The next day, Chen Qiang came to General Stilwell's residence and met General Stilwell again.

Chen Qiang handed a check to General Stilwell. General Stilwell took the check and took a look, and immediately took a breath of air conditioning.

"5 million US dollars, so much!" General Stilwell said with a look of surprise.

"Compared with those heroes who are sacrificing for the country and nation, this little money is nothing." Chen Qiang said.

"I thought there would be only 200,000 to 300,000 US dollars, but I didn't expect there would be so much. Since there was so much money, you could purchase a large amount of supplies and transport them to China after the Yunnan-Burma Highway was reopened. I think this would be more cost-effective." General Stilwell said.

"Transfer the supplies directly, I'm afraid I won't be able to deliver them to the 18th Route Army!" Chen Qiang said with a smile.

General Stilwell nodded: "That's true, your country's head of state is not friendly against the 18th Route Army. I once proposed to provide some material assistance to the 18th Route Army, but it was rejected."

General Stilwell sighed, his brows frowned slightly, and the embarrassment flashed across his face.

"General Stilwell, do you have any difficulties?" Chen Qiang asked.

"If there was no such much money, there might not be much trouble, but 5 million US dollars is too much. If such a large amount of money is delivered to the 18th Route Army through me, it will inevitably arouse suspicion from Chongqing." General Stilwell said.

Chen Qiang hesitated for a few seconds and asked in a low voice: "What should I do? Should I change a check with a smaller amount?"

Stilwell thought for a while, then asked, "If you really plan to send this 5 million US dollars to the 18th Route Army, then I will find a way for you! At worst, I won't do the Chief of Staff of this Chinese War Theater!"

Speaking of this, Stilwell clenched his fists: "To be honest, I have never seen so much money. You are willing to entrust this money to me. It is your trust in me. With this trust, I will never let you down and those brave warriors in China!"

Stilwell's tone was very determined, more like a warrior who was willing to die.

At this time, General Stilwell was not in a good situation in China. Stilwell had a conflict with the big boss in Chongqing, and as the contradictions continued to intensify, it eventually turned into the "Stilwell Incident".

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Stilwell was sent to China to serve as the chief of staff of the China War Theater General. However, in terms of situation command, Stilwell and Chongqing had conflicts. The two sides had different strategic and tactical concepts, which led to conflicts.

The big boss in Chongqing believes that only three Chinese divisions can deal with one Japanese division, so when the Japanese launch an attack, the Chinese army should gather forces to focus on defense and wait until the Japanese retreat before launching a counterattack. Stilwell believes that the Chinese army should not gather troops, so as not to focus on annihilation by the Japanese army. Stilwell advocates deep defense tactics and continuously weakens the Japanese army through strategic depth.

This is a conflict between two military concepts. It is difficult to comment on who is right and who is wrong. However, looking at several important battles during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chongqing also adopted this key defense strategy, so there are so many so-called "Some Defense Wars", and there are very few "Some Victories" that have regained lost land. The situation in the future will be similar in the War of Liberation. The Nanjing government likes to gather large forces, and then jump into the encirclement and be completely wiped out.

The difference in strategic and tactical concepts is the first conflict between Stilwell and Chongqing. Later, Stilwell hopes that Chongqing can reform the military system, streamline and reorganize the troops, replace incompetent senior officers, and grant full authority to front-line commanders. These have been strongly opposed by Chongqing.

Although everyone was called the "National Revolutionary Army" at that time, there were many factions. The big boss in Chongqing liked to use direct people. As long as he was his direct people, even if he had poor abilities, he would take important positions. People from other factions, those with outstanding strength would be suppressed by him. Just like Chief Yan of the Second War Zone and Chief Li of the Fifth War Zone were also full of talents, but because they were not the direct people of Chongqing, many talents were not reused.

As we all know, the Chongqing boss has a relatively average military command talent, but he likes to point fingers at the frontline war, which makes many generals on the frontline need to constantly ask Chongqing for instructions before fighting. It often misses opportunities for war, and sometimes the war will fail due to Chongqing's wrong command.

