The next day, Chen Qiang went to General Stilwell's residence and met General Stilwell again.

Chen Qiang handed a check to General Stilwell, who took the check and looked at it, and immediately gasped.

"$5 million, that's a lot!" General Stilwell said with a look of surprise.

"Compared to the heroes who are dying for the country and the nation, this amount of money is nothing." Chen Qiang said.

"I thought it would only be two or three hundred thousand dollars, but I didn't expect it to be so much. Since you have so much money, you can go and buy a lot of supplies and wait until the Yunnan-Burma Highway is reopened before shipping them to China. I think it's a good deal. General Stilwell spoke.

"Directly transport the materials to the past, I'm afraid it won't be able to reach the hands of the 18th Route Army!" Chen Qiang said with a smile.

General Stilwell nodded: "Indeed, the head of your country is not friendly to the Eighteenth Route Army. I once offered to give the 18th Route Army some material aid, but it was denied. ”

General Stilwell let out a long sigh, his brow furrowed slightly, and the embarrassment on his face flashed.

"General Stilwell, do you have any difficulties?" Chen Qiang asked.

"If you don't have so much money, maybe it won't be too much trouble, but 5 million US dollars is too much, and if such a large amount of money is sent to the 18th Route Army through me, it will inevitably arouse suspicion in Chongqing." General Stilwell spoke.

Chen Qiang hesitated for a few seconds and asked in a low voice, "Then what should I do?" Should I change a check for a smaller amount? ”

Stilwell thought for a moment, then asked, "If you really plan to send this $5 million to the 18th Route Army, then I will help you find a way!" It's a big deal, I won't do it as the chief of the general staff of this Chinese theater! ”

Speaking of this, Stilwell clenched his fists: "To tell the truth, I have never seen so much money, you are willing to entrust me with this money, it is your trust in me, and with this trust, I will never fail you, and I will not fail those brave soldiers in China!" ”

Stilwell's tone was resolute, more like a warrior who died generously.

At this time, General Stilwell's situation in China was not very good. Stilwell and the Chongqing bigwig have had a conflict, and as the conflict continues to intensify, it eventually evolved into the "Stilwell Incident".

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Stilwell was sent to China to serve as the chief of the general staff of the Chinese theater, but in terms of the command of the situation, Stilwell and Chongqing had a conflict, and the two sides had different strategic and tactical concepts, so it caused conflicts.

The bigwig in Chongqing believed that only three Chinese divisions could deal with one Japanese division, so when the Japanese attacked, the Chinese army should gather forces to focus on defense and wait until the Japanese retreated before launching a counteroffensive. Stilwell, on the other hand, believed that the Chinese army should not gather troops to avoid being annihilated by the Japanese army, and Stilwell advocated the tactics of defense in depth to continuously weaken the Japanese army through strategic depth.

This is a conflict between two military concepts, and it is difficult to comment on who is right and who is wrong, but looking at several important battles during the Anti-Japanese War, Chongqing also adopted this key defensive strategy, so there are so many so-called "so-and-so defense battles", but there are very few "so-and-so victories" to regain lost territory. In the future, when it came to the War of Liberation, the Nanjing government liked to gather large forces, and then went headlong into the encirclement, and the whole system was annihilated.

The difference in strategic and tactical concepts was the first conflict between Stilwell and Chongqing, and then Stilwell hoped that Chongqing could reform the military system, streamline and reorganize the troops, remove incompetent senior officers, and give full authority to front-line commanders. And these have been strongly opposed by Chongqing.

At that time, although everyone called it the "National Revolutionary Army", there were many factions among them. The big guy in Chongqing likes to use his descendants very much, as long as it is his descendants, even if they are less capable, they will sit in important positions, and people from other factions will be suppressed by him if they are outstanding. Just like Chief Yan of the Second War Zone and Chief Li of the Fifth War Zone, their subordinates are also full of talents, but because they are not descendants of Chongqing, many talents cannot be reused.

As everyone knows, the Chongqing bigwig's military command talent is relatively average, but he likes to dictate the frontline war, so that many frontline generals need to constantly ask Chongqing for instructions in order to fight, often delay the fighters, and sometimes lose the war because of Chongqing's erroneous command.

Therefore, the military system reform proposed by Stilwell is more like targeting Chongqing, and the big man in Chongqing thinks, are you, the Yankee, deliberately messing with me? Do you want to take power from me? Or are you going to kick me out and set up another puppet? As a result, the contradiction between the two intensified.

