**Chapter 880: Time for North America (7)**

February 23, 1943. At the Washington, D.C. airport, Roosevelt's plane had just landed after his vacation when he was swarmed by reporters. As he was being lifted from the aircraft, the American press corps lunged forward almost as one.

Fortunately, Secret Service agents struggled to hold them back, preventing the situation from spiraling out of control. Seeing the commotion, the Presidential Guard rushed over to help maintain order, finally allowing Roosevelt to reach the designated interview area.

"Mr. President, have we already begun negotiations with China for a prisoner swap?" a reporter from *The New York Times* shouted above the din.

Roosevelt did not hide it, answering readily: "The Chinese side has expressed an interest in exchanging prisoners of war. In the spirit of humanitarianism, our country has dispatched personnel to make contact."

"Mr. President, aren't prisoner swaps usually conducted after a war ends?" the reporter pressed.

"There are many instances of exchanges during a conflict," Roosevelt explained. "They are not exclusively for the post-war period."

This answer gave the reporters much room for imagination. A journalist from *The Washington Post* interrupted, shouting, "Mr. President, which situation are we in now?"

Roosevelt's reason for admitting to the contact publicly was to gauge the direction of American public opinion. He replied, "From the moment China launched its war of aggression, America has vowed never to accept a humiliating surrender. Current contacts are intended to ensure China understands the POW regulations of the civilized world."

"Mr. President, are you implying that China is mistreating our captured servicemen?" the Post reporter followed up quickly.

Roosevelt shook his head. "We are currently investigating with the Chinese to determine the conditions under which both sides' prisoners are held. Any accusation requires definitive evidence."

"Mr. President, will we enter peace negotiations with China?" the reporter from *The Wall Street Journal* asked the question most on everyone's mind.

"Peace is the pursuit of all people," Roosevelt answered. "As long as China can recognize that its aggressive actions are wrong, America certainly will not close the door to peace talks."

The subsequent questions were primarily about the war; few reporters inquired about the US economy. After half an hour of the press conference, Roosevelt reflected on the matter during the drive back to the White House.

Stimulated by war demand, the American economy was booming. While not "excellent," it was certainly the best period since the start of the Great Depression in 1929. Although such a war economy would inevitably burst, America could fully sustain itself for the time being.

Back at the White House, Roosevelt immediately held an economic meeting with his cabinet. Reports from the Treasury and Agriculture Departments indicated that domestic supply and demand were quite good. While America's poor remained poor, at least employment was maintained. Especially with so many people sent off to fight, the unemployment rate was remarkably low.

Facing such a favorable economic outlook, Roosevelt asked how long it could last. The Treasury Secretary replied confidently, "Based on current data, we can maintain this for eighteen months."

Roosevelt felt that was enough time for China's attitude to shift. Ending the meeting, he convened a military session, where he learned the Soviet counter-offensive had run into serious trouble.

Although outnumbered by the Red Army, the Wehrmacht was clearly capable of sustained combat in the winter. Having imported vast amounts of raw materials and technology from America, their endurance had been greatly enhanced. In this campaign, the Luftwaffe had committed a large number of aircraft to air-drop supplies to encircled German units.

These air-drops satisfied the defensive needs of the frontline German troops. Once they no longer lacked ammunition, they began counter-attacking the Red Army in the frozen wastes.

In terms of endurance and stoicism, the Germans were in no way inferior to the Soviets. The commander of the 4th Army had directed his units to use manual labor to dig through snow over two meters deep, managing to clear dozens of kilometers of road within a month to restore contact with the other sections of the 4th Army cut off by the Soviets. They then launched a counter-encirclement of the Red Army units that had infiltrated their rear.

The Soviet offensive, which had looked so grand, was now exhausted and unable to advance further, forced to watch as the Wehrmacht dismantled their gains. Furthermore, the 9th Army commander, Model, had launched a counter-attack in the Rzhev salient, annihilating over 100,000 Red Army troops who had seemed poised to take the city.

Roosevelt saw the Rzhev salient on the map. The current front between the Soviets and Germans was generally smooth, except for a German-controlled zone 150 kilometers long and 100 kilometers wide driven deep into the Soviet lines. This was the Rzhev salient.

Except for the rear, which was German-held, the salient was surrounded by the Red Army on three sides. Even without a military background, Roosevelt could grasp the threat it posed. If the Wehrmacht committed a large force here, they could split the Soviet front in two and defeat them piecemeal.

Worse still, the salient was only 200 kilometers from the Soviet capital, Moscow. With German armored capability, a thrust from there could reach the gates of the city in three days if the Soviet defense faltered.

Seeing this situation, Roosevelt was forced to conclude that the Wehrmacht showed no signs of defeat yet.

