The Spring Festival of the year of Yiyou is February 13, and the Marine Corps has a three-day holiday from the 12th to the 14th, which has become a common practice, and some government departments with large Chinese staff have begun to learn.

Because Commander Pan Sen's attitude towards the Chinese has affected many people, now the navy, land, CIA, FBI and other departments do not dare to discriminate against the Chinese - it is known, but it is a big deal!

On 15 February, Li Junhao personally sent a telegram to the Pacific Theater and issued a dead order to Lieutenant General Van der Grifte, commander of the Fourth Army of the Navy and Army, who was to carry out the operation on Liuhuang Island: Use superior firepower and advanced equipment to conduct operations, advance steadily, and never allow hasty progress and use soldiers as cannon fodder!

The next day, when the battle of Liuhuang Island began, the officers and men of the navy and land troops, who were already very experienced, faithfully carried out Li Junhao's orders, and fought steadily step by step......

At the end of the first day of fighting, although the landing was not successful, more than 5,000 Japanese troops on the beachhead were eliminated, and after this situation was reported to the Sea and Land Command, Li Junhao relieved his heart and called back to the Fourth Army: Just like this, the Japanese army on Liuhuang Island has a total of 23,000 people, and it will not last for a few days!

——

On the 17th, Roosevelt and Marshall returned to Washington, D.C., and immediately held a meeting to listen to Li Junhao's special report. In fact, the Joint Staff Committee had reported these situations in detail before, and even the handling measures were agreed by Roosevelt, so I just didn't want to know more details at this time.

At this time, after so many days, Marshall somewhat regretted that he had agreed too quickly, one reason was that he was concurrently serving as commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in Europe, and now he was about to die!

You must know that the Allied forces in Europe now are not only the US and British armies, not the armies of those Commonwealth countries or regions, but also the armies of the French army, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries, and the Soviet army, as well as the armies of Eastern European countries such as Poland and Romania, the number is more or less, but there are nearly 30 countries, which is too difficult to manage!

Another reason was that Marshall felt that Eisenhower's treatment was too heavy, after all, he had made many military exploits before, and this time he was not only dismissed, but also demoted by two ranks.

Of course, this point is irreparable, the Joint Chiefs of Staff can not change the order overnight, and Panson's words are also right: Eisenhower used the thinking of a politician to manage the Allied Command, which satisfied the British army, but seriously damaged the interests of the American army, which caused the discord between the American and British armies, until the Battle of the Ardennes appeared that the American army was besieged, but the British army was watching, and finally caused 100,000 American casualties! If we do not deal with it seriously, how can the US officers and men still believe in the country and the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

In the end, Marshall couldn't help but plead with Roosevelt and Li Junhao, suggesting that Eisenhower was still capable, and that he should still be given the opportunity to contribute to the country.

Roosevelt was noncommittal about this, and Li Junhao saw that Marshall had spoken, so he did not stop it, saying that the War Department could arrange this matter by itself, and he would not interfere.

On 20 February, the Army General Staff applied and the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the appointment of Major General Eisenhower as deputy chief of staff of the Allied Far East General Command.

Subsequently, Marshall resigned from his part-time position as commander-in-chief of the Allied Far East because he concurrently served as commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the European theater of operations, and was replaced by Admiral Stark, chief of naval operations -- just as the current theater of operations in the Pacific Theater and the Allied Far East theater began to coincide, Admiral Stark and Admiral Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Theater, better coordinated the terms of reference and specific division of labor between the two commands.

——

On February 28, the Battle of Liuhuang Island ended, and the Fourth Army of the Navy and Army annihilated 23,000 Japanese troops defending the island at the cost of 275 killed and 1,280 wounded - only Li Junhao knew that this time was 8 days earlier than the original history, and the American army would have killed 7,000 people and wounded 19,000!

Although Iwo Jima is a small island, it is located between Tokyo and Saipan, about 1,200 kilometers away from each other.

Previously, after the U.S. military occupied Saipan, it used it as a base to attack Tokyo, but due to the warning of the Japanese army on Iwo Jima and the interception of fighter planes, the effect has not been good. So the U.S. army wants to occupy this place, and the Japanese army has to defend it!

Subsequently, a photo taken by the reporter quickly grabbed the headlines of major newspapers in the United States - six Marines planted the American flag on the top of Iwo Jima!

Li Junhao ordered this scene to be molded into a statue, and along with the statues of the previous Normandy landings and the Mariana Islands battle, it was placed in front of the Navy and Land Command building as a commemoration!

——

On March 4, Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States, and Truman became vice president.

Unlike in his previous history, Roosevelt was in excellent physical condition now, and if it weren't for the fact that the spinal lesions had been so long that he was still unable to stand up due to permanent organic damage, he would have been healthier than most of his peers!

Because the war was in its final and most important phase, and the White House staff and cabinet team remained as they were, Roosevelt was prepared to consider adjustments only after the war was completely over.

After the ceremony, on the way back to the office, Roosevelt specially called Li Junhao to his side and whispered: "Og, thank you!" ”

"No thanks, you're a good president." Li Junhao also said softly, "If you can, I hope you will keep doing it!" ”

"Hahaha......" Roosevelt laughed heartily, "Oger, in any case, this is the last time I will be president, and you will be old enough by then, how about it, interested in running for office?" ”

"Not interested." Li Junhao immediately said, "You will know when you see the intensity of your work, you are too tired!" ”

Roosevelt laughed even louder......

Many people have seen the conversation between the two and confirmed that the two are very close, which is almost equivalent to showing that in the next four years of the presidential term, Admiral Panson's power will not decrease, but will only increase!

Among them, Truman felt the deepest and knew that he had done wrong before! ——

On March 5, Marshall flew to Western Europe to preside over the Allied European Theater of Arms Supreme Military Conference, and after a heated debate, the United States, Britain, and France agreed that the Soviet troops closer to the target would capture Berlin, and the direction of the Allied assault would be Leipzig and Dresden in the east of the German central line, but it was stipulated that after Berlin was captured, it would be jointly administered by the four powers.

The commander of the British army, Montgomery, was very dissatisfied with this decision, but the generals of the other three countries ignored him, making him so embarrassed!

On 7 March, after breaking through the Siegfried Line, the Allies on the Western Front captured the Saar, drove the Germans across the Rhine, and seized the Ludendorff Bridge in the Remagen area, then took control of the east bank of the Rhine and encircled the Ruhr on both flanks; Subsequently, the Allies forced their way across the Rhine and advanced into the heart of Germany.

(End of chapter)