On 18 October, in order to prevent the US military from continuing to sabotage Japan's home defense circle, Vice Admiral Toyoda, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, ordered the implementation of the "Jet-1" plan, and the Japanese Navy almost threw all its resources into the 1st, 2nd, and mobile fleets to launch an active attack on the US Pacific Fleet near the Philippine Islands......

The U.S. and Japanese fleets fought the world's largest naval battle to date in Leyte Gulf, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, south of Samar Island.

From 20 to 26 July, after six days of continuous fighting, the US forces sank 1 aircraft carrier, 2 escort aircraft carriers, 2 destroyers, and 1 frigate, damaged 4 escort carriers, 2 destroyers, 3 frigates, and 1 submarine, lost 162 aircraft, and suffered less than 3,000 casualties.

The Japanese sank 4 aircraft carriers, 3 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 10 destroyers, damaged 1 air battleship, 4 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, lost 288 aircraft, and suffered more than 10,000 casualties.

After this war, the Japanese Navy basically lost its ocean-going combat capability and lost its sea supremacy! ——

After the victory of the Battle of Leyte Gulf reached the United States, it was immediately reported by major media, especially the ABC radio and television network owned by Li Junhao, which not only gave a detailed account of the battle situation, but also invited more than a dozen military experts to conduct an in-depth analysis of the US military's previous victories in sea and land battles and the impact of this war on the war, and came to a common conclusion: Because of the government's correct decision and the US military's heroic battle, victory is already in sight, and the United States will be the biggest winner of this world war!

Although there was not a single word about the presidential campaign in television reports and analysis programs, it was clear that it had a significant impact on the election......

——

On November 17, the results of the presidential election were announced, and Roosevelt was elected president of the United States for the fourth time with 63% of the vote (10 percentage points more than in the original history)!

For all the allies, Roosevelt's continued presidency of the United States was the best outcome, and dozens of heads of state sent congratulatory messages at the first time.

In the United States, the top echelons of the military and political circles immediately settled down and refocused their attention on the war. Economically, because of the wartime military enterprises and related industrial industries to expand production and start production, GDP has been rising for several consecutive years, and the success of Roosevelt's re-election this time is a great benefit to industrial enterprises, and the total national product continues to rise.

For ordinary people, the number of troops as many as 12 million, that is, the families behind them, and the wartime salaries of officers and soldiers are more than double that of peacetime, so that family assets have risen, and the consumer economy has seen a slight deformed and obvious increase......

Seeing all this, Li Junhao secretly rejoiced - fortunately he and Roosevelt made the right choice!

——

On the 18th, when Li Junhao was working at the King's Building, he suddenly received a phone call, which turned out to be Joseph Stilwell, an old friend whom he had not met for a long time, and learned that he had returned to Washington, and immediately asked to meet him.

That night, Stilwell, who had lost a lot of weight, was taken to Villa 1 by Li Junhao's guards, and the two were very excited to meet.

Li Junhao was actually a little embarrassed in his heart, when this old man gave way to himself, left the Indo-Burma theater, went to North Africa, and restarted the campaign as a lieutenant general from an armored brigade commander; He was not promoted to deputy commander of the US forces in the North African theater until the end of last year, and was only able to go one step further after the departure of Jacob Lawx Devers, the commander of US forces in North Africa, in early August, but still only with the rank of lieutenant general.

In this process, I didn't help much, and I was really ashamed!

Stilwell didn't care about these at all, and after meeting, he first praised Li Junhao's amazing achievements in the past two years, saying that he was proud to be a friend.

Xiaoyu and the others were also very kind when they saw Stilwell, and they went up to meet each other, which made him very happy, and shouted that they wanted Xiaoyu to cook an authentic Chinese food, but he was greedy!

An hour later, a feast of color and aroma was on the table, and beer was served as usual, which everyone now likes to drink, and it is not easy to get drunk—all of them are high-ranking commanders, and they are drunk and delayed.

During the meal and chat, Stilwell said that he came to Washington this time to report to the War Department, and it seemed that there should be a new job transfer, but he didn't know where he would be transferred, so he asked Li Junhao if he knew about it?

Li Junhao's heart moved, and he said with a smile: "I know, Chief of Staff Marshall admires you very much, and named you to be his deputy......

"Cut!" Stilwell didn't believe it! Among the generals and lieutenant generals of the army, there are more qualified than themselves, how can it be their turn to be the deputy chief of staff of the army!

Li Junhao didn't say anything about it anymore, and continued to persuade the wine to chat.

After a long absence, Stilwell still drank too much, but Li Junhao could see that this old friend's two-year desert career had taken a lot of toll on his body, and his body was already a little overloaded! So in the last bit of wine, I fed him two system red bottles, not for control - the other party was already a blue teammate, just trying to treat his body!

——

When he woke up early the next morning, Stilwell couldn't help but exclaim, he didn't know why his body had so much dirt, and it took almost an hour to take a shower to wash it off! But then he felt a difference in his body, not only the previous discomfort was gone, but also he was light and healthy, as if he had regained the quality of his youth!

After thinking about it for a long time, he didn't figure out why, but he vaguely felt: This matter should be related to Pan Sen!

During work hours, when Stilwell was sent to the War Department by the car arranged by Xiaohu, Li Junhao talked to Marshall, who came to the Joint Staff Conference, in the White House......

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Stilwell, who was waiting for his appointment in the hotel, received a phone call, rushed to the War Department, and was taken directly to Marshall's office......

Half an hour later, when he left, he was still a little dizzy - he was really going to be the deputy chief of staff of the army and the deputy of General Marshall!

Subsequently, the War Department reported, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved it, and the President signed an order appointing Lieutenant General Stilwell as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army!

At this time, he remembered what Li Junhao said the night before, and immediately knew that this was Pan Sen's strength!

However, he won't be hypocritical anymore now, this is the intention of a good brother, and he himself believes that he can use it, so why not do it? Such a good location, it would be a fool not to cherish it!

As for saying "thank you" or something, he knew that there was no need for this between the two of them, so it was better to have another drink!

(End of chapter)