Herman Wouk - The Winds Of War

by The Winds Of War(Lit)

  He stretched a point, taking you into that May class, but that was different-" Byron broke in, "Jesus, yes, and I'm eternally grateful to both of you.

  That's why my son was born in Italy, and that's why I'm separated from my wife by the whole wide earth."

  "Maybe we'd better drop it," said Victor Henry.

  'That's a fine idea, Dad." Byron turned genial again over the bacon and eggs, but Victor Henry felt that in the short bitter exchange he had lost all the ground he had been gaining with his son.

  Yet Byron could not have been more amiable when he saw his father off on the Clipper next day. On the pier he threw his arms around Pug.

  Impulsively Pug said, as the beard scratched his lips, "Is Natalie going to like all this shrubbery?" It was a pleasure to hear Byron laugh. "Don't worry. The day I leave the Devilfish, off it comes."

  "Well, then-I guess this is it, Byron." "The tumbleweeds blowing apart," Byron said.

  'That's exactly right. The tumbleweeds blowing apart." dwell, you'll be seeing Warren and Janice in a few days, anyhow.

  That's great. Give them my love."

  The loudspeaker called for passengers to board the huge flying boat.

  Victor Henry looked in his son's eyes and said with great difficulty, "Look, I pray for Natalie and your boy."

  Byron's eyes were steady and inscrutable.

  'I'm sure you do, Dad Thanks."

  When the Clipper wheeled away for the long takeoff the son still stood on the pier, hands thrust in his back pockets, watching.

  The Japanese fleet at that moment was well on its way to Hawaii.

  The Kurile Islands, a chain of volcanic rocks more than seven hundred miles long, loosely linking japan and Siberia, had made a good secret rendezvous. japan's six aircraft carriers had met in a setting of black snowpatched island crags, flecked with the gnarled vegetation that can survive in high winds and long freezes. Through rain and sleet, their fliers had practiced shallow torpedo runs while battleships, cruisers, destroyers, oilers, and supply ships came straggling in. Nobody knew of this gathering armada except the men in the ships and a few of japan's leaders. When the force set out eastward, only a few flag officers had been told where they were going, and why.

  They had no set day or hour to attack. They were not sure the attack would go. The fleet was sailing in case the Washington talks broke down.

  Japanese peace envoys were trying to work out a modus vivendi, a "way of living," a sort of cease-fire in the Pacific before the guns could go off. The Japanese modus vivendi called for the United States to resume sending oil and scrap iron, and to recognize japan's right to rule East Asia and colonize China. If the Americans granted this, the fleet on signal would Turn back.

  of the United States called for the Japanese But the modus vivendi to abandon the Clinese war and get off the southeast Asian mainland, in return for normal economic relations. The Japanese leaders had already decided that if this was the last word, they would fight. In that case, on signal, the timing of an enormous simultaneous assault, planned to burst Out of japan like red rays all over the South Pacific, would be locked on to one irrevocably appointed hour: the time for a surprise air strike against Hawaii. The three strong points held by the white race in the South Pacific were Pearl Harbor, Manila, and Singapore- The plan was to knock out United States air and sea power at Pearl Harbor from the air; to capture Singapore by seaborne assault; to land troops in the Philippines and take Manila, and then to sweep up the chips in the East Indies; and thereafter to use these new resources for a strong drive to finish China, while beating off Anglo-American counterattacks. The ultimate gamble was that Germany would either win the big fratricidal white man's war that was giving japan her chance, or would so use up American and British strength that japan would in the end keep what she had seized, no matter what happened to Germany.

  The Japanese leaders, including the emperor, doubted that this risky plan would come off, but they thought they had no choice.

  japan's predicament was much like Germany's before the attack on the Soviet Union.

  Both countries, in the hands of their militarists, had started wars they couldn't finish. As time ran out and supplies dwindled, both turned to strike elsewhere, hoping to mend their fortunes.

  Three reasons were forcing the Japanese to a showdown now. Their oil was running out. The weather would soon Turn bad for military operations. And the white men, alarmed at last, were strengthening their three bastions every week with more and more planes, warships, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, and fortifications. japan's temporary advantage in the South Pacific and East Asia was melting away, Unless President Roosevelt ,ddenly relented in Washington, she had to go, or give up her drive for empire.

  And so, on the day before the Army-Navy game, the armada had sortied into the black stormy waters off the Kuriles, and set out for Hawaii.

  And as the Japanese task force steamed east, a much smaller American task force sortied from Pearl Harbor, headed out.

  Admiral William Halsey was taking twelve marine fighter planes to Wake Island in the Enter s - japan had long s e ince illegally fortified every island and atoll it held on trust in the Pacific. Time after time, President Roosevelt had failed to get money out of Congress for counter-long American isIan Now, at the end of November 1941, the funds had come through.

  The work was being wildly rushed. At Wake it was half finished, but the atoll sO had no air defense.

  The second day out, on a sunny crystalline morning, Warren Henry returned from the dawn search and came slanting aroundthteo land on the EnterPise- The deck rose up at Warren, the hook caught number two cable, his stomach thrust hard against the safety belt, and he was down and stopped among deck force sailors in brilliant red, green, and yellow jumpers, doing their frantic gesticulating dance around landed planes.

