My own war game

Chapter 370 The troublemaker is here again
A press conference is underway at the Presidential Palace in Washington.

There were a lot of people sitting in the audience because the person answering reporters' questions today was not the press officer as in the past, but President Truman himself.

A NBC agent had just stood up from the front row of reporters and said, "Please review the administration's achievements over the past year, Mr. President."

"Thank you for your question. I am very sure that America has entered an era of long-term prosperity. Economic growth has brought about widespread social benefits. The income of each family has increased. We now produce eight million cars a year, and one in five families own televisions. These consumer goods have gradually become a part of American life." Truman spoke eloquently, and there was an obvious improvement on his face when facing his political achievements.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. President. Please call on the next person to ask questions."

After the press officer spoke, arms behind him rose high like a forest of trees.

Truman looked around casually and found a capable lady with short hair in the back row who was very eye-catching, so he pointed casually and said, "The lady in the third row at the back."

Seeing the person standing up, the press officer's face suddenly turned bad. The president's first choice was "Thunder", April Monica, the beautiful female reporter of the Washington Post, who was a typical naysayer.

As expected, although the female reporter's delicate facial features made people feel like spring breeze, in contrast, the questions she asked were like razor blades.

"Mr. President, what do you think of Congressman Joseph McCarthy's claim that more than half of our Congress is red-political?"

Truman's face, which had just been smiling, froze. Everyone knew that a loudmouth emerged in the Republican Party this year - McCarthy, who had been pointing fingers at the Democratic presidential team and calling them traitors for almost the entire year, and he would accuse anyone he caught of being a Soviet collaborator.

"Nonsense! McCarthy's accusations are totally groundless. I fully believe that members of Congress have the most basic political ethics." Truman directly denied it.

"So you respect the opinions of Congress?" the female reporter began to set a trap for the other party.

"Of course, from the moment I placed my hand on the Constitution and always." Truman raised his hand as he had done when he took the oath of office.

"But you did not obtain authorization from Congress for the war on the peninsula..."

Truman's face suddenly turned livid. He suppressed his anger and said, "As the President of the United States, I think this is extremely necessary. We cannot allow the democratic world to suffer a serious setback due to meaningless political disputes..."

The female reporter raised her lips slightly and said, "But you just said that you must respect the rights of Congress."

"This is an isolated incident." Truman was already starting to get angry.

"Does that mean that every time a war breaks out, the presidential residence can claim it is an isolated incident?" The beautiful female reporter seized the loophole and chased after him relentlessly.

Just when Truman felt he was about to lose control of his anger, a staff member nearby came forward and whispered something to the first assistant, and then the press officer walked forward.

"I'm sorry, today's press conference has to end here. Mr. President has some important matters to deal with later..."

After that, the press officer prepared to leave after a brief exchange with Truman.

"Mr. President! Mr. President! Last question! Please answer the last question!" The female reporter jumped and raised her hand high in the crowd.

Perhaps feeling that it was ungraceful to leave like this, Truman stood at the door and made a gesture of "please speak".

The woman quickly sorted out her notes and said, "Mr. President, General MacArthur once said that the entire peninsula war could be ended before Christmas, but Christmas is a month away and the situation does not seem to be the case."

"Yes, the situation on the battlefield on the peninsula has changed, but everything is under control. We will use all means to stop our opponents." "Any means? Including nuclear weapons?" The female reporter seemed to have discovered a new continent, and even everyone else became excited.

"I said, all means." Truman repeated it again and walked out of the door. The flash lights behind him kept killing the film in the camera.

Using nuclear weapons? Big news.
-
When I walked into the conference room, seven or eight people were already waiting there.

Deputy Secretary of State Dean Acheson, nuclear expert Leslie Groves, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff William Leahy,...Except for Marshall who was talking with MacArthur, almost all members of Truman's staff were there.

What was somewhat surprising was that the retired former commander-in-chief of the Marine Corps, Admiral Alexander Vandegrift, was also there.

"Mr. President, bad news. We have discovered signs of unidentified activity in the waters north of the peninsula." Acheson rushed to hand over a telegram.

"Unidentified person?! Is it the Soviets?" This was Truman's first reaction and what he was most worried about.

"No, we encountered a Balao-class submarine, but we didn't notice it until we were very close. According to the intelligence, it was very large, probably more than 10,000 tons. In the existing ship codes, there are only 10,000-ton submarines..."

"The former British Royal Navy nuclear submarine HMS Dreadnought." William Leahy silently continued the conversation.

"This group of troublemakers have come to East Asia?" Truman raised his eyebrows when he heard the news. He now deeply regretted his decision before World War II. If he could do it again, he would definitely flush Marshall's unfortunate plan down the toilet.

"Mr. President, although the intelligence has yet to be confirmed, I am worried that the other party may be here to cause trouble." Acheson analyzed with some concern.

"Do you have any basis for this?" Truman looked at his assistant.

"Please allow the Admiral to explain this to us." Acheson made way, and the door to the side room behind him opened.

A dark object appeared in the sight of a group of senior White House officials.

This is... a gasoline barrel?! Why bring this thing to the president's office?
"Mr. President, this is the secret weapon we just seized from the Chinese army." Acheson explained on the side.

"Using gasoline barrels as weapons? I remember April 1st was still early." Truman thought his staff were playing an April Fool's joke.

"No, this is the weapon. It has an effective range of 300-500 meters. It can launch explosive packs weighing less than 10 kilograms. The power of the explosion is no less than that of a cannon of ordinary caliber. During the battle with the Chinese army, Doug's vanguard suffered a great loss." Admiral Vandergrift, former commander of the st Marine Division, said with a serious expression.

"Alexander, do you know a lot about this stuff?" Truman touched the surface of the gasoline barrel and his hands were covered with black dirt.

"Of course, because this weapon was invented by He himself. I even fired one myself on Guadalcanal." Vandergrift said in a somewhat conflicted tone.

"That guy did it?" Truman's expression became serious and he walked around the gasoline barrel twice.

"You mean He gave the weapons he developed to his motherland?"

"It is not ruled out." Vandergrift, "and the other possibility may be more serious..."

"That means he is originally from that side."

(End of this chapter)