interpretation, structure

Q) I was wondering what the underlined part means and what the structure of it is.
- Does "the man" refer to Marshall?
- Who is "a man?"
- Where is this part "asking his opinion" connected to and how it is interpreted?
- If this can be rephrased easier, how can it be?

I add the whole context.

______________
When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and World War II was finally unavoidable, Eisenhower was a lieutenant colonel and felt that even with the war and America's almost inevitable involvement, he had little prospect for advancement. Despite this feeling, two years later, on December 12, 1941, less than a week after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower had been promoted to brigadier general and was ordered to come to Washington by General Marshall, the chief of staff.

Eisenhower and Marshall had talked only twice before, once in 1930 and once in 1939. Marshall greeted Eisenhower formally and then outlined the situation that was facing the United States in the Pacific: the devastation of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, the invasion of the Philippines, the lack of any effective air strength. (e)He painted a very dim picture of the situation. After he had set the facts before Eisenhower, he looked Eisenhower in the eye and asked, "What should be our general line of action?"

Eisenhower was taken aback. He had just stepped off the plane and had no real personal knowledge of the situation. Here was the man who had to make the decision, a man who had been well briefed and was on top of the situation, asking his opinion! Eisenhower was intuitive enough to recognize the importance of the question both for the war effort and for him personally. He said later, "His tone implied that I had been given the problem as a check to an answer he had already reached."