After receiving a call from Luo Yunchong, Tan Renhao asked Du Xing to buy a few bottles of beer, and then went to the hotel where Luo Yunchong stayed alone. The newly built Navy Hotel has not yet been completed, Luo Yunchong and they are still living in the previous hotel, and as an army aviation general, Luo Yunchong has received the highest level of treatment, his room is next to Yan Dingyu's room, but now Yan Dingyu is chatting with Nie Renfeng about his feelings, and he will not come back so early.

"Look what I brought!" Tan Renhao happily put the wine and food on the coffee table, "I knew you didn't eat much at the banquet, you must be hungry, look at how thoughtful I think, do you have a cup here?" ”

Luo Yunchong searched for a long time, only to find a porcelain cup for making tea.

"Come on, don't use a cup at all." Tan Renhao opened two bottles of beer. "This is the most authentic braised dish at the Zhoushan Naval Base, I'm afraid you haven't tasted it for a long time, right?"

"Almost, counting it, it's been more than a year." Luo Yunchong came over with a cigarette case, in fact, he was not so hungry, just a little bored.

"Then you can eat more, maybe next time it will be more than a year before you have the opportunity to come to Zhoushan." Tan Renhao handed over the beer bottle. "What's the matter, I'm in a bad mood?"

Tan Renhao's words were asked in vain, and not long after the evening banquet began, Luo Yunchong left under the pretext of excuses. Originally, Renfeng wanted to chat with Luo Yunchong after the banquet, but he didn't find him, so he could only talk to Yan Dingyu about his feelings. Tan Renhao also noticed Luo Yunchong's abnormal performance, and guessed why Luo Yunchong was in an uncomfortable mood.

"Renhao, what do you think I should do now?" Luo Yunchong is also a straight person, so he only took two sips and got to the point.

"Are you saying you should accept it, or reject it?"

Luo Yunchong nodded. At the same time, a cigarette was lit. Tan Renhao noticed that there were already more than a dozen cigarette butts in the ashtray.

"Do you know what I thought after hearing about this?" Tan Renhao also put down the wine bottle, without the slightest intention of joking.

"Schadenfreude?" Luo Yunchong glanced at Tan Renhao obliquely.

"Look at you, we're good buddies, I'm going to gloat? Moreover, isn't there anything to be happy about when you go to the guillotine? Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head. I was sorry ......."

Luo Yunchong showed a look of surprise, he received an appointment that was difficult to choose, what did Tan Renhao regret?

"I mean. I regret that I didn't apply for aviation school in the first place. "Tan Renhao pretended to be mysterious." I'm not talking nonsense, you say, if I applied for the aviation school and joined the aviation corps, then, is there still a chance for you? ”

"I don't care about this opportunity."

"Lao Luo, don't be born in Fuli and don't know how to be blessed." Tan Renhao immediately became serious. "I can assure you, a lot of people outside are staring at this position now, if you take the initiative to step down. I'm afraid that there are hundreds of people who want to rob it, don't think it's a chore, it's clear, this is an opportunity to make war achievements, others may not be able to wait for a lifetime, and now the opportunity is sent to the door, and you still push three and four, this attitude is problematic. ”

"It's not that I don't know, but you know who I am." Luo Yunchong wasn't joking anymore. "I'm just an aviation general, a theater commander. Isn't that pushing me into the fire pit? ”

"You mean ground warfare?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly.

"I'm also a layman in terms of naval warfare, not just on the ground. And now the war situation in the Americas is still concentrated on the ground and sea, and let me go to the theater commander, isn't this a test of my amateur skills? ”

"That's why you're hesitating?"

Luo Yunchong nodded. After extinguishing the cigarette butt, he picked up the beer bottle and took a few puffs.

"Then you're unfounded." Tan Renhao leaned back on the sofa. "Even if you become the commander of the theater, Gu Xunlei, Han Shaofeng, Huang Xiaotian, and me, will continue to command the troops over there, and no one will transfer us back, then, what do you think. Do you need to worry about ground warfare and sea warfare? ”

Luo Yunchong looked at Tan Renhao with a little suspicion, according to the previous command methods of the imperial army and navy, the theater commander must be responsible for the battle tasks in the theater, and he has never put the theater commander in the air, and let a group of generals below command the affairs of the battlefield.

