dognovel Chapter 220 4-star General Stevenson Arrives
Chapter 220 4-star General Stevenson Arrives
General Stevenson's name was now well-known in White Eagle.
His image not only appeared on the covers of newspapers and magazines, but also became the "heroic face" admired by thousands of people in radio broadcasts and theater newsreels.
With the complete completion of the "Stevenson Road", tens of thousands of Japanese troops were annihilated in the battlefields of Pegu and western Yunnan. This representative of the White Eagle Army in the Asian theater became a popular public figure in the United States.
Less than two months after the Sextant Conference ended, Stevenson completed the instructions of the Grand Commander, opened up the Qian Kingdom's land-based external communication channels again, and completely revitalized the Asian theater of war.
The headline of Time magazine praised him in bold font: "The man who dealt a heavy blow to the Japs on the ground and avenged the boys at Pearl Harbor with a tooth for a tooth."
The article described his military achievements with great respect.
The D.C. Post compared him to "the best symbol of aid and friendship between the United States and the President to our allies."
The tabloids did not forget to poke fun at his personal charm, voting him as "the most manly general in the Army." Some even joked that if General Stevenson were willing to run for president, perhaps more women would vote for him.
These halos are not entirely accidental.
The team of synths Zhang Chi sent to White Eagle had already been fanning the flames behind the media.
With a large amount of money paving the way, the several newspapers they controlled or supported carefully wove a propaganda network and even secretly guided public opinion, exaggerating Stevenson's achievements to be more dazzling than those of all other military branches combined.
------
United States Army four-star General Stevenson became famous.
Adhering to the classic slogan of the media age, "It doesn't matter what you do, the key is to let others know what you have done", Stevenson became a household name as a hero fighting against the Japanese invaders.
Even the President himself was alarmed, as he was currently worrying about the next round of elections.
In the Oval Office of the White House, the President frowned, feeling mixed emotions when faced with the poll data handed over by his campaign aides.
"Dewey's approval rating has risen by another percentage point," the assistant reported in a low voice.
External competitor Dewey is coming with great momentum. Although he has been doing a good job, the people of White Eagle are naturally fickle and may want to change their tastes at any time. He is not sure of winning.
Internally, due to his long-standing dominance and restrictions on tycoons, even his subordinates and colleagues have many complaints.
Due to the constraints of internal and external forces, the man who almost became the 'Basilian' of the United States had to make certain compromises and prepare to choose newcomer Truman as his running mate.
But he has always looked down on Truman, thinking that he is just a fool.
As a vase, the other party's only role in the campaign is to canvass votes for him as a leader of the younger generation and refute Dewey's slander of "a gang of tired old men."
"Why not try General Stevenson?" His campaign aide came up with a novel idea.
"As a war hero, he holds an extremely high reputation. We could consider promoting him to five-star general, then arranging for him to retire and join your campaign team directly."
"His heroic image will bring us a lot of votes, especially in the martial arts-loving Midwest and South."
"We won't have enough time." After careful consideration, the President shook his head. "The election starts in November. We need to start campaigning at least six months in advance."
The assistant whispered:
"Even if we can't recruit him, we can still use his reputation. Mr. President, he is a banner. There's no need to say a word; his presence alone is a silent support."
The commander-in-chief nodded and said, "That's right. It's smarter to make more friends than enemies."
Compared to the arrogant Corn Pipe in the Pacific Theater, he would rather pull Stevenson in the Asian Theater and General Ike in the European Theater onto his chariot.
The assistant understood: "I will immediately arrange for someone to contact him and feel out his plans for retirement. If he is willing to cooperate, we can award him another star."
----
With overwhelming publicity and countless people, close or distant, spreading the word, Stevenson naturally knew that he was going to be rich.
After participating in several celebrations with the White Party leaders in the mountain city, Stevenson couldn't wait to fly to Myitkyina to meet the young "King of Pegu" who had been helping him.
Stevenson, who was over 60 years old, had just stepped off the plane when the heat wave of Myitkyina hit him in the face. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, but he couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart.
Zhang Chi had been waiting on the airport tarmac for a long time.
Stevenson walked up quickly, grabbed Zhang Chi who came to pick him up at the airport, and gave him a big hug.
"Dear Zhang, it's great to see you."
He was quite strong, and it seemed that he wanted to use this hug to squeeze the other person's ribs and make a crackling sound.
Zhang Chi knew that the White Eagle people seemed to like such exaggerated physical contact, even though it was not in line with his cultural habits.
After signaling to the synthetic bodyguard beside him with his eyes that everything was fine, he opened his arms and hugged the old man in front of him tightly.
"Respected General Stevenson, it is an honor to meet you."
Although the relationship between the two sides has always been mutually beneficial and each takes what it needs, Zhang Chi still has great respect for the old man who has provided countless military aid and help.
"Hahaha, a young man in his twenties leading an army of hundreds of thousands, your future is limitless. It's my honor to meet you!"
Stevenson smiled and spoke kindly.
Although this was the first time he saw Zhang Chi in person, he had been paying attention to the latter since Zhang Chi gathered the defeated soldiers to form an independent regiment.
Just like this, a four-star general of the world's most powerful country and the young 'King of Pegu' who commands an army of nearly 30 were chatting and laughing beside the noisy airport like old friends who had not seen each other for many years.
Afterwards, the two watched the Security Army's exercises together.
Stevenson was not too surprised by the White Eagle tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the People's Army, which he and the India-Burma Theater had never issued.
After all, the people from the Intelligence Bureau had already informed him that the latter might need a "little" additional support to help Zhang Chi better complete the dismemberment of the John colony. He knew it very well.
But he didn't expect that the Intelligence Bureau would secretly send the latest products such as M4 'Sherman'. He originally thought that the mysterious guys in the Intelligence Bureau would at most send some obsolete products such as 'Stuart' and 'Grant'.
Since he only saw a small number of Sherman tanks on the training ground, and the White Eagle observers led by Colonel James had been fed money by Zhang Chi, Stevenson subconsciously thought that Zhang Chi did not have too many tanks.
Not long after, the Yunnan-West Expeditionary Force and the White Party leaders pointed to the Anmin Army Armored Training Division patrolling the border and asked Stevenson for more Eagle tanks. Their words were full of words like "We cannot favor one over the other" and "The White Party is the White Eagle's most loyal ally."
Stevenson realized that there were so many White Eagle tanks in Zhang Chi's army, which was completely beyond his imagination.
The next day after visiting the exercise, Zhang Chi brought Stevenson to the airport again.
"This is a gift I prepared for you." Zhang Chi pointed to the apron in the distance.
There were dozens of planes parked there, including the Zero, Type 1 and other main fighter planes of the Japanese navy and army, as well as bombers such as the Type 1 land attack plane and the Type 97 heavy bomber, and functional aircraft such as the Zero sea reconnaissance plane and the Type 100 headquarters reconnaissance plane.
All the planes were intact and parked, shining brightly in the sun.
These were the wreckage of Japanese planes that Zhang Chi had his troops collect from those that were shot down or damaged. They were then thrown into the system and repaired directly using Silver Lion coins.
"God, that's a lot. How did you do it?"
It is said that only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles. Now there are so many different types of Japanese aircraft in front of Stevenson. He feels that as long as they are sent back to the mainland for careful study, the underwear of the Japanese aviation industry will soon be pulled out.