The defeat of the First Burma Campaign caused China to lose the Yunnan-Burma Highway, which undoubtedly made Stilwell's situation in China even worse. This battle was commanded by Stilwell, and before that, Stilwell's submission of the Burma battle plan to Chongqing was opposed by Chongqing, and the Chongqing bigwig even asked Roosevelt to remove Stilwell through personal connections. It can be said that at that time, the contradictions between the two had reached the point of irreconcilability.

The reason why Chongqing can continue to tolerate Stilwell is because Stilwell is the person in charge of distributing American aid to China, and Chongqing is still counting on Stilwell to provide assistance, so even if the big man in Chongqing hates Stilwell, he still has to endure it.

Stilwell also knew that his situation in China was very bad, so when he got the check for $5 million, he showed the determination to die generously. Stilwell himself knew that if he delivered the $5 million check to the 18th Army, it might completely ignite the contradiction between him and Chongqing, and it was still a matter of two questions whether he could continue to sit in the position of chief of the general staff of the Chinese theater.

Historically, in 1944, Stilwell facilitated the visit of the American "Dixie Mission" to Yan'an, and then Stilwell proposed to give equal aid to the Chinese army, which means that American aid would also be sent to the 18th Route Army. For the Chongqing boss, aiding the 18th Route Army really touched his backscales, and his obsession with eliminating the 18th Route Army may be far greater than driving out the Japanese. He could tolerate the expansion of the Japanese territory, but he could never tolerate the 18th Route Army establishing more base areas behind enemy lines.

At the same time as the great defeat of the Chinese army on the battlefield of Henan-Xianggui aroused the dissatisfaction of the United States, Stilwell suggested to Marshall that he should have full command of the Chinese army, including the Eighteenth Route Army, and that the United States should dispose of the American supplies to China. This suggestion was approved by President Roosevelt, who believed that Chongqing demanded that it surrender military command, and that Chongqing would certainly not be able to surrender military command, which led to the complete outbreak of the "Stilwell Incident."

From a private point of view, no one who has gained great power will not give up easily, let alone military power that can rule a country. From the perspective of the state, no sovereign country will give up the right to command its own national army. If we include independent military command, it seems that there will not be as many as 195 sovereign states in the world in the future, because there are always a few countries whose military command is not in their own hands.

From the perspective of the United States, it is certainly unbearable for me to give you weapons and equipment and material aid, and you will eat mine and use mine, but you will defeat the war for me. Moreover, General Stilwell's report to the U.S. government also mentioned that Chongqing was keen to encircle the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border area, but its enthusiasm for resisting Japan was not so high. There are millions of American GIs in the Pacific Ocean who are desperately trying their best, and it is just that Chongqing can't help, but it is still giving away people, and Roosevelt will definitely try to remove this kind of helper.

However, the "Stilwell Incident" ended in a victory for Chongqing, and Roosevelt eventually recalled Stilwell and put Weidemeyer in Stilwell's place. Compared with his predecessor Stilwell, Weidemeyer had a very good relationship with the Chongqing bigwigs, and during the War of Liberation, when the general trend in Nanjing was gone, Weidemeyer also strongly advocated increasing military assistance to Nanjing.

……

The $5 million check was handed over to Stilwell, and Chen Qiang's heart finally settled down.

Chen Qiang is not worried that Stilwell will hack the $5 million, Chen Qiang is still very trustworthy of Stilwell's character, regardless of Stilwell's military literacy and political skills, he is indeed heartbroken for the cause of China's War of Resistance. Such a person who is willing to pay for China's War of Resistance Against Japan, Chen Qiang is willing to trust him.

As for how the $5 million check will be used in the hands of the 18th Route Army, it is not something that Chen Qiang can worry about. Chen Qiang believed that the comrades of the 18th Route Army had great powers, and naturally had a way to exchange the money for urgently needed strategic materials, and then use it in the cause of the Anti-Japanese War.

Negotiations at the Trident meeting continued, but instead of staying in Washington, Chen Qiang returned to New York.

Soon after, the Trident meeting ended, and Chen Qiang also inquired about the specific results of the negotiations.

