Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 101



Only Noblemtl

#101

“You asked for negotiations in Japan?”

“okay.”

I got a rough idea of ​​what the situation was like.

Perhaps people like Hideki Tojo would have cried out for war, saying that the US was no good, and the few who remained would have said so and suggested sending a negotiating team.

“What do you think?”

“My thoughts? Should I put them into words?”

“Huh. Well, that’s true.”

“But, as long as the negotiating team is here, there will be no war…”

I laughed at the idea that we could buy time by dragging out the negotiations.

“Well, the Japs I know aren’t the type of guys who think normally.”

Aren’t they the ones who, even in the history of the Yuan Dynasty, attacked and then sent a declaration of war belatedly, teabagging?

However, Roosevelt and other figures did not seem to know Jabs’ true nature yet.

While the Foreign Office was trying to buy time by meeting with the Jabs envoy, I also had a guest to meet.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes, the minister is still the same.”

It was Eisenhower.

“I will go.”

“Ike”

“Honestly, there is no one better suited for the job than me.”

That’s what it was.

Kruger? Not a bad choice if you only think about combat. But military talent wasn’t the only thing needed in the Asia campaign.

“There are already many soldiers there. Major General Wainwright is a great military leader. But isn’t it because Major General Mitchell was left there not because he is a soldier but because he is also a good politician?”

That’s right.

Compared to Elliot or me, Mitchell’s political sense was better than I thought, despite being quite crude and often moving without thinking.

No, unlike his long stay on the mainland, Mitchell’s political skills had reached a mature level while he was in the Philippines.

Especially Mitchell’s image, that was one of the best weapons he had.

Mitchell was, by all accounts, more a politician than a soldier, to the point where he took advantage of the image of a troublemaker, a headache, and a volatile figure that even the U.S. Army leadership could not properly handle.

“And whoever you send there would know more about the situation there than I do?”

The reason why Asia needed politicians as well as soldiers was because of the complex political map like the Bokmajeon.

Even within one country and one people, there are countless factions torn apart, such as the left and the right, and even within them, nationalism, anarchism, and centrism.

“What about the entangled historical backgrounds of each country and ethnicity, such as China, Vietnam, Joseon, and Japan?”

The reason the United States has stumbled in Asia so many times throughout history has been because it failed to properly understand such complex situations.

If you knew how much Vietnam and China hate each other,

If you knew how diverse the religions and ethnicities of Southeast Asia are,

It would have cut down on at least half of the fuss.

And to understand and utilize him, a politician was better suited than a soldier.

In that sense, Mitchell was not a perfect politician, but at least he was good enough in that he used any means necessary to achieve his goals.

So what I’m saying is that it’s not the best, but it’s not the worst either, it’s the second best.

however,

“It’s not like Kruger or other personnel are like that. Of course, it doesn’t mean that they lack ability. However, Europe has other options besides me, but I think I’m the best fit for the Philippines.”

Of course, Eisenhower was the obvious choice.

“Is it really necessary to send this old man to the battlefield to feel better?”

“Isn’t that what the Minister wants?”

It wasn’t a wrong call.

He spent several months preparing hard with Marshall as a minister, and then as commander of the European Expeditionary Force.

Just thinking about it makes me laugh…

“I can’t even control my facial expressions, so I guess you’re really good at it.”

“Hmm, hmm.”

I quickly came to my senses at the sight of Eisenhower looking at me with a smirk, and cleared my throat to clear my expression.

“You really···.”

“I’m not sure I regret giving up my position as commander of the European Expeditionary Force. To be honest, I still mutter to myself several times that I’m crazy. But you know.”

Eisenhower took a moment to catch his breath, looked straight at me, and smiled broadly.

“I said that because I thought I would regret it until I died if I didn’t go.”

“Oh, right. Right. What can I do when you say things like that?”

A long list of people came to mind, including Roosevelt, who would have been fired up at the news, but I guess that’s something I have to deal with too.

“Instead, please give them a little more. You know better than anyone that the Tommy guys are important, but the Philippines is no less important.”

“Yeah, that’s obvious.”

“Oh, and it would be even better if you could give the seals some food too.”

Although the Army’s focus in defending the Philippines was on air power, that did not mean it did not need the Navy’s help.

“Um. That is···.”

But even though I am the Minister of War, seals are not under my jurisdiction…

Eisenhower said to me, who was making a troubled expression,

“Can you do this much? I’ll trust you and pack my bags.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll try my best.”

The meeting with Eisenhower was not the end.

“Senior.”

Patton···.

“I heard that you are conducting a large-scale mobile training exercise this time. Of course, our tank unit···.”

He couldn’t hide his excitement when he heard that a large-scale mobile training exercise was being planned.

“If we could properly recreate the tank battle that Major General Fuqua reported on….”

He said he couldn’t sleep because he was so excited to see the tanks truly reigning as the masters of the battlefield.

“Really? I can’t sleep because my heart aches when I think about how helpless our soldiers must be there.”

“yes?”

“Massive tank maneuvers? Sounds good. But is it really possible?”

“···”

I sighed and shook my head as I looked at Patton, who had finally become quiet.

“What do you think will happen if you don’t perform well there?”

For those who knew, like Nana Patton, that armor was already the key to battle, this training was nothing more or less than training for actual combat.

However, there were still many people who could not properly adapt to the movements that changed in an instant.

Even,

“Isn’t this a situation where there are still people who would die hugging that damn horse?”

If there are still such people within the army, what about others?

