NOVEL NEXT Chapter 90: Backstabbing
On this day, a guest arrived at the airport.
The visitor was none other than Harry. As the company's lobbyist in Washington, he was not only competent but had also gone above and beyond, providing Pierre with a great deal of assistance. He even helped the company recruit many talented individuals, and it was only after the headhunting firm was established that his workload eased a bit.
"Pierre, you didn't ask me here just to see your plane, did you?"
Harry asked directly.
"Of course not. Come on, let's talk inside."
After inviting Harry into the house, Pierre walked over to the liquor cabinet and asked,
"What would you like to drink?"
"Whiskey, on the rocks."
Pouring two glasses of whiskey, Pierre took a sip and asked,
"Do you know Dewey?"
"Dewey?"
Harry, who hadn't even had time to set down his glass, paused mid-air in surprise.
"Pierre, you're not thinking of donating to him, are you? Dewey can't win the election."
Thomas Dewey, governor of New York and Roosevelt's opponent in the election, had a lot of buzz around him, but many people weren't optimistic about his chances.
"Don't change captains midstream—that's the basic principle, Pierre, …"
Before Harry could finish, Pierre shook his head and said,
"I'm not looking to support him. Hmm… I need him!"
Taking another sip, Pierre continued,
"I need him to do something for me. To be precise, only he can do these things for me."
"What?"
Harry looked at Pierre, puzzled.
"You need Dewey to do something for you? Why would he help you?"
With a slight smile, Pierre leaned back against the sofa and said slowly,
"For his campaign."
Harry frowned, his eyes full of confusion.
"Right now, the only one who can cause trouble for Roosevelt is him!"
Ah!
If Harry had only been puzzled before, now he was completely thrown off.
What was he saying?
He wanted to cause trouble for the President?
"To cause trouble for the President—my God, you, you…"
Suddenly, Harry fell silent. Thanks to more than half a year of working together, he knew well that the young man in front of him was extremely smart—definitely not the type to stir up trouble for no reason.
He must have another motive!
Having come to this conclusion, Harry took a sip of his drink, thought for a moment, and said,
"Pierre, I suspect your goal isn't to make trouble, but to solve trouble! Am I right?"
Dealing with smart people was always so easy—no need for lengthy explanations; they understood your intentions at once.
Pierre nodded and said,
"You know, if you want someone to do something for you, first… you have to make them owe you!"
"And you want the President to owe you, right?"
Harry swirled his glass, the ice cubes clinking in the amber whiskey.
"Very few people can pull that off—after all, you're not on the same level."
Despite what he said, Harry's tone was full of anticipation.
"Unless you have a great idea."
"A good idea always needs the right ammunition. You know, the U.S. entered the world war because of Pearl Harbor, and the fundamental reason Americans joined the war was for revenge! To get back at the Japanese. But in the past two years, the U.S. has allocated the vast majority of its resources to Europe…"
At this point, Pierre paused and smiled, then continued,
"On the surface, it looks like the Navy and Marines have put a lot of effort into the Pacific, but in reality, the Marines are like stepchildren—they're fighting the Japanese with rifles their fathers used against the Germans in World War I, while almost all of America's resources are being sent to the British and the Russians."
Pierre reached for a thick envelope on the table.
"Europe First?"
Harry interjected.
"You want to attack Roosevelt's 'Europe First' policy, is that it?"
"Yes."
"But you know, Dewey is already doing that."
"Not enough—he needs some extra help."
What?
Harry looked at Pierre, still puzzled.
"To fight the Germans, the White House gave the British $10 billion in supplies last year, and gave the Russians $3 billion. Do you know how much China got? China's tying down over a million Japanese troops. The President said last year that without the Chinese resistance, more than 1.5 million Japanese troops would have swept across the Pacific to America, occupied Hawaii, maybe even the entire West Coast!"
Thanks to the whirlwind caused by the First Lady's visit to the U.S. last year, Harry, like all Americans, knew how important China was.
"I know, China is the main force resisting the Japanese."
"But last year, China only got $49 million in supplies."
"What? How could it be so little?"
"And this is only the number sent to India. In reality, the vast majority of supplies were embezzled by that chief of staff sent by the Americans. From 1942 until now—a full two years—only 1,000 rifles were actually shipped into China. The remaining 80,000 rifles were withheld in India under various pretexts and refused shipment to China!"
When it came to this matter, Pierre's feelings toward America, this so-called ally, were no longer mere dissatisfaction—they had turned to outright anger!
At the most critical stage of the War of Resistance, not only did the United States fail to supply urgently needed materials, they even used arms as leverage, demanding that the Chinese hand over military command to the Americans—just as the Koreans, in exchange for U.S. aid, directly knelt down and handed over their military command to the Americans, and have done so for half a century!
Anyone who does that—hands over command of their army—is hardly any different from a lackey. Even the Japanese, when they presented the Twenty-One Demands, didn't dare to include such a brazen clause!
As a nation, who the hell could grovel as shamelessly as Korea? Then again, it's understandable—after all, the Koreans have been subservient for over a thousand years.
The Koreans may kneel and willingly hand over command of their own military, but China cannot. This has nothing to do with anything else—it's about national and ethnic dignity.
After this demand was rejected, that chief of staff faithfully carried out the Marshall Plan: one part supporting the war against Japan, two parts going through the motions, and seven parts causing trouble. At the same time, he used supplies as leverage, time and again trying to force China to hand over military command to the U.S.
Last year's visit to the U.S. by the First Lady was actually to lodge a complaint, but it was meaningless, because the Americans simply didn't care. All they wanted was for China to keep the Japanese army tied down; how much blood was shed was none of America's concern.
The historical Hump airlift was said to be in support of China's war effort, but in fact, over 95% of the supplies shipped to China were for U.S. forces stationed there, not for the Chinese.
They would rather use precious cargo space to ship Spam that American soldiers refused to eat than send a few more bullets to China.
The result was that the Spam was sold on the black market by Americans—while Chinese soldiers didn't have enough bullets! So much for being allies!
Large-scale shipments of American weapons and ammunition to China didn't occur until after the China-India highway opened in 1945, and continued until July 1946. But by then…the war was basically over.
How many more Chinese died because of America's ambition to control China?
Over a million soldiers and several million civilians died because of America's hidden agenda!
How could anyone not be furious about this?
But venting anger was not Pierre's only goal!
He needed to create a big problem for Roosevelt, then take advantage of the chaos to reap his own benefits. All of this was just ammunition for Dewey—a bayonet for stabbing Roosevelt in the back!