‘I don’t know,’ Stefanie said, and looked past her daughter’s shoulder at Clive.
They had both been bathed, and given decent clothes to wear. Clive’s hair had been cut and his beard shaved: he had almost forgotten what he looked like and he thought Steffi had too. But then, he had forgotten what she looked like with her hair up and wearing western clothing again.
The Australians had tactfully refrained from asking any personal questions, but had therefore found it necessary to assume that the couple had existed for more than a year in the jungle in the most platonic of relationships — and had made sure they had separate accommodation on the way back to Australia. This was also tacitly assumed by the newspapermen and newsreel cameramen who were on hand. The most daring question was, ‘How did you make ends meet, Mrs van Gelderen?’
To which Stefanie replied, ‘All too often, we didn’t,’ which could be taken in a variety of ways.
But now they knew they were going to be separated by more than a wall. Clive’s superiors were waiting for him in Brisbane, and her daughter and sister were waiting to carry her off to the civilisation of New South Wales and merciful oblivion from all she had suffered.
‘Do you mind if I say goodbye to Lieutenant McGann?’ Stefanie asked.
The waiting officers tactfully withdrew out of earshot, as did Juliana and Margriet, but they were still in a very public place, could only look at each other, and formally shake hands.
‘I’m afraid, as I have had a year’s holiday,’ Clive said, ‘lying on tropical beaches like the most confirmed tourist, I am going to be put back to work.’
‘Yes,’ she said, breathless.
‘But … may I call, once this is over?’
‘Yes,’ she said, more breathless yet. ‘Please.’
He squeezed her hand. ‘There’ll be problems, adjusting,’ he said. ‘But not so many as adjusting to the jungle.’
‘Not so many,’ she agreed. ‘Clive … do please come back.’
‘It is my intention,’ he said.
*
‘McGann!’ said the admiral. A different admiral to the last time Clive had been in this room. And a different Navy captain, too. But Schooten was there again.
They all wanted to shake his hand. ‘When you signed off,’ Schooten said. ‘We assumed you were finished.’
‘I would have been,’ Clive said. ‘But for Mrs van Gelderen. She was an absolute heroine.’
‘My government will remember this, and reward her, when it is able,’ Schooten said.
‘I rather think we may be able to do something as well,’ the admiral said. ‘We have an award, the George Medal, instituted for civilians, which I think will very well fit the bill. I shall recommend Mrs van Gelderen for it. But what about you, my dear fellow? You never did receive your DSC. I think we should add a bar to that, eh?’
‘That’s very kind of you, sir,’ Clive murmured.
‘Well, the information you sent us was simply invaluable during the year you were operating. Simply invaluable. Now, I suppose you’re anxious to get back on the deck of a ship, eh?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Clive lied, as convincingly as he could.
‘I thought you would be. You are promoted Lieutenant Commander. But in view of your long absence from combat, as it were, I think you had better find your feet again, rather than going straight into command. I am therefore posting you as executive officer on HMS Barbados. She’s a Fiji class cruiser at present in Brisbane. Tim Halliburton is captain. Do you know him?’
‘I’ve met him, sir. Before the war.’
‘Good. Good. He’s a fine skipper. You two should get on well. So, good hunting, Commander McGann.’
‘Thank you, sir. There is one more thing.’
‘Yes?’
‘A considerable number of atrocities were carried out in the Peg Tamrau region, and I believe all of northern New Guinea, by the kempei-tai.’
The admiral nodded. ‘We are just beginning to put all of the reports together. Don’t worry, we will look for those responsible.’
‘The principal responsibility lies with the commander of the kempei-tai in the South West Pacific. This was Rear Admiral Hashimoto Kurita.’
‘I’ve heard of the gentleman. He is now apparently in Manila. He’ll answer for his crimes, Commander.’
‘During his sojourn in Rabaul, and whenever he visited New Guinea, he was apparently accompanied by an Englishwoman.’ The admiral frowned at him. ‘An Englishwoman?’
‘Did you see this woman, Commander?’ asked Captain Schooten.
