Sea of Fire

Chapter 13

Admiral Ugaki and Lieutenant Commander Fukada had come to an understanding, though it was one that was going to pose a problem for Yamamoto in the weeks and months ahead. Their rambling conversation had turned to the future course of the war, and the millstone that the invasion of China had placed around the necks of Japanese leaders.

“If I told you China would one day rise to be one of the world’s great powers, what would you think?” said Fukada.

“China? There are 500 million of them over there, and we have only 70 million, yet we ride the Dragon’s back, and tame it well. They have no real military capacity, but they come in their millions to pose a challenge. The Army has been bogged down in that war, and that will likely remain the case. The Chinese cannot defeat us, but real victory has also eluded us there.”

“And the Siberians?”

“A mere nuisance. Yamashita will deal with them. If your ship can find this Mizuchi we face at sea up north, then we will settle that issue as well.”

“Well we must be very diligent with the Chinese. They could pose a real problem in the years ahead.”

“Yamamoto fears the Americans more,” said Ugaki.

“As well he should. This is only the beginning of the war. The Americans have tremendous industry. They will out build us, even as I spoke earlier.”

“Nonsense,” said Ugaki. “And what was that garbage you told Yamamoto about the loss of all our carriers?”

“Anything could happen,” said Fukada, hedging his bet. “Yet it is now incumbent upon us to make certain no such disaster ever takes place. What are your thoughts concerning our best bet for renewed offensive operations, if I may humbly ask?”

“We always planned to fight a short war, swift, and even brutal if need be. Yamamoto hoped to eliminate the threat from the Americans at Pearl Harbor, but it is regrettable that there were no carriers at the harbor when Fuchida led the attack in that morning. They were lying in wait for us, and we managed to sink one. Now we must find and sink all the others.”

“You sunk one?”

“The Lexington. Where have you been? On the one hand you make pronouncements as if you were privy to intelligence that only the Kempeitai might ferret out. On the other hand, you seem surprised to hear of things that even rank and file crewmen might know.”

“Due to the secrecy surrounding this ship,” said Fukada, thinking quickly, “we were kept very isolated. Yes, much news of the war in recent weeks has not come to us.”

“Well you will learn soon enough. The offensive has gone very well, and we are poised to take Sumatra, Java, and the barrier islands. That will be the outer wall of our defensive line, and we will make it impregnable to enemy counterattack. Yet the best defense remains a good offense. Yamamoto is of a mind that we must still seek out the American fleet and destroy what remains of it in one great decisive battle. Yet you have the audacity to tell him this will end in our defeat. Believe me, he was very forgiving of your impudence earlier.”

“I meant no disrespect. I only said as much so that we could steel ourselves to avoid any possible mistake, and achieve the victory I know we can now have easily enough. Takami can make us invincible. And yes, we must destroy the American fleet, just as I spoke earlier. We must push them all the way back to their west coast, and keep them there.”

“And this terror weapon you blather about? What if they attack us with that?”

“They do not have the weapon now,” said Fukada. “And we must take steps to make certain they never obtain it.”

How he thought they could do that, Fukada did not say, or even really know himself at that moment. One thing was clear, however. His mind was firmly set on how Japan could prevail in this war, and talk of peace was the farthest thing imaginable as the wheels of his thinking slowly ground on through the saké.

“I must tell you one thing that I hope you will take very seriously, Admiral Ugaki. It is a matter of grave importance; no matter what plans might be devised for the future course of the war. The Americans have broken our naval code system.”

“What? How can you know this?”

“It is what I believe. How else could they have cleverly moved all their carriers out of Pearl Harbor just days before our planned attack?”

“I have had my suspicions concerning that.”

“Well founded suspicions this time, Admiral. They have broken our code, and we must make every effort to change it at once.”

“This is the ship’s Library, sir,” said Captain Harada.

Yamamoto looked around, somewhat confused. “But where are the books? I see nothing here but these tables and chairs, and those strange flattened typewriters. And what are those dark panels?”

“Information screens. This is what we call a virtual library. Those keyboards can be used exactly like a typewriter. You can use them to search our library data files, which are most extensive, especially concerning the Pacific War. Simply type what you wish to look for. You may also sit down before any of those panels and speak your request. Here, let me show you.”

Harada sat down, and then began speaking. “Shattered Sword, Midway.” Immediately a reference came up to a book by that title, Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall.

“This man has done an extensive analysis of a battle you have yet to fight, the decisive engagement my First Officer was commenting on earlier, the Battle of Midway. It was there that we lost all four fleet carriers assigned to the Kido Butai, and over 300 planes with our best pilots, effectively ending our ability to cover offensive operations with naval air power. You are a great proponent of the naval air arm, and so you must realize how much this hobbled us and forced us on to the defensive. That was the great turning point in the war here, at least as we know the history. After Midway, the Americans took the offensive, and never relinquished it until they finally leapt from one island to the next, ending at Okinawa and planning the actual invasion of our home islands. It was then that the war ended, in August of 1945, with the terrible bombing of two of our cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, each destroyed by the weapon Lieutenant Commander Fukada spoke of earlier. Here, let me show you campaign maps and photography.”

