"Omar, have you been busy lately?" Upon returning from William, John made a phone call to the office of the principal of the Benningburg Infantry School. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"It's okay. John, how are little Eric's baptisms going? Bradley went to Fort Benning, but his wife, Mary, and daughter remained in Washington. They and the Crawford family lived in the Edkington neighborhood not far from John's home, and they moved frequently between the three officers' wives.

Especially during John's business trip to England, when Adele was distracted every day because of the news of the air battle in London. Mary, as the eldest sister of the three, comes to the house almost every day to accompany and take care of Adele. For this, Adele is very grateful and has invited her to be little Eric's godmother. With this relationship, John's relationship with the Bradley family became even closer.

(One more word about John's family's religious affiliation.) The Vanderbilts were certainly Protestant, but the exact author of the denomination was not available. However, the Vanderbilt family did fund the construction of St. John's Cathedral (Anglican Episcopal Cathedral) in New York, so it is speculated that John's family was Anglican. As for Adele, she was a French Catholic before marriage, and it was common for her to convert with her husband after marriage. ）

"It's almost ready, on Columbus Day at St. John's Cathedral in New York, and I've already sent the invitation to Mary." John then jokingly added, "When the time comes, don't come dressed like a GI." ”

Don't look at Bradley is already a brigadier general, usually when he was at Fort Benning Infantry School, he always wears a military uniform without any markings, and mixes with the cadets. Once, the 47-year-old principal was doing horizontal bar exercises with his students when he fell off the horizontal bar and fell into a puddle. His embarrassed appearance has become a joke among the teachers and students of the military academy, so Bradley has also fallen into the reputation of "General Soldier".

"Don't worry, I won't disgrace your son." Bradley responded with a smile.

"By the way, I want to ask you something, I heard that the All-American Division has been rebuilt?" John shifted the conversation to the point.

The "All-American Division" John refers to is the 82nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, which was formed during World War I. Because the officers and men of the division came from all 48 states of the United States when it was first established, it was nicknamed the "All-American Division." After the end of World War I, the 82nd Infantry Division was converted into a reserve division. Recently, however, with the expansion of the Army, the division was re-converted to active duty and was based at Craeborn Barracks, Louisiana. Historically, Bradley would soon be promoted to interim major general as commander of the division.

"Yes, you heard the news?" Bradley was a little surprised. It's not that he doesn't know about John's relationship with Stimson, but as soon as the news of his promotion was reported to the War Department, John knew about it, which was too soon.

"I have to be transferred to work recently, and my whereabouts have not yet been decided, but I only know that I will go to the front-line combat troops." John and Bradley also hid their words: "Well, are you still short of people there?" ”

"My side is still completely empty now, and the division headquarters has currently decided on me, the deputy division commander and the chief of staff, and the candidates for other positions are still in place. You also know that there is a shortage of officers everywhere now. "Bradley doesn't have any pretensions with John, it's always good to have someone familiar to come over and help." However, if you are willing to go down to be a regimental commander, I can mention it to Chief of Staff Marshall. ”

"Pull it down. As for the regiment commander, give me one that I can't even command. It's not that you don't know, I'm just a staff officer. John also knew that with his current rank, if he went to a combat unit at the military level, there were still a lot of positions to choose from. At the division level, apart from the regimental commanders, there are only a few positions: deputy chief of staff, chief of artillery, chief of personnel, chief of intelligence, chief of training, and chief of logistics.

"Then I can't help you. Anyway, the division team will be formed at the end of the month, and you have to hurry. Bradley said with some schadenfreude.

"So be it, don't be unwelcome when the time comes." Of course, John knew that Stimson would have to communicate with Marshall in the end, but as long as Bradley, the division commander, did not object, he did not think it would be a big problem.

Putting down the phone, John carefully brushed aside his thoughts again. First of all, the 82nd Infantry Division is a newly rebuilt division, not monolithic. Although Marshall grabbed the largest slice of the cake, Bradley, his descendant, became the division commander. But Stimson should have been happy for John to mix the sand into it.

Secondly, John and Bradley have a good relationship. As long as he doesn't take the initiative to make trouble, no one should take the initiative to target him. After all, everyone is a first-time team, and they don't have much to do with each other. Unlike some veteran troops, the mountains inside are deeply rooted, and it is impossible to take sides if you want to go.

Finally, the 82nd Infantry Division was no ordinary unit. In the future, he will be reorganized into the first airborne division of the U.S. Army and will make great achievements in World War II. More importantly, the 82nd Airborne Division, as the main force of the 18th Airborne Army, has been one of the most important ace units of the US military until later generations, and has successively produced four army chiefs of staff, two chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and one defense minister.

The reason why John wants to go to the combat unit to cross the water, in addition to completing his resume, is not to build a network of relationships in the army? Although it is unlikely that he will follow the 82nd Airborne Division to participate in the war, as a veteran figure of the division, it will be convenient for him to talk to these high-ranking military officials from the 82nd Division in the future.

From this point of view, going to the 82nd Division is definitely the best choice. If you go to some ordinary combat units, it is likely that you will be busy for half a day, and the troops will be disbanded after the war. For example, the 101st Airborne Division, although the record during World War II was not as bad as that of the 82nd Division. However, after the war, the 82nd Division was protected by a group of high-ranking old leaders such as Bradley and Li Qiwei, but the 101st Division, which had no one in the DPRK, could only be disbanded. It was not until General Taylor, the commander of the teacher, became the chairman of the Joint Staff Committee that the 101st Division was rebuilt and changed to an air assault division.

If he went to ride a traditional ace unit with a long history such as the 1st Division and the 1st Red Division, John's space to play was too small. There are a large number of big people who have retired from these units, and a mature network of relationships has long been formed. It is not certain that a mid-level officer like John, who has only been in it for a year or two, can be accepted by this circle, let alone how much influence he can have on him.

John told Stimson about his idea, and the other party thought the proposal was not bad, and said that he would communicate with Marshall. The rest was not something John could worry about. Anyway, he did everything he could, and all that remained was to wait for the results of Stimson and Marshall's communication.

However, thinking that the 82nd Infantry Division would be reorganized into an airborne force in the future, John still took precautions and took the time to turn over the "knowledge" about airborne operations in his previous life and sort it out. At present, the US military is completely in the groping stage of airborne operations, and it has no experience to speak of. The little thing John had in his hands might come in handy in the future.

Like the Captain James Gavin he saw from William's list. The most important reason why he was able to become the youngest major general in the US army in the future was that he wrote a military book on airborne operations. Historically, Gavin has been asked why his military career has been so successful, and his response has been one sentence: "I published a book." ”

What Gavin can do, why can't John, the traverser, do it? Somehow, he John can also go down in history as the founder of the US military's airborne combat theory.