1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

Field and Roosevelt will never let him go!

What awaits him is a military court trial, disgrace and even... life imprisonment!

"It's over... It's all over..."

Thinking of that horrible future, MacArthur slumped down in despair on his high-backed chair, the symbol of supreme power in the Army. His distraught figure was reflected on the polished windows. Where was the majesty of the "American Caesar"?

The military career he had painstakingly built up over decades, his ambition to become the true ruler of the United States, would all be completely shattered by the bolt from the blue brought by this telegram!

"General! General!"

The adjutant looked at MacArthur in horror, as if he had aged ten years in an instant, and said in a tearful voice:

"Tell me what to do! Should we order all relay points to evacuate immediately? Should we order..."

“…Evacuate…Evacuate…”

As if reminded, MacArthur's eyes lit up and he stood up suddenly:

"Order the relay station to destroy all messages immediately! Destroy the radio! Everyone evacuate and hide immediately! No one is allowed to reveal themselves without my order! Also, call Richard... and the others! As I said before, in batches!"

"Yes... Then, what about Patton? Do you want to reply..." "What Patton?"

"Ah? Ah! Yes!"

“.…."

Late at night, the office door was pushed open again, and several officers in neat military uniforms came in one after another. They were part of MacArthur's core team in the army that he had built for many years.

These people were called "Bataan Boys" by the outside world. Many of them were not loyal to the Union at all, but only to MacArthur. Some of their fathers were even close confidants of MacArthur's father, Arthur MacArthur, the president of the West Point Military Academy.

Under the personal care of MacArthur, the "No. 1 Man in the Army", some of the "Bataan Boys" have already held important positions in the US Army.

But strangely enough, the first batch of officers called by MacArthur did not have high positions or ranks, at least not high positions or positions of power. For example:

Major Richard Sutherland – Clerk, Army Staff Secretariat;

Lieutenant Colonel Sidney Huff – Asian intelligence officer;

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Richardson, instructor at the Army War College; Lieutenant Colonel William Haller Wilbur, staff officer of the 3rd Infantry Division; Major George Kenney, director of aviation intelligence...

The first group to arrive were basically the "closest of the close" people who were directly involved in the assassination of Roosevelt and the collusion with the financial tycoons. Therefore, as soon as they entered the door, Sidney Hef solemnly advised:

"General! We all know the situation! Operation Valley has completely failed! That bastard Ike has betrayed us! Field and Roosevelt will soon find irrefutable evidence pointing directly to you! Washington can't stay any longer! We must leave immediately!"

"leave?"

A trace of confusion flashed in MacArthur's eyes:

"Where to go? Flee abroad? Like a lost dog?"

"General! Now is not the time to act rashly! You know how ruthless that woman Field is!"

Lieutenant Colonel Huff stepped forward, his eyes sharp and anxious:

"She will never give you a chance to be publicly tried by a military tribunal! She will directly use the NGW or presidential privileges to secretly execute you! Or 'compel suicide'! We must move immediately! To the Philippines! Or South America! As long as we are here, there is still a chance!"

"No! You can't escape!"

Another confidant, Richard Sutherland, interrupted sinisterly:

"You can escape for a while, but you can't escape forever! Moreover, if you flee, all the charges against you will be proven! My father's reputation (he considers Marshal Mai a spiritual father and a flatterer) will be completely ruined! All our hard work over the years will be completely wasted!"

"So what do you think we should do? Just sit there and wait for death? The current situation doesn't allow us to hesitate!"

"You can't run away! Running away is the stupidest strategy!"

There was a noise in the room for a while. MacArthur leaned back in his chair dejectedly, staring at the gorgeous chandelier on the ceiling with empty eyes, as if his soul had left his body.

At this time, a soldier who was not part of the "Bataan Boys" group, who was not part of the group at all, but who had participated in, or even participated in almost the entire MacArthur conspiracy, stood up and said slowly:

"Running away is the choice of cowards, and sitting and waiting to die is the choice of fools, but we actually have a third way."

"What!"

As soon as this person spoke, MacArthur immediately looked at him as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw:

"Speak up, Butler!"