For the next hour, Yamamoto sat mesmerized before what he had first called a flattened typewriter and strange black panel, which suddenly bloomed in full color maps overlaid with thrusting arrows showing the inevitable Advance of the United States Navy and their Allies. Then he was stunned to see the images presented, of the ships, planes and men he knew so very well. The images would haunt him for the remainder of his life, particularly those of his carriers burning, the sinking of Yamato and Musashi, the terrible bombing of Japan, and the massive mushroom cloud over Hiroshima, the utter devastation after that bombing, and the terrible aftereffects.

He closed his eyes, thinking. Everything he had feared was depicted in these images and maps, written up in these documents with such astounding detail, as if it had already happened. How was this possible? Who could have concocted all this material, built this ship, crewed it with these men, and sent it to me like this? It makes absolutely no sense… Unless… their story is true.

After leaving the Admiral quietly at his workstation, Captain Harada finally returned and waited respectfully at his side. “Have you seen enough, or would you care to see more?”

Yamamoto turned to him, with an almost leaden slowness. The renowned leader was not a big man, only five feet three inches tall, and now he seemed smaller yet, as if weighed down by all he had seen, carrying it on his shoulders like a shroud in black and white. He rubbed his brow. Feeling the same dark mood that had fallen on him just after the successful, yet abortive attack on Pearl Harbor. They were going to lose this war, he knew. It was only a matter of time. Hiryu was already gone, Akagi and Kaga in the dry docks for upgrades. Mutsu had been pummeled by a ship they had never even seen, Mizuchi, the demon of the sea. Something warned him that if he ordered a major operation up north to secure that flank of the Empire again, that unseen demon would wreak havoc, and exact a terrible cost.

Could it also be a ship from the future, as Harada suggests? If so, what chance have we against its terrible weapons? Even as he thought that, he realized the answer to his fears was right beneath his feet. The Java operation had been rudely upset by the rage of nature, and then this strange ship and crew appeared, and with the most preposterous and outrageous story he had ever heard, but with a ship that dazzled him with its incredible capabilities, equipment and weapons.

“Admiral,” said Harada, “I urge you to find a way to seek terms with the Americans—now, while we still have the navy mostly intact. Even if that means we must concede certain territories we have already taken, would not peace under those conditions be infinitely more preferable than the war you were just looking at, especially considering the outcome. Seek terms, sir. Get the best deal you can for Japan while we still hold the advantage.”

“Your incredible story aside,” said Yamamoto, “what you say makes a good deal of sense. But realize that such decisions may not be entirely up to me. Tojo commands the Army, and I do not expect that he will wish to relinquish any of the territories this offensive has seized, or even consider what you are suggesting.”

“What about the Emperor, sir. You could go to Emperor Hirohito and make a direct appeal. If he could be persuaded, Tojo might be forced to comply with his wishes.”

“Perhaps…” The image of a child burned in the searing fires of Hiroshima was the last he had seen, and it lingered on the screen, haunting him. He stood up slowly, looked around the room, seeing nothing on this ship that in any way looked like the other ships in the fleet he commanded. It did, indeed, appear as though it had been built in another world.

“I have asked you to accept an impossible story,” said Harada. “I have tried your patience, or perhaps even courted death in what I came here to do. Yet in those images you have just clearly seen my motive. I urge you to strongly consider what we have proposed.”

“I will do this,” said Yamamoto, “but it seems your First Officer has other ideas.”

“I will deal with him privately, sir. That is my concern.”

“Very well… Captain Harada, I hope you realize the difficulties in what you ask. Suppose I do manage to convince the Emperor of the folly in continuing this war. Suppose he orders Tojo to find a way to negotiate terms? Then we have others to convince, the British, The Siberians, the Americans. They will demand we give back every territory they once possessed, and then Japan will be returned to the state it was in before the war. We struck south for a reason, to secure the oil and resources our Empire needs to survive. The American embargo had much to do with our decision to strike them at Pearl Harbor, even if it does seem misguided in light of the things I have seen here.”

“That is what we must negotiate, a lifting of that embargo to allow Japan free access to those resources. Yet instead of seizing them by force, we will purchase them from the Dutch.”

“That may sound reasonable, but realize that many men have died in this war. The Army, and our own SNLF Naval troops have taken a very hard line, particularly in China.”

