The response from London was quick. Churchill, who was very eager to end the war, almost immediately made a decision.
Similarly, Austria also quickly sent a telegram, agreeing to the battle plan, just waiting for the Allied forces to confirm the time.
In contrast, the news from Washington came slower. It was said that some people didn't want the war to end too soon...well, this was actually quite normal.
Fortunately, Roosevelt, who had already served three terms as president, had strong control over the government and directly suppressed all opposition. After a week, at the beginning of August, he also agreed to the battle plan.
During the waiting period, the Allied forces had already successfully captured Paris.
In the original timeline, Paris was liberated on August 25 by the Free French Forces under De Gaulle, along with the French Resistance, who forced the German garrison to surrender. The Anglo-American forces didn't participate.
However, now, due to the change in the Allied forces' attack direction, Paris, after being defeated on the outskirts, surrendered half a month earlier than in the original timeline.
So by the time the order from the White House arrived, Josh was already drinking with Aldo, who had been released by Ophelia's people and had been lurking in Paris. Along with them were Winters and his good friend, Captain Nicks of the 506th Regiment, Company E, 2nd Battalion.
Because the airborne operation against Baden-Württemberg was about to begin, all the airborne troops who had been resting in the rear were replenished with soldiers and redeployed to Paris, just waiting for the next order.
Of course, Aldo, Winters, and Nicks were drinking alcohol, while Josh was drinking juice.
"Good brother, no more talking, cheers!" Aldo raised his glass and downed it in one go.
"Pfft, I see you're using 'thanks' as an excuse to trick me into giving you more drinks!"
Josh rolled his eyes, noting that it hadn't been long since they sat down, yet Aldo had almost finished an entire bottle of his prized whiskey.
Nicks, who also liked good alcohol, had only drunk one glass, and Winters hadn't even finished a single glass—he was a self-disciplined type, like Josh. Before the Normandy landing, he didn't drink, and only started drinking after becoming the company commander to bond with his soldiers.
"Hehe, we're good brothers, what's a bottle of wine?" Aldo wouldn't admit that after being in France for so long without drinking any good wine, he was now craving it.
As they bantered, Winters and Nicks smiled gently.
"Alright, no more joking around. The mission is complete, everyone is safe. What are your plans next?" Josh looked at Winters and then asked Aldo.
"Of course, I'll return to the unit. Or do you have other suggestions?" Aldo asked, somewhat confused.
"Actually, yes. Winters' promotion means there's now a vacancy for a company commander in Company E. Are you interested?" Josh pointed at Winters.
During the Normandy landing, Winters had distinguished himself in command, officially becoming the company commander and also being promoted to captain.
After returning to the UK for rest, he had received support from Josh and gained favor from the 506th Regiment and even the division headquarters.
Although he didn't receive another promotion in rank, after entering Paris, he was promoted to Battalion Executive Officer (equivalent to Deputy Battalion Commander), over a month earlier than in the original timeline.
However, because of this, Company E still didn't have a new commander, and Winters was continuing to serve in the role.
Now that Aldo had returned, Josh, through his connections, could easily arrange for him to take over as the company commander of Company E.
Although Aldo had taken out several senior German officers in Paris and completed a nearly impossible task, it only cleared his name—it didn't lead to a promotion.
The position of company commander in his original unit had long been taken by someone else. Even with Colonel Ross' support, he might only temporarily be assigned a deputy role, so it was better to start fresh with a new unit.
Winters supported this plan as well. Thanks to Josh, Winters and Aldo were quite familiar with each other.
It was better to have Aldo, whom they knew, take over Company E than to assign it to someone they weren't familiar with.
Moreover, the upcoming "Return to the Eagle's Nest" operation was a great opportunity for the airborne troops to shine. Winters could retire as a major, so why not Aldo?
Of course, the cost was the danger, so it depended on whether Aldo was willing.
"Of course, no problem. I've already died once, so why should I care about a little danger?" After Josh explained the situation, Aldo agreed without hesitation. When he mentioned dying once, he even winked at Josh when Winters and Nicks weren't looking.
He kept a tight lip about his transformation. Apart from Ophelia, who had seen through it when his transformation was detected, and had used her mind control ability to extract information from Josh, no one else knew.
As for others who were present at the time of his transformation, he had killed them all.
Ophelia had also confirmed this when Yuri read her mind, but due to Ophelia's personal ambitions, she hadn't shared anything about the beast transformation serum with anyone other than Josh.
In other words, apart from Josh's trusted subordinates and Ophelia, the existence of the beast transformation serum was still a secret.
In the short term, Josh didn't need to worry about the leak of this secret.
In fact, even if the serum's secret were to leak, it wouldn't have a huge impact. Worst case, Josh could continue cooperating with the military to sell the serum, as long as the dinosaur gene inside was replaced with that of ordinary animals.
As for why Aldo could transform into a dinosaur... Josh stuck to the story that it was the gene of a Komodo dragon. After all, the appearance was similar enough.
Moreover, this was a short-term serum, and after mass production, Josh would have another stable source of income.
The only difficulty was that Josh wanted to enjoy these profits alone.
After a few months, the alcohol was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
After receiving two bottles of alcohol from Josh, Winters and Nicks, who had other tasks, headed back to their station.
Only Josh and Aldo were left.
"By the way, I've gotten my hands on something good, don't know if you'll need it!" Aldo said.
"Oh? What good thing?" Josh asked, somewhat surprised.
"You'll know when you come with me!"
Aldo said as he led Josh to the Cadillac V16 that Josh had arrived in, and tried to push Vito, who was in the driver's seat, to the passenger side. Upon seeing the many luxury cars scattered throughout Paris, which had hardly suffered from the ravages of war, Josh remembered the first collectible he had acquired after coming to this world and decided to show it off.
"Shit, you've been drinking, get to the back, don't mess with my car!" Josh, who remembered vividly a past incident where a drunk driver lost his life, didn't want Aldo to ruin his car. Wrecking the car was a small issue compared to losing one's life.
After Josh strongly insisted, Aldo, who had been drinking, reluctantly agreed and sat in the backseat with Josh.
They drove out to a farm in the suburbs, and under Aldo's lead, entered the farm's basement. After prying open a wooden wall, they revealed what was inside—a whole small room filled with Hydra energy weapons.
"Hehe, although that woman caught me, during that time I figured out their situation and found this. The German surrender was quite sudden, and when the Allied forces entered the city, those people didn't have time to move these things," Aldo said with a proud smile as he saw Josh's surprised expression.
What could Josh say to this? He could only give a thumbs-up.
Actually, the Allied forces weren't unaware of these items, but they were in the hands of the strategic military divisions. They treated these items with extreme secrecy—far more than even the Night Light drug, and only Howard and a few researchers had access. Even General McGinnis couldn't get his hands on them.
So, Josh was helpless... To be honest, he still found it puzzling how, at some point in the future, Captain America and Tony Stark could easily infiltrate the heavily guarded military research facility in New Jersey.
As for Hydra, aside from Ophelia, who was under Josh's control, the higher-ups of Hydra cared more about the Allied high command than about Josh the businessman. It wasn't easy for Josh to obtain these items.
Moreover, Ophelia's memory didn't even include this special warehouse. After all, her position wasn't that high at the time, and she was only passing through Paris, not in charge of Hydra in Paris.
Now, the things Josh had been longing for but couldn't get were so easily obtained by Aldo, and he couldn't help but feel that it was a bit like a dream.
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