‘No, sir. I never saw Admiral Kurita. But I received this information from the Japanese commander in the Peg Tamrau area, just before he committed hara-kiri, so I believe it to be reliable. Mrs van Gelderen was present, and I am sure she will confirm what I have said.’
‘We will ask her,’ Schooten said.
‘God, the thought of it,’ the admiral commented. ‘Well, Commander, we shall see if we cannot hang them both from the same gallows. You may leave that with us.’
Clive saluted and left the room, accompanied by the two captains. ‘By the way, McGann,’ the English captain said. ‘There is some mail for you.’
‘For me?’ Clive was astounded.
‘Well, yes. Various letters turned up just after you were posted as missing presumed dead. Well, as we knew you weren’t actually dead, we hung on to them, and went on doing so even after you’d signed off. I should think they’ll make amusing reading. Oddly enough, though, one arrived only last week. Just addressed to Clive McGann, Australia. Rum do. Probably from a lady friend, eh? They’re all waiting at my office for you to collect.’
*
‘Gentlemen,’ said Admiral Halsey. ‘General MacArthur has now decided to make what will probably turn out to be the decisive advance of the war. In view of the recent successes we have enjoyed against the Japanese fleet, and more especially, our virtual destruction of his carrier force, the general has decided to suspend his current island by island advance, and assault the Philippines themselves.’
He paused to let this information sink in. ‘The assault will be carried out by the Sixth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Krueger, which will be transported and sustained by Vice Admiral Kinkaid’s Seventh Fleet, with Rear Admiral Oldendorff’s battleships in reserve. Immediate tactical support will be given by Vice Admiral Mitscher’s Task Force 38, which will maintain a position north of the San Bernardino Strait. With his eight fleet carriers and eight light carriers Admiral Mitscher’s principal duty will be to neutralise the airfields on Luzon, and indeed throughout the area. In general reserve will be the Third Fleet, under my own command. We will lie north of the islands themselves, where we will be able to guard against any sorties by remaining elements of the Japanese navy. For we may assume, gentlemen, that even more than for the Marianas, the enemy are going to fight for the Philippines. The loss of the Philippines will be catastrophic for their supply situation, and more important, will cut their so called empire in two, leaving their troops in South East Asia and the Dutch East Indies out on a limb.
‘Now, we have no very clear idea what he is going to fight us with. We know that he has only a few carriers left. We also know that he has hardly any trained pilots left. But I don’t want anyone here to get the idea that this is going to be a walkover. The enemy remains a vicious and determined foe, who is quite careless of human life in defence of his objectives. I think nearly all of us, during the past couple of months, have experienced a form of air attack which is as sickening as it is unique, in which the enemy planes have seemed intent upon crashing their machines into our ships.
‘I also know that we all assumed these were desperation tactics by pilots whose aircraft had already been hit and for whom destruction was inevitable. I have now to tell you that we have received information to the effect that these enemy actions were deliberate, and were intended before the aircraft ever took off from their bases. The crews are described as “kamikaze”, which apparently mean
s a “divine wind” in Japanese. They are fanatical volunteers who, unable to receive full training because of the situation, are prepared to sacrifice themselves and their planes in an effort to destroy our ships. I may also tell you that our reports indicate there are several times more volunteers for this service than there are planes for them to fly. That is the measure of the Japanese spirit. There is, of course, no possibility that these attacks are going to stop us. But I wish every commanding officer to bear in mind that these planes, which are, in effect, guided bombs, must be shot down before they can approach too close to any ship.
‘As I have said, we do not know if the Japanese will commit their remaining battleships, but if they do, we will have the opportunity to end at least the naval war here and now. Good fortune to us all.’
*
‘The Americans have landed on Leyte,’ Captain Oshiwa gasped, bursting into Hashimoto’s office.
Hashimoto sat up straight. ‘Landed? Landed what?’
Joan, curled on the settee in the corner of the room, also sat up. Leyte was only four hundred miles from Manila, as the crow would fly.
‘We have identified units of the First Cavalry Division, and the Seventh, Twenty-Fourth and Ninety-Sixth Infantry Divisions.’