“That is another problem. China fights Japan now, and our presence there comes to no good. It sews the seeds of enmity for decades, even to my time. China will be torn by a terrible civil war after we leave, and the government that arises will be very austere and oppressive at the outset. Then, ironically, China becomes a major world power, with a massive economy and industrial capacity even exceeding that of the United States. Their navy has nearly 700 ships by 2021, while we have barely 150. Their vast population sees over 600 million men fit for active service, and another 20 million men reaching military age every year. No nation on earth could ever invade or occupy China again, and in my time, they are the ones seeking to use that navy to expand their grasp of vital natural resources.”

“It never ends,” said Yamamoto sadly.

“Unfortunately, the war we were facing in my time was far more serious. The terrible weapons that ended this war will threaten to destroy the entire world, civilization itself. If that could be prevented somehow… If a way could be found to make amends with China.”

Yamamoto smiled, then his face seemed lifeless and forlorn. “Does your library record an incident at the city of Nanking?”

“It does.”

“Then you know what the army did there…. I think it will be very difficult for the Chinese to forgive or forget. Captain, should I attempt to do what you ask, and fail to secure the cooperation necessary to achieve peace, then what? We will be forced to walk the road we have already chosen. Will your ship and crew fight for Japan, or for the enemy that became your friend and ally?”

“Sir, we were in the process of trying to answer that question among ourselves. This mission, to try and reach you with this proposal, was the first option put forward.”

“I see… And what other options did you consider?”

“Burning this ship, and marooning ourselves on some isolated place. That was one possible choice that entered my mind, yet my First Officer argued strongly that we had the ability to affect the outcome of this war—not only with Takami, but with the knowledge we possessed in this library. Coming here like this was a risky thing to do. Your Chief of Staff had his hand on the hilt of his sword all too often when we told you who we really were. Then we learned of this Russian ship, and when I realized what this vessel might be, and who its Captain might be, I felt very conflicted. The Russians, you see, were our enemies in my time as well. You say there was already an engagement fought with this Russian ship, and you have seen the results. Be very careful, Admiral, very cautious. If that ship is the battlecruiser Kirov, it is extremely dangerous, with an array of ship killing missiles that you could not oppose. Do not send another task force north to confront this ship. Your losses will be very heavy, and I doubt you will ever see the enemy that inflicts this harm.”

“What about this ship, Takami? Your First Officer suggested we should fight together to vanquish this foe. Would you be willing to do this if so ordered? For that matter, are you willing to concede authority over the deployment of this ship to me, as Admiral of the Combined Fleet, or do you anticipate attempting to operate independently?”

Now Harada shrugged. He had not yet thought all this through, but he knew he had to give Yamamoto something here in exchange for all he was asking of this man.

“It was our faith in you that led me to choose this option and take the risk in coming here like this. Revealing the information I have just shown you was also a very great risk. Telling you I know the hour and day of your death was a daring thing to do, and I beg your pardon if I have offended you. Yet decisions are for both Captains and Admirals to make, in spite of Ugaki’s opinion, so I will make one here and now. Sir, I would be honored to serve under your command.”

Yamamoto nodded. “Then this day, we sail for Japan—Yokohama. I will request an audience with the Emperor, though I do not think it would be wise to reveal the things you have told me here, or even reveal the existence of this ship. When it comes to Tojo, I may have to take a different approach,”

“I understand, sir.”

“Very well, let us go and see if Admiral Ugaki has taken your First Officer’s head. These events have certainly taken mine, and I must find another if I am to command this fleet from this day forward. This war has only just begun….”

Chapter 14

MacArthur had barely escaped from the Philippines, spared what would have been an ironic death at the end of a Standard Missile 2 designed by his own countrymen. Captain Harada refused to allow any operation to ambush the American General, in spite of the urgings of his executive officer Fukada.

“Why are you so squeamish?” Fukada had protested. “We’re committed here. You know that as well as I do. Taking out MacArthur would be a real blow to American operations.”

“Possibly,” said Harada. “You could see it that way, and I know you may have a sour belly because of what happened to your family during the occupation. Losing your great uncle like that was hard.”

“Don’t bring that into it,” said Fukada. “This is simply a matter of strategy now. Why not get the primary mover on the other side? They took out Yamamoto, and didn’t bat an eyelash at that.”

“Because we don’t know who we might get in MacArthur’s place. Taking him down is going to create a big hole in this history, and we both know that nature abhors a vacuum. Something has to fill that void, and that will be entirely unforeseen, a real wildcard in the deck. What you have to realize is that our missiles will only take us so far in this. But the knowledge we have about how this war plays out is perhaps the greatest advantage. Take out MacArthur and everything could unwind. He’s the devil we know, likely to influence events in a fairly predictable manner. Don’t you see? We can read MacArthur like a book—literally. We know what they pushed for, what they decided, and that’s real power. Suppose they send someone like Patton over here? He’d be completely unpredictable?”

