"Don't tell your soldiers before the war starts, you can go home for Christmas!" The person next to him repeated the sentence, and his face showed a confused look.

"He must be talking about Napoleon! When Napoleon attacked Russia, he told the soldiers that the war would end before winter so that they could go home for Christmas. ”

"I thought he was talking about Wilhelm II, but I remember the war in Europe more than 20 years ago, and the slogan 'Go home for Christmas' was written on the German troop train. In the end, the soldiers who saw these slogans basically died in Verdun. ”

"In fact, after the Normandy landings, our Allied generals also said similar things, at that time we were optimistic that the German army would soon surrender and the war in Europe would end within the year, but we did not expect that the Germans knew that the general situation was gone but still desperately resisted."

There was no shortage of people at the scene who knew the history of Western wars, and Chen Qiang's words immediately aroused everyone's associations. However, everyone didn't know that the next victim was MacArthur, who was surrounded by everyone's stars and moons!

On the future Korean battlefield, MacArthur arrogantly made a bold promise to let the soldiers go home for Christmas, but when MacArthur was removed from his post and returned to the United States in disgrace, and then spent the first Christmas, the American GIs remained on the front line.

MacArthur didn't take this "home for Christmas" flag to heart, he thought that Chen Qiang told a joke to liven up the atmosphere, and he quickly put this matter behind him.

A few years later, when MacArthur was removed from his post as "Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Forces," today's Patton memorial service suddenly rang out, and I remembered what a young man from China once said: Before the war begins, don't tell your soldiers that you can go home for Christmas!

……

The memorial service continues, and Chen Qiang also meets an old acquaintance, that is, John F. Kennedy.

A few years ago, Mr. Kennedy had met Mr. Kennedy in Los Angeles, where he had introduced Mr. Kennedy to an auction of British antiquities, setting him on the path of recovering lost antiquities from China.

Today, a few years later, when Chen Qiang saw Kennedy again, he found that he was much more mature than a few years ago, and he no longer had the taste of a dandy, but had the air of a steady old man.

Perhaps because the Kennedy family's highly-anticipated eldest son died in Europe, John F. Kennedy, the second eldest in the family, was forced to take on the responsibility of maintaining the family's political position; Or maybe it was the baptism of war that made Kennedy really grow, in short, the current Kennedy has faded from the cynical posture of three years ago and grown into a real man.

During World War II, Kennedy served in the U.S. Navy and was sent to the Pacific Theater, where the warship he commanded was sunk by the Japanese, and Kennedy led ten of his men to drift for many days before being rescued, for which he was promoted as a "Battle Hero" and received a silver medal.

In March 1945, Kennedy retired from the U.S. Navy on the grounds of injury, and his rank was lieutenant at that time, but those who knew the inside story knew that it was Kennedy Sr. who realized that the war was coming to an end, so he let his son retire early and enter politics as soon as possible.

Through Kennedy Sr.'s connections, Kennedy worked as a special correspondent for a newspaper owned by media tycoon Hirst, and reported on important events such as the Potsdam Conference, so he amassed some reputation, and now Kennedy is planning to enter Congress and run for the House of Representatives.

In the upcoming midterm elections to the 1946 U.S. Congress, Kennedy also got his wish to become a member of the House of Representatives, and there was another future president of the United States in the House of Representatives in the same period, that is, Richard Nixon.

At this time, Kennedy was talking to a young man in a wheelchair, this man was wearing a military uniform, and his rank was a US military captain, but Chen Qiang knew that today's occasion was not something that ordinary captains could attend, and this US military captain in a wheelchair must have a deep background.

"Chen, this one next to me is Raun-Udel, he is a combat hero of the American army!" When Kennedy made an introduction, he said the word "Udel" in a particularly heavy tone.

Kennedy's introduction made Chen Qiang realize that this young captain in a wheelchair should be from the Udell family.

The Udell family has a much longer history than the United States, dating back to the first generation of immigrants to the United States, before the United States was founded. The family lived through the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, and members of the family served in several states, and at its peak, three members of the family served as members of Congress.

