In early February of the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942), Stilwell was recalled to China.

At this time, more than a month has passed since the successful conclusion of the "Save Private MacArthur" operation, but the huge impact of this rescue operation has not faded, especially when the documentary film produced by Avril was released, the whole United States once again set off an unprecedented wave of China fever!

When Stilwell went to the White House to meet President Roosevelt, all along the way, there were Americans waving the Star-Spangled Banner and the Blue Sky and White Sun Flag, whether they were old people or children, men and women, and people were talking happily about China, about the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and about General Yue Weihan.

Stilwell even had the illusion that this was not Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, but a city in China.

When passing through the downtown square, the sky was getting dark, and the big screen hanging at the north end of the square began to play the documentary shot by Reuters war correspondent Avril again, this documentary was followed by Avril in the line of fire, and there were many touching and heartfelt clips, even Avril did not expect that her documentary would move a whole generation of Americans!

Stilwell quickly motioned for the driver to stop, then got out of the car and squeezed in front of the huge screen.

Avril's war documentary didn't have an intro, except for a simple background music that was a scene of the battlefield.

…………

At Yangon Airport, Avril was waving goodbye to the camera: "Everyone, please pray for me, five minutes ago, I got the news in advance, the Allied Command will soon order us to go, I will participate in this rescue operation throughout the whole process, yes, this is a difficult and great rescue operation, we will go to Luzon and do our best to save the veteran MacArthur, and all the American GIs he leads!" ”

…………

During the flight, Avril turned on the camera and asked a young Chinese soldier, "Are you afraid?" ”

“yes。” Facing the camera, the Chinese soldier nodded without hesitation and said the simplest English word.

"But, here you are." There were already tears in Avril's beautiful eyes.

"Yes." The Chinese soldier nodded again, and immediately replied in Chinese: "Because the American brothers on the Bataan Peninsula need our help, for China's war of resistance, the American people have helped us too much, now, it is time to repay the American people, please rest assured that we will definitely rescue the trapped American brothers." ”

With tears in her eyes, Avril translated the words of the Chinese soldier into English to the camera.

Immediately, the picture freezes, and the bright sè tone is transformed into black and white, and then, a line of eye-catching red sè characters jumps out on the screen: two hours later, in the battle to seize the Manila airport, this Chinese soldier died heroically, at the age of 18 years and 9 months, he has no official name, and his commander and comrades call him - Ah Niu.

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Manila Airport.

The footage of the film is shaking dramatically, but the battle scenes of Jīlie can still be faintly recognized.

Amid the fierce and short sound of submachine gun fire, three Chinese soldiers were advancing with skillful tactical movements.

Taking advantage of the short gap between the freeze frames of the camera, I can vaguely see that there are two tǐng Japanese machine guns firing fiercely in the distance, and even the screams of the Japanese devils can be heard, and from time to time there are bullets passing in front of the camera, and the piercing screams are so clear that the people in the square are immediately led into the tragic battlefield.

Two huge explosions suddenly erupted in front of the camera, and the sound of gunfire suddenly stopped.

Immediately, the still camera began to shake violently again, and it was obvious that the photographer was running rapidly, and Avril's figure also appeared in the lens, turning over a fortification, and the camera froze again.

Immediately, the figures of three Chinese soldiers appeared in front of the camera again, one of them had fallen to the ground, the other two soldiers knelt beside their comrades, and four large hands were pressing on the Xiōng part of the fallen soldier, however, there was still red blood gushing from between the fingers of the two people.

"Dad, mother......" The Chinese soldier knew that he was dying.

When he was dying, the Chinese soldier did not behave as bravely as the legend, he cried while constantly calling out the two most important relatives in his life, until Avril injected **** into his arm a shot of morphine, the Chinese soldier slowly closed his eyes, he looked like he was asleep, in fact, ...... He has left this world forever.

Sobbs erupted in the square, and many self-proclaimed strong American men shed tears.

The Chinese soldiers who died in the camera were so nostalgic for life and so afraid of death, but when the American "friendly forces" needed help, they did not hesitate to embark on the journey, what kind of feelings is this? What kind of friendship is this?