“That’s ridiculous…. But I do see your point. Yes, Big Mac is the devil we know, I’ll grant you that. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him sail into Tokyo Bay on the Missouri and rub our noses in those surrender documents.

“That’s a long way off, if it ever happens at all,” said Harada. “The whole point of our being here is to see that it doesn’t have to come to that. But what I’m trying to say is that we can’t see the real ends of any intervention we might make here. You act as though we’re riding this war like a horse, all nicely tethered and amenable to our every command. Yet we both know it’s a pretty wild steed, and things could easily get out of control. Everything we do here will have some consequence. For one thing, what if our presence here becomes widely known? Can you imagine the effect that would have?”

“Who’d believe it?” Fukada shook his head. “Hell, we can still barely believe it ourselves. No, my bet is that we’ll remain a secret weapons project, a prototype, to anyone outside the very limited circle of those who know the real truth. There’s practically no chance any real knowledge of our presence here would become generally known. People simply would not believe something that fantastic.”

“Let’s hope you’re right, but you see my point, don’t you? We don’t belong here. That’s the simplest way I can put it. Everything we do will be an anomaly, an insult to the history, and we have no way of knowing what dominoes will fall because of our actions.”

“The damn Russians don’t seem to be worrying much about it. They put Hiryu down and then roughed up Mutsu and Chikuma without all this hand wringing.”

Harada took a deep breath, thinking about that. “That may end up being our real aim here—the Russians. You’re right about one thing. This Karpov fellow seems to have no qualms about using his missiles, or any consequences arising from that. If we go north, then we’re going to end up butting heads with that man and his ship. Mark my words.”

“So MacArthur gets a pass here?”

“I just can’t do what you’re asking XO. Call me stupid, but there’s something wrong about bushwhacking him with a hot missile, in spite of what the Americans did to Yamamoto. But I’ll give you this much, we’ll even the score by making sure the Admiral doesn’t meet his appointed rendezvous with those P-38s. After all, we need him if this crazy plan of ours is to have any chance of succeeding.”

Fukada had to settle for that, but he made one last argument. “Look Captain… Alright, fair is fair, and if MacArthur gets a pass, then we save Yamamoto. I’ll go with that. But the time is coming, and very soon, when that Admiral is going to want to see just what this ship can really do. I’ll tell you one thing—the Emperor will not accept a negotiated peace if it involves major concessions, and Tojo will fight it tooth and nail. Our plan is crazy, though I’ll still support you all the way on this. But you’d better get your decks cleared and ready for action here. It’s coming.”

So they left it at that, and MacArthur made his way to Darwin, narrowly escaping from Del Monte Airfield before the Japanese could take it. He would arrive in Australia to learn the US was sending him the 41st and 32nd Infantry Divisions, and a mix of three regiments that would later be formed into the 23rd Division was to be sent to Fiji to relieve the two New Zealand Brigades there. To those forces he could add anything the Australians could make battle worthy, and in this, the three divisions Prime Minister Curtin recalled from the Middle East would play a very prominent role.

The General inclined his head, eyes narrowed with fatigue as he set down the sheaf of reports he had been reading. The memories of Corregidor were still heavy on him, the faces of the men and officers he left behind. He had no choice in the matter, as much as he hated to abandon his command in the middle of a fight.

My god, he thought, the Japanese certainly licked us in the Philippines, and damn good. But this isn’t over. I’ll be back. It will only be a question of time. Once I get the troops and supplies I need, the aircraft, then we’ll see how Tojo likes what I have planned for him.

Strategy… They are all trying to figure out what to do, Admiral King, Nimitz, Marshall and even the President. I mustn’t allow the navy to muddy the waters here. The United States has always been a maritime power, but now we’re looking at a war on two oceans. It’s clear where Marshall stands. He’s hot for action this year in the Atlantic, but I must impress upon him the importance of what we’re losing now in the Philippines. I must make certain the Pacific Theater is not overlooked.

In the early months of 1942 the United States was debating its war strategy at the highest levels, and the US Joint Chiefs had to decide how to divide up the resources at their disposal. The decision had been made early on that the Western Theater against Germany would be the primary area of US operations. MacArthur could understand that, but with the British pushed back to Burma, the Dutch entirely defeated, and the Japanese in an excellent position to seize the Solomons, he hounded Marshall for everything he could get his hands on, sometimes going right over his head and making direct appeals to Roosevelt.

The President decided to try and make a commitment of 100,000 men to the Pacific territories beyond Hawaii, and also send 1000 planes, the type and mix to be decided by the joint Chiefs. The first division sent to Australia was the 32nd, and the 1st US Marine Division was being moved into Samoa. Now more troops would soon follow, intending to bolster the defenses of Fiji. For the most part, however, Roosevelt remained convinced that the operations in the west should take precedence over the Pacific.

