"But the General!" Zhang Chi replied: "I'm just a regiment leader!" ”

"This doesn't stop you from commanding Guadalcanal!" Nimitz replied: "As far as I know, the commander of the new 1st Division is also only a colonel, isn't he?" ”

Wang Mazi's military rank at this time was indeed colonel, and his military rank as a division commander should be a major general, but because the Chinese Expeditionary Force is a relatively special force...... It was actually a Chinese army but it was trained by the U.S. military, and at that time, China's work of awarding titles was basically at a standstill because of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the ranks of the expeditionary force were temporarily conferred by the United States in order to make it easier to command and strengthen the vertical management of the army.

Such a title generally ends with "colonel".

The reason for this is that the Brigadier General is higher than the colonel, and the US military is extremely strict in awarding the rank of general, and it adopts the principle of advancing and retreating, that is, a general retires to leave a vacancy, and then the president nominates and goes through a lot of procedures such as the selection committee before he can finally be promoted.

On the other hand, it is the US military that hopes to be able to "lead" the Chinese military in a more legitimate way.

For example, from the point of view of military rank, Clifton, the regimental commander, is a colonel, and Wang Mazi is also a colonel, so there is no problem for Clifton to lead and command Wang Mazi. Otherwise, if Wang Mazi is a brigadier general, then the US military must send at least one "brigadier general" to the island if it wants to command the Chinese army.

But even so, letting Zhang Chi command Wang Mazi still makes Zhang Chi feel like a "overstepping command".

Nimitz also seemed to feel Zhang Chi's embarrassment, so he said to Zhang Chi: "Or...... You only need to be the staff officer of the 1st Marine Regiment at the same time, so that you can command the operation on Kuah Island through Clifton, what do you think? ”

Zhang Chi knew what Nimitz meant, Nimitz actually did not have the power to appoint and dismiss officers of the Chinese army, because the appointment and dismissal power of the Chinese army was still in the hands of President Jiang in principle, and it was the matter of Stilwell of the Army and not Admiral Nimitz to appoint and dismiss him. But Nimitz could let Zhang Chi concurrently serve as a staff officer of the 1st Marine Regiment.

After thinking about it, Zhang Chi agreed. Because of the fact that Zhang Chi was already directing the operation on Kuah Island through Clifton, Nimitz just gave Zhang Chi a legitimate identity.

"Good!" Nimitz replied with satisfaction: "I believe that we will cooperate better and get through this difficult time!" ”

"Yes, General!" Zhang Chi replied.

However, this staff officer was not easy to do, and after a while, Clifton moved a large stack of documents and piled them in front of Zhang Chi and said, "Zhang." Since you are already a member of the 1st Marine Regiment, I think it is necessary for you to read these documents to better understand the 1st Marine Regiment! ”

Hearing this, Zhang Chi couldn't help but be stunned, he flipped through the mountains of documents in front of him, and asked Clifton: "Colonel, you're not joking!" ”

"Of course not!" Clifton replied very seriously.

Zhang Chi couldn't close his mouth for a long time, and after thinking about it, he replied, "I'm sorry, Colonel...... Although I can speak English, I can't read it and I can't write at the same time. You know. I learned English in Myanmar...... I don't even recognize the letters! ”

"It's easy to fix!" Clifton beckoned to Pete, who was not far away, and then said to Zhang Chi, "Pete can read it to you!" ”

"Yes!" Pete stepped forward and replied, "I'd love to do it!" ”

"Okay!" Zhang Chi was a little helpless.

So Pete pretended to pick up one of the documents and said, "Oh, this is a brief introduction to the 1st Marine Regiment, first of all, the regiment commander, the regiment commander is Clifton, with the rank of colonel, who once fought in World War I and performed well in the Cantagany battle. And then there's the staff officer...... It's obvious. This staff officer of the 1st Marine Regiment was a Chinese and had a headache with reviewing documents. The worst thing is sleeping and snoring loudly......"

"What?" Hearing this, Zhang Chi couldn't help but be stunned.

Pete and Clifton suddenly held their bellies and laughed, Clifton pointed at Zhang Chi and said, "It's not easy to fool you......

Zhang Chi snatched the document from Pete's hand and saw that it was a brief introduction to the 1st Marine Regiment, but an expired message.

"Colonel!" Pete asked Zhang Chi: "Didn't you say you couldn't read English?" ”

"Yes!" Clifton replied, "You don't even recognize the letters!" ”

Zhang Chi was a little ridiculous...... It's actually quite a pleasure to work with American GIs, or at least they will find a way to have some fun during these tense days of war.

"Colonel!" At this time, a communications soldier handed a telegram to Clifton.

Clifton looked at it. Then he handed the telegram to Zhang Chi and said, "They plan to do it tonight!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Chi nodded.

At this time, first of all, the Japanese soldiers are almost transported in these days...... The information received from the American submarines was almost three times as many destroyers that the Japanese used to transport the 2nd Division. A rough estimate is if three thousand Japanese troops are transported every night. In the past six or seven days, almost 20,000 people have been transported, so the next time is the time to transport equipment and supplies.

Second, the Japanese army has already launched a round-the-clock bombing of the Kuah Island airport, and it is already difficult for US military transport planes to land on Kuah Island. In fact, it is still possible to land, the Japanese bombing density during the day is not high, after all, fighters and bombers have to be dispatched, and because of the help of "coastal monitors" and radars, the US military can always know in advance that the Japanese planes are coming. Therefore, US fighters can actually land at Kuah Island Airport during the Japanese bombing, but the US military does not think it is very necessary to let the planes and pilots take risks under such circumstances, and it is even possible to expose the fighters and bombers hidden on Kuah Island.

More importantly, the U.S. Navy has now identified the weakness of the Zero...... This gave the US Navy great confidence and made them believe that even with the existing aircraft carriers and warships, it was possible to win a battle against the Japanese Navy, so they dared to face the Japanese Navy directly.

Since the Japanese Navy always chooses to appear near the waters of Kuah Island at night, the US military's challenge to the Japanese Navy is bound to be at night.

This was a challenge for the U.S. Navy: the recent Battle of Iron Bottom seemed to prove that the Japanese Navy was better at night fighting, while the U.S. Navy was the opposite. Now, the U.S. Navy has to choose a night battle...... Moreover, this night battle is only allowed to win and not lose.

The reason is very simple: If the Japanese Navy cannot be defeated at night, it will not be able to prevent them from continuing to use the "Tokyo Express" to transport troops and equipment to Kuah Island at night, the US Navy will not be able to regain sea supremacy, and the main force of the Japanese Navy will not need to leave Rabaul and go south to carry out an anti-blockade.

(To be continued.) )