The Shield: a novel

by Nachman Kataczinsky PhD

  Tomorrow would be the last day of the treatment and after that the two Israelis were planning on leaving for home.

  The machine beeped and stopped. Jonathan disconnected the tubes, but left the needles in the President’s veins for tomorrow’s treatment:

  “Mr. President, we are done for today. I will be here tomorrow for the last treatment and after that you will be free of the needles.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Much better than a week ago, thank you. You did a splendid job.”

  “Sir, you will have to keep taking the two pills I prescribed. You should not skip even one day – the result may be a complete backslide in your health.

  “I will leave a six month’s supply and Dr. Burton will supervise you after I go back home.

  “Dr. Brown, we didn’t really discuss the prognosis of me ever walking again. When do you think I’ll be able to get up from this wheelchair?”

  Jonathan considered his answer carefully. “I can make no definite promises. You told me yesterday that you no longer have pain when trying to move in your seat. That’s a very good sign, but it will take a while to determine how much of the damage done by the disease can be reversed. I believe that you will be able to walk. Probably with a cane and not long distances. You will also require an extensive physical therapy regimen to get to that point.

  “One thing I can promise you, Mr. President: if we can’t help you, nobody can.”

  Roosevelt was, with Jonathan’s help, transferring from his bed to the wheelchair. “Yes, I realize that inexplicably you Palestinians have developed medical science that even we don’t have. I appreciate that your leadership saw fit to offer it to me.”

  “Ah,” Jonathan smiled, “they are politicians, Mr. Presidents, and will expect a quid pro quo. We helped you and, hopefully, you will help us.”

  “Yes, yes, you said that before. Sorry we didn’t discuss it earlier, but I was a bit busy. As you may know, there is a lot of stuff going on in Europe and North Africa.

  “In any case, I don’t see how I can help. It is not like the President of the U.S. controls the country, or Congress, for that matter.”

  “Sir, I am only a doctor. These issues have to be discussed with our leadership. My understanding is that they demonstrated their goodwill with the hope that you’ll be sympathetic to us when the time comes.”

  “They definitely have achieved that,” Roosevelt smiled. “If somebody asked me a week ago about the situation in Palestine I would have to ask: ‘Where’s that?’ Not anymore.”

  Jonathan smiled. “Mr. President I know for a fact that you know where Palestine is. Would you be amenable to accepting an emissary from our leadership? This emissary would be able to discuss in more detail what can be done for our mutual benefit.”

  Roosevelt became serious. “Doctor Brown, this is diplomacy and I will have to defer to the opinion of the State Department and also get the approval of the British Government. After all, Palestine is part of their Mandate. We couldn’t receive an official representative of a British colony. Could we?”

  “We are not a colony,” Jonathan bristled, “Palestine is, like you said, a Mandate which the British are holding on behalf of the League of Nations. But Mr. President, I will let you rest. I’m not a diplomat and won’t make the mistake of bothering you with stuff that is outside my area of expertise.”

  ***

  Major Ibrahim al Taibeh surprised the Grand Mufti by arriving at his hotel room in Bucharest. His faithful bodyguards were expected to escort and announce every visitor and admit only those who arranged for an audience. Apparently they were so intimidated by the personal emissary of the mighty Caliph that they forgot their duty.

  “What a pleasant surprise, Major. How is my cousin, may Allah the merciful smile on him forever?”

  “Sir, your cousin is fine and sends his best regards. He sent me here on an urgent mission. As you know, in our time-line Germany lost the war. We thought it was only because of the Jews and so we took care of them. But when we traveled into the future we discovered that the war was still lost, though it took much longer. Look at this.”

  The Major handed the Mufti three yellowed, old newspaper pages. The date on the first, from the Volkisher Beobachter, was December 11, 1941. There was a big headline - “Germany Declares War on the U.S.” - followed by the text of a speech by Hitler. The second page was dated May 7, 1945, and was from a major paper in Frankfurt. The headline said: “Germany Surrenders to the Allies – Herman Göring surrenders to General Eisenhower.” The article went on to explain that it was the American involvement that caused German defeat, which would not have happened except for Hitler’s mistake in December of 1941. The third was from the Braunschweiger Tageszeitung and had the same article as the Frankfurt paper.

  “I see,” the Mufti said after reading both pages carefully. “I can guess what the Caliph needs me to do, but I am not sure Herr Hitler will listen to me.”

  Moshe shrugged: “There is only so much you can do. I do believe that he will need only a small push in the right direction. Yours may be the decisive argument. The Caliph authorizes you to tell the Fuehrer that you have seen secret information that declaring war on the U.S. will cause great damage to the German war effort. You can tell him that you were shown documents but are not at liberty to discuss them.

  “Please also mention to Herr Hitler that he should weigh carefully the benefits of such a declaration against the drawbacks. The Caliph asked me to tell you that you know Hitler better than any of us. Use your knowledge to persuade him but be careful not to antagonize. The Fuehrer should not perceive that you are questioning his judgment. But you know him best and the Caliph trusts you to do the right thing.”

