Back in December 1941 Marshall worried that he was losing his best corps commander by sending Stilwell to China. I wonder how the campaigns in North Africa and Europe would have unfolded differently if Marshall had sent someone else to deal with Chiang.
I wonder if Stilwell would have done better in McNair’s job training troops.
Chiang took us for as much as he could. I doubt if anyone we sent there would have had any better luck. Stilwell had the hardest job in the Army, and that was dealing with the Chiangs. Chiang. who couldn’t wait for Stilwell to leave the CBI command, renamed the Ledo Rd the Stilwell Rd. after his departure. I thought Chiang was a hero in 1948, when I was in grade school, at least that was what I was taught. Now I only see him as a scheming dirt bag. If Stilwell had arranged to have Chiang removed, the war may have ended sooner and China may have become a different nation today. (Yes, I know of the contingency plans to eliminate Chiang.)