In 1917, the United States entered World War I, which accelerated the course of the war. For Captain Marshall, he had "squeezed his head" to join the war in Europe in order to realize his dream of becoming a general. However, during an exercise, he spoke outright and completely "offended" Pershing, commander-in-chief of the US Expeditionary Force, and the future was very slim.
Unexpectedly, this incident aroused Pershing's great interest and preference, and within a year he was promoted to 3rd level in a row, became a temporary colonel and transferred to the headquarters, responsible for the deployment of millions of troops, and became the most proud assistant around Pershing. Just as he was asking his superiors to promote him to brigadier general, the war was over and Marshall was almost back in time.
The pragmatic attitude of the Americans, almost impersonal, welcomed the triumphant return of the hero the first day, and disarmed and reduced the military budget the next day. Marshall was also removed as a temporary colonel and restored to his original rank of captain, and MacArthur became the principal of the West Point Military Academy under the operation of his family, and the official rank of brigadier general made him indignant.
In 1921 Pershing became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and Marshall moved to Washington as his chief assistant and wife. Soon after, he was promoted to a full lieutenant colonel, with a wealth of money and a relaxed job. But his wife, who was born with heart disease, could not have children, and the couple decided to adopt an adopted daughter, and the family was happy, which was his most enjoyable period.
Three years later, Pershing's term of office had expired, and considering Marshall's future, he had to have a certain amount of time in the field unit, and assigned him to the 15th Infantry Regiment stationed in Tianjin as acting regimental commander, which was his first command of regimental troops. Marshall is also very yearning for the long-standing oriental culture and comes to China happily with her family.
When he first arrived in Tianjin, the 15th Infantry Regiment did not leave a good impression on him. Among the foreign troops stationed in China, the reputation of the US military is the most stinky, the officers and men are poorly disciplined, drinking and fighting are the norm; the military appearance and discipline are even more sloppy, the color of clothing is not uniform, and compared with the British troops stationed in the same country, the US military is more like a "beggar" unit.
Marshall, who has managed millions of troops, these things are a "piece of cake" for him, and the rectification is quick and effective. He demanded uniform clothing to be ordered; the camp environment should be transformed; and at the same time, the military training of the troops was strengthened, and he personally supervised the training of each squad. Soon, the spirit of the troops was renewed, and the officers and men also respected him very much.
Of course, Marshall is very fond of Oriental culture, and he studied Chinese for 3 years to become a "China Pass". More fond of China was Mrs. Marshall, who had 10 servants and didn't have to do housework; she traveled extensively, especially with porcelain and silk. The family lived an "aristocratic" life, so that when she returned to China, she was still in love.
In 1927, Marshall returned to China as an instructor at the Army Military Academy and made a new home in Washington. Mrs. Marshall, despite her natural illness, decorated her new home with a large number of porcelain, carpets, lacquerware and other items purchased in China, and died of sudden congenital heart disease due to excitement and fatigue.
The death of his wife of 26 years was a big blow to Marshall. He was languishing and taciturn all day, and suddenly he had lost a lot of weight, and the strong and confident Marshall of the past was gone. In various rooms of his home, there are pictures of his wife, immersed in the memories of the past, and he can never get out of the pain of losing his wife.
People learned at this time that Mrs. Marshall suffered from congenital heart disease and could not have children, but he never abandoned, loved her, carefully cared for her, and hid his wife's medical history, and few people knew the real situation. The gossip about their couple came to an abrupt end, and people sympathized with and understood everything he had done for his wife.
The War Department also knew what had happened to Marshall, and in order to let him recover from his grief, it decided to transfer him to the Fort Benning Infantry School as the deputy principal, and in their opinion, changing the environment would distract Marshall and cheer him up as soon as possible. As it turns out, this is indeed a good approach.
During the infantry school, there was a great depression. Marshall began to start with sanitation, as he always did. Under the condition of tight funds, he "demolished the eastern wall to make up for the western wall", built two brand-new classrooms with materials torn down from abandoned buildings, and encouraged officers and soldiers to reclaim wasteland, grow vegetables, raise poultry, and improve their lives.
The officers and men of the infantry school were very fond of this approachable vice principal. Marshall forgot his job and gradually came out of a depressed state, and he also gained a lot of weight, but at the age of 50, he was still alone and had no intention of continuing. It wasn't until 3 years later, met the 46-year-old actor Catherine, a woman who had been widowed for many years, who came into his life.
The economic crisis of the 1930s had a huge impact on the United States. Factories closed, workers lost their jobs, fields were barren, peasants went bankrupt, people lived in hardship and many starved to death. After Roosevelt came to power, he implemented the New Deal, invested a lot of municipal construction, organized unemployed peasants and workers to form "maintenance teams", built roads, built airports, etc., and the U.S. Army undertook the management of "maintenance teams".
Marshall had the opportunity to become the chief executive of 25,000 young people in 17 labor camps. With great enthusiasm and superb leadership skills, he quickly brought this labor force into a disciplined and efficient team, which attracted widespread attention and praise from the political and military circles.
They complained about Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, hoping he would be promoted. What everyone did not understand was that MacArthur, who was already the chief of staff of the army at this time and a four-star general, did not agree to it. It turns out that his and Marshall's "vendetta" has a long history and needs to be traced back to the First World War.
MacArthur, who was the chief of staff of the Rainbow Division at the time, although he had impeccable military talent, often bypassed the division commander to command the troops with his status as a "second generation officer". Pershing and others were very disgusted with this arrogant and rather conceited person, and decided to disband the "Rainbow Division" and stop his "might" and arrogance.
Under the mediation of his family, the good villains saved the "Rainbow Division", but he was not an open-minded person, vowing to take revenge on Pershing and others, and Marshall, as Pershing's "sidekick", was naturally the focus of his revenge. Thus, there was a scene of ignoring the appeals of the crowd and not approving Marshall's promotion.
To make matters worse, MacArthur transferred Marshall to the National Guard. This order was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and Marshall was completely blinded, because the National Guard was not a regular army, and no matter how good it was, it was impossible to get promoted. To put it bluntly, MacArthur wanted to use this method to get Marshall to "retire" with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Desperate for achievement and fame, Marshall, unwilling to end his military career, wrote to MacArthur to retract the order, and even Pershing wrote to persuade him to change his mind. As a result, not to say that it was okay, the more he talked, the more energetic he sent a telegram and ordered Marshall to go to work immediately. He hadn't laughed once in 3 months, and the blow was too big.
The elderly Pershing, despite his frailty, personally went home to comfort him and wrote to Roosevelt and the Secretary of War asking for the promotion of Brigadier Marshall. With the intervention of Roosevelt and others, the arrogant MacArthur remained unmoved, "promotion is OK, it will be three years later." As a result, Marshall served as a lieutenant colonel for 18 years before he was promoted to brigadier general.
It seems that this kind of "little person" is everywhere, is there such a person around everyone?
Discussions and comments are welcome.
References: World War II, Marshall
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