  Warm sea air eddied in from his rear gunner's open canopy.

  Disconnecting belts and cables, gathering up his charts and log sheets, Warren awkwardly cumd out into the brisk wind over the deck, as another scout plane roared in and jerked to a stop.

  The landing officer shouted at him, holding his paddles on either side of his mouth, "Hi. All Pilots to Scouting Six ready room at ogoo."

  "What's up?, "The old man wants a word with you all."

  "The captain?"

  "Halsey."

  "Christ."

  In the ready room the deep comfortable chairs were already full, and pilots in khakis, or flying suits and yellow lifejackets, lined the bulkheads.

  Halsey entered with the ship's captain and the squadron commanders, and stood in front of the scored plexiglass panels up forward, where orange grease marks showed search patterns and assignments. Warren was only a few feet from him. Seen this close, Halsey's face looked patchy and aged, and now and then he grimaced, showing his teeth in a nervous tic.

  The squadron commander waved a green mimeographed sheet.

  "Okay, now all you fellows received and discussed,this yesterday, but the admiral has asked me to read it again, out loud.

  (4

  BATTLE ORDER NUMBER 1.

  1. The Enterprise is now operating under 'War conditions.

  2. At any time, day or night, we must be ready for instant action.

  3. Hostile submarines may be encountered.

  ... 'Steady nerves and stout hearts are needed now." Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Enterprise.

  Approved: W. F. Halsey Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy Commander Aircraft, Battle Force." The captain stepped back among the squadron commanders behind the admiral. Halsey squinted around the room, contracting his flaring gray eyebrows. 'Thank you, skipper. I'm told there were questions yesterday. I'm here to accommodate you, gentlemen."

  Not a word or a raised hand.

  Admiral Halsey involuntarily grimaced, glancing over his shoulder at the ship's captain and the squadron commanders. He addressed the pilots again. 'Cat got your tongue?" This raised an uneasy titter.

  'I'm reliably informed that someone said t
his paper gave every one of you carte blanche to put the United States of America into the world war. Now would the brave soul who said that care to stand?" Warren Henry took a step forward from the bulkhead. Faces turned to him.

  "what's your name?"

  'Lieutenant Warren Henry, sir." 'Henry?" Halsey looked a shade less grim. "Are you related to Captain Victor Henry?"

  "He's my father, sir."

  "Well, he's a fine officer. Now then. You think this order permits you to plunge the country into war, do you?" "Sir, I added yesterday that I was all for it."

  'You're all for it, hey? Why? What are you, one of these bloodthirsty killer types?" The admiral raised his outthrust jaw.

  "Admiral, I think we're in the war now, but fighting with both hands tied behind us."

  Halseys face twitched and he motioned Warren to step back.

  Clasping his hands behind his back, the admiral said in harsh tones: "Gentlemen, this force stripped for action weeks ago. There's nothing loose, dispensable, or inflammable left aboard the Enterprise that I know about, except the wardroom piano. I made that exception myself.

  Now, our mission is secret. There will be no vessels of the United States or of friendly powers in our path. They have been warned away.

  Ships we encounter will belong to the enemy. Unless we shoot first, we may never have a chance to shoot. Therefore, this force will shoot first and argue afterwards. The responsibility is mine-Questions?" He slowly looked around at the young sober faces.

  "Good day, then, and good hunting."

  Later, Warren's wing mate, lying naked on the top bunk, said, "Well, give him one thing. He's a fighting son of a bitch."

  "Or a trigger-happy old nut," said Warren, rinsing lather from his razor. "Depending on events." On the day that the Japanese steaming east and Halsey's ships steaming west made their closest approach, Warren Henry flew the northern search pattern, more than two hundred miles straight toward the Japanese fleet. The Japanese routinely sent a scout plane due south about the same distance. But in the broad Pacific Ocean the game was still blindman's buff. Hundreds of unsearched miles of water stretched between the two scouting planes at their far reach, and the two forces passed in peace.

  The light was failing over Guam. From the window of the descending Clipper, Victor Henry glimpsed in the sunset glow the island's mountain ridges and broken sea cliffs to the south, levelling northward to a jungle checkered with terraced fields. The shadowy light flattened perspectives; Guam was Bke a painted island on a Japanese screen. Sharp on the red horizon jutted the black lump of Rota, an island held by the Japanese.

  The passengers were standing in a sweaty weary cluster outside the immigration shed in the twilight, when a gray car drove up, fluttering on its front fenders an American flag and a starry blue jack.

  "Captain Henry?" The white-clad marine officer saluted and handed him an envelope, confidently picking out the Navy four-striper in a seerof sucker suit from among the ferry pilots and civilians.

  "Compliments the governor, sir." The note was scrawled on cream-colored stationery cres THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM rt Tollever, Jr Captain, U.S.N.

  Clifton Norbe Hi, Pug- t hearts player, and as long asies not Sunday, Greetings to the world's wors how's for coming around for drinks, dinner, and a game Kip Pug smiled at the tired joke about his minor Sabbath abstinence.