"The establishment of the Joint Theater Command this time is not just the intention of the prime minister, but the common will of the army and navy. Think about it, the army and navy have several arms fighting together, and who has the ability to command so many troops at the same time? And. It doesn't matter if it's you, or anyone else. And who is proficient in all aspects of combat operations? "Tan Renhao knew that he had to convince Luo Yunchong, and he had to have enough reasons." That is, whoever is the commander of the theater of operations cannot bear all the responsibility. Think about it again, with the relationship between the army and the navy over the past few hundred years, will one person hold the power of the entire theater? You know, this is the only important theater of operations that we have now, the only theater that is directly fighting against the United States, and now that both the army and the navy have invested heavy troops here, is it possible to let one person take power? ”

Luo Yunchong nodded slightly, he also figured this out.

"No matter who is the commander of the theater, there will definitely be several deputies. At present, no decision has been made on whether to set up a deputy commander of the theater, or whether to first establish a theater general staff, set up a chief of general staff, and then set up several deputy chiefs of general staff. But what is certain is that Gu Xunlei and Han Shaofeng will definitely continue to stay, and Huang Xiaotian and I will not leave, and still continue to command our own legions to fight. ”

"So what do you want me to do?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Tan Renhao shook his head, Luo Yun rushed to the bureau, so naturally he couldn't see the whole situation clearly. "First of all, you need someone to plan the actions of the entire theater of operations, especially to coordinate the actions of various troops, you have a good relationship with Gu Xunlei and Han Shaofeng, and we are iron buddies, as long as you come forward, which of us will not give you face? Secondly, it is very likely that the commander of the theater of operations will be directly responsible to the prime minister, so we can't all report to the prime minister, right? ”

"So I'm just a leader?"

"That's pretty much it, and of course, there's one more thing that I think is the most important thing."

"What?" Luo Yunchong had gradually understood what Tan Renhao meant.

"Whether it's Gu Xunlei or Han Shaofeng, as long as we continue to push forward the front and seize the forward base, then, what should we do next?"

......" Luo Yunchong hesitated.

"The Prime Minister has given the ultimatum, and we now face a difficult choice." Tan Renhao also decided to tell Luo Yunchong more secrets. "If before September 1, Han Shaofeng is not able to seize the advance base, then he will get out, I am afraid that the situation on Gu Xunlei's side is not much better, the prime minister is very dissatisfied with our progress in Mexico and the Caribbean, and an important reason for the slow advance of the troops is that Gu Xunlei and Han Shaofeng have many contradictions, the two lack of cooperation, someone must come out to coordinate the relationship between the two, so that the two armies can cooperate with each other. Secondly, if we can't blow up the United States in '29, maybe even in the second half of '29, we'll have to think about landing on American soil. Lao Luo, you must have seen a similar landing operation plan in the Army Headquarters, right? ”

Luo Yunchong nodded slightly, although he rarely went to the army headquarters, he was mainly in his own aviation headquarters, but Yan Dingyu had already shown him a lot of relevant information and battle plans.

"Then you should know that if we want to land on the American mainland, we will probably have to fight the largest ground war in history, invest millions of troops, and it is very likely to lose millions of officers and soldiers. This is a price that we cannot acknowledge. "Tan Renhao didn't hide anything." I can also tell you that the Prime Minister is negotiating with the Germans in order to get Germany to send troops while the United States is fighting a ground war, and for this purpose the Prime Minister has even come up with many favorable terms that we would not have been able to give Germany before. Think about it, what is in it for us in this ground war? ”

"If it's possible, then it's better not to fight a ground war."

"Yes, we are trying our best to avoid a ground war in the United States, and now even the Army is aware of this problem, and I heard that Marshal Yan Dingyu has revised the damage assessment report. The first forecast reported that only 200,000 people would be lost, and how much now? "What, then, is the most likely way for us to avoid a ground war in the United States?" ”

Luo Yunchong looked at Tan Renhao, and both of them knew this answer.