The planning division, now headed by Eisenhower, was already hard at work on joint US/British operations, and the movement of men and equipment to support them was dubbed BOLERO. He was one damn good clerk when he worked for me, thought MacArthur. Now he’s right in the middle of all the high level planning for the western front. Roosevelt wanted action, and he wanted it this year, in 1942. BOLERO was the war chest, and the operation they have in mind was being called GYMNAST.

The situation in the Atlantic was going to get the best units the Americans had, he knew. MacArthur had learned that the 1st, 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions were being readied for operations there, along with the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions. Well they mustn’t overlook the Pacific.

The German seizure of Gibraltar, France as an active belligerent in Northwest Africa, and Spain’s complicity in allowing German troops on its soil were all problems that Eisenhower never had to face in Fedorov’s history. The fall of Gibraltar and Malta had effectively sealed off the entire eastern and central Mediterranean, and the action then underway in the Canary Islands with the German Operation Condor was seeing more and more German resources directed to that theater.

The only development that proved in any way hopeful for the Allies was Rommel’s defeat on the Gazala Line and his subsequent withdrawal from Cyrenaica. Yet as Eisenhower looked over the plans for GYMNAST, the prospect of trying to invade both North Africa and Spain at the same time was a dual thrust that would tax existing resources. He subsequently flew to the Azores to meet with all the British Principles that would be involved in the operation and hammer the matter out. What emerged from that meeting would then become the first Allied operation on the long road they hoped to walk to victory, but the journey was by no means certain to succeed.

Its first obstacle, in spite of Roosevelt’s insistence that the Atlantic be given the highest priority, was the constant drain on resources that were being siphoned off for the Pacific. At one point, Marshall threw up his hands and wrote a pointed memo to the President stating that if 100,000 men had to go to the Pacific, the necessary shipping and time schedules would set back planning for BOLERO considerably, possibly even precluding it altogether.

The question again landed on Roosevelt’s lap, and he was quick to decide the issue saying: “I don’t want BOLERO interfered with in any way, and I regard it as essential that active operations be conducted in the Atlantic theater in 1942.” If this were to be the case, then the Pacific would simply have to make do with what it had.

Eisenhower and Marshall both thought that would be the end of it, and began drawing up plans to ship troops to Iceland, Ireland, and other Atlantic outposts. It soon became apparent that the operation required for offensive action in 1942—GYMNAST, was going to take considerably more time, materiel and planning than first expected, as well as careful coordination with the British. Even the most optimistic proposals and plan drafts did not see any real offensive beginning until late summer. In the meantime, the situation in the Pacific would continue to worsen with the loss of the Philippines the final blow.

The strategic problem facing the Allies in the Pacific was very much complicated by the hostility of the French. They had bristled when the US demanded Bora Bora as a rear supply base, impudently sending troops there. Then, in the brief hot action of early January, they had tried to exact a toll with a sortie against the US relief convoy bound for the Philippines that had to be diverted to Australia. The Pensacola Convoy had been fortunate that a pair of fast escort carriers had been sent to the region, and the diplomatic frost soon melted in the fire of real weapons, as the US put the French carrier Bearn under the sea for its meddling. With French now an active combatant in the Pacific, the Japanese had wasted no time in sending a small relief force to the primary bastion of French strength in the SE Pacific—New Caledonia.

The light Carrier Hiyo had arrived right in the thick of the disagreement then underway between the Americans and French, covering a small troop convoy bound for Noumea. Aside from its strategic position as a sword cutting right astride the lines of communications between the US and Australia, the Japanese also coveted this territory for its vital copper and manganese mines, resources the Empire was eager to secure.

The small Japanese convoy had carried the Ichiki Regiment to Noumea, the very same troops the Japanese once used to try and foil the early days of US occupation on Guadalcanal. Once there, the regiment distributed its battalions to the most vital locations, two near the big harbor in the south at Noumea, another further north at the airfield near Kone, and a cavalry reconnaissance unit at the northern anchorage of Koumac. Other sites were being surveyed, for the detachment also had aviation engineers there to further develop airfields.

The French had little in the way of ground troops in the New Hebrides, but pressed by Japan in February of 1942 to contribute more to the defense of these important island outposts, two brigades of the Tonkin Division in French Indochina were shipped to the Pacific. Escorted by the Japanese Navy, they arrived just before more powerful American units could be shipped in to seize territories that had been otherwise unoccupied up until that month. By mid-March, the French had troops on Malakula, Ambrym and the more important island of Efate. Vanuatu, a joint holding with the British, saw the deployment of a single battalion in the southern French territory of that island. The northern segment, designated Espiritu Santo, found the only British unit then operating in the Southeast Pacific, a small constabulary force composed of no more than 15 police squads at Hog Harbor. Separated by miles of humid jungle and highland terrain, the two sides simply ignored one another, though both made vociferous claimed to the entirety of the island itself.

