**Chapter 804: American Personality (1)**

US Congressman Carl Vinson was the Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. For a long time, Carl Vinson had aimed to build a "Two-Ocean Navy" and had passed numerous acts. These acts were often collectively referred to as the "Vinson Acts." Therefore, "Carl Vinson" was not the name of a single act, but a general term for many.

Early on the morning of April 4th, Congressman Carl Vinson left his home for his office. The streets of Washington were plastered with various posters. Some featured the famous "Uncle Sam Wants You," where an uncle with a goatee, wearing a suit and top hat with the Stars and Stripes pattern, pointed out from the poster, looking quite fierce.

Apart from the Uncle Sam posters, the majority depicted American GIs carrying guns on land or looking heroic on warships. Others showed American soldiers pointing bayonets at a group of hideous enemies. These enemies wore queues (pigtails), and although they held weapons, they carried large opium pipes on their backs. Smoking opium and wearing queues was the stereotypical image of China in this era of America.

Congressman Carl Vinson had long grown accustomed to these posters as his gaze swept across the streets of Washington. As the US capital, Washington had never been an industrial zone. The streets lacked the rolling flood of workers on bicycles seen in New York or the cities of the Great Lakes industrial region. The Congressman recalled what he had seen during his recent visits to shipyards along the East Coast; every dry dock was filled with ships under construction. Many of the workers were women. The US manufacturing industry had always been short of labor, and in wartime, women began entering factories in large numbers to replace the men drafted into the army, joining the war effort. Compared to those bustling production scenes, Washington seemed far too deserted.

Arriving at his office, Carl Vinson's secretaries were already there. Seeing him enter, they quickly stood up to greet him. The Congressman's eyes swept over the desks, seeing a pile of letters on each, with many piles divided into two stacks. He responded with a casual remark, picked up a letter from the top of the highest stack, and walked into his inner office.

Sitting in his chair, he opened the letter. It was written in a very humble tone: "Respected Congressman, as your constituent, I recently saw a piece of news in the morning paper. The Chinese shamelessly used poison gas of undetermined composition against the US Hawaii region. I am burning with anxiety over this and would like to ask you, Congressman, what you know about this news..."

After reading the letter, Congressman Carl Vinson felt very displeased with the American newspapers. As Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee, he had good relations with many officers within the Navy. According to information provided by these people, the Pacific Command actually could not confirm whether China had used gas shells. The term "poison gas of undetermined composition" mentioned in those reports was very traditional phrasing.

Even battlefield smoke is harmful to the human body, so any combustion product mixed into the battlefield air could be classified as "poison gas." And "undetermined composition" was a very interesting modifier. In Congressman Carl Vinson's mind, "undetermined composition" meant it couldn't be determined if it was poison gas, which was the core part of the entire modifier. But ordinary American citizens would take "poison gas" as the core content, first determining that the Chinese had used poison gas against American troops.

Moreover, the American public's perception of Asia differed from Congressman Carl Vinson's. Although the Congressman also felt that there were only four types of people in Asia—Chinese, Indians, Persians, and Arabs. The land west of India and Persia was inhabited by Arabs, and the land east of India and Persia was inhabited by Chinese. What Japanese, Koreans, Southeast Asians? They were all Chinese, or mixed-blood of Chinese and Indians.

Even though the Congressman knew this view wasn't accurate, he still felt that the Japanese were simply Chinese people in Japan. The American people were even more confused about these matters. Currently, the Japanese army was fighting the US Pacific Command's Army, Navy, and Air Force in Hawaii, yet the American public firmly believed that the ones fighting the US military were the Chinese.

Congressman Carl Vinson did not want to get involved in the "poison gas" issue. He tossed the letter aside and began thinking about today's schedule. The US had currently completed the second round of war bond issuance. Driven by strong patriotic impulses, American war bond sales were quite good. The two rounds had raised $120 billion, but the money was still not enough. The combat effectiveness displayed by the Asian Coalition far exceeded US expectations. Even though the US had completed numerous shipbuilding plans from the Vinson Acts and currently possessed 24 aircraft carriers and 24 battleships, they were still suppressed in the Pacific.

The Asian Coalition reportedly only had 12 battleships, but they had around 36 aircraft carriers. Even worse, the Asian Coalition did not rely on carriers to gain air superiority, but on land-based naval aviation. The US was located on the east coast of the Pacific, far from the Pacific islands. The nearest Hawaiian Islands were still 4,000 kilometers from the US West Coast. This resulted in US land-based aviation becoming the main force of the war. Even though the US had 50,000 pilots before the war and had launched a 300,000 pilot training program in the months following the outbreak of war, the frontline still cried out for a shortage of pilots.

After thinking for a while, Congressman Carl Vinson picked up the phone and connected to the US Navy General Board. Soon, the operator connected the call, and Admiral Melkin's voice came from the other end, "Congressman Vinson, this is Melkin."

