Jared looked at the propaganda poster of the U.S. military selling military coupons and the photo of the U.S. soldier raising the national flag on Iwo Jima.

Chen Qiang explained: "The U.S. military has successfully taken the strategic location of Iwo Jima, which is not small enough to build an airfield as an air base for the Air Force. The occupation of Iwo Jima by the U.S. forces opened the way for a direct attack on the Japanese mainland. The bombers of the US Air Force can take off directly from Iwo Jima and attack the US mainland. ”

"I know what you're talking about, but Japan still has millions of land forces, and even if the U.S. military can attack Japan's mainland, it is impossible to rely on bombers to blow up millions of Japanese land forces, right? As soon as the bombers came, the Japanese could hide in bomb shelters and wait until the bombers were gone before coming out, while the US planes could not stay in the skies over Japan all the time. ”

Jared sighed rather bitterly, and continued; "Mr. Chen, you may not have read the recent news, the U.S. military has also paid huge losses in order to seize Iwo Jima, although the U.S. military has air force and sea support, and has bombarded Iwo Jima four times with naval guns before landing on the island, but in the end the U.S. military still paid nearly 30,000 casualties. This is just Iwo Jima, and if it were to attack the Japanese mainland, the American army would encounter greater resistance and more casualties! If you want to occupy the whole of Japan, I am afraid it will take two or three years. ”

Chen Qiang smiled slightly: "You yourself said that the U.S. military paid a painful price and finally took Iwo Jima, so do you think the U.S. military will pay the price of millions more in order to occupy Japan?" Do you think the Americans can afford such a big loss? ”

"Well......" Jared didn't answer directly.

Jared was a Jew who had fled to the United States from Poland, so he was not an American, and he felt that the Americans would not be willing to sacrifice the lives of millions of American GIs in order to take Japan.

Chen Qiang went on to say: "Japan's suicidal defense on Iwo Jima will inevitably make the Americans realize that attacking the Japanese mainland will pay a great price, and the United States will definitely avoid sacrifice." So I think the U.S. military should adopt a blockade strategy against Japan in the future. Surrounded the Japanese with the navy, and from time to time fired a few guns at the coastal cities of Japan, or sent bombers to wander around. ”

"Blockade strategy? What's the use of that? Jared asked.

"Don't forget, Japan is an island nation, and it is an island nation with few resources, and if Japan does not get supplies from foreign countries, they themselves will starve to death. When the time comes, they will not be able to hold on, and they will naturally surrender. Chen Qiang said.

"But what if the Japanese stick to their homeland and don't surrender? Judging from the battle situation in the Pacific feedback, those Japanese are a bunch of crazy guys! Jared spoke.

"It doesn't matter, if we block the Japanese mainland, at least we can ensure the safety of the routes in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, and the rubber resources in Southeast Asia can be safely transported to the United States. Then we can start production at full capacity! Chen Qiang replied with a smile.

"Okay, you're the boss, you make the decisions, and hopefully your judgment is correct." Jared sighed helplessly, agreeing with Chen Qiang's idea.

Chen Qiang picked up the propaganda poster of the US military selling military coupons and carefully looked at the photo on it.

This photo of U.S. soldiers raising the flag on Iwo Jima is so famous! Americans have painted the photo, erected statues and monuments, printed stamps, and even made films. And in later film and television works, I have also seen a lot of tributes to this photo.

The photograph was taken on February 23, 1945, and published in the newspaper two days later on February 25. Subsequently, the photo also won a Pulitzer Prize.

At that time, the United States was launching an attack on Iwo Jima, and although the U.S. troops had already bombed Iwo Jima four times with naval guns and bombers before they landed, the Japanese troops hid in underground fortifications and bunkers, causing huge losses to the U.S. troops who landed on the island.

In fact, this photo was taken when the second flag was raised, and after the first flag was raised by the U.S. military, the photographer also took a photo, but the angle of the photo was not good. When a general of the U.S. Navy saw the flag, he decided to take the first flag back and collect it, so the American GIs had to climb to the top of the hill again and replace the original flag with a larger one.

In the Battle of Iwo Jima, two of the six flag-raising American GIs were killed by Japanese shells, one was killed by Japanese snipers, and only three survived. And because of the popularity of this photo, the three surviving soldiers did not participate in later battles, but were recalled to the United States and treated like heroes.

Of course, the military portrays them as combat heroes, mainly to help the military sell military vouchers. At that time, the U.S. government issued a lot of war bonds in order to support the war, so these three survivors of the flag-raising began to give speeches in rotation throughout the United States, and even performed the flag-raising situation at that time in some places to help the U.S. military sell bonds.

The U.S. military printed the photo on a poster for military bonds, and according to post-war statistics, this photo of U.S. soldiers erecting the national flag on Iwo Jima helped the U.S. military sell $26.3 billion in war bonds.

……

February 7 was a good day for MacArthur, and on this day, he returned to the Philippines.

Three years ago, the Pacific War broke out, MacArthur, then commander-in-chief of the US Far East Army, fled from the Philippines to Australia due to misjudgment of the situation and poor command, and the US military was really unavailable, in order to stabilize the situation in the Pacific theater, he could only continue to appoint MacArthur, the general of the defeated army, first promoted MacArthur to general, and then appointed commander-in-chief of the Allied Pacific Theater.

Two months earlier, MacArthur had just been promoted to a five-star general, and this promotion had encouraged MacArthur as if he had been beaten to the plate. After two months of hard work, he finally recovered Manila.

Riding in a jeep and driving through the streets of Manila, MacArthur had mixed feelings. He thought of how disgraced he had been when he fled the city three years earlier, and for MacArthur, Manila was the greatest shame of his life. Now that MacArthur has successfully reclaimed Manila, there is also a sense of shame.

"I'm MacArthur back!" MacArthur couldn't help but show a Huhansan-style expression.

At this time, MacArthur looked triumphantly at the Japanese flags scattered on the street ground, enjoying the pleasure of washing away the stain of life, he did not know that five years later, on the peninsula in northeast Asia, he was once again beaten into a pig's head, and it brought him a stain on life that could not be washed away in his life!

……

In Europe, since the recovery of France, the Anglo-American coalition has slowed down the pace of its offensive, and first, it needs a lot of energy to restore order in France; Second, the weather in winter is relatively cold, and the pressure on logistics and supply is relatively large, which is not conducive to the offensive of the army. The third is that the Anglo-American coalition forces do not want to go ahead of the Soviet Union, after all, whoever attacks the German mainland first will inevitably encounter desperate resistance from the German army, and this kind of thing to attract enemy firepower should be handed over to the Soviet army!

Perhaps it was for these reasons that the Soviet army entered Berlin earlier than the American army.

The Soviets did not care about attacking in winter, and for the Soviets, winter in Germany was rather mild. However, the Soviets were not busy attacking Germany directly, they first captured Budapest and occupied Hungary.

If you look at the map of Europe, between Hungary and Germany, there is Austria, and there is also the Czech Republic, and there is Slovakia, but during World War II, all three places were German territory, so after taking Hungary, the next step is to attack Germany itself.

South America has also been quite lively recently, with countries such as Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, and Chile declaring war on Germany. In the early days of the war, these countries were all neutral, but now that the overall situation has been decided, they have jumped out one by one to pick peaches, preparing to mix in the identity of a victorious country, and see if they can get some benefits after the war.

……

New York, Edward-Ireland specifically found Chen Qiang.

"Mr. Chen, I would like to go and talk to the Collegiate Athletic Association about holding the NCAA basketball semifinals and finals in New York." Edward Ireland spoke.

"Why the idea?" Chen Qiang asked.

"NYU has a very good record this year, and we are the favorites to win the championship, and we will definitely make money by hosting NYU competitions." Edward Ireland spoke.

"New York University? I read the newspaper yesterday and they're already in the quarterfinals, right? Then it is only one step away from the semi-finals and the final. The audience in New York should be tempted to hope for a game at NYU, well, that's up to you. Chen Qiang nodded and agreed.

Edward Ireland went to the American Collegiate Athletic Association, and the two sides hit it off and decided to hold the NCAA semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden.

The organizers of the tournament must want to play in bigger and more luxurious stadiums, but it costs a lot of money to go to the top stadiums, and the American Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit organization, even if they want to play at Madison Square Garden, they can't afford it. Now that Edward Ireland has come to the door, the University Athletic Association has of course agreed without hesitation.

And for Madison Square Garden, hosting the NCAA tournament will not be a loss, and it can also make a small profit, because NYU has a very good record this year and is the favorite to win the championship.

However, what neither Edward Ireland nor Chen Qiang expected was that the most talked-about game was not a New York University game, but a semifinal between Oklahoma State University and DePaul University of Chicago.

This game was dubbed the "Battle of the Titans" by the media, because the main players of the two universities were two "giants", the core player of DePaul University of Chicago was none other than George McCann, who was 6 feet 10 inches, and the core player of Oklahoma State University was Bob Curlan, who was seven feet long.

George McCann is no longer the slow-moving, clumsy stupid big man, after the coach's tuning, now George McCann has become a dominant player, his skills are becoming more and more comprehensive, and his movements are becoming more and more agile, as if he has become a rising basketball star, although he has not graduated from college yet, many professional teams have begun to pay attention to him.

As for Bob Curan of Oklahoma State University, he was another basketball celebrity of college basketball at the time, having led Oklahoma State to two NCAA championships, led Team USA to two Olympic basketball championships, and won three national championships in the AAU Amateur League in the United States. He is also a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, but unfortunately, this ancient basketball god has never played professional basketball, otherwise the early NBA may not be George McCann's world, and there may be a confrontation between Bob Curland and George McCann.

Bob Curlan is a native of Missouri, he originally planned to go to Saint Louis University in Missouri, but Saint Louis University was only willing to provide him with the opportunity to study, and Oklahoma State University was willing to provide him with a scholarship, in order to reduce the burden on his family, Bob Curlan chose Oklahoma State University, and in the following years, Saint Louis University never won against Oklahoma State University, and in one year, Bob Curran even scored 58 points on the head of Saint Louis University. You know, it was the 40s, and it was still using the old basketball rules, there was no 24-second offensive violation, and 58 points in a single game was really a feat.

Bob Curlan is seven feet tall, half a head taller than George McCann, a tall man in today's NBA, and it is precisely because of the presence of the two giants that the game between Oklahoma State University and DePaul University Chicago is called the "Battle of the Titans".

Bob Curlan's bounce is also good, and with his seven-foot height, he is often able to grab rebounds on top of the basket, and the NCAA's interference rules are designed to limit Bob Curlan.

……

This "Battle of the Titans" attracted much attention, and Chen Qiang also went to the scene to watch the game in person.

"That bespectacled but George McCann!" Chen Qiang looked at this ancient basketball god, and his eyes lit up.

"Who's that big guy at Oklahoma State, taller than George McCann and with great skills, Bob Curran? I seem to have heard of his name, and he should also be an ancient basketball god! Chen Qiang said secretly in his heart.

Although Bob Curlan is also a Hall of Fame player, he will be far less famous than George McCann in the future, so Chen Qiang is not impressed with him.

Chen Qiang leaned over to Edward Ireland and asked in a low voice, "Is it possible for our New York Knicks to get George McCann?" ”

"It's almost impossible, our team has a decent record, so we're going to be a bit lower in the draft, and George McCann is already a leader-level player in college basketball, and a lot of teams are eyeing him, and it's impossible for us to draft George McCann this year or next year." Edward Ireland spoke.

Chen Qiang sighed slightly disappointed, it was indeed a pity that he couldn't get George McCann, an ancient god, to the New York Knicks.

But Chen Qiang thought about it, although he couldn't get George McCann to the Knicks, he could sign a sneaker contract with George McCann!

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