Zhou Weiguo was quite surprised by Stilwell's politeness.
Moreover, Stilwell's Chinese was quite standard. If he hadn't seen Stilwell's face, Zhou Weiguo would have thought that these words were spoken by an authentic old Beijinger.
"Chief of Staff, you are very polite. Wei Guo is the lucky one to meet Your Excellency, Chief of Staff." He stretched out his hand to avoid hitting the smiling man. Zhou Weiguo also knew this. No matter what kind of feud Stilwell had with Chairman Chiang, at least, Stilwell
Wei's attitude made him feel much more comfortable. You know, when he first came to the headquarters, he was on the bench.
"Haha." Stilwell laughed, "Chinese people love to tell lies, that is, polite words, but my words, Stilwell, are not lies. I have long wanted to meet you, the world-famous General Zhou.
Already."
Zhou Weiguo also smiled, "The chief of staff also saw it."
"Hahaha." Stilwell laughed, "I have called you back to the headquarters this time because I think your vision and talents should be more suitable for the general direction, rather than leading troops on an expedition and going to the front line."
"Actually, Wei Guo feels that things are the same at the headquarters and on the front line." Zhou Weiguo smiled helplessly. However, when he returned to the headquarters, he still had to ease the relationship. Otherwise, if China and the United States really had a stalemate, there would be a stalemate.
It doesn't look good. He doesn't want things to happen that didn't exist because of his butterfly.
"Hey." Stilwell sighed, "I was in Chongqing a few days ago. I had a meeting with Chairman Chiang and others and pointed out the problem of the distribution of our American aid supplies to China."
Zhou Weiguo was really shocked. He had only read about such an incident in history books, but he didn't expect that this person was really a ruthless person! "In the end, there was no result, right?"
Stilwell nodded bitterly, "In fact, the entire conference room fell into silence after I said these words. Your chairman went directly to the next topic."
Zhou Weiguo rubbed his brows and said, "Chief of Staff, the situation in China is relatively complicated. Both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are fighting against Japan. But for the Chairman, the existence of the Communist Party is almost his opponent."
"But even so, if the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had not cooperated and fought against Japan earlier, I'm afraid we wouldn't be in the current situation, right?" Stilwell still knows a lot about some things in China. What's more, the United States is a multi-party country
The system is what everyone thinks of as democracy. Therefore, Stilwell also wanted to help China complete the transition to democracy and wanted to help the CCP. Naturally, Stilwell was not satisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's use of aid materials only for his own troops.
.The aid supplies from the United States are for the whole of China. The CCP naturally also belongs to China!
Zhou Weiguo nodded. If the anti-Japanese front had not been unified earlier, indeed, the current situation would have been worse. With the Chairman's temperament, I am afraid that he would not miss the opportunity to suppress the CCP. Because Chairman Chiang's slogans have always been
Before fighting against the outside world, one must first make peace with the inside.
Of course, Chairman Chiang did not invent the saying "To fight against foreigners, one must first settle the country at home". The earliest source of the saying is that Prime Minister Zhao Pu said in a note to Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty that "China is now at peace, and the barbarians have surrendered. It is because the old husband wants to fight against foreigners."
In order to cope with the crisis and maintain rule, rulers in the past dynasties often focused on domestic peace and pursued both "peaceful internal affairs" and "fighting against external forces" at the same time.
, this must be a good medicine, because it was the feudal era. The royal family at that time would naturally not let their power fall aside.
But in modern times, various democratic revolutions continued to occur, and China no longer had an emperor. Coupled with Japan's strife, China's situation was actually quite bad. Especially after the September 18th Incident, Chairman Chiang did not organize a resistance to Japan, but continued
Suppress communism.
"I didn't expect that the chief of staff would be so familiar with China's affairs." Zhou Weiguo smiled, "It's very admirable."
"You don't need to praise me. This is a very common thing for us Americans." Stilwell waved his hand, "With competition, there will be various virtuous cycles. In my opinion, the Kuomintang is already dead wood.
It is difficult to regenerate. The hope of China lies in the Communist Party. There are countless people in the Kuomintang who are selfish and corrupt. These are already too serious. Moreover, the government management is also very bad. Look, your chairman has sent our aid supplies
How funny is it to send it to your own team, but let these teams watch the CCP’s anti-Japanese armed forces?”
Zhou Weiguo sighed, "That's true. This is where China is complicated."
"To be honest, I am a soldier, a pure soldier." Stilwell thought for a moment, "The goal given to me by the President is to defeat Japan, so I will mobilize all my strength to accomplish this goal. Before coming,
I clearly know that if I cannot obtain the command of the Chinese army, I will not be able to succeed. Therefore, the condition I put forward for accepting the mission is to obtain the command of the Chinese army."
Zhou Weiguo nodded, he was not very clear about these inside stories.
"This condition was told to Song Ziwen personally by Marshall and Stimson. They told Song Ziwen that we will send you a top American general, but in exchange, he must have the command of the Chinese army. And Song Ziwen obtained from your
I got an affirmative answer from Chairman Chiang. And I got up from China after getting this affirmative answer." Stilwell shrugged, "So, as of now, your Chairman will make the fifth and
The command of the 6th Army was handed over to me, and I kept my word."
Zhou Weiguo nodded.
"But, the cultures of China and the United States are different after all." Stilwell sighed, "Even so, now I wear many hats, so I need someone to help me."
Zhou Weiguo probably understood, "I'm not helping you, but to defeat the Japanese."
"Hahaha." Stilwell smiled, "This is also my goal, isn't it? So, we can work hard together!"
"good!"
"As for your chairman, his goals are different from mine, and of course he has different considerations for some things, which is normal." Stilwell sighed, "I just hope everything goes well from now on. Dear Zhou, what do you think about Myanmar?"
How do you view the war?"
After talking for a long time, Stilwell finally talked about the war.
Zhou Weiguo frowned, "The British have not allowed the expeditionary force to enter Myanmar before. Although I don't know what happened, I have to wonder if someone has taken advantage of the Japanese."
"How is this possible?" Stilwell was startled. "After the Washington Conference, no one will collude with Japan again."
Zhou Weiguo was just doubtful, so he nodded, "I hope so. However, Japan has now captured Moulmein and is very close to Yangon. However, fortunately, the Fifth Army has already arrived in Yangon, so it should still be possible."
Withstood the Japanese offensive. In this way, we have time to slowly lay out our plans."
Stilwell nodded, "Yes, thank you for arriving in time. Otherwise, once Yangon falls, the Japanese strength will increase a bit."
