General Arnold introduced Ron to the guests, one of whom was a tall Senator Cox from Washington State, and two were senior executives of Boeing.

After introducing the guests, General Arnold asked Ron to sit down beside him. Then everyone continued to talk about the topic just now.

"Arnold, you just said that the battle against Germany will continue until next year. So how long do you think Japan can last?"

"It depends on the progress of the navy," said Arnold. "But, no matter what, we will definitely start a large-scale bombing of Japan before the end of next year. As for when Japan will surrender, well... Ron, you have had a lot of dealings with the Japanese. Can you tell me what you think?"

"Okay, general." Ron replied. He thought for a moment and then said, "General, sir, how long a country can support in war depends on the ability and willingness of both sides of the war. Now, in terms of material power, the comparison between the power of the Allies and Japan is no longer proportional. Once the Allies have obtained a suitable base for bombing Japan, with our air power, if the weather does not cause trouble, at most half a month, we can eliminate Japan's air power. Then we can suffocate the country step by step by step by step by step by step by step by step by step by bombing and blockade. Japan has obtained a suitable base for bombing against Japan.

I have a very strong fighting will and have irrational worship of their emperor. In a sense, we can understand Japan as a country where the whole nation believes in cults. When in Guadalam, many Japanese wounded soldiers would commit suicide with grenades. They believe that as long as they die for their emperor, they can become gods in the Yasukuni Shrine. Therefore, the Japanese will to resist is very tenacious. If they cannot completely destroy their will to resist in the air, the ground troops may face extremely tenacious resistance after landing."

When talking about this, Ron glanced at General Arnold and the other three guests. Ron knew that General Arnold certainly hoped that the airline would take the lead in the war, and the other three, one was Senator Cox of Washington, where Boeing was located, and the other two were simply Boeing people. Boeing was the largest bomber manufacturer. They also hoped that Land Airlines could bear more responsibilities. On this point, their interests were highly consistent with those of Land Airlines.

So Ron continued to say, "So, before landing, it is necessary to completely collapse Japan's industry through bombing, and even their agriculture collapse, destroying the cities they can rely on for stubbornness. In short, blowing them back to the Stone Age should be the best way to reduce our losses." Ron shamelessly stolen Li Mei's future famous quotes here.

"Ron," General Arnold said with a frown, "You said to use bombing to destroy agriculture? Let's use bombs to blow up farmland? Isn't that realistic?"

"General." Ron replied, "We don't have to drop bombs. I heard that some chemicals can cause problems in the growth of plants. If we let these things enter the farmland, it may lead to a dead harvest. In addition, insect pests pose a great threat to agriculture, and we can throw insect eggs like Japanese farmlands."

"Haha, our young people have broad ideas and can always bring us more joy." General Arnold smiled and gave Ron a comment that "there are broad ideas and many joys." Rayder's head was full of black lines.

"General Ron, do you think we will have a long period of strategic bombing in our battle against Japan?" asked Senator Cox.

"His Excellency Senator," Ron nodded to him and replied, "It depends on our will. If we want to end the war as soon as possible and are willing to accept more casualties for it, then, I think we only need to end the European war - at that time, Okinawa should have been in our hands, prepare for it in a month, and then use Okinawa as a springboard to launch a large landing battle, and at most another month, we can occupy most of Japan. But if we are unwilling to pay more casualties, it will take longer."

Senator Cox looked at General Arnold, and General Arnold nodded slightly. So Senator Cox leaned back and leaned on the back of the rattan chair more comfortable, and then said, "Thank you, General Ron, thank you for your analysis. Oh, we have another question, I want to hear your opinion."

He paused, looked into Ron's eyes, and after a while, he said, "Do you think we will do what we did after this war?"

At the Paris Peace Conference after World War I, Britain and France joined forces to cheat the United States, almost directly driving the Americans from Europe to America. It is precisely because the benefits gained after the war were too few that the Americans would talk about intervening in foreign countries for a long time, and even cut the Army to a point where they were not as good as Japan in one go. But now, this situation will definitely not happen.

