Of course, Li Junhao, who was busy with work, would not watch all the games in Switzerland, and after presenting the award to the young player Barton, he set off to Bonn, the capital of West Germany, to express his condolences to the European and American troops on behalf of Roosevelt and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In Bonn, he met the current co-commander-in-chief, Admiral Wainwright Five-Star and the commander of the 1st Army, Admiral Stilwell, as well as the less familiar commander of the 3rd Army, General George Patton.

Especially his old friend Stilwell, he was very happy to see him.

He then consulted Stilwell and Patton for personal advice in a separate conversation, and prepared to give them another place to work—the two were 65 and 63 years old respectively, and they were somewhat unsuitable for the field army.

There is another important reason: The Admiralty has applied many times to promote Halsey, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, and Spruance, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, to five-star admirals. Of course, he didn't mean that at this time.

In a separate conversation, Patton said that he did not want to leave Europe, because he believed that the current Soviet Union was a great threat to Western European countries, and he was willing to lead the American military to confront it here.

Hearing this, Li Junhao couldn't help patting his head, this Barton has embarked on the old road again - in his previous life, he died unexplained because of this point of view and persistence!

This is not good, since I already know about this, I can't let this good general die!

Lee stayed in Bonn for three days, personally supervising Stilwell and Patton's handover of the two armies, which went smoothly because there had been a plan to abolish the armies.

On 5 February, his plane took off and returned to China, taking the two generals with him.

——

On February 10, Roosevelt signed an order to promote Stilwell and Patton to five-star admirals in the Army, and Halsey and Spruance to five-star admirals in the Navy.

Subsequently, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued an order appointing Stilwell and Patton as deputy chiefs of staff of the Army.

On 15 July, the White House Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted to Congress a proposal to reorganize the management of the armed forces......

On the 18th, the proposal was passed, and Roosevelt signed an order on the same day to issue a new bill:

1. Establish a Ministry of National Defense in the government sequence to coordinate the day-to-day management of the various service departments, with the ministers being civilian officials.

2. The White House Joint Chiefs of Staff has been upgraded to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is the highest military command and decision-making body under the President of the country, and establishes the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve as the convener of the meeting and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and is directly responsible to the President.

3. In addition to the chairman, the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are the chief of staff of the army, the chief of naval operations, the commander of the air force, and the commander of the navy and land.

4. The War Department, the Navy Department, the Air Force Department, and the Marine Corps Command are the second-level service departments, and the administrative sequence is set up under the Ministry of National Defense, which is responsible for the administrative management, troop building, strategic training, military service mobilization, weapons and equipment development and procurement, and logistical support of their respective services; In wartime and during military operations, it is under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

5. The Coast Guard shall be under the command of the Admiralty, and the National Guard shall be under the command of the state governments in peacetime and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in wartime and military operations.

The establishment of the Department of Defense and the upgrading of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have made the US military system more in line with modern military development, separating the administration and command into two systems, each responsible to the president.

On the 20th, with the approval of Congress, Roosevelt signed a new order:

1. Appoint retired former five-star Admiral William Leahy as the first Minister of Defense.

2. Appointment of five-star general Ognyan Lee Panson was the first president of the Joint Council of Chiefs of Staff.

——

Before Roosevelt's retirement, Li Junhao promoted the establishment of the National Defense Department and the upgrading of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the one hand, making Congress feel that it had the upper hand because of the establishment of the National Defense Department, the secretary or the civilian official, and on the other hand, he elevated the status of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, elevating it from the president's private staff to the actual supreme military command organ at the national level, thus further enhancing his authority in the military and consolidating his position in the country's political map.

Subsequently, Li Junhao transferred Stilwell to Hailu and let him be the deputy commander, take care of his own house, and let himself get rid of some administrative work - he now understands that the purpose of promotion is to make his life more comfortable, not to work more! ——

While the United States was adjusting the military command system, something happened again in Eastern Europe!

On February 20, the "February Incident" took place in Czechoslovakia in Eastern Europe, and then on the 24th, the Left Power Party came to power and completely turned to the Soviet Union.

This incident made Western political circles aware of the threat of the Soviet Union, and the idea of "containing the Soviet Union" began to prevail in the West.

Li Junhao was a little helpless about this, and the current situation in Eastern Europe is still the same as in his previous life, and it directly opened the prelude to the Cold War in the East and the West...... No matter how strong his ability is, he can't change the direction of this history! It was a little disappointing for him, but now it was difficult to do anything more.

Well, this is a big topic, and the idea that I wanted to be easy and lazy before was bankrupt, so let's work honestly!

——

In early March, Ayres and Pena announced that they would run together.

When the news broke, a debate began within the Democratic Party, and those who originally supported Truman or Wallace were a little confused......

Subsequently, Roosevelt publicly stated that he had high expectations for the pair of Ayers and Pena, and believed that they were the best candidates to lead the United States forward!

Then, at a press conference, someone asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Du Pansen's five-star general on Ayers' candidacy, and Li Junhao's reply was: As a professional soldier, he cannot express any opinion on the presidential election, and Mr. Ayres has always been his "boss", so he does not dare to judge him!

Boss? As soon as the word was revealed, media reporters immediately dug up the meaning behind it: General Panson had been the chief assistant to the national security adviser for a long time in the years before, and it was not wrong to call Ayres "boss"!

Moreover, the reporters also found out: For many years, General Panson and Ayres have had an excellent personal relationship, and even when he returned from his post in the Far East, he lived in Ayers's house for a long time!

These disclosures illustrate the fact that although General Panson cannot comment on the campaign in his military capacity, he must have fully supported Ayers!

Considering the military status and popular influence of the five-star Admiral Panson, this will be a huge bonus for Ayers' campaign! Some media estimates: the bonus ratio is at least more than 10 percentage points!

(End of chapter)