  Chapter 26

  The Leviathan, a Dolphin class submarine, was on its way from the port of Eilat to a classified destination. It left on November 19, 1941. The submarine had been modified: a powerful shortwave radio transmitter was installed in one of its cruise missile silos. The antenna could be extended when the submarine was submerged, so that only a tall, thin structure was above water.

  The sub was cruising mostly submerged, using its snorkels to provide air to the crew and its diesel engines. Several radars mounted on top of the snorkels warned when surface vessels and aircraft approached. At those times it dived, so as not to be seen. There was plenty of time to reach its destination cruising at 8 knots, the most economical speed. Since its normal range was about 4500 miles, and the target was about 8000 miles away, a converted cargo ship would serve as a refueling tanker. That ship flew a Swedish flag, relying on the appearance of neutrality to protect it from attack. It was armed with ship-to-ship and anti-aircraft missiles as well as several sets of automatic 40mm cannon concealed in its superstructure, in case the ruse didn’t work. They planned to rendezvous at a point northeast of the Christmas Islands, southwest of the coast of Java.

  On its arrival in the Philippines the Leviathan came close to the west coast of Luzon, about six miles south of the village of Real. Three men left the submarine in an inflatable boat, which returned to the sub after letting two of them off on shore. They were dressed as U.S. Army sergeants and carried appropriate documents. With their Midwestern American accents, nothing identified them as members of the 13th flotilla of the Israeli navy – its commando unit.

  It took the two men almost three days to get to Manila. They rode good facsimiles of standard issue U.S. Army bicycles, which they had brought with them from Israel. The distance from their landing point to their objective was only about 60 miles as the crow flies, but they had to cross rugged terrain using country roads. The two arrived at Nielson Field in Makati City on December 4, 1941.

  Their first objective was the base’s telephone exchange. It was an old installation, with a manual switchboard tended round the clock by several operators but not guarded. The two commandos infiltrated the base by cutting an opening through the fence on the far side of the airfield, where bushes on both sides made them in
visible from the base.

  They waited for darkness, and when the lights on the perimeter came on they moved towards the exchange. The commandos walked openly, pretending to belong on the base. They were stopped by a sentry at one of the hangars they passed and released after a perfunctory examination of their papers.

  After arriving at the back of the telephone exchange they did what they had trained to do: dug a small hole next to the building wall and inserted a metal box. They connected the wires from the box, one each, to the ten telephone lines entering the building, then covered the box with dirt. The ground was damp and the freshly dug out earth blended in. Any evidence of digging would be completely gone after the first rain, expected that same night. The wires were very thin and easily concealed in cracks between wall boards. After they were done, only a very close examination would reveal their handiwork.

  The two did a similar job by the back wall of the base’s operations building. This building contained a teletype by which orders were transmitted from headquarters in Manila, less than 10 miles away. It took the two almost half an hour to locate the wires that ran to the teletype, but with the detailed schematics they carried in their heads and a good knowledge of electronics it was finally done.

  The two boxes they connected and concealed were similar in design. They contained fairly old technology, miniaturized by the use of computer chips, but otherwise known and used in the 1950s. Each box was capable of intercepting a telephone or teletype call and redirecting it to a miniature radio transmitter powered by the telephone line. It could also do the reverse: initiate a telephone call or a teletype message using the built in radio receiver.

  ***

  On December 8, 1941, at 3:15 a.m. Philippines’ time, General Lewis H. Brereton, American Commander of the Far East Air Force, was awakened to take an urgent phone call from General Sutherland, General McArthur’s chief of staff.

  “General Brereton, I just received word that we are at war with Japan. They’ve already attacked Pearl Harbor and we expect an imminent attack here. I have new orders for you. You will arm your bomber force as quickly as possible and immediately attack the Japanese airfields in Formosa. Use every bomber at your disposal, not just the B17s. You are also ordered to have all available fighters strafe the airfields immediately after the bombs are dropped. You are ordered to perform as many bombing runs as necessary to destroy your targets. I will confirm this order by teletype. Any questions?”

  “No, sir.”

  Teletype confirmation arrived before Brereton was done giving his orders. The general was elated. He had planned this attack since arriving in the Philippines. He was curious what changed McArthur’s mind, but as far as he was concerned, this was a gift horse whose mouth he was not going to examine too closely.

  ***

  The captain of the Leviathan listened in on the conversation between the Mossad agent and General Brereton. “Amazing what you can do with a couple of simple gadgets and some acting. I’m really impressed.”

  “What do you mean by ‘some acting’? It takes talent to be able to impersonate somebody just on the basis of a couple of short telephone conversations. I don’t think Brereton had any doubt he was speaking to Sutherland.”

  “I agree he was convinced, though whether it was your perfect performance or the fact that he wanted to do what you told him to do is a different question,” joked the Captain, “I hope this is all the intervention we have to do.”

  The Leviathan was on its way towards Formosa. Their mission was to monitor the American attack from 200 miles south of the island. If need be, the submarine could intervene to insure enough damage was done, but only if absolutely necessary.

