All of you here are old politicians and old soldiers, and when you hear this, you immediately understand the meaning of Li Junhao's words: Augur is going to bear all the responsibilities of the South Asian battlefield by himself!

Admiral Leahy said: "I think what Augur said is very right, the Allied forces in the Far East are jointly led by the three countries, and it is not the Chairman Chiang who can say it alone. From the perspective of the overall interests of the Allies, Ogg's plan for a raid on Southeast Asia was very feasible. ”

Lieutenant General Arnold, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army and Commander of the Air Force, said: "General Pansen, I saw that your report said that among the troops under the command of the Indo-Burma Theater, there are 10 infantry brigades composed of 65,000 recruits you asked for from the Chinese theater. ”

"Of course!" Li Junhao said, "General Arnold, these 65,000 recruits were exchanged by me for weapons and equipment left over from the British army when they withdrew from Burma, and they started from scratch, trained with US military standards and US military equipment, and received US military salaries, so I think they are US military troops, and outsiders have no right to take them away." ”

"What about the Gurkha brigade?" Arnold asked again.

"These Gurkhas, I hired them through Major General Youen of the British Army, and I armed them with American-style equipment, to be precise, they are mercenaries!" "They performed very well in this battle in Yangon. ”

At this time, the president's legal adviser Pena said: "I have heard that the wages of these Gurkha people have always been borne by you, Ogy, is that so?" ”

"Yes, Mr. Pena." Li Junhao said.

"It's not in order." "Mr. Roosevelt, the Gurkha Brigade is fighting for the Allies, and their salaries should be included in the Allied military spending program......"

"Yes, I think it should be." Roosevelt nodded in agreement, "In addition, all these heroic units trained by Augur should be included in the official establishment of the U.S. military, and of course Augur should not be allowed to pay them personally." ”

"I agree, Mr. President." General Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Far East Theater, nodded, "In addition, I agree with Auger's opinion that China's Chairman Chiang cannot withdraw the expeditionary force, and the current unit has been equipped and trained by Auge for more than half a year, and they should continue to fulfill the task of defending Burma." ”

Roosevelt nodded and asked, "Oger, do you think the Japanese will give up on taking Burma after this major defeat?" ”

"No, sir." Li Junhao said, "According to the style of the Japanese army, they will never be willing to give up their interests in Burma, and they will definitely make a comeback." Moreover, even if they don't come, we should take the initiative to fight over, liberate Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, and fight for a counterattack on the Malay Peninsula!

This also has another important purpose, that is, to force the Japanese army to transfer more troops to this battlefield in South Asia, and to reduce the pressure on the Pacific theater and the Chinese theater. In order to achieve this goal, it is not only necessary not to allow the Chinese expeditionary force to withdraw, but also to increase the number of troops......"

Secretary of State Hull shook his head and said, "The commander-in-chief Chiang in the Chinese theater will not agree to continue to increase troops. ”

Li Junhao said: "Mr. Hull, there is another deputy commander-in-chief in the Chinese theater!" ”

Well? Everyone's eyes were fixed, they knew who this was, and they were a little moved for a while, but they were a little hesitant.

After a long time, Marshall spoke: "I think General Panson's suggestion can be considered. ”

Admiral Leahy also said: "I have heard that the troops of the underground party are very capable of fighting, but the equipment is too poor, if we equip and train them, we should get a strong army." ”

Admiral Stark, the chief of naval operations, said hesitantly: "But they believe in redism, will it affect the overall atmosphere of the Allied forces—especially the commander-in-chief Chiang, he will definitely not agree to this." ”

National Security Adviser Ayers waved his hand and said, "He doesn't count this!" The Allied forces are led by us, the United States, and the underground party is an important anti-fascist force in China, and we can take the opportunity to establish good relations with them, which will be beneficial for us to control the situation in the Far East after the war. ”

The others thought about it and felt that it made sense, so they agreed to Li Junhao's proposal.

The participants did not know what Li Junhao really thought, he was worried that the current 140,000 members of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were all elite troops of the Kuomintang, and they had been fully equipped with American weapons, received combat training in mechanized regiments, and had been trained on the battlefield in Southeast Asia for more than two years. So he wanted to train a strong army for the underground party!

——

Over the next two days, two more meetings were held, at which the White House advisers and the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed on a military policy for Southeast Asia and instructed the Far East Command, which was in charge of General Marshall, to come up with a concrete implementation plan.

On December 14, after spending a warm weekend with Ayres in Washington, Li Junhao left for the Far East, accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State Riggs McDaniel, who was President Roosevelt's representative, Major General Matthew Ridgway, commander of the Army's 82nd Division, Major General Raymond Wheeler, Assistant Chief of Staff of the Army, and Major General George Strattmeyer, Chief of Staff of the Army Air Corps.

As early as October 1939, when he was still the deputy director of the Far East Department of the State Council, he led a team to inspect the Shanghai Concession, and the two became acquainted, and later he was promoted to director in 1940 and assistant secretary of state at the beginning of this year, and his promotion speed was no less than that of Li Junhao.

This time, Macdaniel's task was to go to China to coordinate with Chairman Chiang on the affairs of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and to appease his anger after he learned that the Allies had negotiated with the underground party about sending troops. This kind of difficult thing can only be done by a career diplomat like him who knows how to fight a lawsuit with the head of another country, but Li Junhao and other soldiers can't do it, and if they are tough, it will definitely intensify the contradictions.

This time, Major General Li Qiwei will first conduct a survey of the situation in the Indo-Burma theater of operations, and then bring the 82nd Division, which will be reorganized into an airborne division, to Burma, and he will himself serve as deputy commander of the theater.

Major General Wheeler was sent by Marshall to Li Junhao's deputy to serve as theater chief of staff.

Major General Strattmeyer took up his new post as commander of the Allied Indo-Burma Theater Air Force, commanding the U.S. 10th Air Force and Colonel Chennault's "Flying Tigers" (U.S. Volunteer Flying Corps for China).

(End of chapter)