Walk up to the altar
Nicknamed "Black Jack" and "Hammer", General Pershing can be described as the first person in the US military circles in the 20th century, and is the boss of all the famous American generals in World War II. This "Black Jack" is a very harsh guy, often with an iron-faced fierce face, a straight waist, and a cold shape, so some people commented that although he was very majestic, he was "more like a general on the stage than a general in reality", but some people said that it was because of this image that "Black Jack" eventually became a "god". Why is Pershing such a character? Probably has a lot to do with his experiences as a child. John Pershing was born in 1860 to a family of ordinary shopkeepers in La Pershingcled, Linth County, Missouri, when the contradictions between the North and the South were quite acute, the South wanted to maintain black slavery, and the North wanted to develop capitalism, forming a sharp opposition between the two social systems. After Lincoln, who opposed slavery, was elected president, the South began to plot to break away from government control. In 1861, the southern states declared independence, the Civil War began, and Pershing grew up in social conflict.
In 1864, the flames of war finally reached his hometown, and his family was almost destroyed. On June 18, a southern group of "vigilantes," led by Captain Holtzclaw, stormed general Pershing's father's office in Lin County, Missouri. It turned out that General Pershing's father, John, supported the Lincoln administration by providing aid to the Northern Army in Missouri. Now, John's shop was the target of looting. When the Southern militia rushed in, John, seeing that the situation was not right, quickly left to get his double-barreled shotgun. The southern militia escorted the rest of the shop to the compound and began to lecture on their toes. John retrieves his gun and prepares to fight the "bandits". His wife was horrified and strongly opposed him to hard work. It was just when the Northern Army arrived quickly, and the "bandits" fled, and the danger was defused.
After the end of the American Civil War, Pershing began a basic schooling education. Sometimes, he worked on his father's farm. However, the family soon suffered misfortune, and in 1873 there was a great economic panic in the United States, and his father went bankrupt. At that time, Pershing was trying to go to college, and everything was in vain. With no financial resources left, Pershing had to earn his own living to support the family's normal living expenses. He came to an elementary school to teach and teach black children, but this was not his ideal, teaching was only a transitional means of making a living. His dream is to become a lawyer and do justice for society. He had amassed some money and went to The State Normal School in Kirksville for 3 months, just when the West Point Military Academy began to enroll, and he felt that it was a great blessing to be able to study at such a school. So he went to register with the mentality of trying it out, and passed the entrance exam. In 1882, he became a cadet at West Point and began a good military education, learning a variety of basic military techniques and tactics. Although he did not want to be a soldier in his heart, studying at military school made him develop good habits. His philosophy is that if something is worth doing, it should be done well. His studies were very good, he was also very good, he was liked by his classmates, and soon became the class leader, and later became the captain of the cadet team. His motto is: We strive to reach what we are working towards.
In 1886, he graduated from the Military Academy at West Point and began participating in western operations. At that time, white Americans were advancing westward, clashing violently with the Indians who had lived there for generations. He served in the 10th Cavalry Regiment, many of the soldiers were black, and black people at that time lived at the bottom of society, and even when they served in the army, they were discriminated against and difficult to promote to officers. Therefore, in order to show themselves in battle, black soldiers are quite brave, tenacious, loyal and dedicated. All this impressed Pershing, who was more liked by the black soldiers because he was easy-going. As a result, Pershing became the spokesman for the interests of the black soldiers, and the name "Black Jack" began to sound. Later, this nickname gradually resounded throughout the US military community with the soaring popularity of others, so that almost everyone who mentioned "Black Jack" knew it, just like the "Timely Rain" mentioned on the underworld in "Water Margin" almost no one knew that it was Song Jiang. In April 1898, the United States and Spain went to war over Cuba, and Pershing went to Cuba to participate in the war. There, Pershing met Theodore Roosevelt, who later became President of the United States, then deputy secretary of the Navy. Almost at the same time, in April 1898, the war between the United States and the West for the Philippines also began, and Pershing became an officer on an expedition to the Philippines after completing his combat mission in Cuba. In 1902, the War of the Philippines ended with the victory of the American Army, and the Philippines became a colony of the United States. In 1903, Pershing gained the favor of the top brass of the U.S. Military and went to the General Staff of Washington, D.C., which not only put him on the fast track to the ranks, but also accumulated a wide network of contacts for his later achievements.
In 1904, when Japan and Russia were engaged in the Russo-Japanese War over northeast China, Pershing went to northeast China as an observer sent by the U.S. government to observe, and before leaving he was promoted to brigadier general. He served in northeast China until 1906, when he served at the Philippine U.S. Military Command. In 1914, when World War I began, the United States implemented the so-called policy of neutrality, which was actually "sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight", and began to sell arms to the belligerent countries and make a windfall in the war. In 1916, the United States sent troops to attack anti-American forces in Mexico. Prior to this, the United States annexed parts of Mexico in 1912 to form the state of New Mexico. After Pershing invaded Mexico with his troops, he was ordered to hunt down and kill Vera, the leader of the anti-American armed forces. Vera was a legendary figure in the area, and Pershing tried his best to capture him, but the war, known as the "Pershing Expedition", made Pershing famous and prosperous, and soon rose to the rank of major general, becoming one of the highest-ranking soldiers in the US army. Soon, when the two major groups in the European battlefield were fighting and losing both, the United States began to stir. On April 16, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany and other Allied powers, sending 2 million expeditionary troops to the European battlefield. It was this war that allowed Pershing to embark on the dazzling American "altar" from a mortal American general.
From the previous text, we should see that Pershing was a particularly fortunate soldier, and long before the US military went to Europe to participate in the First World War, he had already "experienced a hundred battles": he had fought Indians, Fought Spaniards, fought Filipinos, fought Mexicans... More importantly, at that time, the two presidents of the United States were very kind to Pershing, President Theodore Roosevelt directly promoted Pershing from a small captain to the rank of provisional brigadier general, and when President Wilson was in power, Pershing was more loved, and when the president encountered military problems, the first thing that came to mind was Pershing, "Black Jack" actually became the president's semi-personal adviser on military issues, and became the "own person" of the supreme commander of the US military. In fact, it was President Wilson's reuse that made Pershing the first general in U.S. history to command a modern army. In 1916, Wilson sent Pershing to fight vera, the "Mexican thief" who had disappeared without a trace, and in Pershing's troops, there were many firsts in American military history: the first use of automobile transportation, the first use of aircraft reconnaissance, the first use of war radio, and the ingenious use of a lieutenant named George Barton put a machine gun on the car and killed Vera's deputy... As a result, Pershing became the "first" in history because of so many "firsts" in history, and was the only American general at that time who had the experience of commanding a "modern army". Of course, maybe heaven saw that Pershing was too lucky, a little jealous, and made a cruel joke to Pershing. While Pershing was fighting the Mexican thief, a fire broke out at his residence in San Francisco, burning Pershing's wife and 3 daughters to death, with the only surviving son. This incident stimulated Pershing too much, making him more severe and cold, more and more like an "iron-faced fierce god", but at the same time, it also increased Pershing's "military charm" on the other side, whether it was political or civilian, the good feelings for Pershing increased unabated. It is precisely because of this that the rich practical combat experience that is rare in the US military and the great prestige in the political and civilian circles have made Pershing the best candidate to lead the US Expeditionary Force to Europe to participate in the war.