My words silenced Marshall, and looking at his embarrassed expression, I didn't want to embarrass him any more, so I casually said hello and planned to leave with the interpreter.

I didn't take two steps, but I was stopped by him. When I heard him let me stay, I couldn't help but rejoice in his heart, wondering if he was going to make an exception and arrange for me to meet Roosevelt alone. Hurriedly stopped again, pretending to be calm and asked, "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, do you have anything else?" ”

"That's right, General Oshanina." Marshall said with some hesitation: "Tomorrow at Norfolk Naval Base, a newly built destroyer will be launched, would you like to go and see it?" ”

When I first heard Marshall ask me to see the launch of the new ship, I was still a little uncomfortable in my heart, and I said that I want to see Roosevelt, but you arranged for me to go to the naval base, you just don't want me to appear in front of the President of the United States again. But on second thought, I had never been to a naval base before, and I just happened to see what the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet was like. He nodded and readily agreed, "Thank you, I'm more than happy to visit your naval base." But I don't know who I'm going to find tomorrow. Come with me? ”

"Colonel Henry!" Marshall turned his head and shouted into the room, and an officer in a white Navy uniform squeezed out of the crowd of Army officers and walked quickly to Marshall's position. Marshall pointed to me with his hand and instructed, "Colonel, you will accompany General Oshanina to Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow." ”

When the tall admiral had loudly agreed, Marshall turned his head and smiled at me and said, "Oshanina, tomorrow will be led by Victor. Colonel Henry accompanies you to Norfolk Naval Base. ”

I waited for the officer behind me to finish translating for me. He stepped forward and shook hands with Colonel Henry. At the same time, he said politely: "Colonel." Sorry for your help. ”

"General," Colonel Henry said, taking my hand and with a blank face, "I will pick you up tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, please be prepared in advance." ”

"Okay, Colonel, I'll be ready by eight o'clock." After saying these words to Henry, I turned to Marshall again and thanked him. Turn around and leave with the translator.

Back at the embassy, Molotov called me and Khrulev to his room as usual to inquire about the progress of today's negotiations. When I said that I would go to Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow to watch the launching of the new warships, Molotov did not say anything, but Khrulev was surprised and said: "The Atlantic Fleet is under the leadership of the Chief of Naval Forces and Naval Operations in peacetime, and under the command of the commander of the Atlantic Command of the US Army in wartime. ”

Listening to Khrulev's words, I couldn't help but chuckle in my heart, and secretly wondered if Marshall was fooling me? Before I could figure it out, Molotov waved his hand. Refuting Khrulev said: "Comrade Minister, at the moment the United States is at war. There should be adjustments to the division of labor within the US military that we are not aware of. In his capacity as General Marshall, he certainly wouldn't casually promise Oshanina what he couldn't do. ”

After my debriefing, Molotov kicked me out of his house again, as usual, saying that he had important matters to discuss with Khrulev. I know that with my current status, there are many secrets that I can't listen to casually, otherwise I really can't rule out the possibility of being wiped out in the future.

The next day, when Colonel Henry came to pick me up, the interpreter came with him, and he sat in the front passenger seat and kept translating for me and Henry.

I asked Henry curiously, "Colonel, how far is it from us to Norfolk Naval Base?" ”

"582 km." Henry did not hesitate to say the answer.

Hearing this number, I silently calculated in my heart, if at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, when we change Norfolk, it will be dark, and we will see what new ships will be launched. Thinking of this, I tentatively wrote: "Colonel, Norfolk is so far from Washington, and when we get to the place, isn't it night, can we still catch up with the launch of the new ship?" ”

"General, I can't delay." Henry did not care about my worries in the slightest, and he said confidently: "We will go by military plane, and we will be there in an hour at most." ”

Hearing Henry say this, I knew that he must have been ready for a long time, and he just needed to go with him, without worrying about missing the launching ceremony of the warship, so I didn't continue to ask, but leaned back in the chair, lowered my head and began to close my eyes.

There was a transport plane parked at the military airfield, and a pilot wearing a flight cap was waiting next to the plane, and when he saw our car driving by, he hurriedly ran over. After raising his hand to salute Colonel Henry, who had just gotten out of the car, he asked, "Is it Colonel Henry?" ”

"Yes, Captain." After glancing at the other party's rank, Henry asked politely, "Are the planes all ready?" ”

"The plane is ready to take off at any time, and I am at your disposal." The pilot captain replied respectfully.

