By the time the first autumn leaves were slowly falling, Pershing and his expeditionary force had been in Mexico for more than seven months. From the initial 25,000 to the 75,000 after the increase in troops, the scale of the expeditionary force has become larger and larger, and with the US fleet that has been in charge of Mexican ports for a long time, more than 100,000 American ** people have been invested in Mexico to "suppress bandits".

The financial, manpower, and material resources expended by the expeditionary force are not the most troublesome for the US government, and the long-term war has not made progress for a long time, and the two major powers in the international arena, Germany and Japan, have frequently exerted political pressure, and the anti-American sentiment of the Mexican people has been growing day by day.

On 7 October, at a joint meeting of the US Army and Navy (there was no National Security Council at that time), President Marshall, the new Secretary of State Robert Lansing, Secretary of the Treasury Garred Hall, Chief of Army Operations Newton Baker, Chief of Naval Operations William Benson, Secretary of Intelligence Etta Giles, and the Chief of Staff of the Army and Navy attended the meeting to discuss how to resolve the Mexican problem and deal with the military threat from Germany and Japan.

"Withdrawing the expeditionary force from Mexico at this time is undoubtedly admitting defeat to the German government!" Marshall first expressed his attitude, and although Mexico's major ports were under blockade by the U.S. Navy, the intelligence services had information that in recent months the Germans had been sending a steady stream of funds, weapons, supplies, and military advisers to the Zapatista Peasant Army base through various channels. In the Tuxpan submarine incident alone, the Germans brought in enough weapons to equip a regular infantry regiment, and these weapons and ammunition soon killed and injured American officers and soldiers on the battlefield. Therefore, under the long-term encirclement and suppression of the American Expeditionary Force, the Zapatista peasant army became stronger and stronger, and a large number of guerrillas launched a war of harassment like ghosts, and even an experienced general like Pershing was helpless about it.

"Mr. President is right, no matter how difficult it is, we will continue the Mexican anti-banditry operation until the Zapatista forces are uprooted! When necessary. We can enlist the Carranza government in Mexico to fight the bandits! Major General Baker, Chief of Army Operations, echoed, "If we give up halfway, not only will the morale of the army and the people be greatly damaged, but the Germans will also unscrupulously expand their power in Mexico." At present, the Zapatista and Villa bandits are still very powerful, and they will continue to develop, and sooner or later the Mexican regime will fall into their hands! ”

General Benson's rhetoric was even more fiery: "Sooner or later the United States will be threatened by land unless the Germans are prevented by force from using the peasant army to control Mexico!" Let's ask, who of you is sure to beat the German ** team on land? ”

The crowd was silent. Whether it is on land or sea, in short, it is a terrible thing to confront the German ** team head-on.

After everyone had shown his resolve, Marshall made a gesture of continuation and motioned for the head of intelligence, Colonel Eitagiers, to begin his report.

"I am afraid that the German government has already established its own power in Mexico, and for this reason it will not hesitate to enter into a head-on conflict with us! Although the joint investigation team set up on the Tuspan incident has been disbanded, we have noticed that public opinion in Germany still mentions this matter from time to time, and their comments are extremely targeted and agitatory, which has greatly reduced the impression of our US government in the minds of the German people! ”

The colonel first showed a few German newspapers, and then he asked his assistant to turn off the lights in the conference room and show the slides.

"Another thing to watch out for is the Japanese government. We have conclusive evidence that they have secretly acquired an aircraft carrier from the German Navy. This is a photo that our people took in the port of Yokohama! In the photo, the aircraft carrier was named "Super Duck Mother" when it was in service with the German Navy, with a displacement of 14,000 tons and a capacity of 30-40 aircraft. Participated in the air raid on Pascalflo that year, and was one of the first aircraft carriers of the German Navy! Look, the Japanese Navy's Rising Sun Flag has been raised on its mast! ”

The atmosphere in the conference room began to grow heavy amid the flashing images.