This de facto Axis occupation of the New Hebrides would have a major impact on the course of events, and shape strategy on both sides. The Japanese already had a plan dubbed ‘Operation FS’ to move first into the Solomons and then occupy Fiji, thus eliminating the nearest bastion from which the Allies might threaten the New Hebrides. From there, they would then plan to drive the US forces from American Samoa, completing their stranglehold on Australia. With the Americans scrounging up shipping, and trying to muster forces for operations in the Atlantic and Pacific, the vital outpost of Fiji had been occupied by two brigades of New Zealanders, the 8th and 14th. There they labored to construct costal and AA defenses, and build several airfields requested by the Americans in January.

So in the Pacific, the American plans to contest the Japanese moves to isolate Australia would be complicated by the fact that the enemy now held most all the New Hebrides Islands and New Caledonia. Instead of trying to blunt the Japanese advance south at Guadalcanal, the whole question of whether or not an offensive should first be planned against these holdings was now being debated.

MacArthur argued that the New Hebrides could not be bypassed in favor of the original plan to oppose the Japanese in the lower Solomons. To do so would leave Japanese air power right astride his line of communications back to the United States. Marshall countered that the US simply did not have the resources to conduct an offensive into the New Hebrides, while also planning and supporting a thrust at the lower Solomons—unless BOLERO were canceled altogether, forsaking any offensive in the Atlantic Theater in 1942. Since Roosevelt would not hear of that, Pacific planners would now have to choose between a campaign aimed at either the Solomons or the New Hebrides, and MacArthur was going to weigh in on that before the navy took charge. He was determined to shape the course of the war now, and mold it into a framework for victory that he was even now assembling in his mind.

Yet first he needed the troops, the divisions, the aircraft, and the situation looked grim. The Japanese were already moving, out from their newly captured bastion at Rabaul like a plague of fitful bats. They were pushing into the Northern Solomons….

Chapter 15

In April of 1942 the first phase of the Japanese Operation FS began with the invasion of the large and important island of Bougainville. With good airfields at Buka and Bonis in the north, and at Buin in the south, it promised to serve as a strong initial support base for all further operations in the Solomons. In the center of the island, the wide Empress Augusta Bay offered a good anchorage, and Shortland Island just south of Buin also offered the prospect of a decent seaplane base. As soon as Rabaul was secure, the Japanese committed three strong SNLF battalions to secure these vital bases on Bougainville, and began moving in air squadrons.

This move set off alarm bells in PACOM and MacArthur’s ANZAC command, and the General wanted to know what the Navy planned to do about it. “Nimitz has been dragging his feet with one excuse after another,” he said to his Chief of Staff, the newly promoted Major General Richard K. Sutherland. “One day it’s fuel problems because of those bunkers the Japs took out at Pearl. The next day it’s lack of adequate shipping. I arrive here to find virtually nothing in the cupboard, and now everyone’s pinning their hopes on this Doolittle raid they’re planning.”

“Well we’ve got to do something,” said Sutherland. “We certainly can’t do much with the air assets we presently have.”

“Marshall was crowing that we already had over 500 planes.”

“Right,” said Sutherland. “Oh, it looks real good on paper, until you read the fine print. 125 were lost trying to defend Java, 75 were sent to the Aussies, 74 are under repair, and at least 100 are still not even out of the crates and fully assembled! We’ll be lucky to have 150 planes available for active service, and then with only a few dozen pilots that really have any experience. The rest are fresh off the boat, green as they come.”

“The same can be said for the troops they’re sending me. Oh, they’re having a fine time in the bars of Brisbane, and giving the Australians fits, but the 41st is hardly ready to take on the Japanese, and the 32nd is no better. Nimitz has the 1st Marine Division, but he wants to go for the lower Solomons. We need New Caledonia first. That’s where the Japanese are now, and that’s where we need to be. In fact, I intend to insist on this, even if I have to go directly to the President.”

“I’ve heard Nimitz out on this one,” said Sutherland. “He’s of a mind that if we throw everything we have at the New Hebrides, the Japs will beat us to the table in the Solomons and eat hardy.”

“Perhaps,” said MacArthur, but I’m inclined to think they’ll fight for what they already have. They know full well the importance of their occupation of that island. If we hit them there, they’ll reinforce, and then we’ll do the same. That’s where we start our war. The Solomons will come in time, but not now—not before we get the enemy out of the New Hebrides and secure good airfields to support a drive to the northwest. In the meantime, I’m talking to the Australians about an operation for Milne Bay. The Japanese have already taken New Britain, and they have airfields on New Guinea at Lae and Salamaua. Eventually they’ll see the importance of Port Moresby, which is our only outpost outside Australia in that theater. Milne Bay would cover Moresby’s right flank, and also give us a good anchorage for a line of advance aimed at New Britain. Take that and we cut the Japanese position in the Solomons off at the root.”

