February 3 at 211:30 a.m. EDT, or 8:30 a.m. EDT. 【Reading.com】

After breakfast, Westwood, who had lived in the White House for less than half a month, asked the secretary to push off all the morning's arrangements. When Brooklyn arrived, the two went to the oval study together. A short time later, Secretary of Defense Henderson came to the White House with Marine Lieutenant General Duchway.

"General Dudgway, let's introduce the situation first."

Westwood didn't throw the problem to Henderson because Henderson was a "civilian," not a general. In the end, Westwood kept Henderson in the fight with both houses of Congress, but "lost" the two most important positions in the Department of Defense: the Under Secretary for Equipment R&D and Procurement, and the Under Secretary for Military Budget.

"All the indications we have are that the squadron will launch a fourth round of attacks in a matter of hours." Dudgway's words were very succinct. Back in Washington, Dudgway "declined" Westwood's invitation, did not join the Cabinet, and remained in the Marine Corps. Because there were no vacancies in the Marine Corps for the time being, Dudgway accepted the president's offer to remain in Washington as the president's temporary military adviser.

"Within hours?" Rudlin asked.

"No questions asked, this is the most ideal test, maybe the Chinese army has already begun artillery preparations." Dudgway seemed relaxed, because the war on the Korean Peninsula had nothing to do with him. "The new situation shows that the Chinese Army has adjusted its war plans, and my previous guesses were not entirely accurate. Mainly, at the last moment of the last round of the offensive, the Chinese Army captured Cheongju with only two brigades of troops, changing the situation on the battlefield. If Cheongju is not captured, in order to meet the logistical support needs of the eastern battlefield, the Chinese Army will launch at least one separate campaign on the western battlefield to destroy the ROK Army's 5th Group Army entrenched in Daejeon and open up the logistics support line. After holding Cheongju with the strength of two armies, the Chinese army no longer needs to worry about the safety of the logistics support line, and is fully capable of concentrating its forces to attack Ulsan and Pusan. ”

"The Chinese Army won't let go of the Korean army from Daejeon to Gwangju, right?" Raising this question is a very clear manifestation of Henderson's ignorance on military issues.

In the words of a member of the U.S. Congress, Henderson is just an accountant.

"This is not accurate, even if China intends to deal with the ROK Army's 5th Army and the newly established 7th Army, it does not have to do it personally." Receiving the cigar handed by the president, Du Qiwei said, "After we withdrew our troops from South Korea, the squadron tried its best to speed up the offensive and strive to end the war in the shortest possible time. I don't quite understand the diplomatic aspects, but the situation is clear, China will not give us many opportunities. After occupying Ulsan and Pusan, China can hand over the combat mission against the South Korean army to the North Korean army and announce the end of combat operations on the Korean Peninsula. ”

Westwood shook his head with a smile. Although the president seems to be relaxed. But Dudgway is right to the point.

After the withdrawal of US troops from the Korean Peninsula. Western news agencies have been blaming China. It even claimed that China had sent troops to invade South Korea.

Although China has never paid attention to the accusations of public opinion in the West, it is China that does not pay attention to the pressure of public opinion. to one hopes to replace the United States. To become the world's most powerful country, the international image of the country is more important than anything else. As Dudgway said. The squadron completed the most important combat mission. Leave the ground battle to sweep up the remnants of the ROK army to the Korean Defense Forces. The Korean War became the Korean Civil War. At most, the Western world blames North Korea. China cannot be blamed.

"When will the war end?" Brooklyn gets straight to the point.

"Ten to fifteen days is no longer than fifteen days." Duchway replied in the affirmative. "There is no doubt about it. We have grossly overestimated the ROK's military-to-ground combat capabilities. The two battles are enough to prove that the combat effectiveness of the ROK army is even inferior to that of the DPRK army that was defeated by us. It's not a team opponent at all. The defense of Seoul took advantage of the situation. Only against 50,000 attacking troops, 500,000 South Korean troops did not hold out for even four days. Although Liu Zongchun announced that the 6th Army had gathered in Yeongju, it had 400,000 troops. The 8th Army, which was gathered in Daegu, had 500,000 troops. The 1st Regiment gathered in Busan and Ulsan had 500,000 troops. But in reality, the total strength of the South Korean army will not exceed 800,000. Among them, there will be no more than twenty infantry divisions in a truly combat-capable army. In the last round of attack, the squadron showed its ability to assault and attack. Only three or four corps are needed. About 100,000 ground troops could capture Ulsan and Busan in 10 to 15 days. How long to fight. Mainly focus on the offensive target of the ** team. For example, whether it is necessary to annihilate the main forces of the South Korean army. Whether it is necessary to capture Daegu and Changwon. ”

That is to say. The war will end in the middle of this month. ”

Dudgway nodded and said to the president: "It will definitely not be delayed until the end of this month." Even if there is trouble, because the squadron has deployed several corps behind the offensive line in advance, it can send reserves in time, and the combat operation of attacking Ulsan and Busan will definitely end before the 20th. ”

Westwood smiled wryly and gave Brooklyn a look.