Therefore, the military system reform proposed by Stilwell is more like targeting Chongqing. The big guy in Chongqing thinks, are you, the American, deliberately making me do something? Are you trying to seize power from me? Or are you planning to kick me away and create another puppet? So the conflict between the two became even more intense.

The failure of the First Myanmar Battle caused China to lose the Yunnan-Burma Highway, which undoubtedly made Stilwell's situation in China worse. This battle was commanded by Stilwell. Before that, Stilwell submitted the Myanmar combat plan to Chongqing and was opposed by Chongqing. The big boss in Chongqing even asked Roosevelt to replace Stilwell through personal relationships. It can be said that at that time, the conflict between the two had reached an irreconcilable point.

The reason why Chongqing can continue to tolerate Stilwell is because Stilwell is the person in charge of distributing US aid to China, and Chongqing still expects Stilwell to provide assistance, so even if the big boss in Chongqing hates Stilwell, he still has to endure it.

Stilwell also knew that his situation in China was very bad, so when he got the check of 5 million US dollars, he showed his determination to die. Stilwell himself knew that if he delivered the check of 5 million US dollars to the hands of the 18th Army, it might completely ignite the conflict between him and Chongqing. It would be a big deal to see whether his position as the chief of staff of the Chinese theater will continue to sit down.

In history, in 1944, Stilwell promoted the visit of the US "Dixie Mission" to Yan'an, and then Stilwell proposed to provide equal assistance to the Chinese army, which means that the US aid would also be delivered to the 18th Route Army. For Chongqing bosses, aiding the 18th Route Army really touched his rebellious scales. His obsession with eliminating the 18th Route Army may be far more than driving away the Japanese. He can tolerate the Japanese expanding their territory, but he will never tolerate the 18th Route Army establishing more bases behind enemy lines.

The great defeat of the Chinese army on the battlefield in Henan, Hunan and Guangxi caused dissatisfaction from the United States. Stilwell suggested to Marshall that he would fully command the Chinese army, including the 18th Route Army, and that the United States would control the US aid to China. This suggestion was approved by President Roosevelt, who believed that Chongqing asked it to hand over military command, and of course Chongqing could not hand over military command, which resulted in the complete outbreak of the "Stilwell Incident".

From a private perspective, no one will give up easily if he gets huge power, let alone the military power that can rule a country. From a national perspective, no sovereign state will give up the command of its own national army. If independent military command is included, there will be less than 195 sovereign countries in the world in the future, because there are always a few countries whose command power is not in their own hands.

From the perspective of the United States, I will give you weapons and equipment, and give you material assistance. You eat mine and use mine, but you defeat me. This is definitely unbearable. Moreover, General Stilwell's report to the US government also mentioned that Chongqing is keen on encircling the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, but his enthusiasm for anti-Japanese resistance is not so high. In Roosevelt's view, Chongqing is just dragging him down. There are millions of American soldiers in the Pacific Ocean, and it is fine if Chongqing can't help, but it is still giving away heads. Roosevelt will definitely try to remove such people who are helping the worse.

However, the "Stilwell Incident" ended with a victory in Chongqing. Roosevelt eventually recalled Stilwell and allowed Weidemai to replace Stilwell. Compared with his predecessor Stilwell, Weidemai had a very good relationship with Chongqing bosses. During the War of Liberation, when Nanjing was in a desperate situation, Weidemai also strongly advocated increasing military aid to Nanjing.

...

After handing over the 5 million US dollars check to Stilwell, Chen Qiang finally felt at ease.

Chen Qiang was not worried that Stilwell would destroy the 5 million US dollars. Chen Qiang was still very trusting about Stilwell's character. Regardless of Stilwell's military literacy and political skills, he was indeed worried about China's cause of resistance against Japan. Chen Qiang was willing to give him trust such a person who was willing to contribute to China's War of Resistance Against Japan.

As for how the 5 million US dollars check would be used in the hands of the 18th Route Army, it is not something Chen Qiang could worry about. Chen Qiang believed that the comrades of the 18th Route Army had great powers, so naturally they had a way to exchange the money for urgently needed strategic materials and then use it in the cause of the Anti-Japanese War.

Negotiations for the "Trident" meeting continued, but Chen Qiang did not continue to stay in Washington, but returned to New York.

