The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943

Whether the squeaky wheel gets the grease or not is not important.

What matters is that troublemakers always need to be appeased, especially when you need something from them.

Moreover, when others are using this troublemaker as a knife.

Soon, major newspapers in Washington, New York, and elsewhere published a piece of news:

"To support the European theater, Allied Command has ordered resources to be tilted as much as possible toward Europe, resulting in the suspension of airport construction for bombing Tokyo due to lack of funds."

A seemingly inconspicuous piece of news immediately struck a nerve with the American public. After all, the reason they joined WWII was to fight the Japanese and avenge Pearl Harbor.

For years, it's been all about Europe or Russia.

Almost no one mentioned the Pacific...

The public had long been dissatisfied. Now, even the construction of the airfields for bombing Tokyo had been halted due to lack of funds. Bombing Tokyo was the most basic and direct wish of the American people, yet not only had vast resources been given to Britain and the Soviet Union, even this small wish was being stifled. How could the public possibly accept this?

Amidst the uproar in public opinion, Dewey, Roosevelt's political rival, immediately seized the opportunity to attack, criticizing the government's "Europe First" policy through various channels. He accused Roosevelt of manipulating Americans' patriotism. The United States had entered World War II because of Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, yet the government had sent billions of dollars' worth of supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union, and even the defeated France received hundreds of millions of dollars, while China, which had been fighting Japan for twelve years, received only a few tens of millions.

Not only that, even the Marines fighting the Japanese in the Pacific were still using outdated rifles from the last war and the notoriously faulty Reising submachine guns. Because of the "Europe First" policy, American troops in Britain lounged in the sun with semi-automatic rifles, while Marines in the Pacific had to fight the Japanese with their fathers' trench weapons and jam-prone submachine guns.

"British blood is blood, Russian blood is blood, but isn't the blood of our own young men just as precious? They are bleeding in the Pacific too!"

Dewey's attacks hit right at the heart of the matter. At the same time, someone—no one knew who—handed him another weapon: in the past two years, only a thousand rifles had actually arrived in China as aid!

The rest of the guns had been held back and not shipped to China!

"I don't care at all about the outcome on the Chinese front. What I care about is Europe! Only Europe!"

Such blunt words in Marshall's telegram caused a public outcry, because the Chinese front was fighting—against the Japanese!

Thus, criticism erupted across the United States. So this is how we're fighting the Japanese? All the posters are about killing Japanese soldiers, but now you're telling me—you don't care about the Japanese at all!

The hard-earned money of ordinary Americans was all being thrown into Europe.

Dewey's attacks were sharp and well-documented. In short, he summed it up: "The White House pursues 'Europe First' and has no intention of killing Japanese!"

Each blow struck directly at the White House and Roosevelt himself. Unlike previous criticisms, this time Dewey had real evidence.

"Who stabbed me in the back?!"

Roosevelt was furious that Dewey had gotten hold of Pentagon documents, but at this point, getting angry would solve nothing.

He was forced to make the Pentagon the scapegoat, claiming Marshall's views were personal and did not represent the White House. He tried to explain that the allocation of Lend-Lease supplies was calculated by the Pentagon according to the intensity of the fighting, desperately searching for excuses.

Naturally, Dewey countered: De Gaulle, basking in the sun in Britain and doing nothing, received over a billion dollars a year, while China, fighting the Japanese every day, got only tens of millions—and just a thousand rifles actually delivered!

Is this fighting the Japanese?

It's more like helping the Japanese fight their own allies!

Not only were supplies withheld from China, but last year, the already meager aid to China was largely diverted to North Africa.

Dewey's relentless attacks left Roosevelt scrambling to respond. To calm public opinion, after making the Pentagon the scapegoat and ordering the replacement of the theater chief of staff, Roosevelt even redirected supplies originally intended for Britain and the Soviet Union to India. At a press conference, he told Americans, "Today, we sent another 1,000 tons of supplies to Kunming and Chengdu via the Hump route!"

Of course, they didn't mention that half of those supplies were transported by the Chinese themselves, or that Italian pilots were flying the planes, or that the cargo wasn't even American supplies.

They just told everyone they were aiding China.

As for the halted construction of the airfields, that was not due to funds being diverted to Europe, but rather a communication issue between the parties.

Soon, under Roosevelt's direct intervention, the gold loan agreement was finally implemented. In a blessing in disguise, the U.S. promised to provide no less than $1.5 billion in aid to support China's war of resistance in 1944, and guaranteed that the supplies would actually reach China, not just be delivered to India and counted as aid.

Just as American public opinion was in an uproar and Roosevelt and Dewey were fiercely debating the "Europe First" policy, news arrived from Asia of a great victory in Central Henan.

"…In the Central Henan region, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops fought nearly 200,000 Japanese soldiers for over thirty days. The enemy suffered more than 30,000 casualties, lost over 240 tanks, and more than 150 artillery pieces…"

Reading the news in the paper, Pierre appeared especially calm. All of this was both expected and unexpected. It was expected because, in another world, there was a precedent—just months after the disastrous defeat in the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi campaign, the Chinese army launched the Battle of West Hunan. At that time, the Burma Road was reopened, American aid poured into China, the army's equipment was upgraded, and its combat effectiveness improved. This led to the later great victory in West Hunan. The subsequent counteroffensive proved that as long as there was enough ammunition and supplies, the Chinese could defeat the Japanese.

As long as there are ammunition and supplies… The patriotism and passion of the Chinese people are enough to defeat the Japanese. After all, the Chinese had endured for seven years with nothing but flesh and blood!

In the past three months, as much as seventy thousand tons of supplies had arrived in China—several times the historical amount for the same period. The previously under-equipped troops were finally replenished.

"…Perhaps, this is the real change."

First

Although this was just a victory in a single battle, it truly changed many things.

"Well then, perhaps the resistance against Japan will be a bit easier from now on."

This Japanese offensive was the largest since the Meiji Restoration. Their setback meant the Japanese army had lost its offensive advantage on the mainland; from here on, the initiative in the war would no longer be in their hands.

Thinking of this, a genuine, radiant smile appeared on Pierre's face. This smile came from the bottom of his heart, because this was the first step in burying the "Little Japs."

"Under Mount Fuji, drunken courtesans… I'm getting closer and closer!"

With a sigh, Pierre turned his gaze into the distance. Standing atop the Empire State Building, he looked out over Manhattan, gazing at the surrounding skyscrapers. This was the most prosperous metropolis of the twentieth century.

Though prosperous, it did not belong to him. But across the ocean, there was a land waiting for its master to return.

At this thought, the corners of Pierre's lips curled upward. In his pride, he even whistled softly and muttered to himself,

"Give me twenty years, and I'll give you a miraculous… Borneo!"

In that instant, his ambition was no longer just North Borneo, but the whole of Borneo!

After all, human ambition always tends to grow!