Chapter 296 Two Hundred Thousand? Stilwell Thinks It's Too Petty! (First Update!)

Cun Yunsheng's words touched Stilwell's heart.

He was supposed to be the Chief of Staff of the Southeast Asia Theater, but what happened?

No different from a logistics captain.

"Can you guarantee that they will obey my orders?" After a long time, Stilwell spoke slowly.

To be honest, he was indeed moved, but he still wanted to make sure it was real.

"Of course, if they don't listen to you, who else can they listen to? General Stilwell, you are also an expert on China. You should know very well what the guy in Shancheng is thinking." Cun Yunsheng knew that Stilwell was already tempted, so he praised him again.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Stilwell nodded in agreement.

"Well, you are right. The man in Shancheng is really petty, but that is far from enough. You must give me a reason that can completely convince me."

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng was not panicked. He did not expect Stilwell to be so difficult to deal with. Fortunately, he was well prepared.

"General Stilwell, don't you want to become a four-star general, or even the first five-star general?" Cun Yunsheng said with a smile.

"If you can solve the problems in the Southeast Asian theater, or even completely defeat the hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops, I believe those people in the White House will definitely not be stingy with the rank of five-star general."

"Don't you want to surpass your old senior, General MacArthur?"

"General Stilwell, don't you want to be a five-star general?"

I have to say that this time Stilwell was really moved.

In other words, who doesn’t want to be a five-star general?
That is the highest honor for a soldier.

The highest rank in the United States at this moment is a four-star general.

If Stilwell could become a five-star general, he would definitely go down in history.

For a moment, Stilwell's heart beat faster.

"Can you become a five-star general by destroying the Southern Army?" After a long time, Stilwell said with dry mouth and some uncertainty.

"Of course, there are hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops. If you can force the Japanese to surrender, what's the point of being a five-star general? Maybe you still have a chance to sprint higher." Cun Yunsheng said meaningfully.

When it comes to bewitching people, Cun Yunsheng is indeed good at it, because he knows what the other party wants, so he can always accurately stir up other people's restless hearts.

In fact, Stilwell never thought of giving up at the beginning. He really looked down on the three-star lieutenant general.

Don’t forget that his backer is four-star General Marshall.

The Army Chief Marshall has always been very supportive of him. Without his support, he would probably not be able to hold this position.

Without support from anyone, he wouldn't have that much authority.

After listening to Cun Yunsheng's words, Stilwell took a deep breath.

"Okay, I am very excited about your proposal, but that is not enough. I need to know your specific plan. You know, I never fight a battle without preparation."

Originally, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Southeast Asia Theater in order to gain military merit and get promoted.

Who knew that after he got there he would realize that this was a quagmire that made him deeply trapped and it was difficult to move forward.

Unless he is willing to leave in disgrace, but then there will be no chance at all.

"General Stilwell, according to my plan, the number of people in the Nanyang Task Force will be around 200,000. They will be equipped with all American weapons and completely in line with US military standards." Cun Yunsheng spoke in great detail this time, mainly focusing on the number of people and equipment.

According to his understanding, 200,000 people should be the limit.

After all, if there are more, it will really test logistics.

"Two hundred thousand people? Isn't that a bit too few?" Stilwell always felt that two hundred thousand people were too few.

Ever since Cun Yunsheng sent him hundreds of thousands of natives, his horizons have been broadened.

What can two hundred thousand people do?
"The Japanese army has four or five hundred thousand people. If you count their own territory, there are almost a million people. Then there is the battlefield in China. Those guys in Shancheng have no intention of fighting at all. So far, there have been few decent counterattacks." At this time, Stilwell almost regarded Cun Yunsheng as his own.

So he had no scruples in speaking, as he had already reported twice to Army Chief of Staff Marshall.

I think these equipment should be handed over to more suitable people.

What is suitable for people?

For example, someone who can fight the Japanese army.

Shancheng obtained the equipment of almost seven or eight American-equipped divisions, but what was the result?
There is still no response on the battlefield!

According to his understanding, it seemed that Shancheng was transferring these American weapons and equipment to the rear to train new soldiers, while the front line was still being held by those miscellaneous troops.

