In the midst of Mary's chatter, John, Bradley, and Bridges finally finished a dinner that made them "painful and happy." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After volunteering to help Mary clean up the mess, the well-behaved Lieutenant Bridge declined Mary's invitation to stay overnight and returned to the Klebe barracks. Fortunately, Bradley's new home was less than half an hour's drive from the Klabeau barracks, so it wasn't too late to go back.

John and Bradley went upstairs to the study. Tomorrow will officially take office, and John will inevitably ask his old friends about the current situation of the 82nd Division. And Bradley, as his "future" boss, obviously has something he wants to explain first.

"I'm sorry, John. Mary was a little too excited today. After Mary, who had brought them fruit, left the study, Bradley said apologetically, "I have rarely come home these days, and she may be suffocating at home alone." ”

To be honest, Bradley's tolerance and understanding of his wife still touched John. In the United States, many "big people" with a glamorous appearance have a mess in their private love lives, and he has seen this situation a lot. Historically, even Roosevelt and Eisenhower inevitably left a few "romantic stories" after they reached high positions.

However, in John's memories of his previous life, Bradley and Mary, the childhood sweethearts who came out of the ghetto, really managed to live together for life (Bradley only met his second wife, Kitty, after Mary's death in 1965). That alone would increase his favorability for Bradley by 20 points.

"It's okay, Omar, women are the same. In the few days since I came back from military school, Adele's words were no less than Mary's. John smiled and picked up a slice of sliced apple, "But you might as well spend more time with Mary." Elizabeth is gone, and she is too lonely to be alone at home all day. ”

In John's view, Mary's current situation is somewhat similar to that of the "empty nesters" of later generations. The adult departure of her only daughter has caused her a lot of psychological deficit, and now Mary needs Bradley's company most of all.

"Hey~" Bradley sighed and didn't speak.

"What? Did you have any trouble with the work of the division? John asked curiously.

He has the impression that Bradley has always been very family-oriented. He heard Adele tell him that when Elizabeth was born, Bradley (then a captain at West Point) used his vacation to work odd jobs on the Harriman family's investment in the Hudson River Bridge construction site, working 12 hours a day to earn $10. Now I'm just suggesting that he go home a few more times in the evening to accompany Mary, is it so difficult?

"John, the situation in the All-American Division (82nd Division) is much more complicated than you think, you have to be mentally prepared." Bradley admonished earnestly.

John was a little puzzled, according to what he had learned before, the 82nd Division was the purest factional and the fastest reorganized division among the three reorganized divisions (77th, 82nd, and 85th). Divisional Commander Bradley, Deputy Division Commander Ridgway, and Artillery Chief Joseph Swain (formerly a military prosecutor with a high reputation in the military) were all descendants of Marshall. The lineup configuration is so luxurious, how complicated can the situation be?

"No matter how complicated it is, it won't be more difficult to get than the Custer Division (85th Division), right?" John said disapprehantly. At present, the situation of the Liberty Division (77th Division) is relatively stable because the division commander is the respected former West Point Principal Major General Robert Eichelberg. On the side of the 85th Division, tank expert Major General Wade Hasslip has not been able to open up the situation for a long time, and even the division headquarters has not yet been formed.

"The problem is not with the division headquarters, but from below." Bradley frowned and said, "Now the division team is basically complete, and you probably know the situation." I, Matthew, and Joseph formed the team, and the chief of staff was basically decided. ”

"Got news about James?" John's heart rejoiced.

"Not James. He was asked by General Wilson to be deputy chief of staff, promoted to the rank of colonel. Bradley's words poured cold water on John.

The bastards of the 5th Division! John cursed inwardly. He could figure out with his toes who had ruined his good deeds. Bradley refers to General Wilson as the commander of the 3rd Army, to which the 5th Division is subordinate. Van Vliet was promoted to deputy chief of staff of the Third Army, and it must have been the men of the 5th Division who helped run it. In this way, not only do they not have to bear the infamy of "burying talents", but they can also sell well to Principal McNair. It's just a pity that John's wishful thinking fell through.

Forget it, that's a good thing for Van Vliet too. I just don't know how the staff team of the Third Army will be adjusted after Stilwell takes over as army commander after a while. But in any case, it is much better than the historical Van Vliet being sent to the Reserve Officer Training Corps to be a group leader.

John soon stopped worrying about it, and he was now more concerned about who would be his immediate boss. "Who will the chief of staff decide in the end?"

"Colonel Pope of the Personnel Division." Bradley uttered a name that surprised John.

"Colonel Pope?" Immediately, the figure of a bald fat man flashed in John's head. It's no wonder that this guy obviously has no friendship with him, but he ran to the Washington Hotel last night to attend his farewell party. At that time, John was quite proud, and he just said it casually, and invited this "high-powered" deputy director of the personnel department. Feelings: He's waiting for him here.

Bradley thought that John didn't know Pope, so he introduced him: "Colonel Pope is also an old man in the personnel department." When Marin Clegg was Army Chief of Staff, Pope worked as his secretary. I used to work with him for a while in the West Point tactics department, and he was a good guy who wasn't too difficult to deal with. ”

At this time, John's head was rapidly analyzing the hidden information behind this personnel appointment. From the perspective of the big faction, Pop, as the secretary of the conservative bigwig Marin Clegg, is undoubtedly here to mix sand as the chief of staff of the 82nd Division.

But Clegg was Marshall's immediate boss during World War I, and he played a key role in Marshall's promotions. Coupled with the fact that Pope and Bradley have worked together, it is obviously difficult for Marshall, the conservative candidate, to refuse.

While John was analyzing this, Bradley continued: "Colonel Pope will probably be in office next week, so that the staff team is complete. The adjutant and personnel staff officer was Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Eaton, a man recommended by Matthew and from the 15th Infantry Regiment. The intelligence staff officer was Lieutenant Colonel George Lynch, Jr., the son of the former infantry commander, General Lynch (Lieutenant General, one of the first conservative senior generals to be purged from the Army by Marshall). Training Staff Officer Matthews and Civil Staff Chief Thorson were both brought by me from the Fort Benning Infantry School. ”

After Bradley introduced the current staffing situation of the staff of the 82nd Division, he then assigned him work: "Now there is no logistics staff officer in the division, and you, the deputy chief of staff, will take care of it first. By the end of the month, 16,000 recruits from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi will be in place. The work of military quartermasters, supplies, and barracks is very heavy, and you must be mentally prepared. ”

"Understood! Omar, you can rest assured. John knew that Bradley was kind, and letting him start with the logistics he was most familiar with would help him gain a foothold in the staff. Isn't it just the logistics supply of 16,000 people, he has done all the things of rearming hundreds of thousands of British troops, and he is still afraid of this.

However, Bradley previously said that the trouble of the 82nd Division mainly came from below. What's going on here?