When Tom went to Washington to receive the Medal of Honor, he took a flight via Hawaii. In fact, when he arrived in Hawaii, it was still early before the ceremony in Washington. The reason why he came to Hawaii so early was because Tom had just been injured.

Well, the mood is not very good. If it appears in public at that time, it will still be like this. The relevant departments feel that it will affect the image of the US Army, especially the Marine Corps. Besides, there are people from the Army who will also receive the Medal of Honor.

The upper echelons of the Marine Corps felt that their soldiers must look better than the Army's spirit. In addition, Tom's previous record was not very good, and he had not read any books, so he would always act in a sultry manner when talking to others.

If he utters a foul word when it comes to awarding an award in public, it will embarrass the Marine Corps. So the Marine Corps arranged for him to take a good rest in Hawaii for a while and accept it by the way.

Relevant training, and then go to Washington.

When it comes to doing face-saving projects, Americans are not as unskilled as we usually think. In fact, look at how Second Lieutenant Scheskopf in "Catch-22" did it without waving his hands.

The marching queue will tell. Soon Tom will know that the damn etiquette training is worse than going to the battlefield.

The Army is better. Ron just needs to recuperate peacefully now. Although he also received an order to return to the United States to receive the Medal of Honor, the Army did not specially arrange etiquette training for him. After all, look at Ron's resume.

A genuine college student. This degree was still very good at the time. People with this degree had also received basic etiquette training, so Ron had a lot of leisure time.

The compound drug therapy is indeed effective. Ron's condition has basically recovered, but he still needs to be hospitalized for observation for a period of time. Because malaria often recurs, although falciparum malaria basically does not have this problem, it is always right to be careful.

Because there was actually nothing else to do, the visiting time was extended. Throughout the morning, his ward was full of people who came to visit him, including old comrades who had fought in the navy, and some others.

Visitor. Hai Lan also came twice during this period, but didn't stay long. She told Ron that the company was trying to use the Marine Corps as a breakthrough point to sell automatic rifles that use intermediate-power ammunition.

At 8 o'clock in the morning on December 3rd, Ron boarded a transport plane heading to the North American continent. As soon as he got on the plane, Ron saw an acquaintance: Hailan was sitting in a seat near the wing in the cabin, and she put her

The cowboy hat was thrown carelessly on the empty seat next to him, and he was turning his head to look through the porthole next to him.

Ron walked over, picked up the hat she threw on the chair next to her, and said:

"Miss, is there anyone here?"

"Oh, there's someone there!" Hai Lan quickly turned her head and saw that it was Ron, her eyes that originally showed an impatient look suddenly brightened.

"Ron!...Why did you just come up? In a few minutes, you will miss the plane."

"Ah, I was delayed a little at the terminal just now... Is there anyone here? Then where should I go?" Ron said with a smile.

"There is someone!" Hailan made a serious face, his eyes bulged out, staring at Ron fiercely, "Go over there!"

"Haha, there's no one else here anyway, so I'll sit down first." With a naughty smile, Ron sat down next to Hai Lan and used her cowboy hat as a fan to shake up.

"It's so annoying, like a fly..." Hai Lan pretended to be angry and snatched the hat from Ron's hand. While arranging the hat carefully, he whispered without raising his head, "It's annoying.

, ruined everyone’s hat!”

"Hey, I'm going to receive the highest medal. How do you feel?" After a moment of silence, Hai Lan asked in a low voice.

"Oh, that's pretty good. There will be free air tickets in the future. It's a pity that the law stipulates that this thing cannot be sold. Otherwise, it would be good to transfer it to you. You always need to fly around."

…

Ron raised his wrist and looked at his watch. It was almost takeoff time.

"Well, the plane is about to take off, aren't you in a hurry?"

"What are you anxious about?" Hai Lan asked puzzledly.

"Here's the guy here." Ron pointed to the chair under his butt, "If he doesn't come up, he's going to miss the plane."

"If you miss it, just miss it, let him die." Hailan replied with a smile.

At this moment, someone really boarded the plane again. But the person who came up was obviously not the person who had made an appointment with Hailan. He was wearing a Marine Corps uniform, and as soon as he got on, he went straight to an empty seat next to him.

go.

"Hey, Tom!" Ron recognized the man and said hello quickly.

"Ah, Chief Ron, you are also on this plane." Tom answered and walked to his side.

"Oh, this is Sergeant Tom," Tom introduced to Hailan, "a warrior of the Marine Corps. He went to receive the Medal of Honor when he returned home this time."

Then he was about to introduce Hailan to Tom, and turned around, only to see Tom stammering: "Ah... Miss Hailan... I didn't expect... that I would meet you..."

"Do you know each other?" Ron asked doubtfully.

"Hello, Tom." Hai Lan stood up gracefully and extended his hand to Tom. Tom stretched out his hand to shake her hand in a panic.

"The company Tom and I were working in did some small business in New York and Mexico. At that time, I really didn't know that he would be so outstanding on the battlefield." After Tom left in a hurry and ran away, he explained to Ron.

explain.

The plane took off, and the flight from Hawaii to the North American continent was still very long. After chatting randomly for a while, everyone gradually became sleepy...

A slight jolt made Ron wake up. He found that Hai Lan rested his head on his shoulder and was sleeping soundly...

The plane landed in San Francisco. Hailan still had matters to deal with there, while Ron had to rush to Washington. Before meeting the president, he also needed to report to his immediate boss, General Arnold.