“Well if we’re going to ever do that, then we’ll need Nimitz and the Navy, particularly Halsey with the carriers. That’s where our air power is now, not on this clipboard.” He set down the report on air squadrons mustering in Australia. “The pursuit Squadrons are the worst of the lot, he said. Half the planes they sent us are P-39s and the older P-400s.”

“You mean P-40s?”

“No, I mean P-400s. It’s a modified P-39, only worse. Can’t climb worth a damn, and they pulled the 37mm cannon out of the nose and substituted a 20mm gun. The pilots hate ‘em. As for the P-40s, we’ve got all of 92 of those on the roster.”

“Make the best possible use of them,” said MacArthur, “and get them ready, because I intend to move them to Noumea at the first opportunity.”

“Noumea? Who’s going to take that for you General? Surely not the 32nd.”

“No, I think I’ll ask the President to commit the 1st Marine Division there. They’ll take it, then we’ll move the 32nd up and clean shop while they get ready for further operations. Let’s get a letter drafted ASAP.”

After departing Davao, Takami had planned to sail north with the Yamato group to Yokohama, but events were soon to command the interest of Admiral Yamamoto in the south. He learned of the steady deployment of forces from America, having seen the material in Takami’s library, and then verifying it with Japanese intelligence. The Americans were already building up in Australia, and the navy itself was floating plans to do something about it.

Yes, Australia is the one place they can fall back on now, he thought. The Navy floated several proposals for a possible invasion there, but the Army will simply not support it. Now, with this chaos on Java, everything is in disarray. The entire 2nd Division was shattered by that eruption in the Sunda Straits, right in the middle of our landing operation. Java is a complete mess, and my conference with General Imamura indicated that he intended to hold only the eastern segment of the island near Surabaya. For that he has selected the 38th Division. The remnant of the 2nd has been shipped back to Japan to rebuild, and the 48th was graciously offered to support our planned Operation FS.

The warning I received from those strange officers concerning Midway was most chilling. I had long considered that a fitting target to try and force the American carriers into battle. But the disaster I saw in those photographs, the loss of four fleet carriers, was sobering, to say the least. Is that what would happen if I attempt such an operation now? Is the history fated to repeat itself? How else would it get into those books and photographs I saw aboard that amazing ship? And more… the records and logs of what was happening on the flight and hangar decks of our carriers in the Midway operation was most compelling, right down to the signatures of officers that I could recognize on sight. When I showed these to Ugaki, even he was unable to dismiss it as a forgery.

So now these men, claiming to be our distant progeny, come to us and council me to end this war before it gets truly out of hand. I have asked for an audience with the Emperor, but Tojo responded that he would not be available for some weeks. The impudent little air raid staged by the Americans put bombs very near the Imperial Palace, and I have heard about little else since. That was in the books as well—the Doolittle Raid. That Executive Officer aboard Takami tried to warn me about it, and wanted me to alert our air defenses. The whole idea sounded so preposterous that I decided to wait and see if it could possibly happen as he predicted. It did… How could these men have known that unless they are indeed who they claim to be?

Luckily no real damage was done at Tokyo, and it was more of an insult than a real attack. Yet it underscores what could happen if the Americans do ever get bombers close enough to reach our homeland. I saw the images, terrible to behold, of our cities leveled and burning, and that terrible mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. Is all that fated to come, just as this Doolittle raid occurred, exactly the way these visitors claimed? Can I really do anything to avoid that inevitable fate? Can that ship do anything to help us?

I had to disappoint their Captain when I told him the Emperor had been moved to an undisclosed location, and that no high lever audiences would be permitted in the foreseeable future. And Tojo is railing that I must do something about the Siberians before they take any further action in the north. Army chief of staff Sugiyama has been mustering units from the Kwantung Army for the last several months, and preparing for a summer offensive that I will most certainly have to support. As for the Siberians, they have been moving small detachments to northern Sakhalin by air, but cannot move anything more substantial until the sea ice clears in the Sea of Okhotsk, where it is still very heavy, reaching its maximum by late March. It will remain heavy through the end of April. In that interval, I have precious time to see to affairs here in the South Pacific. Come May, with the sea lanes opening in the north, I will have to see about the Siberian threat, but for now…. Operation FS.

Yes, I disappointed this Captain Harada when I told him no audience with the Emperor was possible for the moment, and that it would also be impossible for me to sit idle for another month until that opportunity arises. A most interesting man, that one. I could see he is very conflicted about his situation here, which is only understandable. His Executive Officer is quite another man. He wanted to strike down MacArthur, then immediately challenge the Americans in battle. I must be very careful with that man. Tonight I will hear them out on the prospects for Operation FS, as from what I have been able to discover, there is nothing in their history books about it beyond the initial orders—orders that were cancelled in favor of the Midway Operation that I, myself, so strongly supported.

