Wilson had only just managed to persuade his political team to support this war when the next problem arose: what about the Panama Canal?
Should they commit everything to holding the Panama Canal? Once the canal fell, the United States Navy would be split in two. As for transoceanic military redeployments, the United States Navy would probably starve to death on the way!
The Entente dared to launch a transoceanic expedition because they had Canada, Mexico, and a whole host of South American countries handling their logistical supplies. They were not setting out directly from London and charging straight into the American mainland; colonial governments handled logistics all along the route!
To prepare for this war, the British had begun stockpiling supplies more than a year earlier. Otherwise, how could they possibly deploy troops the moment they said the word?
John Joseph Pershing, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, was one of Wilson's most trusted generals. Well, America truly had no famous generals in this era, so they could only pick a general from among short men. At the very least, John Joseph Pershing had performed passably in the Spanish-American War!
Set against a crowd of incompetent generals, he naturally appeared formidable. In reality, all he had done was wipe out peasant insurgents during the invasion of Cuba, then suppress native uprisings in the Philippines.
Having never taken part in the First World War, American soldiers naturally had no chance to distinguish themselves. Thus, the Army Chief of Staff Wilson had promoted possessed less real combat experience than any divisional commander among Britain, France, and Bulgaria!
William Shepherd Benson, Secretary of the United States Navy, had not been promoted by Wilson. The United States Navy was far more powerful than the Army, and President Wilson was not yet