The next set of photos, you may think that it is the scene of the German airship formation in Vienna! Actually, no, these are the newly built airship units of the Japanese Navy, and the photo was taken by an American businessman near Nagano by accident during his travels! As far as we know, under the guidance of German specialists, the Japanese Navy has built 4 large airships in the last 21 months, and it has now been organized into two offshore air defense groups! See. In this group photo, the sixth from the left in the first row is Dr. Hans of the German Zeppelin Company, next to him is the Japanese airship expert Taro Miki! ”

"This one is the familiar German Zeppelin! The latter picture is the scene of the German airship formation attacking the Venetian Bay, and I think the result of the naval battle in the Venetian Bay is clear to everyone, most of the nearly 20 capital ships and more than 100 small and medium-sized ships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were sunk. According to the recollections of several former Austro-Hungarian naval officers, at that time German airships carried out several waves of air strikes on them, which not only damaged many warships, but also put great psychological pressure on officers and soldiers! Arguably. Attacking ships on the sea with airships is just a new tactic pioneered by the Germans, and it looks very good! ”

"The next few photographs were taken by our intelligence officers a month ago outside Wilhelmshaven, and the photographs taken at the same location for three days in a row show that the Germans deployed airships and balloons in fixed positions over the harbor, with the aim of strengthening the port vigilance and defense! This is a photo of the Yokosuka Military Port in Japan three weeks ago, and you see, airships and balloons were also used for port vigilance and defense! ”

After a brief slideshow, the lights in the room come back on. The expressions on the faces of everyone present were all grim and heavy. Only the corner of Colonel Gilles's mouth has a hint of pride, which seems to be announcing to the president and generals: You can't be wrong to throw a lot of money into the intelligence department!

In fact, many of the newly recruited spies lacked experience, competence, and even loyalty, and while they provided much more intelligence to the U.S. intelligence community than they had before, they also missed out on many important things. In addition, both German and Japanese spies were trying to infiltrate American intelligence.

After a while, Marshall broke the silence and said:

"Gentlemen, tell us what you think!"

.Benson.

"Judging from the actions of our aviation units to support the expeditionary force, it seems that the role of airships in the fight against bandits is not as great as imagined! For the peasant army guerrillas who are wandering around, our airships don't even know where to drop their bombs! However, I believe that in positional warfare and port city offensive and defensive battles, the military significance of airships is still very important! Especially for harbor defense, airships should be able to guide the fire of the fortress and serve as a school fire. Provided, of course, that the weather isn't too bad! ”

After the Secretary of the Navy's speech, Marshall turned his face to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on the other side.

"General Baker, do you have any different opinions?"

"Actually......" said Newton D. Baker in a low voice, "our adversaries already possess or are possessing a powerful force of airships, but this weapon is of little use to us, as General Benson said. But the future must be an important factor in determining the outcome of the war! ”

Marshall looked around at the generals present, "Does anyone have an objection?" ”

The crowd was speechless.

"It reminds me of the International Naval Conference last December! Gentlemen, the German Kaiser and his convoy arrived in Washington by airship from Europe without stopping, and if necessary, they could also bring their own airship units with bombs or combat troops! Marshall looked a little excited.

"Mr. President, we are naturally very much in favor of building our airship troops, only...... General Kawamoto hesitated for a moment and said, "The primary task of our navy should be to strengthen the strength of surface ships and submarine forces!" In my opinion, submarines should be put first, and battleships and aircraft carriers should be put second. The third is this airship! ”

"Yes! Mr. President. From the point of view of defensive operations, we only need a batch of medium-sized airships with strong air combat effectiveness, and we do not need large airships filled with bombs! If you can. I propose that priority be given to expanding the number of land forces, followed by strengthening the building of armored forces, and then ......"