With renewed hope, Roosevelt asked General Marshall, "Chief of Staff, do you believe the Wehrmacht still has a chance to defeat the Soviet Union?"

Marshall realized Roosevelt still intended to fight on. For the first time, he decided to voice his own thoughts: "Mr. President, the Wehrmacht cannot truly defeat the USSR. Even if they lose Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the Soviets will still be able to fight back with Chinese help."

Roosevelt felt an immediate surge of displeasure. Fortunately, he quickly reminded himself, *I am not He Rui.* This made him feel slightly better.

Yet this self-limitation triggered another form of anger. Even if He Rui was the globally acknowledged master strategist and military mind, as the President of the United States, admitting he was entirely inferior to the Chinese Chairman left Roosevelt feeling stifled and humiliated. They were both men; why must he admit he could never measure up, no matter how hard he tried?

This foul mood made Marshall seem increasingly loathsome in his eyes. Then he heard Marshall continue: "Mr. President, what we should prioritize now is withdrawing our troops from New Zealand."

Roosevelt could hardly believe Marshall would say such a thing. In the past, Marshall had been very sensible, never interfering in the President's political choices.

Doubtful, Roosevelt probed with a nonchalant tone: "Chief of Staff, do you believe it is necessary to negotiate peace with China?"

Marshall shook his head. "Mr. President, it is not yet time for peace talks. However, feeling out a truce with China is a sound choice."

Roosevelt felt a pang of distress, to the point where he turned his wheelchair to face the window. While he admired Marshall and believed him the best choice for Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he now had to accept that Marshall could no longer be used.

Military personnel must not interfere in politics; this was not just a political taboo, but a challenge to the President's authority. A power-holder's bottom line is never allowing their power to be touched.

However, Roosevelt did not lose his composure. He soon turned back to face Marshall. This time, he saw a look of relief on the general's face. Marshall seemingly hadn't realized he was committing his greatest political error.

This reaction surprised Roosevelt, yet further cemented his resolve to remove Marshall. Given Marshall's personality, by saying those words, he had clearly decided that losing his post was a price he was willing to pay. In that case, Roosevelt would oblige him.

"Chief of Staff, America shall never surrender," Roosevelt said calmly.

Marshall saw the determination in Roosevelt's eyes, and he too felt a sense of relief. After careful assessment, he had concluded that if America did not exit the war now, China would inevitably invade North America. America might not surrender, but it no longer had the capacity to defeat China, and very likely could not defeat a Chinese force landed on the continent.

For his own sake, Marshall was unwilling to command a war that was destined to be horrific. Facing Roosevelt's sharp gaze, he said no more; there was no need.

On February 25th, in the US Congress, the Republicans launched a new round of fierce attacks against Roosevelt. Their pretext was the "defeatist views" the President had seemingly expressed while answering reporters at the airport. No powerful nation lacks experts in character assassination. In the USSR, Stalin had even remarked that some party workers were specialists in it. These specialists were adept at taking things to an extreme level of principle. In this regard, the congressional "masters" could proudly claim that the hundreds of them across both houses were all professionals!

Because they could all tell Roosevelt had been testing public opinion at the airport, the Republican attacks were exceptionally sharp: "President Roosevelt decided to declare war on China; now his statements lead us to suspect he is preparing to sign a surrender agreement!"

In truth, the Republicans knew well that Roosevelt would never surrender. But since he wanted to test the waters, they were determined to show him what the waters looked like. Public opinion might well come to believe Roosevelt was a surrender-prone president!

The Republican representatives weren't opposed to the war, but they were unanimous in their desire to force a change in administration. After their fierce attacks on Roosevelt, they turned their fire on the Democratic Party.

The Democrats, unwilling to be così insulted, immediately struck back. Bellicose rhetoric began to flood the halls of Congress. Seeing the Democrats emphasize their own toughness, the Republicans threw out their pre-planned proposal: demanding the power to conclude a truce be placed within Congress to ensure no "cowardly leader" could commit an act of national humiliation.

The Democrats had to support Roosevelt, and the war was yielding them rich profits. Ending the war now seemed highly inappropriate.

However, this stance did not dampen their political sensitivity. Realizing the Republican proposal was a power grab—where even a tiny slice of presidential authority would be a major political victory for the opposition—the Democrats naturally voted it down.

The Republicans had come prepared; they had more than one trick. Congressional sessions were open to the public, and pro-Republican reporters had already prepared their drafts. As soon as the vote ended, they filled in the blanks with specific names and quotes and rushed them to press.

Soon, American newspapers were screaming about "traitors within the country." The traitors were the "defeatists" and "surrenderists" who were selling out American interests.