Butler, Smedley Darlington Butler, the youngest major general in the history of the United States Marine Corps, would have been the most likely officer to become Commandant-in-Chief of the Marine Corps if he had not been outspoken and thus made many enemies;

If he had not injured an Italian in 1931 due to the accidental discharge of his rifle, which caused the Italian government to protest to then-US President Hoover, and if he had not offended too many people, he would not have retired from active service in October 1931;

The reason Butler appeared at the scene was simple - he was the liaison representative of the "plutocracy and other forces" that MacArthur colluded with, and his say was much more important than the "Bataan Boys" in front of him.

Butler's voice was hoarse but strangely penetrating and alluring, and his eyes gleamed with an almost crazy light:

"There's an old Chinese saying, 'Put yourself in a desperate situation and then you can survive!'"

"Since Field wants to purge us, and since Roosevelt has already drawn his sword, why can't we take the initiative?!"

"You mean..."

"That's right! An armed coup!"

Butler's voice exploded like thunder:

"Tonight! Before the news from Texas gets back, under the pretext of 'suppressing the rebellion and removing the corrupt officials around the president,' we will storm the White House! Take control of Field! Disband her illegal government! Establish a military control commission! You will serve as interim president!"

"hiss!!!"

This crazy plan made everyone gasp! An armed coup!

Overthrow the democratically elected president!

Aside from the Newburgh Conspiracy in 1783, which was caused by Congress withholding soldiers' wages after the Revolutionary War, and the Baltimore Coup in 1861, there has never been a serious armed coup in American history!

What's more, the Army Chief of Staff is leading the charge! This... This is really...

Everyone was so scared that they were speechless, but almost no one noticed that a hint of joy flashed in the eyes of MacArthur, who was "at a loss" just now.

Just as Eisenhower and Patton were disappointed, MacArthur was too selfish and hypocritical.

In fact, after receiving all the bad news and being warned by his adjutant, the first thing MacArthur thought of in his desperate situation was to launch an armed coup!

However, as a veteran politician and a "three-flag veteran of the old United States," MacArthur was well aware of the difficulty of launching a successful armed coup under the current political system of the United States:

Putting aside the question of whether they could mobilize the soldiers, even if they succeeded in launching a coup, they would not be able to get past Roosevelt's confidant, Secretary of War George Dern, who had the power to remove the Army Chief of Staff!

Of course, as a soldier who had fought on the front lines, MacArthur also knew another thing:

Only by "following the rules" will military officers be dismissed on the spot by civilian officials. If the "rules are broken" are violated, any system will be rubbish in the face of violence.

The pen is not as powerful as the gun.

Even so, the possibility of the coup failing remains high—what if Field is not captured, what if the soldiers defect, what if the intelligence is leaked, what if the subsequent resistance cannot be suppressed...

Too many "what ifs" could easily send Marshal Mai to jail. If that bitch Field holds on to her and refuses to let go, it's not impossible that she might send him to the gallows or kill him quietly.

For his own safety after the failure, MacArthur could not bring up the idea of ​​an "armed coup" himself, nor could he be the "mastermind." Instead, he had to create an atmosphere that said, "I didn't want a coup, but my men pushed me to do it."

Oh, you guys have caused me so much trouble.jpg.

Now, the Bataan boys didn't say anything, but it was Butler, an outsider, who first proposed this suggestion, which was even better!

If they fail, they can put all the blame on Butler and the chaebols! Springfield is already a sworn enemy of those guys anyway!

This is called "waste utilization"!

Therefore, MacArthur was secretly happy, but he pretended to be shocked:

"This...this is crazy! This is a blatant rebellion! It will lead to civil war!"

"Rebellion?"

Butler sneered:

"That woman, Field, trampled on the Constitution, undermined the separation of powers, used her private armed forces, the NGW, to undermine the Army and purge dissidents. She even planned to abolish the great U.S. Army and put a bunch of shameful charlatans in charge of national defense. She is the biggest traitor!"

This time, MacArthur finally believed Butler completely.

Previously, he had actually been quite skeptical of this man's intentions—after the "veteran suppression" incident last year, Butler had harshly criticized the suppression, calling him someone who "stood on the opposite side of MacArthur" (although MacArthur didn't show up, instead shifting the blame to those two and Hoover);

Now it seems that Butler is still the outspoken Butler, but when the interests of the Army are damaged, as a member of the Army, he still stands up firmly, even being the craziest one!