The United States and Britain continued to negotiate and compromise, and finally Roosevelt agreed to the British battle plan for the Battle of Sicily and decided to launch an attack on Italy, and Britain also made concessions, promising to control the Bay of Bengal with its navy, and India would also provide supplies for the Chinese troops in India.

For World War II, this meeting decided the course of the war, and for the entire Allied forces, this negotiation allowed the United States to gain command of the Allied forces, whether it was in Europe, North Africa, or Asia, and the commander-in-chief was American.

After the Trident Conference, the British army began to obey the command of the US military, which also marked the so-called "empire on which the sun never sets", and since then it has officially stepped down from the throne of "the world's largest power", and the United States has become the new "world policeman".

Before World War I, the economic strength of the United States had surpassed that of Britain, and in World War I, the United States made a fortune quietly, and its comprehensive national strength had surpassed that of Britain, and by the middle of World War II, the military strength of the United States also surpassed that of Britain. Today's Trident Conference is just an opportunity for the United States to lead the world in a justifiable way.

It is a pity that the Americans misjudged the Soviet Union. The United States originally thought that the Soviet Union had suffered tens of millions of casualties in the war, and that the entire country had been reduced to ruins, and that it would not be able to recover its vitality in 30 or 40 years, and that the United States could be the "world's policeman" with peace of mind and beat anyone who did not like it.

However, the Soviet Union made up for the wounds of the war by plundering Germany and Japan, and the machinery and equipment of thousands of German enterprises and all the Japanese machinery and equipment in Northeast China were dismantled by the Soviet Union, which was cleaner than the devil's sweeping, and the Soviet Union also captured 700,000 Kwantung Army as coolies. In addition, the planned economic system of the Soviet Union had an advantage in concentrating on big things, so after a five-year plan, the Soviet Union recovered its vitality and became a superpower that could compete with the United States, and even completely suppressed the United States militarily for a time.

……

Representatives of various countries returned to China one after another to report the results of the Trident Conference, but Kong Dagongzi came to New York and found Chen Qiang again.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon when Chen Qiang saw Mr. Kong, but at this time Mr. Kong had just eaten "breakfast", and it was obvious that the bustling New York City made Mr. Kong unhappy again, and he played all night last night, so he didn't get up until the afternoon today.

Seeing Chen Qiang coming, Prince Kong didn't see it, pointed to the food on the table and said, "Let's eat some together?" You don't have to be polite with me. ”

The breakfast in front of Mr. Kong was indeed enough for four or five people, but Chen Qiang didn't have the heart to eat with Mr. Kong, so he politely refused: "I ate late at noon, and my stomach is still very supportive." ”

"Then I'll eat it myself." After Mr. Kong finished speaking, he lowered his head and began to taste his breakfast.

After a while, when Mr. Kong finished eating, he wiped his mouth, and then said, "That guy from TV, it's really targeting me!" ”

"Hasn't Mr. Song already returned to China?" Chen Qiang asked a little puzzled.

"My old man sent me a telegram saying that TV plans to make an "Interim Measures for Import and Export Trade". It is clear that it is going to attack the trade between China and the United States. Master Kong replied.

"Mr. Song should be the foreign minister now, right? Import and export trade should not be under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, right? Chen Qiang then asked.

"It is not under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Executive Yuan can have the final say. Although TV is the foreign minister, he is deeply trusted by his uncle, and if he wants to mention the "Interim Measures for Import and Export Trade", it is very likely that it will be passed. And as long as it is decided by my uncle, even my old man can't oppose it. Master Kong said indignantly.

In this matter, Mr. Song served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Mr. Kong served as the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank and other positions, and was the chief financial officer of the country.

However, the real speaker in China is, of course, the uncle-in-law of Prince Kong, the bigwig in Chongqing, in 1943, the bigwig not only held the No. 1 position in politics and military, but also served as the premier of the Executive Yuan, so it can be said that the instructions and implementation are all in hand.

Although Chen Qiang didn't know what the specific content of the "Interim Measures for Import and Export Trade" was, seeing the indignant look of Prince Kong, Chen Qiang had already guessed that his plan to add fuel to the fire had been successful, and Mr. Song began to attack Prince Kong!

The dog-eat-dog that Chen Qiang was looking forward to finally happened.

——————

Pass today's birthday, cheeky to ask for a monthly pass as a birthday gift, and if you don't have a monthly pass, you can also give a few recommended tickets, thank you!