  ***

  General Masaharu Homma, Commanding General of the Japanese 14th Army, was worried. It was early morning and Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata had just radioed him from Formosa. His 500 aircraft, both bombers and fighters, were fueled up, armed and ready to take off for Luzon. There was heavy fog which, if it did not disperse soon, would delay the planned air attack. Obata was worried that the Americans would hear about Pearl Harbor and attack Formosa, catching his planes in the worst possible position. Homma told him to just wait. The die was cast and there was not much they could do now.

  Homma’s worst nightmare came true. General Obata reported that hundreds of U.S. planes were attacking the airfields. They were bombing and strafing. It was a massacre.

  The first wave of the American attack was over in about twenty minutes. The Japanese general could see from his command dugout that the situation on this airfield was desperate: planes were burning everywhere, ammunition and bombs exploding. A stray bomb, or maybe it was aimed, who could know, hit a large aviation fuel tank behind the hangars. It was burning merrily, sending smoke and flames high into the morning air. When the second wave of attackers came fifteen minutes later, General Obata jumped out of his reinforced command post and ran to where the action was. He died a hero.

  General Homma knew that he would have to be extremely lucky to conquer the Philippines without air superiority. With complete American control of the air, it was unlikely that his forces would survive the first hours of an invasion, even if their transports were not sunk by U.S. aircraft. He radioed the High Command for instructions.

  ***

  “General Wilson, I appreciate you receiving me on such short notice. “ Mizrahi sat in the chair Wilson offered him.

  “My government thinks that it is time for me to present my credentials to the King. If you see no problem, I would like to do it next week. We would also like to increase our staff and post our own guard in front of our embassy.”

  “Why wait a week?”

  “We need to make some arrangements, including establishing informal contact with the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Can I count on the Prime Minister’s introduction to both of them?”

  “What do you have in mind?” asked Wilson.

  “Maybe he could invite me, the U.S. Ambassador and the Soviet Ambassador, separately, to very private cocktail parties, or a more formal personal introduction. I will accept his judgment on how to do it.”

  “I suppose he will be agreeable,” responded Wilson, “although, as you know, the Soviets are difficult to deal with. In any case, I will present the request to him later today.

  “Since you are here, I would like to discuss a number of issues. First let me apologize for the incident at our last meeting. You must understand that I am not an anti-Semite. Some statements are part of the culture and not intended to offend, but I should have shown more sensitivity.”

  “General, I have to apologize as well. I was a little impatient. I hope we can put this incident behind us.”

  “Good,” Wilson smiled. “I’m glad we’re over this unfortunate incident.

  “I discussed your proposal regarding French North Africa with the Prime Minster. It’s not really an infringement of our strategic sovereignty. Or rather it is, but we are allies and I realize that without your recent help we would have been in a very difficult situation with Rommel. We still have misgivings about negotiating with the French, but we will take the chance and let your officer conduct the negotiations. I hope he will be successful.

  “Now, regarding Italy, your proposal is very interesting. If we could knock them out of the Axis it would, at the least, give us a toehold on the Continent. There are risks, especially if the Germans get wind of our activities. They may invade, at Mussolini’s ‘request’ of course, and attack your Brindisi base.”

  Mizrahi smiled a wolfish smile. “I have no doubt that very soon after we establish formal relations with allied and neutral countries or, more likely, as soon as I present my credentials to the King, the Germans will attack. They may have a nasty surprise. The question is where will the surprise happen and how do we cooperate to make it real nasty.”

  General Wilson thought for a moment. “Yes, I agree. After your performance against them in North Africa… But this may be different. They will, undoubtedly, devote a
ll the available forces. Italy is close to home. Hitler can’t ignore the danger. On the other hand Germany is committed in the East. There is a possibility that if Italy remains non-aggressive he will refrain from interfering.”

  “Sir, I suggest that we leave the details to our respective military experts. Let me assure you that we will do our best to defeat the Nazis, but it has to be a cooperative effort.”

  Wilson nodded. “Very well. I agree that we have to establish a joint planning committee.

  “The other issue I would like your government to consider is the problems we and the Americans are having with the Japanese. I don’t have a clear understanding of your abilities, but it is clear to me that the position in the Far East is precarious. In addition, the American’s predicament reflects on their ability to support us through lend-lease. They have already warned us that their first priority will be Japan, since they are not at war with Germany.”

  “General, I will convey your concerns to my government. In my personal opinion the Soviets are in much greater need of U.S. help. I sincerely hope that President Roosevelt does not cut down on assistance to them. They are on the verge of folding and need only a little push to do so. Hopefully Roosevelt will not push.

  “As to the situation in the Far East: In our opinion Japan’s attempt to conquer Singapore and some of the other British possessions will fail if you take some necessary steps. Right now, it may be a good idea to transfer more RAF forces to the Far East. A change of command in Singapore may also be beneficial. It needs a much more aggressive defense. I am saying this based on our history. This is not a guarantee of success but will help enormously.

  “With the U.S. controlling the Philippines, the Japanese navy will have problems reinforcing and supplying the troops they have already deployed. You may lose Malaya, but there is not much you can do about it.