  "NG, Lieutenant. Sorry. By the time I check through here, go to the hotel, and get cleaned up and whatnot, len be way past the governor's dinner hour."

  "No, sir. Let me expedite this. The governor said I'm to bring you out to the palace, bags and all. He'll give you a room to freshen up in." The gold loops on the starchy white shoulder of the governor's aide conjured away difficulties. Victor Henry was entering the governor's car within five minutes, leaving the other Clipper passengers behind, enviously staring.

  Driving across the island in gathering darkness on a narrow winding tarred road, the lieutenant skillfully avoided some potholes but struck others with bone-jarring jolts.

  "You folks short of road repair equipment?" Pug asked.

  'Sir, the governor's been cadging money from public works for gun emplacements and pillboxes. He says maybe he'll hang for it, but his first duty is not to patch roads but to defend this island. Insofar as it can be defended."

  The headlights shone on green jungle and a few tilled fields most of the way. "Well, here's the metropolis at last, sir."

  The car passed down a paved block of shuttered shops, and dimly lit bars with names like Sloppy Joe's and The Bucket of Blood. Here lonesome-looking sailors meandered on the sidewalk, some with giggling brown girls in flimsy dresses. The car emerged on a broad, handsomely gardened square, formed by four stone structures in antique Spanish style: a cathedral, a long barracks, an immense jail, and an ornate building that the lieutenant called the Governor's Palace.

  Kip Tollever waved as Victor Henry mounted a broad staircase to the palace terrace. Wearing stiffly starched whites, he sat in a large carved Spanish armchair, in yellow fight cast by a wrought-iron chandelier. Natives in shirt-sleeves and trousers stood before him.

  "Sit you down, Pug!" He motioned at a chair beside him. "Welcome

  ted in gold:

  aboard. This won't take long. Go ahead, Salas. What about the schoolchildren? Have they been drilling every day?"

  It was a conference on defense preparations. Tollever addressed the Guamanians in English or Spanish, with condescending kindness. One or two spoke a queer dialect that the others translated. The men were taller than Filipinos, and very good-looking.

  "Well, Pug Henry!" The governor lightly slapped his guest's knee as the natives bowed and went off down the stairs. "Quite a surprise, seeing your name on the Clipper passenger list! that's always the big news item on this island, you know. Kate used to fall on the list like a love letter twice a week, when she was still here. Well! What's your pleasure? A drink, then a shower? Come on, let's have just one.

  Where have you been? What brings you to our island paradise?"

  They drank excellent rum punches there on the terrace, in tall curiously carved green glasses, and Pug talked about his travels.

  Tollever seemed far more interested in the Russian war than in japan.

  His response to Pug's remark that he had spent four days in Tokyo was, "Oh, really?

  Say, incidentally, you'll stay overnight, won't you? I'll assign a boy to look after you. You'll be very comfortable."

  "Well, Kip, thanks. I'd better bed down in the Pan Am Hotel.

  Takeoff depends on weather, and I don't want to get left by that Clipper."

  "No problem." Kip's voice rang with magisterial authority. "They won't leave without you. I'll see to that."

  Pug found the palace depressing, for all the handsomely tiled spaces and rich dark furniture. Under the slow-turning fan the bed in his room was covered in gold-and-silver brocade. New nickel plumbing in the vast bathroom gushed wonderful hot water. But the silencer The Guamanian stewards in their snowy mess jackets stole around like spirits. He and the governor seemed to be the only white men here, for the marine lieutenant had driven off to the bay. From the other end of the palace, Pug could hear the clink of silver and china as he dressed.

  In a sombrely magnificent SPanish dining room, at one end of a long gleaming black table, the two Americans ate a dinner made up wholly of frozen or canned stores from home. Kip Tollever maintained his gubernatorial dignity through the first course or two, asking polite questions about his old friends in Berlin and about the situation in Manila. But as he drank glass after glass of wine, the facade cracked, then fell apart. Soon he was expressing friendly envy of Pug and admitting that his assignment was dismal. The younger officers could go to the Bucket of Blood, or drink and play cards at the club.

  The governor had to sit it out alone in the palace. He slept badly. He missed his wife. But of course the women had had to go. If the japs moved, Guam could not be held for a week. At Saipan and Tinian, a half hour away by
air, jap bombers lined the new air strips and big troop transports swung to their anchors. Guam had no military airfield.

  As dessert was being served, four young officers in white appeared, led by the marine aide-decamp.

  "Well, well, here's company," said the governor. "These tender lads come in every night after dinner, Pug, and I educate them in the subtler mysteries of hearts. What do you say? Care for a game, or would you rather just shoot the breeze?" Pug saw the youngsters' faces light up at the mention of an alternative. Shading his voice toward lack of enthusiasm, he said, "Why, let's play, I guess." The governor of Guam looked irresolutely from his visitor to the young officers. He held himself very straight, talking to his juniors; the thick gray hair, lean long-jawed face, and bright blue eyes should have made him lodable. Yet he seemed only tired and sad, hesitating over this small choice between habit and courtesy. The hearts game evidently was the high moment in the governor's isolated days.