…………

At Yangon airport, the last Allied transport plane slowly landed on the runway.

The hatch opens, Douglas. MacArthur's figure appeared on the gangway, although more than a month had passed since the rescue operation, and although MacArthur and more than 20,000 American officers and soldiers had already arrived safely in Australia, the people in the square could not help cheering when they saw MacArthur walking out of the hatch and down the gangway.

Immediately, another figure of Ying Tǐng appeared in front of the camera, he was Yue Weihan.

"Welcome back, veteran MacArthur!" Yue Weihan saluted MacArthur.

MacArthur also solemnly returned the military salute to Yue Weihan, and then stretched out his hands to hold Yue Weihan's hands tightly, and shook them vigorously, at this moment, the veteran MacArthur did not say any words of thanks, but the expression on his face and the slightly moving body language had clearly expressed the feeling in his heart.

The camera suddenly turned, and thousands of US officers and soldiers suddenly appeared on the screen.

These US officers and men were all disheveled and bearded, and they had obviously just been rescued from the Bataan Peninsula, but the US officers and men were in a good mental state, and in front of the camera, thousands of US officers and men stood up and saluted in unison, and immediately shouted in unison: "Salute to the heroic Chinese brothers!" ”

The camera turns again, and the American flag and the Chinese flag appear.

In the sound of national music in China and the United States, the red-and-white Star-Spangled Flag and the blue sky and white sun flag slowly rose into the sky.

Immediately, the picture of the flag raising turned into the background, and the figure of General Yue Weihan appeared in front of the camera again, Yue Weihan smiled at the camera, and said loudly: "Although the United States does not have a long history, it is still a great country and a great civilization, and we in China are willing to be the eternal friends of the United States!" ”

Suddenly, the square resounded with enthusiastic cheers and applause.

…………

White House, Office of the President.

Secretary of State Hull is reporting to President Roosevelt on the latest public opinion trends: "Mr. President, since the documentary filmed by Reuters war correspondent Avril was released in major cities, the whole United States has once again set off a China fever, and it can be said that the deeds of the Chinese Expeditionary Force have moved the whole United States. ”

"It's understandable, too." Roosevelt nodded and said, "The Chinese have really helped us a lot this time!" ”

"Well, I think so too." "The Chinese Expeditionary Force went deep into the Bataan Peninsula and rescued not only MacArthur, the flag of the US Army, but also more than 29,000 US officers and soldiers, which not only preserved the US military strength to a certain extent, but also greatly boosted the confidence of the American people to win the war, which is particularly important." ”

"Supposedly, we should respond to the voice of the people, but ......," Roosevelt said, spreading his hands, "is not trivial and involves the national interests of the United States, and we cannot but be cautious." After saying this, President Roosevelt added, "Hasn't General Stilwell arrived yet?" ”

"It should be almost there, right?" Hull shrugged.

President Roosevelt put his hands on the case, as if to Hull, and said to himself: "General Stilwell has lived in China for many years, and he is himself the chief of the general staff of the Chinese theater, so he must have a deeper understanding of Yue Weihan and the whole of China, and I think it is necessary to listen to his opinion before making a decision." ”

As soon as the words fell, the beautiful female secretary came in and reported, "Mr. President, General Stilwell has arrived. ”

"Great, please sit in the reception room for a while, and I'll be over." President Roosevelt got up, smoothed his hair, and then pulled his suit before turning around and walking out of the office.

…………

Yangon, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

It has been more than a month since Operation Save the Veteran MacArthur ended.

For more than a month, there was basically no major war in Southeast Asia, and Nanzao Yunzi sent back the news a few days ago that the Burmese Japanese army finally walked out of the Shan State Plateau, but the 100,000 troops went to the plateau, and in the end there were less than 5,000 people who could reach Chiang Mai in Siam alive, and the 100,000 Japanese troops of the Burmese Army could almost be said to be wiped out.

However, Yue Weihan's main concern now is obviously the attitude of the US government.