"Now, to be able to do better than you in strategic bombing, I have not thought of a second person. In other words, only you have the ability to keep us from getting bogged down in the quagmire of war in the United States. As long as Han Shaofeng captures the forward base, then your strategic bomber unit will come in handy. When in Panama. I told you about it, you won't forget it, will you? ”

"Of course, I still remember it, and when I came back, I was already mobilizing the troops."

"That's right, will you feel comfortable handing over your most important troops to someone else's command?"

"It's up to who, if you're in command, I don't have anything to worry about." Luo Yunchong finally smiled.

"I don't have that energy, to put it bluntly. Now I'm not the chief of staff of the theater, and I'm not as idle as I was a few years ago, and things in the fleet give me a headache. You also know that Hao Dongjue's bastard often causes me trouble, and I don't dare to let go of his hands and feet. ”

"By the way, how is Dongjue doing now?" The relationship between Luo Yunchong and Hao Dongjue is also very good, when Japan was bombed, Hao Dongjue came up with a lot of good ideas as a staff officer, and the two talked very well about aviation operations.

"I've been the commander of the task force for a few years, and I've done pretty well, maybe I'll surpass me in the future. It's just that it still has to be restrained. Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head. Don't talk about Dongjue, what do you think now? ”

"Is there anything else you can think of?" Luo Yunchong's expression darkened a little more.

"Lao Luo, I'm not talking about you, this is the best opportunity you can get." Tan Renhao leaned forward and made a very solemn look. "There's a good chance you're our future Air Force Commander. And with your current military exploits, prestige, and popularity, I am afraid that it is not half as much as those two old marshals, think about it, if you don't take advantage of the fact that the war is not over and hurry up to get some credit, you, the future commander of the air force, are a bird. ”

"I don't want to be a commander."

"That's not what you did the Lord, as long as you're still wearing a military uniform, you have to obey orders. And from the heart. Don't you kid care? When I heard that I was going back to the army airline, I ran back in a hurry, and I didn't even say hello, I thought you had defected, do you want to be the commander of the air force? ”

Both of them laughed, and Luo Yunchong was only polite at first, that is, knowing that it was very likely to become the first commander of the air force of the empire from the position of commander of the army aviation, Luo Yunchong returned to the army aviation so actively. Moreover, now Luo Yunchong is forty years old. Although, as one of the future commanders of the three services, still a little young. But if he doesn't seize the opportunity, I'm afraid he won't have a chance.

"The nonsense is also over, what to do, you think for yourself. Aren't you hungry? It's been a long time since we've had a drink together, so don't think about it today, and we'll naturally ask you when we have a meeting tomorrow. ”

The two stopped talking about it, but drank happily. After Tan Renhao's enlightenment and pointing, Luo Yunchong had already thought it out at that time.

At the meeting on the second day, the first thing that was decided was that Luo Yunchong would be appointed commander of the theater affairs, but at that time, Nie Renfeng and Yan Dingyu were both posturing and did not take the initiative to organize the theater headquarters in a new way, and as a result, Luo Yunchong, who had just been nominated, could only propose the establishment of a theater general staff, with a theater chief of general staff and several deputy chiefs of general staff who were full-time responsible for the combat operations of various arms. This proposal was supported by Renfeng and Yan Dingyu, and Luo Yun rushed to draft the list of personnel.

During the lunch break, Tan Renhao found Luo Yunchong again and directly expressed his hope that Luo Yunchong could make Lei Shaoqing the chief of the general staff of the theater, at least the deputy chief of general staff in charge of fleet operations. At that time, Luo Yunchong actually wanted to arrange Tan Renhao to serve as the chief of the general staff of the theater.

At the afternoon meeting, Luo Yunchong announced the people he had nominated. Tan Renhao, chief of the general staff of the theater, and Gu Xunlei, Han Shaofeng, and Lei Shaoqing are respectively the deputy chiefs of general staff in charge of the ground forces of the army, the marines, and the fleet. In addition to this, there are several deputy chiefs of general staff who are responsible for operations in other arms.

This nomination was quickly approved, and it was too late for Tan Renhao to oppose it, and Tan Renhao himself did not want to be transferred out of the fleet so soon.