Especially when it comes to money, the lawmakers added that it is basic to first cut corners.

What are you worried about when you are going to pour money unconditionally to make it an arsenal of democracy?

No, no matter how much money you have, it’s not enough, and those guys who want to get closer to each other are making a fuss and are overflowing with cars. Especially the seal guys are running at you with their eyes wide open…

“And our tanks aren’t perfect either?”

“That’s right. Oh, so I heard you gave me some suggestions for improvement.”

Development of the next tank that would surpass the M3 Sherman was still sluggish due to damned engine problems.

In the end, the supplies that were immediately sent to Britain, and perhaps the ones that our European Expeditionary Force would initially use, were likely to be M3 Shermans.

“Isn’t the devil in the details?”

“Is there such a law?”

Patton tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the famous movie line of the 21st century.

I had recently informed the armory of several improvement proposals that I had held back until the very end for fear that they might leak to the Germans.

“Wet ammunition?”

“Yeah. Look at that now. What happens when you get hit directly in the area where the ammo is?”

What happened, what happened? It just burned like a blazing fire.

It wasn’t for nothing that Sherman’s most famous nickname was Ronson Lighter.

The advertising slogan for Ronson lighters is none other than ‘Lights the first time.’

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t hear the sound of a Ronson lighter igniting in one room?”

“But wouldn’t a huge battleship also burn like that if it hits the ammunition depot?”

Yes. That’s why there are aces who can sink huge battleships with a single bomb.

“So, since the chances of it being like that are very slim, let’s just leave it alone? Is that guy the same as a battleship?”

I immediately threw out a solution to the joint of developers who were talking nonsense.

“Make a wet ammunition depot and attach it.”

“Wet ammunition?”

“Yeah. If you store ammunition in water, wouldn’t it reduce the chance of it exploding immediately if it gets hit?”

Of course, it wasn’t without its problems.

Nowadays, I just stuff the ammo into any empty space I can find and store it, so if there’s space, I can put in as much ammo as I want, and it’s easy to reach and take it out.

“There are complaints that it takes time to reload because there is an ammunition cache.”

“Yeah, tell them to train.”

“yes?”

“It’s better to train until your arms fall off than to get roasted with a tank, right?”

The next thing I saw was the hand

“If it’s impossible to fix the high body right away, we should use it to our advantage. Put a periscope on it.”

“Is that a periscope?”

“Oh, just give each person one.”

“All right.”

After making a few minor changes, Sherman was reborn in a more or less usable form.

One of the most anticipated models was the so-called Jumbo.

Although the engine was not powerful enough to build a heavy tank, it was not impossible to strengthen the Sherman’s armor, if only to sacrifice some speed.

“The frontal protection is enough to withstand an 88mm tank gun.”

“okay?”

“But would there be any use for a guy like that?”

I hope not, but that’s not likely.

Of course, more important was to produce a proper heavy tank rather than an improved version like that.

“When will the one with the 90mm gun come out?”

“A prototype will be available soon.”

It was said that a prototype with a larger forebody based on the Sherman was being produced.

“And at Ford?”

“There is already talk of bringing in a new engine.”

“okay?”

It wasn’t bad.

Now that I think about it, something suddenly occurred to me,

“Yeah, power pack.”

“yes?”

“Didn’t you say that the most annoying things in a tank are the engine and the transmission?”

“yes.”

“Why don’t you make it so that you can just replace it modularly?”

“!”

The eyes of the armory personnel widened at my words.

“Are you saying that we should bring the engine forward as well?”

It is said that the current tank has the transmission and drive wheels in the front and the engine in the back.

“I don’t know. You experts should take care of the structural issues yourself, and try to make it easy to change them all at once by concentrating them in one place.”

I’m not a tank expert, but shouldn’t the power pack idea have come to me a few years earlier?

As always, I left the details to the experts and left the armory with a cool expression.

In addition to that, there were many small and large things to check.

If there is any silver lining,

“Is this the fact that the past ten years of overtime work was not in vain?”

It was Marshall muttering with a pale face.

Wasn’t it the army that had already deployed over a million troops during the last war?

During my tenure as Chief of Staff, based on my experience at that time, the Army was prepared to mobilize and operate various production systems at any time as soon as the signal was given.

Let’s look at a tank, for example.

Even in the 21st century, Germany, which was the world’s fourth largest manufacturing country after China, the United States, and Japan, and was second to none in mechanical engineering, was building tanks with a craftsman’s spirit.

But our American creed was different.

“There is no business in the face of quantity. And what is our strength? Division of labor.”

The division of labor using conveyor belts, first implemented by Ford, was put into practice on a larger scale.

“We will begin production according to a plan that will allow us to assemble parts produced at factories in Michigan and Illinois, centered around Detroit.”

“We will do our best to filter out low quality items during the bidding process.”

However, although the production of various weapons, including tanks, was somehow resolved, there were still many other minor problems.

The good news is that it wasn’t me who was in charge of all this, it was Marshall.

But often I would come across difficult problems that I couldn’t get Marshall’s help on…

“Dad~”

My heart sank as I saw Mary running towards me, crying sadly.

As the new year dawned, Eleanor’s stress level was reaching new highs every day as Churchill did not return to England and became a long-term guest at the White House.

Anna had to visit the White House every day to help Eleanor, who was not in good health to begin with.

It was natural that Mary and Arthur followed behind.

And Mary, who went to the White House like that, always proved why her nickname was the White House Troublemaker.

Life is a series of absurdities