Calculating the time, it was almost time for Stilwell to arrive in Washington, and Roosevelt was probably going to make a decision after summoning Stilwell, right? Will he say yes? Yue Weihan prides himself on being as calm as a mountain, and at this moment, he can't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart, nothing else, because Roosevelt's attitude is too important for China!

Yue Weihan's aid plan to the U.S. government is not just a few steel plants, power plants or a few weapons production lines, Yue Weihan's entire plan to build a logistics base in Myanmar includes a large-scale aid package!

According to Yue Weihan's request, the US government not only needs to provide a large amount of industrial equipment to the Burmese base of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, but also needs to provide a large amount of technical data and literature free of charge, and then send a large number of American experts and technicians to work in Burma, and at the same time be responsible for helping the Chinese side train a large number of experts and technicians!

Historically, the Soviet Union only implemented industrial aid to New China for a short period of seven years, so that the poor and white New China has a good heavy industrial base, and the industrial capacity and technological strength of the United States are as good as those of the Soviet Union, and if China can get full assistance from the United States, it will definitely be able to achieve industrialization within five years!

Of course, it was not the coastal areas that were still under the rule of the Japanese invaders who achieved industrialization, nor the rear of the southwest under the rule of Chairman Chiang, but Burma under the rule of the Chinese Expeditionary Force! However, as long as Burma achieves industrialization, when the war of resistance is over, China will soon follow suit, because after the industry has a foundation, it will be very rapid to grow and expand.

As for the sovereignty of Burma, it is not a problem at all, as the relationship between the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the United States has become closer, and as Yue Weihan's popularity in the United States has grown, the British government has abandoned its unrealistic illusions and no longer thinks about taking back the rule of Burma all day long, and President Smith has happily gone to South Africa to take up his new post.

The key to whether the U.S. government can finally implement large-scale industrial aid to Burma lies in President Roosevelt, and now the only thing that can influence President Roosevelt's attitude is the voice of the American people, which is Stilwell!

…………

Washington, White House Drawing Room.

Facing US President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull, Stilwell was talking eloquently: "I will not comment more on the national government, I have clearly explained everything in the two previous reports submitted to the Ministry of National Defense, and now I want to focus on Yue Weihan." ”

"Obviously, Yue Weihan is a typical Oriental, he is loyal to the Confucian civilization of the East, but he also agrees with the *** civilization of the West, at least he will never reject *** civilization, he especially appreciates the ...... of American-style democracy"

Roosevelt couldn't help but interrupt Stilwell: "I'm sorry, General Stilwell, you mean that Yue Weihan admires our American democracy?" That is, what if, I mean, if one day Yue Weihan replaced Chiang as the supreme leader of the Nationalist Government, it would be possible for the Nationalist Government to implement an American-style democracy? ”

"Oh no, Mr. President, I think you misunderstood me." Stilwell shrugged his shoulders and said with a wry smile, "Yue Weihan does appreciate American-style democracy, but he doesn't think that this system is suitable for China, because China has experienced more than 2,000 years of imperial rule, and it is difficult to transition from a dictatorship to an American-style democratic system in a short period of time." ”

"Oh, I see." Roosevelt shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's a shame. ”

After that, Roosevelt asked very seriously: "Then General Stilwell, do you think the U.S. government should support Yue Weihan?" ”

"I think it should be supported." Stilwell said without hesitation, "First of all, the will of the people cannot be violated, Yue Weihan and his Chinese Expeditionary Force have moved the entire United States, if the US government does not support it, it will definitely suffer a crisis of confidence!" Second, the world is facing an unprecedented threat from the Axis of Evil Alliance, and in order to thwart the attempt of the Axis of Evil Alliance to overthrow the world order, the United States should unite all forces that can be united, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force is the only ally that the United States can rely on on the Asian battlefield! ”

President Roosevelt heard the slight change in his words, in the final analysis, public opinion is just a floating cloud, if necessary, President Roosevelt can easily use the guidance of public opinion to divert the direction of public opinion, but the second reason expounded by Stilwell made Roosevelt have to seriously consider it, because the Chinese expeditionary force is indeed the only ally that the United States can rely on in the Asian theater!