"General, thank you very much for your analysis, if there is a need, I

to call you. ”

Du Qiwei immediately got up and took his leave, and did not stay long. Truth be told, he doesn't like the White House. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't find a suitable position, Dudgway wouldn't have been a temporary military adviser to the president.

Henderson closed the door, and Westwood lit a cigar.

"It's worse than I thought." Brooklyn kicked the conversation aside, "Dudgway's analysis proves our guesses. When Beijing met with Chinese leaders, both Gu and Wang deliberately avoided the war on the peninsula and focused on resolving the trade dispute. It is clear that China does not want to negotiate until final victory, or that we have made conditions that make China believe that it cannot negotiate to protect its national interests. ”

Westwood nodded and glanced at Henderson.

The Minister of Defense immediately arrived and the president did not want him to be present and immediately got up to leave.

With only two people left in the room, Westwood asked the secretary to turn off the recording equipment of the security surveillance system.

"More than ten days ago, I, the CIA, planned a military coup in Japan."

"Military coup!?" Bruderlin's eyes widened. "Why are you planning a military coup in Japan?"

"According to the situation at the time, Japan could only enter the war by removing Murakami from power through a military coup."

"But ......"

Westwood pressed his hand and said, "The document was signed by Frederick, not an order from me. ”

Brooklyn's brow jumped a few times and said, "Even so, Frederick won't really give orders." Or rather, there is no point in planning a military coup in Japan. ”

Westwood nodded, motioning for Brooklyn to continue.

"Regardless of whether the military coup succeeds or not, it is unlikely that Japan will enter the war before the defeat of South Korea. China must have sensed our intentions, so it desperately tried to speed up the course of the war in case Japan suddenly entered the war. Brooklyn let out a long sigh and said with a stern expression, "It's successful, it's all good to say." Failed, what to do? If Frederick is involved, he will definitely push you to the forefront. In the end, you can only be ruined! ”

Westwood nodded again.

"The point is, we can't plan a successful military coup in Japan. Behind Murakami Sadamasa is Japan's largest military family, and Iwasaki Nobukawa is finished, who still has the courage and ability to launch a coup d'état? As soon as the CIA agents arrived in Japan, they were captured by Japan's intelligence and security agencies. Murakami knew that we were plotting to overthrow him, and it would certainly cause a serious setback in US-Japan relations. Korea was defeated, and we can't afford to lose Japan, at least not now. No matter how our relations with China develop, a Japan that leans towards us can bring no small benefits. ”

"I have ordered the C.I.A. to suspend operations."

Brooklyn was stunned for a moment, then let out a sigh.

"I also took into account what you said, so I asked the CIA not to take substantive action."

"That is, the CIIA has already taken action?"

Westwood nodded and said, "I've completed the planning and found a good candidate, but I haven't been in contact." The CIA has just received a very important piece of information that Japan has formed a secret alliance with India. ”

Brooklyn was secretly startled, and then his expression returned to calm.

Japan's alliance with India is not news, and Japan was preparing for a formal alliance with India long before the Fourth Indo-Pakistani War. Although the Fourth Indo-Pakistani War and the East China Sea War dealt a serious blow to the alliance between Japan and India, Japan's contacts with India have been very frequent over the years, especially during the Great Depression, when Japan and India granted each other the most favored nation status for trade, indicating that the two countries have been working towards an alliance.

"The question now is whether we want to say something."

Brooklyn thought for a moment and said, "If Japan and India form an alliance, it would be best for us to take action before the end of the Korean Peninsula War, or at least to show our attitude, so as to maximize the impact of the Korean Peninsula War." The key is not Japan, but India. The whole world knows that after the end of the war on the peninsula, China will target Japan and will not deal with India for the time being. India also understands that if it is not sufficiently motivated by interests, India will certainly hold back on the issue of alliance, or make too high demands on Japan, leading Japan to believe that the cost of an alliance with India is too great. ”

"To what extent do we need to be involved?"

Brooklyn fell silent, and this is indeed a very interesting question to explore.

The Korean Peninsula War proved that unless the United States has a powerful ground force that can compete with the Chinese Army and is willing to bear the heavy casualties of the war, the United States will not have any advantage in confronting China in China's periphery. This determines the extent to which the United States is involved in the Japan-India alliance, and if it is too involved, it is very likely that the United States will be drawn into another, or even two, wars. If they do not intervene, will Japan and India be able to stand up to China?

Westwood couldn't make up his mind before he asked Brooklyn for advice.

For a while, Brooklyn couldn't make up his mind. (To be continued.)