When there were only the two of them left in the office, Li Junhao smiled and said, "Mr. General, you have a good chief of staff!" ”

"Haha!" Eisenhower knew what he meant, and immediately laughed, "General Panson, Walter does have many shortcomings, his personality is cold, and he can directly dismiss his old friend without blinking an eye; Treat his subordinates harshly and rudely, and if anyone or for any reason fails to complete their work, he will punish them severely......

"But to tell you the truth, he is one of the most competent commanders in the headquarters, and I begged Admiral Marshall for a long time to bring him over!"

Hearing this, Li Junhao nodded, he knew that these were true, but he remembered a rumor, so he said: "General, I heard that Lieutenant General Smith is very afraid of going to the front, and he was scolded by General Patton for this, is it true?" ”

"NO, NO......" Eisenhower said with a smile after hearing this legend: "This is a rumor made up by those who have been offended by Walter!"

"In February of last year, I sent Walter, who was then a secretary to Admiral Marshall, to the North African theater of operations and made him his chief of staff; At the beginning of March, George Patton Jr. was transferred to North Africa as commander of the Second Army...... At that time, both of them were major generals, speaking of which, Walter was still Patton's superior, how could he be scolded by Patton? However, the two have quarreled quite a few times. ”

Li Junhao also thinks so, these two are both irritable masters, if there is a difference of opinion, it is normal to argue and quarrel, and it is a bit too much to say that one party scolds the other.

After chatting for a while, Li Junhao asked the main question: "Mr. General, is there any special reason why you asked me to come to the meeting of the Allied Expeditionary Force Command?" ”

"Of course!" Eisenhower put down the teacup in his hand, "Commander Panson, you should know that the next major operation of the Allied Expeditionary Force is to counterattack the European continent, so the landing operation is the first step......

"It turns out that the 3rd Amphibious Force of the Marine Corps is fighting with the Atlantic Fleet, but you were transferred back to China for training, which makes our expeditionary force have no professional beach-grabbing landing force......

"Of course, since you took office, the training of the troops has been very effective, and it has indeed greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the sea and land troops, which can be clearly seen from the just-concluded battle for the Mariana Islands!

"I think that the current Marine Corps under your leadership is a truly professional landing force!

"Therefore, I have invited you here to ask you to lead the naval and land forces to participate in the 'Overlord' battle plan and assume the responsibility of the first wave of attacks and beach landings......

This is consistent with Li Junhao's previous assumptions, he is not surprised, he is surprised that the 54-year-old general actually used the word "please" to himself, a 30-year-old lieutenant general! So he couldn't help but ask: "Mr. General, in order to wait for me, you changed the date of landing?" ”

Eisenhower was not at all surprised by his sensitivity and well-informed, after all, this Lieutenant General Panson was not only the commander of the sea and land, but also the director of national intelligence and the director of the CIA! The admiral nodded and said, "Yes, the original 'D-Day' was scheduled for June 6, but after I learned the details of the 'Grain Collectors' operation, I stopped it!" Because I want you to join in by land and sea, so that the casualties of the attacking troops can be greatly reduced! ”

Li Junhao nodded in understanding. According to the official data of his previous life, the Normandy landing battle was indeed won by the Allies, but its own casualties were 122,000, including 73,000 American troops, and the losses were very large!

Understanding is understanding, but some words must be said in advance, Li Junhao said: "Commander-in-Chief Ike, since you know the details of the 'Grain Collectors' operation, you should know that in this campaign, I have clear requirements for the combat missions undertaken by the naval and land forces, and I also have absolute command of the first wave of attacks......

In the Normandy landings in the previous life, many serious shortcomings were exposed: the distribution of troops in the landing area was unreasonable, and in some places there was a shortage of troops, and in others there was congestion and congestion......

There was even a key stronghold in Caen, which was supposed to be captured by the landing force on the first day, but the Allies did not occupy it until a month after the landing!

In Li Junhao's cognition, because of this series of mistakes in the implementation of the plan, the Normandy battle plan was actually a failure!

The main reason why the supervising army was a victory in the end was because the German army's losses on the Eastern Front were too large, the troops were not enough, and it was impossible to defend the various areas that could be landed, coupled with the tactical deception of the previous Allied forces, the German army invested too few troops in the Normandy area, which allowed the Allied forces to win a crushing victory by relying on the number of troops and dozens of times the firepower investment in the situation of completely mastering sea and air supremacy!

According to post-war statistics, the Allies still outnumbered the Germans in casualties (122,000 versus 114,000) despite outnumbering the enemy by more than ten times the force, and also lost 1 battleship, 3 cruisers, 8 destroyers, 3 escort ships, and 48 small combat ships, merchant ships, and auxiliary vessels due to mines, submarine and air attacks, artillery fire, and other reasons.

If it were not for the political significance of the successful Normandy landings, this battle would not have been a great victory! If you want to take the sea and land forces to be responsible for the first wave of landing operations, you must put an end to these mistakes and prevent your subordinates from making unnecessary sacrifices!

——

Eisenhower looked at the young lieutenant general in front of him and nodded solemnly!

In fact, not long ago, he made a special trip back to China to report to President Roosevelt, White House Chief of Staff Raisi, and Army Chief of Staff Marshall on why he wanted to postpone the counterattack on the European continent......

The three superiors were extremely satisfied with the current situation of the naval and land troops, and affirmed Lieutenant General Pan Sen's military ability and command ability, and if it were not for the fact that he had just reached the age of 30, he would have been promoted to the rank of general by virtue of his military exploits after the "Grain Collector" campaign.

According to Eisenhower's understanding, this is mainly because he is worried about the taste of these old soldiers! However, he now felt that he should be promoted, otherwise, General Panson, who was too young, might not be able to suppress that group of British generals! ——

Then, declining Eisenhower's invitation to dinner, Li Junhao led his attachés to the forest villa arranged for him by Lieutenant General Smith, the chief of staff—the military conference would be held tomorrow afternoon, and he had one night and one morning to adjust to the jet lag.

(End of chapter)