Harriman's assistant walked into his bedroom with a telegram. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Washington's telegram, sir."

"Have you seen it?"

"Yes, sir."

"What are you talking about?"

"Washington wants you to see for yourself, sir."

Harriman had no choice but to take the telegram from his assistant. At first glance, he reached for his coat beside the bed, and by the time he had finished reading the last word of the telegram, Harriman was fully dressed. "Let's go to the Big Viper Weapons Company, Jonathan."

He wanted to meet with Qin Lang immediately; And the reason why Harriman was so anxious to see him was the content of the telegram - each of them was very important, and Qin Lang must be notified as soon as possible.

There is also easy water. One of the items on telegram was about him.

"The Senate has decided to award you the rank of Provisional Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, Mr. Yi Shui. Your uniform and rank will be delivered to San Diego shortly. ”

"Are you kidding, Mr. Harriman?" Yi Shui felt that there was something wrong with his hearing. He turned his gaze to Qin Lang and found that he also looked quite confused. Awarded to a civilian...... And also a Chinese temporary lieutenant colonel rank...... Although it is a temporary military rank, it is still inappropriate.

But logical - Washington's logic. "The government and the Admiralty do not want to be attacked by public opinion." "There's a lot of pressure on Washington to let the public know that the Navy is hiring civilian security guards for military missions overseas," Harriman explained. ”

To be precise, it is Washington that does not want to lose face. The word "security" is so sensitive that it is easy for the population to doubt the combat effectiveness of the US Navy.

"Harriman, Washington will be under a lot of pressure if it were to let the public know that the Navy arbitrarily confers a civilian rank, even if it's just a temporary one." Qin Lang frowned, "Moreover, Mr. Harriman, don't you think the rank of lieutenant colonel is too high?" ”

Now the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military is only colonel, and the rank of general has all been abolished by Congress, and now the sudden award of a civilian temporary lieutenant colonel will make the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Army's officers who are waiting for promotion all mad.

What's more, if you really want to avoid the pressure of public opinion, it is not enough to just award Yi Shui the rank.

"What about those mercenaries?" Yi Shui also shook his head, "If you don't solve their problems, granting me the rank of temporary major is just a move to cover my ears and steal the bell, that's all." ”

"There's no need to worry about that." Harriman said, "Don't worry about Mr. Yi Shui's military rank being too high, Provisional Lieutenant Colonel, this is just the size of the mercenary force you are sending. ”

Two brigades, one thousand seven hundred and forty-two mercenaries, which is almost the size of an infantry regiment, so it is fitting that the award of Lieutenant Colonel Yi Shui officer is appropriate. In practice, both the Navy and the Army wanted to confer on him the rank of colonel, which meant that future commanders could also be promoted to colonel on a temporary basis.

A temporary colonel rank is also invaluable to the U.S. military, which has a scarce number of colonels, and officers certainly want to create similar opportunities.

It's just that Congress vetoed the officers' proposals. After all, Yi Shui is a civilian, and he is Chinese, and the parliamentarians are reluctant to directly grant him his current highest military rank.

"But the temporary lieutenant colonel, for the vast majority of officers, is also enough." Harriman didn't know what happened in Washington, but he was well aware of the current state of the army and the mentality of the officers, so in his opinion, awarding Yi Shui the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel was something that the officers could not ask for.

"They won't object, and they won't get angry." He shrugged, took a sip of his coffee, and continued: "As for your mercenary units, Washington's attitude is to turn their nature into volunteer troops. ”

"Volunteer troops?" Qin Lang raised his eyebrows. The word reminded him of something.

"Volunteer troops, civilian armed forces. You know, this is a consistent feature of the Union, the War of Independence, the Civil War, there are many such units active on the battlefield. ”

"Simply put, the militia."

"Yes. Mercenaries can also be considered militia anyway, now they just need to change their names. Harriman smiled, "The California Volunteer Infantry Regiment, or the San Diego Volunteer Infantry Regiment, or whatever you want, you can name it." In short, it is necessary to eliminate the commercial color of the troops as much as possible. ”

"Well, we'll settle this matter as soon as possible. By the way, do you need to remove the company logo from your clothing? Qin Lang asked.

"There's no need. Just fix the name issue. ”

"Then it's easy. So, what else? ”

"Someone will send the official text of the contract to San Diego in three days. In two weeks, the fleet under the command of Admiral Mahan will arrive here to carry your troops to China. Harriman replied.

