On the morning of October 1, in an old office building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, John, for the first time as a career officer, attended a regular office meeting of the Army Staff's Operational Planning Branch. www.biquge.info Half an hour ago, he had just finished talking with his immediate superior, Major General Bull, the head of the Battle Planning Division. Now, he was sitting next to a major general, a bunch of brigadier generals, colonels, deputy chiefs, and listening to them talk about things he didn't understand at all.

John sat silently at the very end of the table, patiently listening to their discussion, trying to keep up with their train of thought while carefully observing his new colleagues. The officers were all veterans, some of whom were even older than John's.

Of these, John was most concerned about Colonel Wells, who sat across from him, the deputy chief in charge of logistical supply and procurement planning. Major General Bull had told John that he would later take over from Colonel Wells the business of approving the export of military products. Major General Bull also told him that the arrangement was personally decided by Chief of Staff Marshall.

"The approval of the export of military products is a fat gap, and I don't know how this Colonel Wells will react to this." While John was thinking about it, no one in the room paid attention to him, a newcomer on his first day in the army, and no one would come to ask for his opinion. In their opinion, this "little doll" stuffed on it doesn't understand anything, just stay there honestly and don't come to make trouble.

John knew that when a person first entered a new group, being ignored was even worse than being hostile. He himself had to change this situation as soon as possible, but he did not have any formal military education at all and did not have the slightest say in professional issues. It wasn't until the end of the meeting that Major General Bull announced the division of work for John, which helped him feel a little presence.

John paid particular attention to Colonel Wells' reaction when he heard of this arrangement. Strangely, the gray-haired old colonel was not only not dissatisfied, but was a little happy, and seemed to feel a sense of relief.

After the meeting, Colonel Wells took the initiative to greet John, and enthusiastically wanted to take John to meet his future subordinates.

John's new office is a small suite with a desk, a large row of filing cabinets, and a group of sofas for visitors. Outside, there are six desks where his staff work.

"Everyone come here, put aside the work in hand." Colonel Wells beckoned all the staff members outside: "This is the newly appointed Assistant to the Chief of the Division, Lieutenant Colonel Vanderbilt, and from today onwards, he will be fully responsible for the examination and approval of the export of military products in the Division. Wells then introduced John to his subordinates.

"Major Martin, who has just returned from the Staff School, has served in the Philippines for many years."

"Hello, Major Martin." John hesitated, not knowing for a moment whether to shake hands or salute. Fortunately, Martin reacted quickly and took the initiative to salute John as a subordinate. "Hello, sir!"

John returned the salute to Martin, and although his uniform was newer and more structured than Martin's, his military salute was clearly not as clean as the other party's. "You're coming back from the Philippines, so you should know Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower."

"Yes, sir. Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower told me about you. It seems that this Martin is not ignorant of John, no wonder he is so respectful. Know that in any army, seniority is important. Even if John is a boss, it is difficult to gain the respect of his subordinates as a "recruit".

"Captain Chandler, our statistician, has been following me for more than a decade." Wells continued. John knew that he was reminding himself that Chandler was his old subordinate, and that he was behind him, and that it was up to the owner to beat the dog in the future.

"Second Lieutenant Miller, just graduated from the Virginia Military Academy this year, a great young man with a bright future." The young lieutenant still looked like a student, with a childish look and a deep dimple when he laughed.

"And our beautiful Miss Pakarina, who is the best typist in our whole office and a good accountant." Judging by the uniform, Pakarina was supposed to be a sergeant in the Women's Auxiliary Services Corps.

"Hello, Sergeant Pakarina." In the face of the beauty, John didn't want to be straight again, pretending to be serious: "I didn't expect there to be such a beautiful female clerk in the army staff, do you have Russian ancestry?" ”

"Yes, sir, my grandfather was from St. Petersburg." John understood that nine times out of ten, this Pakarina's ancestor was a White Russian nobleman who fled the country after the October Revolution.

"Okay, everybody's got to know each other. Chandler would brief the lieutenant colonel on the files he was working on. I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Vanderbilt, I'll go back first, there's still a lot of work going on over there. Colonel Wells seemed anxious to get out, and after the introduction, he "escaped" back to his office across the hallway.

John looked at his novice. A dignified lieutenant colonel, put into the front-line troops, at least a battalion commander, in charge of five or six hundred people. Now, there are four people under him, three officers and one soldier, and this "soldier" is still a woman.

John smiled bitterly, "Captain Chandler sent the file to my office, what should the others do, I'll familiarize myself with it first, and feel free to contact you if you have any questions." ”

"Sir, do you want tea or coffee?" Sergeant Pakarina asked with a sweet smile.

"Coffee, don't put sugar." John was caught by Pakarina's big flickering eyes. In other words, this young hairy girl is really beautiful, she has nothing to say about her face and figure, even if she is put on the back generation, she can score at least 90 points. has a pleasing female subordinate, which can be regarded as the only "good thing" that John encountered on his first day in the army.

By the time Captain Chandler had finished explaining the few applications that the department was currently processing, John had almost understood Marshall's intentions. He called Uncle Stimson and asked a little about Colonel Wells. Stimson's answer also validated his guess.

On the phone, Stimson bluntly told John that he could make his own decisions about the approval of the export of military products, and if he was not sure, he would go directly to Major General Bull and not worry about Colonel Wells. In Stimson's mouth, this old logistics officer, who was an accountant and was too sensitive to numbers, had been fighting against the wasteful behavior of the grassroots troops all his life, and was completely unskilled in dealing with arms dealers. If it weren't for the fact that he had served by General Pershing's side during World War I, and his old boss had helped him speak at critical moments, the military supplies warehouse keeper would have been the most suitable position for him.

Well, John understood, and Marshall was also a good use. The only fat shortage for the approval of the export of military products is to let him come the most. Those who dare not accept benefits, such as Colonel Wells, who is like a hot potato, cannot withstand the pressure exerted by the arms dealers.

Only John, first, would not accept bribes (he would only risk court-martials for such a small profit if his brain was in water), and second, he was not afraid of being threatened and pressured (the lesson of old Henry Ford was still there, and which arms dealer would dare to try, not even the Duponts). ）。 With that in mind, John knew what he was going to do next.