"Admiral, I would like to talk to you about the issue of aircraft carrier usage. According to some news I've heard, why have aircraft carriers become weapons for a decisive final battle, rather than offensive weapons in naval warfare?" Congressman Carl Vinson was an old acquaintance of Admiral Melkin, so his inquiry was very direct.

The other end of the phone fell silent for a moment. After a good while, Admiral Melkin said, "Congressman Vinson, if you have time, I would like to invite you to dinner."

Carl Vinson checked his schedule. He still had to go to the White House today, so he replied, "How about this evening?"

"Alright, I will send a car to pick you up this evening," Admiral Melkin replied.

Putting down the phone, Carl Vinson looked at his briefcase. Inside was the latest naval procurement plan. Since China had 36 carriers, the US had already passed a supplementary carrier plan. There were 12 carriers currently under construction, expected to be launched in 1942. To gain an equipment advantage over China, the US Congress had passed even more carrier construction plans. Under the lobbying of US shipbuilding companies, some radical congressmen had proposed a plan to build 120 aircraft carriers.

With America's industrial capacity, it could indeed complete a carrier construction plan of this scale. However, the US government currently did not have that much money to give to shipbuilding and military industrial enterprises. If all these plans that seemingly could ensure a US victory were passed, the US would need an investment of 1 trillion, or even 1.2 trillion dollars.

Even in Congressman Carl Vinson's view, if it took 1 trillion dollars to win the war, he would choose to stop the war. Because if 1 trillion dollars were spent, the US itself would collapse first.

Seeing that it was time, the Congressman left his office and got into a car, heading straight for the White House. There were more pedestrians on the streets now, but the number was still small, far from comparable to New York or the Great Lakes industrial zone.

At the White House, President Roosevelt finished reading the construction plan for 50 large aircraft carriers submitted by Congressman Carl Vinson, and his brows furrowed. The two remained silent for a while before Roosevelt asked, "Mr. Vinson, will the House pass this proposal?"

"I believe it is entirely possible," Carl Vinson replied.

Roosevelt fell silent again upon hearing this. After a long while, he said, "If that is the case, I am glad to see this result."

Carl Vinson then discussed some other matters he was concerned about with Roosevelt, and Roosevelt joined the discussion. Although it was wartime, the US had not adopted the European model of total mobilization. The European model of total mobilization required all industrial and agricultural capabilities and manpower within the entire country to be placed under the direct management of the central government.

The United States was a federal country, and state rights were very significant. The relationship between state governors and the US President was not one of superior and subordinate; in fact, one could say there was almost no relationship. If states refused the federal government's total mobilization orders, the US President could do nothing about it. Some state laws even stipulated that if US federal troops were to enter the state, they must have the permission of the state governor. The most famous example of this was Texas, famously known as the Lone Star Republic; Texas truly believed that the US federal army was the greatest threat to the state of Texas.

What Roosevelt and Carl Vinson were discussing was how to get the states to accept the federal government's war orders without generating confrontation. At this stage, the US military losses were not high, and various US corporate consortiums wanted to make a fortune from the war, so they were very supportive of it. State tax revenues also relied on these corporate consortiums; since the enterprises and consortiums supported the war, the states naturally supported it too.

However, both Roosevelt and Carl Vinson had access to top-secret documents, and they both sensed that the entire war situation was different from what the American public had initially imagined. In the imagination of the American people, China was still that backward Eastern country of opium smokers and pigtail wearers, and Asia was still that ancient, decaying continent. As the City upon a Hill in the New World favored by God, the United States possessed overwhelming capability and moral superiority over China and Asia. Once the celestial troops of America arrived, the armies composed of Asian yellow monkeys would naturally collapse and beg for mercy on their knees.

Although a considerable portion of Americans knew that China had long been a powerful industrial nation, the number of such Americans was at most 5%. 95% of the American public did not understand China, nor were they interested in understanding China.

Therefore, when the Pacific War first began and China won quite a few victories, the American public believed it was because China had sneak-attacked the US. These victories were dishonorable and shameful. To cover up their failures, the US military and politicians also fueled this narrative. In the view of Roosevelt and Carl Vinson, this false propaganda was very dangerous. Once punctured, the emotions of the American public would swing in the opposite direction.

During their discussion, both felt immense pressure in their hearts. Carl Vinson was the first unable to hold back, and he asked the question he had originally intended to ask last, "Mr. President, does the military intend to use poison gas in the war?"

Roosevelt did not answer. He had already received the military's plan to use poison gas. It was evident that the Pacific Command was somewhat at their wit's end and wanted to use abnormal means to turn the tide of the war.

Looking at Roosevelt's expression, Congressman Carl Vinson guessed what had happened. He continued to ask, "Mr. President, do you accept such a line of thinking?"