"So! We are restoring order! We are saving America from tyranny! History will be written by the victors!"

Butler paused, took a step forward, and stared at MacArthur: "Douglas, don't hesitate. If you don't do it, we will do it!" "What... mean?"

"We just received a tip from an insider. Tonight, the White House NGW Guard will have a brief defense gap of approximately three hours due to rotation! And, as you know, Field himself has been in the White House these past few days! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If you miss it, there will be no more!"

Looking at the shocked crowd, Butler straightened his collar and said proudly, "Even if you don't do it, we are already planning to impeach her on Capitol Hill and remove her from the presidency in the name of the people! And then kill her! Completely discredit her name!"

MacArthur believed this.

Because a considerable number of congressmen and officials have privately or even semi-publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with Field - are you the president or the emperor? Not only do you not consult us on anything, you even plan to check our accounts!

It's easy to deal with the chaebols who gave us money and remove our positions, but auditing our accounts is absolutely unacceptable!

If something is found out, where will the dignity of the gentlemen be?

Although MacArthur still didn't know how many people Butler's side had connected with or how much support funds they had received, this was indeed a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity and he absolutely couldn't fall behind!

If Butler's people succeeded in impeaching the president and even found an opportunity to get rid of Field, then MacArthur would be out of the picture.

In the end, the army will still be suppressed by those damned civilian gentlemen!

This time, the army must take the lead and cannot be so passive! MacArthur's breathing became heavy.

Butler's words were like the devil's whisper, igniting the flames of "ambition" and "reluctance" in his heart - fear, anger, and desire for power intertwined, attacking his last line of defense of reason.

At this time, the most loyal and deeply bound "Bataan Boys" began to shout:

"General! Go for it! We control the Military District of Columbia (DCDC)! The 3rd Infantry Division, the 12th Field Artillery Regiment, the Military Police Command... we have them all! If we act quickly, it's not impossible to control the White House and Capitol Hill!"

"No! As long as we capture Field first, declare martial law, control public opinion, and then point our guns at Congress, those civil servants will definitely not dare to oppose us, and we can accomplish our goal!"

"Go ahead, General! If you fail, it's rebellion. If you succeed, you'll be America's savior!"

.

The atmosphere was frenzied.

But at this moment, MacArthur's weak side came into play: "But...if the soldiers are worried about 'miracles'..."

He himself did not believe in any "miracles", thinking that they were "some kind of magic trick that only fools would fall for", but the majority of the army soldiers, who were illiterate, did not necessarily see it that way.

"Ha, Douglas, what do the soldiers know?"

Butler scoffed:

"As long as we have a credible enough argument and someone takes the lead, they will follow whatever we do! As for your other concern..."

He walked to the window, lit a cigarette and then reached out of the window. At the moment the fire started, something seemed to pass over the cigarette butt and directly made a small hole in the floor, followed by a barely audible gunshot.

Everyone was shocked:

"Protect the general!" "Protect the general!" "There's an assassin!"

"Don't be so nervous."

Butler calmly relit his cigarette, held it out once more, and once again it was "precisely extinguished" by the bullet. He then closed the window and explained:

"This is one of my snipers, right outside of Fort McNair. I'm sure you know what I mean."

,

MacArthur's face gradually changed from confusion to paleness to ecstasy.

According to Fort McNair's defense arrangements, this sniper must have fired from at least a thousand meters away, and with such precision and silence!

In other words, there would be absolutely no problem in taking the lead in killing a president! MacArthur finally made up his mind:

"Call the rest!"

624 Fire at your president!

"General!"

"General, why are you calling us here in the middle of the night..." "Huh? Major General Butler?"

The remaining half of the "Bataan Boys" came to the office with confused looks on their faces. Many of them were even yawning and in disheveled clothes, obviously having just been pulled out of bed.

A few days ago, they received the message "come to Fort McNair to discuss important matters such as the Army's budget for next year" and were summoned to Washington by MacArthur. Before they could figure out what was going on, they were called here again;

Compared to Richard Sutherland and other "Bataan Boys" who were directly involved in the assassination of Roosevelt, were already firmly tied to MacArthur, and generally held low positions;

Later, although this group of "Bataan Old Boys" also had close ties with MacArthur, they were not so closely tied to him. They mostly cooperated politically, and generally held high positions and had their own ideas and positions.