Colonel Henry turned to look at me, made a gesture of please, and said, "Please, General." Seeing me step on the gangway into the cabin, he turned around and told the pilot, "Prepare to take off." ”

On the way to Norfolk Naval Base, I asked Henry in a loud voice amid the deafening roar of motors: "Colonel, are you an operational staff officer?" ”

After hearing this, Henry shook his head and replied, "No, I am the captain of a warship. Originally, I was appointed captain of the USS California, but before I could take office, my ship was sunk at Pearl Harbor by the damned Japanese, and I was reappointed captain of the USS Northampton. My warship is currently being repaired in the shipyard, so I was temporarily seconded to Washington. ”

As we approached Norfolk on our plane, he began to tell me about the city: "Norfolk is an important industrial and commercial center across the river from Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News. After the outbreak of the war, the city developed rapidly, and successively built a huge naval and air force facilities, and was the seat of the US Atlantic Fleet Command.

The Norfolk area is the largest concentration of naval activity on the east coast of our country, located in the southeast of Virginia, and has a large number of shipbuilding facilities and docks for loading and unloading cargo in Newport News. The area includes Norfolk Naval Base, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Atlantic Fleet Combat Training Center, Naval Amphibious Base and Naval Ammunition Depot, Naval Aviation Base.

Norfolk Naval Base is currently the largest naval base in the world, with access to the ocean about 18 nautical miles to the west. There are fifteen wharves for ships to berth, and there are about ninety ships of various types in the harbour at any one time, which are moored in the harbour for repairs, refits and training. Naval bases are home ports for aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, large amphibious ships, submarines, and logistics ships. ”

As our plane landed, I saw a jeep in the distance coming up and stopping not far from the plane. Out of the car a second lieutenant, wearing a large-brimmed hat and a white navy uniform with gilded buttons, stood straight outside the hatch.

When Colonel Henry got off the plane, the second lieutenant hurriedly saluted him in the American style, and after glancing at me, he said to Henry: "Colonel, I am ordered to pick you up." ”

"Is the place to watch the ceremony arranged?" Henry asked quietly. Although the translator behind me didn't translate this sentence for me, I still understood it. Because I understood, I couldn't help but muttered in my heart again, wondering if we would have to hide it from everyone when we arrived?

The second lieutenant nodded and said affirmatively, "Yes, Colonel, the position has been arranged for you, please come with me." ”

I sat in the jeep driven by the second lieutenant and looked in the direction of the harbor, and I was amazed to see the black pressure on the water and the large and small ships that looked like a complex. The heart said that there were only a few dozen ships, and they all looked so magnificent, and what a breathtaking sight it would be if the five or six thousand ships of the Normandy landings were all gathered in one place.

Our car stopped at the door of a gray container on the shore, and the second lieutenant turned to Henry and said, "Colonel, here we are, in this container converted box, you can clearly see the whole process of the launch of the new ship." ”

"Ensign, where are you going?" Henry asked curiously.

The second lieutenant shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Where else can I go, of course, stay in the car and wait for you to come out." As he spoke, he handed a bunch of keys to Colonel Henry.

Henry took the key from his hand, thanked me, and led me to the door of the container, and opened the door with the key. I walked in and saw that the facilities were simple, with a long table on the left and a few chairs on the right. Perhaps because of the fact that there are often people here to watch the launching of new ships, there are several pairs of binoculars on the table.

Henry walked over, then picked up a telescope and walked towards the window at the other end of the container. I quickly did the same, picked up a pair of binoculars on the table, followed him to the window, and looked out.

A few hundred meters away, I saw a brand-new gray warship, parked on the slipway by the water's edge. Seeing this, I can't help but wonder a little, because I have the impression that ships are usually launched by floating docks similar to those of very large ships such as aircraft carriers, and longitudinal launches that are suitable for most ships. And the warship parked on the slipway at the moment does not look like it will be launched in either of these two ways.

I just wanted to ask Henry how this new ship would be launched. He had already turned around and said to me with a smile: "General, I guess you haven't seen a new ship launched." Did you see that destroyer? It's called the Eldridge, and later it will be launched in a way you wouldn't expect. (To be continued......)