Like the parallel universe, in April 1917, the United States announced that it would join World War I and become a member of the Allies. Wesley then led the first echelon of the Expeditionary Force and set out. The mighty fleet form was in the Atlantic Ocean, and destroyers and light cruisers became the main escort force to prevent German submarines.
German submarines began large-scale activity in January with a growing trend, a heavy blow for Britain, but the destroyers and light cruisers designed by Wesley were the bane of these submarines.
After arriving at the port in the west of France without any mishaps, Wesley first led three divisions to Paris. The French officer who greeted them looked curiously at the Americans along the way.
The American army and the British and French army stood together to make comparisons. Then the American army was like the gentlemen in the city, and the British and French army were more like a group of farmers. Whether it was equipment or clothing, the contrast was stark, which made the soldiers of the American army very proud, and the marching line was held up.
The jeep that Wesley was in was something that no one had ever seen before. It sped all the way to the headquarters of the Allied Powers in Paris, where Commander-in-Chief Betham met Wesley.
"Are you the commander of the American Expeditionary Force?" Pétain asked in surprise. Although he had the information of the American commander again, the commander of the first unit did not specify his age.
"Yes. I am Major General Wesley Gibson, the commander of the first echelon of the United States Expeditionary Force." Wesley's face was calm.
"Oh, welcome." Pétain was not enthusiastic at all. Seeing Wesley's age, he inevitably looked down on him. "This is the British commander-in-chief, Marshal Douglas Haig, the British commander-in-chief." Next was the other generals in the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers, but these people were not very interested in the young general of the United States. However, they had just launched the spring offensive and suffered heavy casualties, and Pétain had just taken over the position of the commander-in-chief. They now continued to ask for manpower.
"General Gibson, now we continue to ask for manpower. I think your American army can bear the pressure of defense," Pétain said directly.
"I'm sorry, Marshal. Our troops have come from afar and have not adapted to the weather in France. At the same time, our logistical supplies need to be transported from the United States, which is tens of thousands of miles away. Our ammunition is very insufficient now and cannot withstand a long-term defense mission." Wesley interrupted without waiting for the other party to finish.
Pétain was quite unhappy, but he had no choice. It was a fact that the other party was short of ammunition, but he would not give up just like that. "It's the defense stage now. You can take over a section of the defense line."
"This is a taboo for soldiers. Once we change the defense, before we can stand firm, we will be easily attacked by the other party. And my soldiers can easily increase their shortcomings in the fierce battle. If the defense line falls, is it the responsibility of the Marshal or me?"
Pétain stopped talking and turned to look at Douglas Haig, who shook his head vaguely. Pétain said again, "Okay, so how long do you need?"
"It's not up to me to decide, Marshal. We need to see the speed of the transport fleet. At the same time, I need a flying force to follow my orders. We don't have extra transport ships to transport planes. At the same time, the United States doesn't have a dedicated force in the fighter field, so we can only use yours. We need air support." Wesley didn't mention tanks, but asked for planes directly.
Tanks in this period were easy to fight, especially when he equipped the troops with RPGs. When tanks appeared in the European war, Wesley would have to deal with them. But directly producing tanks was not what he wanted. It was easy for other countries to imitate him, so he took out the simplest rocket launcher. He did not even produce anti-tank guns. It was too simple to use rocket launchers to fight World War I tanks.
"A plane? This needs to wait. We have suffered heavy casualties at the moment and the production of the plane can't keep up," Pétain said.
Wesley shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, we'll wait. Now I need to see our station. A lot of things need to be busy. Goodbye." Wesley turned and left the command post.
Pétain said to Haig after Wesley left, "What do you think of this young man?"
"I can't see through it, but it's very strong. I don't know anything else for the time being."
"I was going to let the Americans go to the defense line first, but what if they don't agree? We have already lost a lot, especially after the spring offensive, we are starting to run out of troops." Pétain said it in a dignified way, but he just wanted the Americans to be cannon fodder, and the British and French wanted to take advantage of the Americans.
"It's better to wait for a while. After all, their personnel and equipment are not complete. It's natural for them not to participate in the battle. But once they are complete, they must join the battle. He is just a major general."
Wesley left the command post and took a car directly to the station. The barracks were just outside Paris, and now it was all barracks and refugee camps outside Paris. The hundreds of thousands of American troops needed a lot of space, and Wesley had no intention of separating his forces. Because of equipment and logistics, the American army had to fight alone so that it could exert its maximum power.
Over the course of a month, the troops entered the station and training began. They were waiting for follow-up ammunition and supplies. At the same time, Wesley left the four Marine brigades at the port and kept them with the Atlantic Expeditionary Fleet, waiting for his orders at any time. No one's orders had to be obeyed except Wesley's.
Wesley, on the other hand, had been studying the map. The two sides confronted each other along many rivers. The roads in this period were very bad, so this time Wesley only asked the Heavy Artillery Brigade to bring trucks to pull them. The sappers used trucks to pull some of the heavy equipment, and at the same time, they were responsible for repairing the roads to ensure the speed of the heavy artillery. All the other troops were on foot.
Wesley's plan was that no one else knew. He wanted the American forces in his hands to finish the rest of World War I and take out the Allies directly. This was not impossible, especially for his four Marine brigades, which were his direct troops. He had trained all the officers, and all that was left was to make all the American officers obey his commands. This was a big problem.
"Pass the order, so the division commander and brigade commander are here for a meeting." Wesley finally held a full meeting for the first time a month after the troops were assembled. Only the division commander and brigade commander attended, and no other officers were called.
Wesley had to subdue these generals during this meeting. Otherwise, it would be difficult to fight in the future. If he wanted to prove himself, he would need an unparalleled victory. Otherwise, it was very likely that others would drown him. After all, he was only a major general. No matter how great the credit was, it would be commanded by others. It was not in line with Wesley's character.