The next day Ron changed to a plane and arrived in Washington. After a night's rest, on December 5, the Army Airlines sent a car to take him to the Pentagon to meet with General Arnold.

General Arnold was the founder of the U.S. Army Air Corps, later the U.S. Air Force. He always believed that due to the emergence of air power, warfare has become three-dimensional. Air power can attack enemy ground troops and surface ships on a large scale.

It can penetrate deep into the enemy's strategic rear, destroy the enemy's rear supplies, industrial economy, transportation hubs, and even densely populated central cities, and completely destroy the enemy's will to resist. Therefore, there is no need to invade and occupy the enemy's territory, and only use air power

This can force the enemy to surrender and end the war.

Under the influence of his thoughts, although the United States has not yet established a dutiful air force, it has established the largest aviation force in the world. This force continued to prove its value during World War II and became

The nightmare of the entire Axis Powers. Because of his outstanding contributions, he was promoted to a five-star general in the Army after the war. Later, after the Air Force became a separate army, he was awarded the rank of five-star general in the Air Force.

But now, General Arnold's military rank is only lieutenant general. However, his air force has shown great effect, which makes his promotion to general almost within reach.

Led by a lieutenant officer, Ron walked into the general's office.

"Your Excellency General, Lieutenant Colonel Ron reports to you!" Ron raised his hand and saluted the general.

"Ah, our hero is here." The general raised his hand to the brim of his hat and saluted, "Sit down and let's talk."

Ron sat down.

"I mentioned that you had malaria not long ago. How are you doing now?"

"It's completely healed, General!"

"What do you think of the prospects of this war? Where do you think the most important battlefield for our army aviation is?" What is strange is that the general did not ask more about the situation in Guadalcanal, but asked such a question.

Ron looked at General Arnold doubtfully, and then began to think about this problem.

Based on what he knew about the history of World War II, he knew that the current Pacific Ocean was not yet an ideal battlefield for the Army Aviation. There was currently no airport for the Army Aviation's strategic bombers to attack strategic targets. Attacking moving targets such as warships was not the Army Aviation's responsibility.

Those four-engine strategic bombers can do the job. Now the most important battlefield for Army aviation is in Europe. There are very suitable bases there. Bombers taking off from the UK, whether they are B-17 or B-24, can drop bombs on the fascists.

The hinterland of Germany. In addition, among the enemies of the United States, Germany ranks first anyway. Putting Europe before Asia is also the national policy that the United States has always adhered to during the war.

"General, it's Europe!" Ron replied firmly, "Because there is the most suitable base and the most suitable target!"

"Haha, you hit the point with your sentence." The general said happily, "There is just one more question I want to ask you, because you are the best fighter ace of our Army Aviation." General Arnold then asked:

"The British have always chosen to bomb German targets at night, but the effect is very poor. We want to carry out precise bombing during the day. Only in this way can we ensure the effect of strategic bombing. But this also means that we will face a more powerful interception force. From now on.

Judging from your combat situation on Guadalcanal, the daytime bombings launched by the Japanese against you suffered heavy losses after being intercepted. Therefore, some people have many concerns about daytime air strikes. Do you think daytime air strikes are feasible?"

"General, the counter-air strikes on Guadalcanal cannot be compared with the counter-air strikes on the European continent." Ron thought for a while and gave this answer.

"First of all, the design ideas of the Japanese bombers were extremely wrong at the beginning. They actually tried to let the bombers avoid fighter strikes through maneuverability. But this is impossible. No matter how flexible the bombers are, they cannot compare with fighter jets. And

In order to meet their mobility requirements, they must have weakened the aircraft's defense and self-defense firepower. The result is that even if they receive a few rounds of .50 bullets, their bombers may catch fire, and once they catch fire, they will almost certainly crash.

Our bombers are extremely sturdy, and their self-defense firepower is also very powerful. This is the first difference..."

Ron talked for a long time, including the difference in combat airspace altitude, the shortcomings of German aircraft, etc. But in the end, Ron said honestly: "If there is no fighter escort, the bomber losses will be very serious."

Big. We urgently need a long-range escort fighter aircraft."

"Can a P-38 perform such a mission?" the general asked.

"I'm afraid not. The P-38 is more suitable for interception missions. For escort, its roll is too slow and it is easy for the enemy to find a gap to attack the bomber."

"Ron, we have a mission for you." The general spoke after listening to Ron's answer, "I will give you a fighter unit, and you will lead them to imitate those Germans and let all the bomber units

Before I play against the Germans, I will come to your place to practice my skills and become familiar with the state when being intercepted. What do you think?"

"Oh my god!" Ron's eyes suddenly widened, almost popping out of his sockets, "Could this old man also be a time traveler? Why did he do both simulated enemy forces and Red Flag Exercise 1 all at once?

Did it happen?"

Note: 1 Red Flag exercise is a red flag exercise mainly conducted at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Eielson in Alaska.

Advanced air combat training held at military bases. Since 1975, participants from the U.S. Air Force and other U.S. military branches and allies have participated in the exercises. Each exercise lasts for 6 weeks. Red Flag exercises are held 4 to 6 times a year and are conducted by the 57th Wing.

The 414th Combat Training Squadron (also known as the "Red Flag Squadron") is responsible for holding it. It is a very realistic air combat exercise. It is designed to train pilots from the United States, NATO and other allied countries to provide training in real combat situations. This includes
Chapter completed!