Read Online The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeff Shaara
Tags: Fiction, Historical fiction, General, Historical, World War; 1939-1945, War & Military, War stories, Pacific Area, Historical fiction; American, World War; 1939-1945 - Naval Operations; American, World War; 1939-1945 - Pacific Area, Naval Operations; American
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Japan. You
know
that, don’t you? MacArthur is wasting time and men and supplies to liberate his private little kingdom. He’s taken months away from our timetables, when you know damn well that if he had given you his people, his ships, his planes, you’d be kicking down Hirohito’s palace door by now.”
Nimitz knew that if LeMay was smoking that same cigar in front of MacArthur, it would be Nimitz who was being blasted for whatever incompetence LeMay felt like blasting. Nimitz said slowly, “Whether I agreed with the War Department’s decision to go along with Doug’s invasion of the Philippines isn’t as important now as what he’s accomplished there. I’ve gotten word that Manila is in his hands, that the Japs are routed pretty badly. The harbor is usable, and we’re moving supplies in there as quick as we can. I’m used to him getting the headlines. All the headlines. He needs it. Fortunately for me, strutting across a stage on Broadway has never been my ambition.”
“Oh, there’s only one stage, Admiral. Doug won’t allow anyone else up there, you can be sure of that. But this war would be over …”
“You don’t know that. Hell, the war’s not even over on
Guam
. Right up in those hills, there are Japs who still haven’t given up, who are dedicated to fight and die for their emperor. I sure as hell don’t understand that, but then, it doesn’t matter whether I understand the Jap brain at all. My job, and yours, is to kill as many of them as we can, and by doing so, end this war.” He raised the file of papers. “I give you credit, General, this is impressive as hell. But even this isn’t going to make those bastards surrender. Every transmission, everything we intercept says they’re going to go down swinging. We know damn well they’re running out of gasoline and rubber and steel, but try telling that to those poor sons of bitches on Iwo Jima, or Peleliu. Or right here. We had a squad ambushed a mile up in those hills two nights ago. Four men didn’t make it. Try telling their families, oh, well, hell, the Jap is beat. Any day now he’s gonna throw up the white flag.”
LeMay shook his head.
“I don’t disagree with you, Admiral. The Japanese is a different breed, nothing like the German, nothing we’ve ever fought before. MacArthur thinks he can
intimidate
the Japs into ending this war. Never happen. You can’t intimidate a fanatic into doing a damn thing. That’s why I keep telling Arnold and anyone else who’ll listen that the only way to end this war is to wipe those bastards off this earth. I appreciate what your web-foots … what your boys have done by blowing hell out of their merchant ships. Fine, you starve ’em, all you can. That’s your job, isn’t it? You’re, what? Ten days away from hitting Okinawa? I’ve been ordered to give you all the help you need, whether I think there’s a better way or not. I do need those airstrips, for two reasons. We’re still losing too many B-29s who have to ditch on the trip back home. Okinawa is that much closer, helps us a hell of a lot if my boys need to put down in a hurry. And once you give me those strips, we can put a thousand more fighters close enough to make strafing runs on those Jap bastards in their own beds. By adding fighter escorts around the B-29s, there’s not a Zero that’ll get anywhere close, and we’ll have full dominance over every square inch of Japan. But …” His voice was rising, the usual show Nimitz was accustomed to. LeMay paused, the hard scowl unchanging, his anger adding fuel to the hiss in his words.
“I need supplies. Incendiaries. For now, all I’ve got is steel, and we’ve already figured out that TNT doesn’t do crap to Jap positions. I’ll bomb anyplace you want me to with steel, but once I get those incendiaries, I’m going back to work on those Jap cities. If MacArthur wasn’t out there fighting his own damn war … if he’d have pushed toward Okinawa instead of
know
that, don’t you? MacArthur is wasting time and men and supplies to liberate his private little kingdom. He’s taken months away from our timetables, when you know damn well that if he had given you his people, his ships, his planes, you’d be kicking down Hirohito’s palace door by now.”
Nimitz knew that if LeMay was smoking that same cigar in front of MacArthur, it would be Nimitz who was being blasted for whatever incompetence LeMay felt like blasting. Nimitz said slowly, “Whether I agreed with the War Department’s decision to go along with Doug’s invasion of the Philippines isn’t as important now as what he’s accomplished there. I’ve gotten word that Manila is in his hands, that the Japs are routed pretty badly. The harbor is usable, and we’re moving supplies in there as quick as we can. I’m used to him getting the headlines. All the headlines. He needs it. Fortunately for me, strutting across a stage on Broadway has never been my ambition.”
“Oh, there’s only one stage, Admiral. Doug won’t allow anyone else up there, you can be sure of that. But this war would be over …”
“You don’t know that. Hell, the war’s not even over on
Guam
. Right up in those hills, there are Japs who still haven’t given up, who are dedicated to fight and die for their emperor. I sure as hell don’t understand that, but then, it doesn’t matter whether I understand the Jap brain at all. My job, and yours, is to kill as many of them as we can, and by doing so, end this war.” He raised the file of papers. “I give you credit, General, this is impressive as hell. But even this isn’t going to make those bastards surrender. Every transmission, everything we intercept says they’re going to go down swinging. We know damn well they’re running out of gasoline and rubber and steel, but try telling that to those poor sons of bitches on Iwo Jima, or Peleliu. Or right here. We had a squad ambushed a mile up in those hills two nights ago. Four men didn’t make it. Try telling their families, oh, well, hell, the Jap is beat. Any day now he’s gonna throw up the white flag.”
LeMay shook his head.
“I don’t disagree with you, Admiral. The Japanese is a different breed, nothing like the German, nothing we’ve ever fought before. MacArthur thinks he can
intimidate
the Japs into ending this war. Never happen. You can’t intimidate a fanatic into doing a damn thing. That’s why I keep telling Arnold and anyone else who’ll listen that the only way to end this war is to wipe those bastards off this earth. I appreciate what your web-foots … what your boys have done by blowing hell out of their merchant ships. Fine, you starve ’em, all you can. That’s your job, isn’t it? You’re, what? Ten days away from hitting Okinawa? I’ve been ordered to give you all the help you need, whether I think there’s a better way or not. I do need those airstrips, for two reasons. We’re still losing too many B-29s who have to ditch on the trip back home. Okinawa is that much closer, helps us a hell of a lot if my boys need to put down in a hurry. And once you give me those strips, we can put a thousand more fighters close enough to make strafing runs on those Jap bastards in their own beds. By adding fighter escorts around the B-29s, there’s not a Zero that’ll get anywhere close, and we’ll have full dominance over every square inch of Japan. But …” His voice was rising, the usual show Nimitz was accustomed to. LeMay paused, the hard scowl unchanging, his anger adding fuel to the hiss in his words.
“I need supplies. Incendiaries. For now, all I’ve got is steel, and we’ve already figured out that TNT doesn’t do crap to Jap positions. I’ll bomb anyplace you want me to with steel, but once I get those incendiaries, I’m going back to work on those Jap cities. If MacArthur wasn’t out there fighting his own damn war … if he’d have pushed toward Okinawa instead of
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