After the Battle of the Mariana Islands, the status of the Marine Corps in the US military rose sharply, and no other unit dared to say that it had such a level and record in the beach-grabbing landing operation!

Therefore, Li Junhao, the young commander of the navy and land, has really established himself in the top echelons of the military, and no one dares to question his age and position!

In the Pacific Theater, after the Battle of the Marianas, the US military grasped the complete initiative, while the strategic defense posture of the Japanese army deteriorated seriously, and the "absolute defense circle" stipulated by its base camp was on the verge of collapse due to the loss of the core points, and the most direct threat was: The US B-29 bombers taking off from the Mariana Islands could already directly attack the Japanese mainland!

After the U.S. military mastered the Mariana Islands, it was equivalent to gaining an advance base in the Central Pacific, and whether it was continuing to attack or defending, it was already invincible - the Japanese army, which had greatly reduced its naval strength, was no longer capable of carrying out a counteroffensive at all!

——

After the Battle of the Mariana Islands, the Japanese mainland was directly threatened by the bombers of the US military, and the high-level contradictions intensified.

Beginning in June, the U.S. military deployed B-29 bomber groups to the Mariana Islands to bomb the Japanese mainland, targeting military and industrial facilities in Japan's major cities......

In just over a month, tens of millions of residents of Japan's major cities fled to the countryside, and the absenteeism rate of workers in major factories rose from 26% to 49% at a rapid rate, which had a huge impact on its wartime industrial production capacity!

Halfway through 1944, Japan's economy was on the verge of exhaustion: oil refinery production fell by 70 percent, steel production by 56 percent, mechanical power production by 75 percent, aircraft airframe production by 60 percent, and electronic equipment production by 70 percent...... More than 600 of its major military factories are constantly being bombed, the turnover rate of workers is increasing rapidly, and production capacity is declining......

In fact, by this time, Japan's national war potential had been exhausted, and it was simply impossible to turn over - in the end, modern warfare was actually fought in industrial production and logistical support capabilities!

Of course, the Japanese don't think so, it's their character to be small and big, and to catch a little bit and make a big bet, but this time they are doomed to lose!

——

In mid-June, Li Junhao took a special plane to inspect the three battlefields of Saipan, Guam, and Tinian Island in the Maria Islands, and said to the accompanying naval and land staff officers and reporters:

This is the brutal Pacific Islands battlefield! Contrary to the imagination of the American people, who enjoyed safety, these places were once inhabited by Japanese soldiers who were like wild beasts......

They will disguise themselves as wounded soldiers at the end of the battle, and use hidden grenades to die with American soldiers;

They will force captured civilians to advance in front of them and cover the charge of their headquarters......

They practice rifle assassination with prisoners of war who have surrendered......

They will inflict the most brutal punishments on the people of the occupied territories and will use killings to ensure that no one in their occupied territories will dare to resist......

As for the other evil deeds of the Japanese army, he can't even say anything!

At this time, Li Junhao, who had already mastered a certain mouthpiece of public opinion, began to use the propaganda of television, radio, and newspapers to introduce to the people in North America what the Japanese had done in Asia, why Honolulu was attacked, and why the US military fought a bloody battle with the Japanese army in the Pacific......

To his surprise, the ABC radio network went viral because of the interview and broadcast his program!

——

On 19 June, as soon as Li Junhao returned to Washington, he received a notice from General Leahy, chief of staff of the White House, asking him to immediately rush to London, England, to attend a meeting of the Allied Expeditionary Force Command to discuss the campaign plan for the Atlantic Theater.

He knows that the Pacific Theater is basically the US military in action, and the US military can decide on its own plan, at most, the theater command can report to the Joint Staff Council for approval; The situation in the Atlantic theater is much more complicated, involving a large number of European allies, mainly the United Kingdom, of course.

Because he had served in the Far East for a long time, and later came to Washington to be mainly responsible for intelligence work, he had not served for a long time on land and sea, and he knew a lot about the intelligence of the Atlantic Theater and Europe, but he had not participated in specific military operations, nor did he pay attention to the actions of the Allied expeditionary forces.

At this time, he was suddenly asked to participate in the meeting, which made him think of a possibility......

According to the original historical process, on June 6, the Allied forces would land in France and launch a major counteroffensive in the European theater, while the Battle of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Theater had just begun at this time, and the follow-up battle would take more than three months.

Now, because of its own intervention, the "grain requisitioners" operation began a month and a half ahead of schedule and ended smoothly in less than a month, while the counteroffensive on the European theater did not begin. He hadn't asked the reason for this before, and it seems that he went to the meeting tonight, and it should be time to reveal!

——

On the afternoon of 20 June, Li Junhao arrived at a secret airfield outside London through North Africa, where he was warmly welcomed by Lieutenant General Omar Nelson Bradley, commander of the US 1st Army.

During the ride to the headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force, Li Junhao and Lieutenant General Bradley had a pleasant conversation, although the two were 21 years apart, they had a lot in common in military command......

In particular, in terms of landing operations, Bradley has been the commander of the Tenth Army and the Second Army since the beginning of last year, participated in the North African theater of operations, and participated in the landing operations in French North Africa and Sicily. And Li Junhao has just personally commanded the landing battle in the Mariana Islands, so of course there is something to talk about!

In addition, there is a little relationship between the two, that is, the 82nd Airborne Division that was once under Li Junhao, Bradley was the commander of the division before Li Qiwei, but the division was only an infantry division at that time. As a result, the two of them can be regarded as people in the same camp in the military system! ——

After arriving at the headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Bradley first led him to meet the commander-in-chief, General Dwight David Eisenhower, who was very enthusiastic about Li Junhao's arrival, not only immediately put down the work at hand, drank tea and chatted with him, but also specially instructed the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Walter Biddle Smith: Be sure to arrange the life and guard work of Commander Panson in London!

After Smith accepted the order, he cordially asked Li Junhao what he wanted from his residence, and his attitude was very kind...... And after learning that Xiao Yu, the leader of the attaché, was in charge of life, and Nick was in charge of the security aspect, he immediately went out to communicate with the two of them, so as not to affect the conversation between the two commanders.

(End of chapter)