Not long after, the Trident meeting ended, and Chen Qiang also found out the specific negotiation results.

The United States and Britain continued to negotiate and compromise. In the end, Roosevelt agreed to the British combat plan for the Battle of Sicily and decided to launch an attack on Italy. Britain also made concessions and promised to use the navy to control the Bay of Bengal. At the same time, India would also provide supplies to the Chinese army in India.

For World War II, this meeting determined the direction of the war, and for the entire Allied forces, this negotiation allowed the United States to gain command of the Allied forces. Whether it was the European battlefield, North Africa battlefield or Asian battlefield, the commander-in-chief was all American.

After the Trident Conference, the British army began to obey the command of the US military, which also marked the so-called "Empire that never sets in the sun" and officially withdrew from the throne of "the world's largest power", while the United States became the new "world policeman".

Before World War I, the United States' economic strength had surpassed Britain. During World War I, the United States made a fortune silently and its overall national strength had surpassed Britain. By the middle of World War II, the United States' military strength also surpassed Britain. The current Trident Conference is just to give the United States a legitimate opportunity to lead the world.

Unfortunately, the Americans misjudged the Soviet Union. The United States thought that the Soviet Union had suffered tens of millions of casualties in the war, and the entire country was defeated in ruins. Without thirty or forty years, the United States could be a "world policeman" with peace of mind and beat anyone who disliked him.

However, the Soviet Union made up for the trauma of the war by plundering Germany and Japan. The machinery and equipment of thousands of German companies and all Japanese machinery and equipment in Northeast China were removed by the Soviet Union. The dismantling was cleaner than the Japanese raid. Moreover, the Soviet Union also captured 700,000 Kwantung Army as coolies. In addition, the Soviet Union's planned economic system had an advantage in concentrating its efforts on major tasks, so after a five-year plan, the Soviet Union recovered its vitality and became a superpower that could compete with the United States, and even once completely suppressed the United States in military terms.

...

Representatives from various countries returned to China one after another to report the results of the Trident Conference, but Master Kong came to New York and found Chen Qiang again.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon when Chen Qiang met Master Kong, but at this time, Master Kong had just had "breakfast". It was obvious that the prosperous New York City made Master Kong happy again. He had been having fun all night last night, so he didn't get up this afternoon.

Seeing Chen Qiang coming, Master Kong was not seen, and pointed to the food on the table and said, "Let's have something to eat together? Don't be polite to me."

The breakfast in front of Master Kong was indeed enough for four or five people, but Chen Qiang had no intention of having a meal with Master Kong, so he declined, "I ate late at lunch, and I'm still very full now."

"Then I'll eat it myself." After Master Kong said that, he lowered his head and began to taste his own breakfast.

After a while, Master Kong finished eating. He wiped his mouth and then said, "That guy tv is indeed targeting me!"

"Hasn't Mr. Song returned to China?" Chen Qiang asked in confusion.

"My old man sent me a telegram saying that TV plans to develop an "Interim Measures for Import and Export Trade". It is clear that we need to start trade between China and the United States." Mr. Kong replied.

"Mr. Song should be the Minister of Foreign Affairs now, right? Import and export trade should not be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, right?" Chen Qiang continued.

"It is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Executive Yuan has the final say. Although TV is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it is deeply trusted by his uncle. If he wants to propose the "Interim Measures for Import and Export Trade", it is very likely to be passed. And as long as it is decided by his uncle, even my old man cannot object." Master Kong said angrily.

In this matter, Mr. Song served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In addition to serving as Minister of Finance, Mr. Kong also serves as President of the Central Bank and is the chief financial officer of the domestic finance department.

However, the real person in China is of course the uncle of Master Kong and the boss of Chongqing. In 1943, the boss not only held the No. 1 position in politics and military, but also served as the President of the Executive. It can be said that he was holding all the instructions and execution in his hands.

Although Chen Qiang didn't know what the specific content of the "Interim Measures for Import and Export Trade", when he saw Master Kong's angry look, Chen Qiang had already guessed that his plan to add fuel to the fire had been successful, and Mr. Song began to attack Master Kong!

The dog biting dog that Chen Qiang was expecting finally happened.

—————
Chapter completed!