Compared with an old political family like Uder, the Kennedy family can only be regarded as an upstart in American politics, and now Kennedy befriended this wheelchair-bound Lawn-Uder in order to get some political resources from the Uder family.

"You're Mr. Chen, the president of the Major Basketball League, right? I've seen the footage of your All-Star Weekend games, and it's really amazing. Uder spoke.

Chen Qiang was slightly stunned, he has many identities, such as the former Olympic champion, such as the champion of the US Open, such as the owner of Nike, etc., but Udel just said the identity of the president of the American Professional Basketball League, which shows that Udel should be a basketball enthusiast.

"It seems that Mr. Udall loves basketball." Chen Qiang responded with a smile.

"I love basketball very much, when I was in school, I was also a basketball player in school, if it wasn't for the war, maybe I would have joined a certain team now!" Udall's expression darkened as he continued, "Unfortunately, I can't play basketball anymore, I lost a leg, and I wouldn't be able to go anywhere without a wheelchair." ”

Kennedy explained: "Raun was originally a fighter pilot, and in the Battle of Sicily, several German planes were shot down, and his plane was also shot, although Raun successfully parachuted, but after landing, he was still injured by a stray bullet and was unable to save his leg. ”

"I see, it's so admirable." Chen Qiang's voice changed, and then said: "But Mr. Udel doesn't have to feel sorry for not being able to play basketball, even if he is in a wheelchair, he can still play basketball." ”

"Can you play basketball in a wheelchair?" Udel asked in surprise.

"Of course, there is a ...... of wheelchair basketball," Chen said.

"Wheelchair basketball? Forgive me for being so unheard of, I really haven't heard of it. Udel responded.

"It seems to have been made by the British, a British doctor has improved the wheelchair to make the wheelchair more flexible, the patient can sit in the wheelchair to play basketball, except for jumping, other technical movements can be done in the wheelchair." Chen Qiang paused, and then said: "If Mr. Udel is interested, I can find someone to make you a wheelchair for playing basketball, it shouldn't be too complicated." ”

"Really? That's great! Mr. Chen, can you give me your contact information? Udel suddenly became excited.

"No problem." Chen Qiang exchanged contact information with Udel.

The inventor of wheelchair basketball, Ludwig Gutmann, was a German-born Jew, MD, specialist in neurosurgery, and was once hailed as the best neurosurgeon in Germany. Later, the Jews in Germany were persecuted, and Ludwig Gutmann fled to England. As Ludwig Gutmann was a leading expert in neurosurgery, the Home Office provided him with funding and accommodation to continue his research on spinal injuries. Later, when the war broke out and many soldiers were disabled, the British government paid for Ludwig Gutmann to establish the British National Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center, which specializes in spinal injury rehabilitation.

Ludwig Gutmann is also one of the founders of the Paralympics, basically all wheelchair sports, such as wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, etc., originated from Ludwig Gutmann's advocacy, so Ludwig Gutmann also won the Olympic Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the British Sports Association for the Disabled was founded by Ludwig Gutmann.

In 1944, Ludwig Gutmann improved the wheelchair to make it more flexible and stable, and wheelchair movement began to exist. At that time, it was not wheelchair basketball that first appeared, but wheelchair tennis, after all, tennis is still more popular in the UK.

Wheelchair basketball is a trend brought up by Americans, the basketball culture in the United States is far more prevalent than other countries, the United States had a large number of disabled soldiers in World War II, so wheelchair basketball spread rapidly among disabled soldiers, and by 1947, this sport has been known to most people, and there have been small-scale wheelchair basketball games.

There have been two major outbreaks of wheelchair basketball in American history, the first after the end of World War II and the second after the end of the Vietnam War.

During World War II and the Vietnam War, most of the physical disabilities of American soldiers were short-legged and short-footed, not because the Americans' legs and feet did not know each other, but because of the way of war.