In this answer, Yi Shui keenly found a name that he was very familiar with. "Alfred•Thayer•Admiral Mahan? Author of "The Influence of Sea Power on History" and "The Impact of Sea Power on the French Revolution and the Empire"? He called, his cry full of surprise, "He commands the fleet?" ”

"Yes, Mr. Yi Shui." Harriman looked at him strangely, "Do you know Colonel Mahan?" ”

"Yi Shui is a reader of Colonel Mahan." Qin Lang answered the question in place of Yi Shui, because he was only interested in excitement now, "I think that during the voyage, they will have many opportunities to communicate. ”

"Of course." Harriman nodded, and finally said, "One more thing, Congress appreciates your suggestion to buy the people of Canton Bay with money, and passed a draft special budget of three million dollars. ”

"The senators are so generous."

"Yes, they're really, really generous." Harriman said harshly.

Then Harriman left. The task assigned by Washington has been completed, and the next time he will appear in Qin Lang's office will be three days later, when he signs a formal contract. After he left, Qin Lang immediately burst out laughing. "Provisional Lieutenant Colonel," he said to Yi Shui, "you really earned it this time." ”

"I'm more concerned about the opportunity to communicate with Colonel Mahan," Yi Shui said cheerfully, "and he's the best military theorist in the U.S. Navy." ”

"But it's not very popular with the Navy." Qin Lang shrugged.

"Indeed." Yi Shui sighed regretfully. After a moment of silence, he asked, "So, what new name are you going to give the troops?" ”

"You decide, Yi Shui" Qin Lang said with a smile, "You are a lieutenant colonel." ”

"I don't think it's funny at all to joke about my temporary rank. However, Yi Shui lowered his head and thought about it for a moment, but it didn't take long - in fact, he had already made a decision, but he was not so sure. "McBride Volunteer Infantry Regiment." He said, "That's right, it's the McBride Volunteer Infantry Regiment." ”

"I knew it."

In the training camp, Bunsi is trying to get used to his new title and new position. The title of Superior Squad Leader, or Sergeant, as the army is officially called, signifies that he participates in the management of the squad on behalf of the soldiers, and also has his part in making battle plans and directing battles.

Wen Si is not at all accustomed to these jobs, especially directing others. For a long time, he had been accustomed to being commanded by others, and once the roles were in each other's hands, he became very uncomfortable.

But he had to work hard to adapt. As long as he doesn't plan to resign, and Thomas doesn't plan to replace him with someone more suitable, Bunsi must do his job to the best of his ability.

"I don't think it's going to be easy for you." Vane grabbed a handful of bullets, then let go of them, letting them fall back into the case full of bullets with a crisp sound. "But Zhang and William are very jealous of you."

"A lot of people are jealous of me." Wen Si counted the bullets and wrote down the numbers in a small notebook, "Actually, I'd rather give up this position to someone else." He sighed, "There's still a chance to carry out the mission." ”

"Are you still worried about what will happen after you return to China?"

"Of course. You may not know, Vince, but I'm going to be called a traitor. ”

"Relax, the United States was originally a country founded by traitors." Van comforted Wen Si, but to no avail. Chinese's views on the country and nation are completely different from those of Westerners, not to mention that even if Wen Si can change his own views, he cannot change the views of relatives and friends, let alone other Chinese.

Sighing, then sighing, he spread his hands: "In short, this mission will not do me any good. ”

"Don't think too badly." That's all Vane can say. But he still really wanted Wen Si to relax his mood. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to tell him the gossip he had just heard: "By the way, our unit has a new name. ”

"What is it?" A reflexive inquiry. In fact, Wen Si was not interested in the name of the troops.

But as long as he reacts, Vane can continue. "McBride Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Mr. Yi Shui came up with it." He laughed meaningfully, "Do you know what that means?" ”

"What does that mean?"

"Mr. Easy Water intends to curry favor with Miss McBride...... "Vane said only one beginning, for he saw Thomas approaching.

He and Wen Si hurriedly stood up, and at the same time secretly wondered if Thomas had heard what he had just said. But in reality, Thomas didn't hear anything, and his target was Wen Four. "Wen Four."

"What's the matter, Mr. Thomas." Wen IV replied.

"Your hometown is in Xiangshan? It's close to Guangzhou Bay, isn't it? ”

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Thomas said happily, "We have our squad in the vanguard, and since you are a local, then I can rest assured." ”

(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the WWW.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )