On 8 June, Ayres informed Li Junhao that Rear Admiral Vaughn, former chief of the Admiralty's Expeditionary Operations Division, had confirmed that he would take over the post of commander of the U.S. Joint Command in the Shanghai Strait, and that Admiral Hobbes, the military attache of the Consulate General in Shanghai, would take over the post of chief of staff of the Far East Forces, so that he could prepare for the handover.

The telegram also included a curriculum vitae of Major General Vaughan, which proved that he had practical combat experience commanding a Marine Brigade in North Africa, and that he had later completed a senior command course at West Point, which was sufficient to command the military forces in the Shanghai Concession.

As for his concerns about subordinates, Mr. Ayres said that at the level of his principal assistant, he could assemble a private team of up to 20 people, with the government covering his standard salary.

In addition, Admiral Leahy secured a special establishment of the "New England Battalion" of the National Guard, which his aunt had already done, and this battalion was nominally formed by the six states that belonged to the New England region, and the expenses were borne by the six states, but in fact it was paid by the Stuart family, which was regarded as a compensation for him.

In this respect, the "New England Battalion" could be considered his personal guard, with a maximum of 1,000 men, which he could bring back to the United States and place on any piece of legally acquired land. To that end, Rist has prepared a base and barracks for him in Maryland, southeast of Washington, and even an airstrip.

The work of Ailes and others has reached this level, and Li Junhao just doesn't want to go back! ——

Beginning on the 9th, Li Junhao first accompanied Hobbs to the Philippines and handed over the post of chief of staff of the Far East Forces - because of this position, Hobbes also received a special promotion order from the Admiralty and became a commodore general. In this regard, he was very grateful to Li Junhao for his help and said that he would definitely do a good job in the new work.

After returning to Shanghai, the colleagues of the Consulate General already knew that he was going to return to China and congratulated him. And he kept asking people back, and he also gave back with gifts—and there must be no flaw in that.

Sheehan was the happiest, because he removed the agent and became the official consul general, and his diplomatic rank was raised to the rank of deputy ambassador, becoming the second highest diplomatic post in China, and he was grateful to Li Junhao, saying that he would definitely implement his previous management policy of the concession and maintain stability.

In the following time, Li Junhao solicited the opinions of his henchmen, the Wolf Warrior Special Operations Regiment, the 327th Regiment, and the subordinates of the police department, and nearly 700 people were willing to follow him to the United States!

Even Wang Renqiang wanted to follow him, but he had a special conversation with him, asking him to stay and control the police station and intelligence network first, and help him control the intelligence force in China.

To his surprise, Li Xiaoyu and Zheng Pingru were unwilling to put down their current jobs and go with him, these two strong women now enjoy the feeling of being in charge of an important department!

Well, Li Junhao recognized this, first, the time has not yet reached the time of emergency, and second, both of them are Chinese, and it is impossible to obtain a similar position in a short period of time after arriving in the United States, so it is better to wait until he has gained a firm foothold in the United States.

Of course, Xiaoyu, Xiaohu and others wanted to go with him, and Yuri, Jackie, Nick and the earliest group of people of the Wolf Warrior Special Operations Group, as well as the fifty English guards, were also very resolute; The veteran officers and soldiers of the 327th Regiment (Lone Military Battalion) were grateful for his help, but they did not agree to leave China at this time, and they all chose to stay.

By the 15th, Xiaoyu, who was in charge of counting the number of people, gave Li Junhao a list of 590 people, these are the people who are very sure to follow him, and there are hundreds of people who are hesitating, and it is estimated that half of the people will follow.

In this way, Li Junhao has a number in his heart, about 650 people, which is in line with his initial judgment.

Actually, this is a method that he did not use orders or requirements, otherwise, he could take thousands of people at any time, but that is not good, everyone has their own situation, he does not want to force these loyal subordinates, it is better to go with the flow.

——

On the 16th, Major General Vaughan and two escorts came to the Huhai Concession on a military plane, this 15,000-kilometer journey was also the first time for him, and the first thing he said when he saw Li Junhao was: "Brigadier General Pan Sen, I finally know why this place is called the Far East!" ”

The next day, while Vaughn was resting, Li Junhao sent 650 of his henchmen on the "President Coolidge" cruise ship back to the United States, and their voyage took more than 20 days, so they set off earlier than him.

In the next few days, Li Junhao had a detailed handover with Vaughn, and took him to know the main officers of the headquarters and the three main regiments, especially the chief of staff Yang Shixiong, because in order to smoothly hand over and ensure the effective control of the People's Army Self-Defense Corps, Chief of Staff Yang could not leave with him for a while, at least for a few months, or even longer.

Compared with Li Junhao, Vaughn's actual power is much smaller, he only served as the commander of the joint command, and took over as the director of the Ministry of Industry Bureau at the recommendation of Li Junhao, and he did not hold a part-time position in the Consulate General, nor did he have the command of the police department, and even in non-war times, he only had the right to guide the People's Army Self-Defense Corps and the Militia Joint Defense Force.

However, Vaughn was already very satisfied with this, and the three large main regiments, the well-trained special operations battalion of the headquarters, and the auxiliary personnel were enough for a division's troops, which was an excellent resume for him.

In addition, because of his previous work, Rear Admiral Vaughan and Rear Admiral Grant Galli of the Shanghai Detachment of the Asian Fleet are also old acquaintances, which makes him have no shortage of friends in Shanghai.

——

Early in the morning of June 20, Li Junhao took Xiaoyu, Xiaohu, Nick, and Avni to board the USS Harvey B-24 modified bomber again, flew away from the Shanghai Sea, and headed for the United States.

This time after refueling in Honolulu did not stop, after changing a crew, the plane flew continuously, arriving at Andrews Army Air Force base at about 10 a.m. on June 21, Washington time.

The Secret Service sent a pick-up officer and a vehicle, and the convoy drove to the White House, where he asked a car to take Xiaoyu and Nick to Villa 47 first, so that the two of them could rest first, leaving Avne and Xiaohu by his side - he expected that the two days would be busy from now on, so he planned to let the four of them take turns to rest and be on duty.

When he arrived at the White House, just in time for dinner, Mrs. Brown, who had already learned that he had come directly to the White House, had already arranged for him, but asked him a little strangely: Why don't you go back to your lodgings to rest first?

Li Junhao's reply was: "Alyssa, today will be a busy day, and the course of the war is about to take a major turn!" ”

(End of chapter)