In the war of the gun era, the highest disability rate must be the army, is the infantry, and because of the existence of mines, the most vulnerable place for infantry soldiers to be injured is the legs and feet, mines can be described as the nemesis of infantry, the key is that many mines are not to kill the enemy, but to kill and injure the enemy, causing combat attrition as the main goal, so most of the mines are not fatal, but can blow off a soldier's leg. Therefore, after the end of the war, a large number of American GIs would be in wheelchairs.

In the future, some countries will allow people with physical disabilities to participate in wheelchair basketball, such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, where non-disabled athletes will be allowed to participate in wheelchair basketball, but they will need to be in wheelchairs like disabled athletes.

Now it was just 1946, and wheelchair sports were still in their infancy, and it would not be until a few months before wheelchair basketball appeared in the United States, and then gradually became popular among disabled soldiers.

……

Chen Qiang promised Udel to make him a sports wheelchair, so naturally he would not break his promise, and after he returned to New York, he bought a wheelchair and planned to modify it.

The biggest difference between a sports wheelchair and an ordinary wheelchair is that the main wheels on both sides of the ordinary wheelchair are upright on the ground, while the main wheel of the sports wheelchair is tilted, so Chen Qiang directly welded a wheel axle on both sides of the ordinary wheelchair and made the main wheel on both sides oblique.

But then Chen Qiang found that this didn't work at all, and the sports wheelchair that was improved on the basis of ordinary wheelchairs was still too clumsy.

The bearing structure of ordinary wheelchairs and sports wheelchairs is different, and the structure of ordinary wheelchairs is more like an ordinary chair with two wheels on the left and right sides, without a bearing shaft; The bearing structure of the sports wheelchair is more like a car, which has a bearing shaft.

And ordinary wheelchairs are designed with comfort in mind, some wheelchairs are like sitting on a sofa, the seat is wide and soft, and the sports wheelchair needs not comfort, but safety, so that athletes can be stuck in the seat, so that even if they accidentally fall, they are not easy to be injured with the protection of a wheelchair.

The most important point is the weight, which is too heavy for ordinary wheelchairs.

Americans have no shortage of steel, and the use of good steel to make wheelchairs has greatly increased the weight of wheelchairs, and you can think about the old-fashioned 28 bicycle, although it is strong enough to pull people and carry goods, but the weight is not light, at least much heavier than the current bicycle.

That's what wheelchairs looked like at that time, they were sturdy, durable, and heavy. Although an adult can operate it, it is only a daily walk, and if you want to sit in a wheelchair for quick exercise, or even play basketball, you need to have a pair of unicorn arms.

Moreover, when Chen Qiang was modifying, he also welded an extra axle on both sides, which made the weight of the wheelchair larger and more inconvenient to move.

"No, you can't use steel as a material, it's too heavy. And the sports wheelchair also needs to carry the shaft, if it is made of steel, wouldn't it be even heavier! To reduce weight, you have to make sure that it is strong enough, and you can only use aluminum alloy. Chen Qiang said secretly in his heart.

The Americans had already invented 1050 aluminum alloy as early as 1908, which was mainly used in high-voltage transmission grids at that time. In 1933, 2024 aluminum alloy and 6061 aluminum alloy were invented, and aluminum alloy has been used in aviation equipment since then.

The invention of 7075 aluminum alloy in 1943 gave aluminum alloy higher strength, thus creating a new era of aluminum alloy, which was widely used in the aircraft industry, and was used in the B29 bomber that dropped two atomic bombs in Japan.

Because aluminum alloys can be used to make aviation parts, during World War II, aluminum alloys were subject to extremely strict regulations, and it was impossible for other enterprises to obtain aluminum alloy quotas except for military enterprises related to aircraft manufacturing. Now that the war has ended, and the quota of aluminum alloy has been completely liberalized, Chen Qiang can buy aluminum alloy from the market, but the price of aluminum alloy is much more expensive than steel, so the production cost of sports wheelchairs has also increased significantly.

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