This made him suspect that Shancheng did this on purpose.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng was stunned. Is Stilwell so ambitious?

Is this an attempt to completely encircle the Japanese army?
That’s millions of Japanese troops?
How dare he think that?
In Cun Yunsheng's opinion, 200,000 elite troops with American equipment could almost eliminate most of the Japanese troops in Southeast Asia.

"So what do you mean?" Cun Yunsheng asked cautiously.

"Double it, at least 400,000. 200,000 is too little. You don't have to worry about weapons. The canal is currently being dredged, and it is expected to be completely dredged in a month at most. By then, you won't have to worry about weapons and equipment at all." Stilwell waved his hand and said proudly.

"But there is a condition, that is, these people must be trained by our instructors before they can be sent to the battlefield. According to my understanding, they are completely unqualified. Many soldiers even secretly hide canned food. I don't understand why they hide those cans? Do they want to exchange them for money? I have never withheld your military pay."

Stilwell was talking about the Indian troops stationed in Imphal. Many of these soldiers were reluctant to eat the canned food, and many even hid it secretly.

For this reason, the US military instructors could only come up with one solution, which was to let them eat it on the spot.

In addition to this, there are some people who resell nutritional supplements. They clearly urge the other party to eat the supplements, but the supplements are taken out of their mouths and then resold on the black market.

This gave Stilwell a headache.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng remained silent.

What could he say?

Is it because of poverty?

Correct!
Just because of poverty!
Because they have been hungry and know what it feels like.

So when I see canned food that can be eaten open, I subconsciously think of saving some cans like squirrels for the winter.

"General Stilwell, maybe they just want to save more supplies so that they won't starve on the battlefield." Cun Yunsheng thought about it and gave a decent reason.

"Maybe. When we first met them in Imphal, our reporters saw that they were wearing straw sandals and asked them what they would do in winter. They actually said that they never thought of surviving this winter. Dear Cun, when you said this to me, I thought it was just a joke. When they all said this, I understood that they were serious." Stilwell looked at Cun Yunsheng and said seriously. "In the subsequent training, they proved with their hard work and intelligence that they are an excellent unit, but they lack systematic training, so their training must be the responsibility of our instructors."

After hearing this, Cun Yunsheng was trying to figure out what Stilwell meant by this.

He could tell that Stilwell truly agreed that the Chinese Army was an excellent force, but he requested that it be trained by American military instructors.

Is this because he is afraid that the troops will not obey his orders?
It's not impossible.

After all, the equipment for hundreds of thousands of troops was provided by the other party, but they did not obey his orders. If he were in his place, he would definitely not be able to accept such a thing.

So, he could also understand Stilwell's ideas.

"No problem. I believe that with the guidance of American military instructors, our combat effectiveness will definitely be improved." Cun Yunsheng said with a smile.

Hearing this, Stilwell nodded. He always believed that the reason why the Chinese army was weak was not only because of its poor weapons and equipment, but also because of insufficient training.

The reason for insufficient training is that these soldiers cannot get enough food.

If they could eat their fill, their burst of fighting power would surely be astonishing.

"Dear Cun, are you ready to serve as the commander of the South China Sea Task Force?" Stilwell asked curiously.

Logically speaking, since this plan was proposed by Cun Yunsheng, he should be the one to take charge. However, considering that he is too young, it would definitely not be appropriate for him to directly command hundreds of thousands of troops.

But he still wanted to see the other party's attitude.

"No, I don't have enough qualifications and prestige to be the commander." Cun Yunsheng shook his head.

What a joke, this is a force of hundreds of thousands of people, and the things that need to be dealt with are already very complicated.

Only someone with enough prestige and experience can calm people down.

"Oh? Then do you have any suitable candidates?" Stilwell continued to ask.

These are not a few thousand or tens of thousands of people that you can just throw at the other side and give them some equipment.

That’s hundreds of thousands of people, and there will be even more in the future.

So he must understand it clearly.

"Admiral Zhang Fakui, commander of the Fourth War Zone, has the prestige and qualifications to serve as the commander of the Nanyang Task Force. I believe that with him in charge of the command, we will be able to eliminate the Southern Army as soon as possible." Cun Yunsheng pushed Zhang Fakui out without hesitation.

