The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943
Chapter 47 - 48 – General, I’m Here to Help You

Chapter 47: Chapter 48 – General, I’m Here to Help You

And it wasn’t just Americans—Brits, Soviets, and Frenchmen could all be seen lobbying generals there. Even a few Chinese, although very rarely.

"Hello, General."

When Pierre walked up to Thomas Holcomb, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the three-star admiral didn’t even lift his head from his steak. He simply said, flatly:

"The generals in charge of the CBI theater are in the front-left. Those handling Lend-Lease supplies are surrounded by the Brits and Soviets. I can’t help you."

What does it mean to be a "third-tier man"?

Just look at the treatment this Marine general was getting.

While other generals were being fawned over and courted by foreign agents and lobbyists, Vice Admiral Thomas Holcomb sat there entirely alone, not a single person bothering with him.

That’s the status of the Marines: "third-tier". And when the Air Force split off from the Army, the Marines dropped further to "fourth-tier."

Reflecting on the low status of the "Marines," Pierre spoke.

"No, General. I’m here to help you."

That was unexpected.

Originally assuming this was just another clueless outsider, Holcomb finally raised his head with a hint of interest.

"This is my card."

"KTJ..."

Holcomb read the card aloud and asked:

"Does that stand for ’Kill the Japs’?"

"Yes, General. Kill the Japs—that’s exactly what it means."

Holcomb immediately burst into laughter.

"Hah! That’s the best company name I’ve ever seen. Sit down."

It had to be said—no branch of the U.S. military hated the Japanese more than the Navy, thanks to Pearl Harbor. And right alongside them was the Marine Corps, who were the ones doing the actual close-quarters fighting: guns, shells, and bayonets with the Japanese.

A company name like that? It instantly won Holcomb’s favor.

"Thank you, General."

With the invitation, Pierre finally sat down. Don’t underestimate a vice admiral—he still had aides seated beside him.

"Now tell me—how exactly do you plan to help me?"

Holcomb turned the business card in his hand.

"Chemical company... is this chemical weapons? You should know—DuPont has all chemical weapons contracts. They’re more advanced and have the full range."

As a military man, Holcomb saw the word "chemical" and instantly thought of chemical warfare. Without hesitation, he revealed the U.S. military’s exclusive-supplier arrangement.

"General, what I offer is not a conventional weapon."

As he spoke, Pierre placed a briefcase on the table and pulled out several photographs. These were battlefield photos of Guadalcanal, purchased from the New York Times. Credit to the American journalists—they had braved the frontlines to get real images.

"General, these are from Guadalcanal. Please take a look."

Holcomb was quite familiar with Guadalcanal. He glanced at the photos and asked:

"What’s so special about these?"

They looked like standard wartime photos—mud-covered Marines mid-battle.

"General, look at the Marines’ surroundings. Look above them. Look beside them..."

Pierre pointed to specific spots.

"What?"

Holcomb looked more closely.

"They’re just trees. It’s the tropics. There are trees everywhere."

"Exactly, General— trees everywhere. From Guadalcanal to Borneo, from Malaya to Burma—the entire region is covered in tropical rainforest. The Japanese have stationed over a million troops in those areas. Their firepower may not be overwhelming, but the jungle gives them perfect cover. They fire mortars from deep within the trees. They hide in the canopies and snipe our Marines..."**

Pierre deliberately emphasized "Marines", because if there’s one thing people care about—it’s their own men. Americans were no exception.

"General, I may not be a military expert, but I believe the biggest enemy your Marines face on the battlefield... isn’t the Japanese—it’s the jungle. The Japanese are hiding in the jungle."

"You’re absolutely right."

Holcomb nodded in strong agreement.

"Out in the Pacific, our biggest enemy is the environment. It’s the jungle. In the rainforest, our Marines often can’t even see the Japanese thirty yards ahead. The Japs are buried deep in the foliage. You only see them when the bullets or shells are already coming."

"So, General—what I’m offering is this..."

Pierre slid a file across the table.

**"A way to help the United States Marine Corps eliminate their biggest enemy—the tropical rainforest."

Holcomb opened the folder. Inside was a photograph of trees—bare trunks standing like skeletons, clearly long dead.

"What is this?"

**"General, this is the weapon I’m offering you—a new type of chemical compound. With it, we can destroy the jungle."

Pierre answered bluntly.

**"If we spray this compound en masse from aircraft, it will cause widespread defoliation and plant death across entire hillsides. The forest won’t recover for years. The Japanese hiding in the rainforest will lose their natural shield—completely exposed to American firepower."

"This is the result after spraying it? Have you tested it on a tropical rainforest?"

Looking at the photos in his hand, General Thomas Holcomb asked sharply.

"This is just the outcome from preliminary trials. My company is still conducting further research and refinement. I believe we’ll achieve full results very soon. Of course, large-scale field testing will require military authorization."

Why come to Washington?

It was to secure military support. Compared to the lavishly funded Army (Tier 1) and the Navy (Tier 2), the Marines (Tier 3) were Pierre’s best option. The Marines had just spent months in Guadalcanal fighting Japanese troops. No one hated the Japanese more than the Marines—and by extension, the rainforests that had sheltered them.

If it were the Army or Navy, they’d likely be indifferent about jungle warfare.

Marines may be third-tier—but they were a million-strong third-tier force.

Seeing Holcomb still staring silently at the photos, Pierre reiterated his point.

"General, this is a weapon that can help us defeat the Japanese and win the war. Not only can it destroy tropical rainforests and turn them into fields of dead stumps—it has other battlefield applications as well."

Holcomb put down the photo and asked curiously:

"Oh? Other battlefields?"

"Yes. If it can cause trees to shed their leaves and die, then it can also be used to strike Japanese agriculture—their food production."

"Agriculture?"

Holcomb perked up. As a soldier, victory was the only thing that mattered—the rest was secondary.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.