"Alright, alright!" Marshall impatiently interrupted the Secretary of War's uninspired speech, "In short, I don't want to see our airship forces at a disadvantage in the face of the enemy, especially in a defensive battle at home that may be possible in the future!" ”

"Mr. President, it's not difficult to solve this problem!" Treasury Secretary Hall jumped out and said:

"The cost of the airship is not particularly high, and it is not within the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty, and in my opinion, we just need to enforce the two strong standards. It's enough to sit back and relax! ”

"Two strong standard ......"

People familiar with the history of the world's navies are no strangers to this term, since the beginning of the year, the competition between the British and German navies has become increasingly fierce, and in order to ensure its maritime supremacy, the British navy began to implement the "two-power standard", that is, for every battleship built by Germany, Britain built two.

For the Americans, who are industrially and economically powerful, there is no financial and material problem in building hundreds of airships. The key is the purpose for which they were built, as well as the airship model, equipment and staffing.

"Very good, very good!" Marshall raised his hands in approval.

"But where should the members of the airship force be drawn from?" Benson then asked his own question:

"The personnel of the Admiralty are very tight at the moment! Due to the prolonged blockade of Mexican ports, many of the regular holidays of officers and soldiers have been cancelled, and if we want to maintain the blockade, we will have to add new ships and troops! ”

"It's the same with the War Department!" Baker had the same troubles.

Following the questions of the ministers, Marshall offered his own opinion:

"We need to recruit more soldiers, that's the premise of everything!"

The new Secretary of State, however, did not see it that way, reminding everyone present: "According to the memorandum we exchanged with the German government in 1915, the size of our army and navy can only grow at a rate of no more than ten percent a year!" If violated, the Germans would most likely abandon their promise not to attack the North American continent, which they had always dreamed of!! ”

"Mr. Secretary, that was signed by President Wilson with the Germans when he was in office!" Baker grumbled with some dissatisfaction.

Lan Xin still shook his head, "Then we must continue to carry it out, otherwise the consequences will be terrible!" ”

"We don't have to increase the number of troops and navy!" Marshall said and turned his gaze to Colonel Giles, the head of the intelligence service, "We can learn from the Germans, can't we?" ”

"It is true that the Germans strictly limited the size of their regular army, navy, and air force, but secretly used mercenaries and colonial forces to expand their military strength, and mercenaries were directly involved in military operations overseas, early Turkey, later Ireland, and now Mexico!" Although the number of German colonial troops was not as large as that of the British and French colonial armies in the past, it was also a force to be reckoned with! As far as we know, in East Africa, where Germany has been ruled for a long time, a new, reliable, cheap, but formidable colonial legion is being formed and trained! ”

"You mean, to form our colonial army and mercenaries?" Lansing looked at Marshall with wide eyes.

Marshall had a confident expression, "Don't worry, we'll get around that damn meme!" ”

Lan Xin sighed, "Anyway, it's okay not to cause diplomatic disputes anymore!" ”

A month later, under the chairmanship of President Marshall, the U.S. Congress passed a new Militia Act and two appropriation programs. Under the new law, the National Guard will remain under the command of the states in peacetime, and will maintain the same organizational structure, weaponry, logistical supply, personnel system, and rules and regulations as the active duty troops, but the number will be tripled to 450 infantry regiments with a total of more than 950,000 people, and the National Guard's active duty training camp will also be increased from the previous annual number of days to five days per month.

The first of the two grant plans aims to create a strong overseas mercenary corps whose soldiers will be made up of American volunteers and veterans from various countries, with an estimated number of between 30,000 and 40,000.

Another appropriation is for the Admiralty's airship construction plan, that is, to build an airship force in the next three years that will be no larger than that of Germany and Japan combined, because this plan was proposed by President Marshall himself, so it is also called the Marshall Airship Plan.

At the end of November, a German advisory group and mercenary group headed by former German Army Major General von Kolesenstein arrived in Mexico, but their arrival did not immediately change the form of Mexico as expected. By December, more than 40,000 U.S. National Guard soldiers formed under the new Militia Act had entered Mexico, and the situation in Mexico had once again shifted in favor of the United States.