‘Four divisions?’ Hashimoto was on his feet. ‘Have we no troops in Leyte? What is Tomochika doing?’
‘General Tomochika is doing the best he can, your excellency. But he is at a great disadvantage. His garrison consists of only sixteen thousand men; the Americans have already put ashore over a hundred thousand. And they are supported by an enormous fleet. Our reports say they have never seen so many ships. Or planes. And do you know who came ashore with the invaders? That man MacArthur, announcing, “I have returned”.’
‘MacArthur,’ Hashimoto growled. ‘Why did they not put a bullet through his head?’
‘Well, he didn’t actually land until the beachhead was secured. But, your excellency, he has called for a general uprising of the Filipinos.’
‘Ha,’ Hashimoto said. ‘There is no chance of that. The Filipinos hate the Americans. They have told me so. But this is a serious situation, Oshiwa. I should not be here.’
‘I agree, your excellency. I think we should pay a visit to Leyte and discover for ourselves what is going on.’
‘Fool,’ Hashimoto rasped. ‘I am not going to Leyte. I am not some infantry private. I should be in Tokyo, directing events from there. Where is the transport I ordered? I ordered transport a fortnight ago.’
‘Nothing can be spared at this moment, your excellency.’
‘Bah! That is nonsense. I am Hashimoto Kurita.’ He picked up his cap. ‘I will go and see Iwafuchi personally. It is absurd for me to be kept cooped up here when I could be doing valuable work elsewhere.’
He stormed out of the room, and Oshiwa looked at Joan before following; almost she thought the captain had raised his eyebrows.
She got up and went into the central garden, where she could look up at the October sky. It was clear enough, although there had been strong winds only a day or two previously. She did not suppose strong winds were going to bother the American warships.
They were in Leyte! Four hundred miles away. She had not been as close as this to her avengers since the war had begun. Surely the end was now in sight.
Hashimoto certainly thought so; he was terrified out of his wits. And she? She had lost all sense of being a part of the real world. Presumably he would have his way, and carry her off to Tokyo, and keep her there. It no longer mattered to her, as long as he was beaten in the end. She did not even really wish to see Japan shattered by the military might of the allies. There was a precious civilisation there, and she would hate to see it destroyed. But she did want to see men like Hashimoto humbled.
Although she doubted it would ever happen. He was a Japanese, and would commit seppuku before he would ever surrender. She wondered if he would kill her first. She supposed that was entirely likely. But that too would be a form of victory, an acknowledgement by him that he was beaten. She would die happily in that certainty.
‘Is true the Americans have landed, missee?’ The Filipino housekeeper cautiously approached her.
‘Why, yes, Theresa, it is. On Leyte.’
‘And is true General MacArthur leads them?’
‘Yes, I believe so.’
‘He has come back,’ Theresa said. ‘He told us all he would come back, when he had to leave. Now he has kept his word.’ Her face was shining, and there were tears in her eyes. That Hashimoto could believe these people hated the Americans was another example of how far out of touch with reality he was.
Hashimoto came back two hours later. He was smiling. ‘When do we leave?’ Joan asked.
‘Oh, soon. Soon. There is no hurry.’
She frowned at him. The frightened man of that morning had been transformed.
‘Ha, ha,’ he said. ‘You think we are beaten, because the Americans have landed in Leyte Gulf. But now we are going to win. The fools have walked into a trap.’
‘A trap?’ Joan was suddenly breathless.
‘Oh, indeed. It has been carefully prepared for them. Why was I not told before, I ask myself? But that is no matter. Admiral Iwafuchi has explained it all to me, now. Look here … ‘He went to the wall map of the Philippine Islands, pointed to Leyte Gulf. ‘Here are the Americans landing. And here, just offshore is the American Seventh Fleet, commanded by Admiral Kinkaid. It consists of battleships and cruisers, and some light carriers. There are no fleet carriers with it. This is important.
‘Now, here, just to the north, is Task Force 38. That is the carrier fleet, and is the one we have to worry about. Further north yet is Halsey himself, with the Third Fleet. Now, my sweet Joan, let us suppose that Halsey and Mitscher can be decoyed further to the north. That will leave Kinkaid on his own, as well as the transports of the invasion force and the troops already landed in Leyte. And Kinkaid has no fleet carriers, remember; he is more limited for aircraft than we.’