These reports quickly ignited the rage of the American public. To date, the US military had suffered defeat after defeat. While the people still supported the government, they wanted to find a scapegoat for the losses.

In any nation, searching for a scapegoat for military failure naturally leads to the military leadership in command at the time. Roosevelt had done his best to protect Marshall until now. Thus, after a brief period of argument and vitriol, the removal of Marshall became the primary demand of the public outcry.

Marshall had long been prepared for removal, yet he felt he had received too much favor from Roosevelt to resign voluntarily. Until now, no member of the Roosevelt cabinet had resigned under pressure. Marshall doing so would imply the administration had lost control under the fierce challenges.

For several days after the tide turned, Marshall remained silent. It wasn't until March 8th, after Roosevelt had met several times with high-level Democrats and refrained from defending him as he once had, that Marshall knew his time had come.

On March 9th, Marshall proactively submitted his resignation to Roosevelt.

On March 10th, Roosevelt accepted the resignation without even a symbolic gesture of retention.

On March 12th, General MacArthur, Commander of the South Pacific, arrived back in Washington after a 72-hour flight from New Zealand.

As soon as he arrived, MacArthur headed to Congress for inquiry. As an influential scion of an American "Blue Blood" family, MacArthur faced the array of "uncles, brothers, and cousins" in Congress and used highly infectious rhetoric to summarize the series of wars.

In MacArthur's view, America's greatest problem was that it was too peace-loving, failing to see China's wolfish ambitions. In 1900, many in the US had believed China should be partitioned, yet those views were ignored.

From 1900 to 1942, China had used American goodwill to secretly develop itself until it finally possessed the capability for revenge.

MacArthur described the bravery and tenacity of the US troops on the battlefield before turning to the performance of the Chinese military. If the traveling persuaders of China's Warring States period two millennia ago had heard him, they would have found his description familiar.

"The Chinese military (the Qin army) trains its units as suicide squads; these soldiers don't even wear helmets on the battlefield, truly showing a disregard for life or death. When ordinary Chinese (the Qin people) hear of war, they stomp their feet and bare their chests in their eagerness to reach the front and begin the slaughter...

China's population is several times that of America; when they attack, they always dispatch forces ten times the size of ours, striking from all eight directions.

...Bare-headed and bare-chested, they charge forward. Compared to the Qin army, the Allied (the Six States) forces are like a cup of water thrown into the desert, sucked dry in an instant.

Allied machine guns fired until their barrels turned red and they could fire no more; the dead Chinese soldiers carpeted the ground beyond all calculation (MacArthur cleverly used descriptions instead of numbers to avoid the issue of casualty statistics).

When the Allies ran out of ammunition, facing the endless Chinese hordes was like an egg hitting a rock... The Chinese are extremely savage in combat; even surrender is not shown mercy. They pursue their opponents relentlessly; after a battle, the ground is littered with the headless corpses of other nations' soldiers..."

Perhaps MacArthur retained a shred of self-respect, or was unwilling to spin a tale *too* far-fetched, for he didn't claim the Chinese pursued the enemy "with a head in the left hand and a prisoner under the right arm."

The congressional "masters" knew China's population was six times America's and naturally believed him. Some Democratic representatives had visited the front to boost morale and knew China indeed held a massive advantage. But they disliked MacArthur's exaggerated attitude and asked, "General MacArthur, can you do more than tell stories? As a soldier, do you have no analysis from a military perspective?"

As the holder of the highest scores in West Point history, MacArthur indeed possessed genuine military talent. Hearing this challenge, he replied immediately: "I characterize the Chinese tactics as 'Human Wave Tactics' (Ren Hai Zhan Shu). Human wave tactics utilize a force that exceeds the defensive side's kill capacity to launch an offensive, ensuring that the capacity to advance always exceeds the number of losses, thereby winning through a brutal mode of combat."

Such rhetoric would have been useless against high-level officers, yet it was effortless and highly effective against a group of congressmen. Moreover, having been born into the American elite, MacArthur had understood the power class from childhood. in this regard, he was infinitely stronger than a commoner like Marshall.

In MacArthur's view, the American elite cared most about their own power, not the outcome of the war. If they couldn't provide the public with a persuasive explanation, even a scion like MacArthur would be sacrificed.

And the explanation the elite required was not complex; it only had to fool the public. And what did the ordinary public know? The "human wave tactics" that were so ridiculous to an elite officer were enough to instill a profound fear in the masses. And that was enough!

Faced with fear, the people would seek protection. And the ones who could provide immediate protection were undoubtedly those currently in power.

A threat not only allowed the elite to avoid responsibility but allowed them to stabilize their power. Thus, MacArthur truly didn't understand how Marshall had allowed himself to be ousted.

Marshall might have been a fool, but MacArthur was not!