His qualifications and prestige are definitely enough.

Hearing this, Stilwell tilted his head, thought for a while, and began to wonder who this person was. It took him a long time to figure out who the other person was.

"Is it Zhang Fakui who came from the Guangdong Army?"

"Yes." Cun Yunsheng responded quickly.

Hearing this, Stilwell thought for a moment and continued.

"If it's him, his prestige and qualifications are indeed enough."

"Now we need a place suitable for training soldiers."

After all, there are 400,000 people, and it is definitely impossible to recruit them all in a short time, but there must be a training base.

Looking at the entire Indochina Peninsula, only Imphal is suitable, but it is too far away.

So we have to choose a suitable place again.

"General Stilwell, what do you think of Qiongzhou Island?" Cun Yunsheng suddenly said.

"Oh? Qiongzhou Island? It is indeed a good place, but the facilities on the island are not that good. But it doesn't matter. It can be completed as long as it costs a certain amount of money. By the way, I remember, didn't you say you wanted to attack Qiongzhou Island? Now you can consider implementing it." Stilwell suddenly remembered that Cun Yunsheng had sent him a combat plan not long ago, the purpose of which was to launch an attack on Qiongzhou Island.

He believed that only by taking Qiongzhou Island would he be able to land on Luzon Island more easily.

I just glanced at it and put it aside.

I didn't expect it would come in handy now.

"General Stilwell, I sent a regiment of soldiers to land on Qiongzhou Island not long ago. They have now occupied most of Qiongzhou Island, and will be able to completely take over Qiongzhou Island within a week." Cun Yunsheng had been holding back on this surprise, thinking of giving Stilwell a surprise at this time.

Sure enough, when Stilwell heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. This was really like someone giving you a pillow when you are sleepy.

"Well done, dear Cun. I believe it won't be long before you have another star on your shoulder." Stilwell patted Cun Yunsheng's shoulder with satisfaction.

"Tell me what difficulties you have and I'll see if I can solve them."

Stilwell was in a good mood at the moment, so he became very generous.

"The main problem at the moment is the issue of landing ships. There are many islands in the South China Sea, and without enough landing ships, it will be useless no matter how many troops are trained." Cun Yunsheng immediately stated his difficulties.

"When we landed on Qiongzhou Island, we used fishing boats, but this type of boat is only suitable for close-range landings and carries very few weapons. Heavy weapons such as tanks cannot be transported at all. We hope to have professional landing ships."

Stilwell, who was originally in a good mood, was suddenly speechless.

It directly targeted the navy, and the landing ships.

This is a problem that gives him a huge headache.

Just then, the adjutant delivered an assist.

"General Stilwell, I remember that the Army Department just received a landing plan not long ago. It was written by General MacArthur himself. He said that a large number of landing ships were needed to complete the leapfrog tactics. The Army Department is currently verifying whether this plan can succeed. I believe that the Army Department should be able to provide so many landing ships. Otherwise, they don't need to verify it and can just reject it directly."

After hearing this, what else could Stilwell say?

If you don’t agree to this!

The leapfrog tactic was taken by MacArthur, and considering his ability and connections, it would probably play a huge role.

In other words, he doesn't have much time left.

"I will find a way to solve the problem of landing ships, and at the same time let the Army Department find a way to allocate a fleet to assist you in landing. But there is not much hope. There are too many warships needed recently." Stilwell also felt that there was not much hope, but he still wanted to try.

"If you can retake Luzon, I will have more say. You know, although I have the support of the Chief of the Army, I must show some military achievements in order for him to continue to support me, otherwise..." The rest of the words were not said, but the meaning was obvious.

Without military achievements, everything is in vain.

"Don't worry, General Stilwell, we won't let you down. I think that if we have a force of 100,000 people, perhaps we can try to land on Luzon Island. After all, there are not many Japanese troops there, and there are guerrillas on the island. I believe our landing will be very smooth." Cun Yunsheng immediately stated that he would definitely be able to retake Luzon Island.

"I will ask the Air Force to find a way to transport a division of American equipment. Within a month, I hope to see a force of 50,000 people. At the same time, I will also take care of the pay for the South China Sea Task Force." Stilwell said solemnly, patting his shoulder.

(End of this chapter)