Joan stared at him. ‘You’ll never do it.’
‘It is already being done. Shall I tell you what is happening? Admiral Ozawa is already steaming south from Japan with our carrier fleet. He will make contact with Halsey in a day or so, and having done so, will turn and flee north again. Halsey will establish that this is our carrier fleet. He will not know that Ozawa has almost no aircraft. In his anxiety finally to destroy our carriers he will certainly pursue. And it is our estimation that he will command Mitscher’s task force to accompany him, so as to make his victory complete, as he will suppose.’
‘And he will, destroy Ozawa’s force,’ Joan argued.
‘Ozawa accepts that possibility. At the same time, however, Admiral Shima’s Fifth Fleet, a battleship with cruiser support, is coming down from Formosa. It will travel south as far as north Borneo. There it will link up with Admiral Nishimura’s Southern Force, also one battleship with cruiser support. They will take the Surigao Strait and emerge into the Philippine Sea behind the Americans at Leyte, to prevent a withdrawal. And at the same time yet, my namesake, Admiral Takeo Kurita, is steaming from Singapore. He will pass north of Palawan, and take the San Bernardino Strait, to fall upon the Americans in Leyte. Kurita has no fewer than five battleships, including both Yumato and Mushashi. He is unstoppable.’
‘Except by aircraft,’ Joan snapped.
Hashimoto smiled. ‘But the main part of the American aircraft will be away to the north, chasing Ozawa’s empty carriers. And Kurita will be supported by our Second Air Fleet, which has already been transferred from Formosa to Luzon. He will have an overwhelming superiority, at least temporarily. But that will be sufficient to gain the decisive victory of the war. The Americans will suffer such a shattering defeat they will be forced to make peace. It is a stroke of genius.’
‘Of desperation, you mean.’
‘It is the Sho, the Victory plan,’ Hashimoto asserted. ‘It has long been prepared for just such an emergency. It will happen.’
Oh, my God, Joan thought. Can it succeed? Can it?
*
‘Our orders are to move from the Philippines into the Sulu Sea, and thence take up a position north west of Palawan,’ Walt told his officers. ‘This is just to keep an eye on any Japanese movements out there. We know there is a strong battleship force, including both Yamato and Mushashi, in the Lingga Islands just south of Singapore. They have no air cover, so it is unlikely they’ll risk those big ships until some can be provided, but you never can tell.’
Sea Lion cruised on the surface, in company with two other American submarines, USS Darter and USS Dace. Throughout the assault on Leyte they had, together with more than a dozen of their sisters, acted as advance guards for the various fleets. Now that the landing had actually taken place and proved a success, the fleets had divided to take up their guarding stations, and the submarines had also been split up to undertake further reconnaissance duties.
It hardly seemed necessary. They had not seen a sign of the various Japanese fleets since the operation had begun. ‘So much for the big battle everyone was forecasting,’ Galt grumbled. ‘You know what, Walt? I think these guys are licked, and just don’t know how to lie down.’
‘I think they’re saving everything they have for the defence of Japan itself,’ Platt offered. ‘That is going to be some show.’ Some show, Walt thought. How he wanted it to be over, so that he could get back to Pearl, and Linda. He had now been at sea for thirty months, with, apart from the six months following the court martial, only the briefest time ashore. On this operation alone he had not touched port for thirty days. He had seen all the action any man could desire. It was time to call it a day.
But as long as the Japanese fleet was in being, there could be no end.
They reached station early on the morning of 23 October, and the three submarines separated, to cover as much of the area as possible; Sea Lion was the farthest west. The day was fine, with a light easterly breeze and a low swell, and the submarine rolled easily, while her officers scoured the horizon, and also the sky; the long, low, island of Palawan, once a haunt of pirates, was just visible on the southern horizon. It w^as now three days since the first landings on Leyte, and it really did seem as if the Japanese resistance was crumbling, at least here in the south.
The Passion and the Glory Page 35