"Senator, I think this situation is impossible," said Ron. "The situation is not the time when World War I was. At that time, Britain and France had a stronger navy than us, and now their navy was not on the same order of magnitude as us. Moreover, at that time, Britain and France alone could stabilize the situation in Europe, but now Europe is unable to do without us, otherwise the Russians would easily crush them. Moreover, Europe was destroyed. The destruction of this war was not comparable to that of the last war. If we retreated, Europe would have a famine, and then there would be a revolution, and then there would be red flags flying everywhere in Europe. Neither we nor them could tolerate the occurrence of this phenomenon, so after the war we must still maintain a huge army to respond to the rise of Russia."

"So, do you think the Russians will be our enemies in the future?" Senator Cox said.

"Of course!" Ron said firmly, "I think the United States needs Russia to be our enemy!"

"Haha, General Ron, what you said is so interesting, it's a bit like what Patton said. It's hard to imagine that you have a Russian girlfriend who is also said to be a pro-Russian general." Senator Cox said.

"Senator, legends are always unreliable. However, I do have a Russian girlfriend, and I have a lot of communication with the Russian team. But this does not mean that I will be pro-Russia."

Everyone chatted for a while, and at this time, General Arnold's wife came over and told everyone that lunch was ready. So everyone got up and left the small garden and entered General Arnold's restaurant.

At that time, Americans had not had the habit of discussing issues during meals. After finishing the meal honestly, Senator Cox and the other two stood up and said goodbye. But Ron was kept by General Arnold.

"Ron, do you know, the argument about attacking Japan, the army and the navy?"

Ron actually knew a little about this. In history, Big Wolf and Nimitz had a dispute over the attack direction. General Nimitz believed that from the central part of Taiping, he should directly capture Mindanao and Taiwan, and use this as a springboard to attack Japan. As for other parts of the Philippines, he could ignore it and wait for the Japanese to starve to death.

Big Big Wolf believes that the Philippines should be recaptured first. Ron knows that Big Big Wolf’s proposition is largely intended to fulfill his promise that “I will definitely come back”. However, as the principal of West Point, Big Big Wolf has a greater influence in the United States than Nimitz. And compared to Nimitz who is more like a pure soldier, Big Big Wolf considers not only military issues, but also more political considerations. So in the end, Big Big Wolf won the dispute.

"I'm not very clear," Ron said.

"Ah, General MacArthur believes that the Philippines should be seized first, while General Nimitz hopes to seize Mindanao and Taiwan first." General Arnold looked at Ron with a smile, "What plan do you think should be taken?"

"If General Nimitz is not considered as the navy, I prefer General Nimitz's plan." Ron said almost without hesitation.

"Why?" General Arnold asked. Ron's answer to the statement "If General Nimitz is not considered as the navy" made him very interesting. Well, it is considered a tradition for Land Airlines to dislike HNA.

"This plan is straightforward and sharp. The Philippines is so big that it will be defeated little by little. I am afraid that it will not be able to settle the final decision until Japan surrenders. Moreover, if it occupies Mindanao and Taiwan, Luzon is of little significance. Besides, it is more convenient to start from Taiwan and attack the Ryukyu Islands."

"Well, that's right, but I'll tell you, we've decided to fight the Philippines first." Arnold replied.

"I understand, there must be political considerations in it," Ron said.

"Well, yes, war has never been a purely military issue." Arnold said seriously, "This time you are called back, there is a new mission for you. You go to General MacArthur to get familiar with the Pacific battlefield again. Then on behalf of me, we will discuss the next goal with the Navy people - mainly to choose a suitable island for us as an airport for strategic bombing on Japan. We need only a large airport that can take off and land the B-29's "Super Air Fortress" and an advance airport for fighters that can escort these bombers. Well, this fighter air force may be handed over to you in the future. Young man, work hard!" General Arnold patted Ron's shoulder.
Chapter completed!