But it doesn't affect us much. I heard that this time the 15th Regiment will be redressed as a whole, and a group of grassroots officers will be added from the Benningbao Infantry School. Many of the veteran officers who have served overseas for many years will retire from the service, and most of them are very interested in the White Mountain Brigade. Reilly said confidently: "I have estimated that it should be no problem to bring in twenty company and platoon officers." ”

"That's good, the new chief of staff of the 15th Regiment is friends with me. I'll take you with me to meet him then. You also say hello to the old friends who stayed in the army and cooperate more with his work. John's care for Eisenhower can really be described as "meticulous".

"No problem, Colonel Castena went to study at the Command and Staff School, these people have no backbone now, and it is good for them to know the new regimental chief of staff." Reilly agreed without hesitation.

"By the way, do you know a guy named Matthew Ridgway? He also served in the 15th Regiment. It was only when John was helping Eisenhower with his recent mobilization that he happened to remember that General Ridgway was also from the 15th Infantry Regiment back then, and seemed to have been a company commander in a company directly under the regiment.

"Matthew, I know, but I don't have any friendship. He was transferred shortly after I arrived at the 15th Regiment, and I can't remember whether it was to Nicaragua or Panama. Reilly thought for a moment and said, "Why, you know him?" ”

"I don't know, but I've heard about it. He seems to be about to be promoted to assistant chief of staff of the 6th Army. ”

"Good fellow, climb fast enough. I think he was from 1895, three years older than me. Reilly was speechless: "I knew that the old regiment commander (Marshall) would soar into the sky, I shouldn't have retired in the first place, maybe I could be a general in the future." ”

"Come on, don't think about good things." John interrupted Reilly's YY: "I'm going to stay in Washington in a year and concentrate on the work of the Military Production Committee." On the company's side, I'll let Walter take care of it for me, and Adele will come over to help me sit on the board of supervisors, and I'll leave her safety to you at that time. ”

"Adele is coming to the company?" Reilly was taken aback, he had the impression that Adele's younger siblings didn't like to show their heads very much. However, FedEx is John's own property to put it bluntly, and Reilly is just a security minister, and he can't take care of other things. "You can rest assured, don't dare to say anything else, Adele's safety will definitely not be a problem, and I will arrange the driver and bodyguard personally. You say, do you want to have a personal bodyguard for her? ”

"You have that." John gave him a blank look.

"I'm all big men, not a single woman." Reilly hurriedly denied it: "I mean, don't you have a ready-made one at home?" ”

The Vanderbilt family has always had a security force of their own, and when the elder Cornelius was engaged in shipping, he formed a "private army" to compete with other shipowners for territory. When the Vanderbilt family moved to the railroad industry, this "private army" became a powerful weapon to suppress workers, fight competitors, and guard against western robbers and Indians. Over the years, with the improvement of the law and order situation in the United States, the size of this family guard has shrunk a lot, and it is mainly responsible for the security of important family members and residences.

With John's current status, he can completely mobilize the family's security personnel, but he is not used to it, so he has not asked for it. However, thinking that there have always been personal female bodyguards in the family guard to protect female dependents and children, John also felt that it would be more appropriate to arrange one for Adele's side.

"Don't worry about it, I'll talk to Harold and them later." John looked at his watch, and it was already past six o'clock in the evening. "Let's go, let's go have dinner."

"Okay. A new German restaurant opened nearby, and the grilled sausages and pork pies were well done. Reilly, a carnivore, happily introduces John to a restaurant he has recently enjoyed. As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something: "Can the people you asked me to arrange to go to French North Africa come back?" ”

Reilly didn't mention it, and John forgot about it. In order to teach Duvière's Lyon II ancestors a lesson, he had Reilly send a group of men to French North Africa to keep an eye on them. Later, when he was busy, he forgot about it completely.

"Where are those people now?" John asked.

"Casablanca, French Morocco." Reilly replied, "I've been there staring at them for almost half a year. Some time ago, those three boys had drunk too much and clashed with the local gang, and our men took advantage of the maneuver to kill two of them, and one lost a leg. ”

Because of this, his subordinates ate sand in North Africa for more than half a year, and John also felt embarrassed. Just as he wanted them to come back, another thought popped into his mind. French Morocco, Casablanca, isn't this the place where Project Torch, where Patton's army landed? The famous Casablanca Conference was also held there, as well as secret negotiations with the Vichy French naval leadership.

John had a new idea, he was going to plant a nail there. "Now that those people can come back, remember to give them more bonuses. However, Casablanca still has to send people there, and the White Mountain Brigade will set up a branch there in the future and arrange personnel to rotate. ”

"What's there to go in that kind of place?" Reilly was a little confused, feeling that he couldn't keep up with John's train of thought.

"That place is important, you'll find out later." John couldn't explain to Reilly now, "It's a traffic artery, and it shouldn't be difficult for the White Mountain Brigade to set up a branch there. Whether it is a bodyguard, an escort, or a mercenary, it is considered to be actual combat training, and pay attention to good relations with local tribes and gangs. ”

"What kind of idea do you have, if you want to be an international mercenary, you will also go to the South African mining area." Reilly said it was hard to understand John's arrangement.

"You just listen to me this time, making money or anything is secondary. Where to put down roots, the benefits in the future are definitely beyond your imagination. With a wave of his hand, John once again made a decision.