I was wrong about Pearl Harbor, wasn’t I. And it seems I made more than one mistake if the story of this war as written in those books is a true reflection of these events. It was I who insisted on Midway, and so the responsibility for the losses there would have also been mine. But how very strange. Forewarned is forearmed. Knowing what these men have told me, how could I allow an operation such as the Midway Campaign to ever proceed. I asked Ugaki to collect the best proposals for operations under the assumption that the Midway plan would be shelved. Operation FS is what they handed me, and now I must see what these strange visitors have to say about it.

“Gentlemen,” said Yamamoto, “I have invited you both here to my stateroom again with Admiral Ugaki, and this time to hear your opinions as to operations now proposed by the Navy. I realize you brought me a question concerning peace, even if you did so on a most unusual ship of war. At the moment, it is war that is the order of the day, and we cannot afford to remain idle until the question of peace can be raised with the Emperor, which could take months. Tojo has spirited him away, and no audiences or other high level meetings are to be permitted. That leaves us with some difficult decisions to make, and so I wish to hear your opinions. Admiral Ugaki?”

Yamamoto correctly solicited the feedback of his Chief of Staff first. Ugaki cleared his throat, glancing over at Harada and Fukada, still inwardly disturbed by their presence, in spite of his brief accommodation with Fukada over saké. “The initial question is whether to first continue with our operations in New Guinea, or to move immediately to forge a link with our positions in the New Hebrides by a thrust into the lower Solomons. Two plans have been put forward, which I will briefly describe…”

He paused, eying Fukada and with a glint of mischief in his eye. “As you are supposedly men of a future time, you should, of course, already know these plans. Yes?”

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow, unhappy with Ugaki’s challenge to his guests, but before he could determine how to resolve it, the Executive Officer spoke up.

“Two plans,” said Fukada, “Operation MO was to be aimed at completing the New Guinea operation with the seizure of Port Moresby by General Horii’s 144th Regiment, the South Seas Detachment. At the same time, and as an adjunct of this operation, a seaplane base would be established with 3rd Kure SNLF Battalion and supporting forces at Tulagi in the lower Solomons. Rear Admiral Shima was to command this force, covered by Rear Admiral Arimoto Goto aboard light carrier Shoho, with four cruisers, and one destroyer.”

He folded his arms, a smug look on his face, and now it was Ugaki’s turn to raise an eyebrow. These plans had only recently been approved by the Imperial General Staff. There would simply be no way these men could be privy to them. Was this nothing more than a good guess? Yet how would they so clearly identify the objectives; the commanders only recently assigned to these missions? Fukada continued.

“Unfortunately, both plans fail. Either one or both should have easily succeeded, but they were not prosecuted aggressively enough. In the first case, the operation was compromised from the very first, because an intelligence unit in Melbourne was able to decode signals traffic. Have we changed our naval code yet? If not, you expose yourself to similar vulnerabilities. The enemy knew we were coming, and the American Admiral Fletcher was sent to stop us with a carrier task force. The engagement that followed became known as the Battle of the Coral Sea. Each side sustained losses, though the Americans were hurt badly with the loss of one of their bigger fleet carriers, while we lost only one light carrier. Even that could have been avoided by strengthening the carrier group assigned to the operation. Hara took in the 5th Carrier Division, but one more carrier there could have made all the difference. As it happened, the resulting air duels depleted our fighters and strike planes to the point where they could no longer adequately cover the troop convoy. Admiral Inoue ordered a withdrawal of the invasion force bound for Port Moresby. Thus the Americans achieved their strategic objective, and this operation was foiled. This led to a long and costly campaign along the Kokoda trail in southern New Guinea in an attempt to take the port from the landward side, but that failed as well. Shall I go on?”

Ugaki looked at Yamamoto, somewhat stunned by what this man had said. He was privy to details of the operation that were closely guarded secrets. Inoue had only just been selected the previous night by Yamamoto to lead the invasion force and assume overall command. How could this man know that? Somewhat frustrated, he decided to let him speak further, inwardly hoping he would ramble off in error, and subject himself to a stern rebuke.

Yamamoto knew what his surly Chief of Staff was up to here, attempting to discredit these men by prodding them to speak of these otherwise secret plans. Yet it seemed his ploy was back firing on him, and he said nothing, waiting calmly as Fukada continued.

“The other plan to take Tulagi succeeded at first, a survey was also made of the north coast of Guadalcanal to look for suitable sites for an airstrip. One was started near the mouth of the Lunga River, and it became the focal point of a battle for that island that lasted nearly a year, and eventually ended with our shameful defeat and subsequent withdrawal. From that moment on, the enemy was on the offensive. We never recovered, and this was largely because of the disaster at Midway that I spoke of earlier.”