Alexa was puzzled. “But you went to West Point?”
“That’s right. And counting academy time, I’ve been in the army for twenty-two years.”
Alexa did the mental math. “But that would make you older than Tim thought.”
“Alexa, I enlisted when I was fourteen.”
“Fourteen? You were just a child!”
“At fourteen I weighed a hundred and seventy pounds and ate more than anyone could afford to feed me. My father had died in a mine accident, and my mother had tuberculosis. She’d been sent to a sanitarium, so I had the choice of enlisting, running away, or working in the mines. A friend of mine was an army recruiter, and he made a few discreet mistakes on my application to get me in. After that, I found that military life fit me. More important, I found that I could play football and played for several posts before someone decided that maybe I could play for the academy, where they were always short of big, dumb linemen. I was tutored, strings were pulled, and I wound up at West Point. I don’t think anyone thought I’d actually graduate, but I did, and now I’m an officer and a gentleman, although one who’s without connections, family, or influence.”
This was something Alexa understood quite well. Tim’s family had been navy for generations, and, with her uncle as a New Deal Democrat from Ohio who’d arrived in Washington in 1933 with Roosevelt, Tim’s future had been assured. Connections and ability were an unbeatable combination, and factors she and Tim had taken for granted.
Alexa was visibly impressed with what Jake had made of himself. “Good for you,” she said warmly. “And now you’re a captain. And won’t the war give you further opportunities for advancement, even without influence?”
Jake sighed. “I had hoped so, but I may have screwed up badly. You see, I wrote an honest report that got General Short and some others really teed off at me.”
Alexa was incredulous. “How could honesty get you in trouble?”
“Simple. About a month before the attack, Short asked my boss, Lieutenant Colonel Fielder, for a study on the likelihood of the Japanese on Oahu attempting to sabotage our war effort by doing things such as blowing up our airplanes on the ground. Since I speak a little Japanese and have contacts in the community, I got the assignment. When I submitted a report saying that sabotage was extremely unlikely, I was informed that it wasn’t what General Short, or his chief of staff, Colonel Phillips, were after. They wanted a report saying that sabotage would occur, not an analysis that it wouldn’t. They were afraid of the Japs on Hawaii and wanted to justify their plans, which were to bunch all the planes together to prevent sabotage. Later, when the Jap air force destroyed them, they wanted some evidence that they’d acted in good faith on an analysis from their intelligence department. Unfortunately, my already submitted report said just the opposite.”
“In other words, they wanted to save their skins.”
“Right. And I would have been the scapegoat. No way I could win this one.”
Alexa had to admit he was right. She’d heard of such things before. She decided to change the subject. “How well do you speak Japanese?”
“I won’t hurt myself, or get something awful in a restaurant. Actually, I seem to have a bit of a flair for languages. I speak some Spanish and a little French as well. I got into the habit of immersing myself in the culture of wherever I was stationed, and that sort of led to my getting involved in military intelligence.”
Interesting, Alexa thought. The big bear of a man really was deeper than she had first thought. “I am very glad you came today,” she told him.
“Me too,” Jake said and grinned. “Although the circumstances aren’t all that pleasant, this is one of the nicest holidays I’ve ever had. Uh, you said you and Missy were leaving here. Any idea when?”
Alexa shrugged. “Actually, nobody knows. All the outgoing planes are reserved for the wounded and important military people, and there are no ships available for civilians, not even dependents. While it could happen very shortly, I’ll probably be here for the next several months, perhaps longer.”
Jake nodded and sipped his wine. His emotions were mixed. On the one hand, he was delighted that Alexa Sanderson would be around for a while, but, on the other hand, he was concerned about what might occur should the Japs make a move toward Oahu. He was getting information about the things the Japs were doing to civilians in Hong Kong and elsewhere. The thought that barbarism could descend on the people of Hawaii was both chilling and terrifying.
Prime Minister Tojo smiled with genuine pleasure. The war was going well for Japan. “Admiral, I am pleased to inform you that final permission to seize Hawaii has been granted.”
“Thank you,” Admiral Yamamoto responded warily. He wondered just how much the prime minister and head of the army had known of his plans to go ahead, with or without permission.
Had permission been refused, the attack would have been categorized as a raid, or a reconnaissance in force, and, assuming its success, the existence of a Japanese base on Molokai would have been a means of exerting pressure on Tojo’s government to take the obvious step of attacking Oahu.
“The 38th Division suffered about fifteen hundred casualties in taking Hong Kong,” Tojo said. “A small number. These will be replaced, and the division will be ready to depart China in a matter of days. The other regiments that will fill it out are already at ports and ready to embark. I trust you have found enough transports to support this operation?”
Yamamoto smiled. “Just barely, Prime Minister. Quarters will be cramped and living conditions miserable, but that will only serve to make the soldiers more fierce.”
Tojo laughed. The idea of a commanding officer being concerned about the comfort of his soldiers was ludicrous. Japanese soldiers were trained with extreme harshness and expected to live in conditions of privation that would cause lesser men to collapse.
“Admiral, I have addressed your concerns about civilians with General Tadoyashi. To the extent that it is possible, there will be no repeat of what occurred in Hong Kong. I agree that it would be counterproductive for there to be wholesale massacres and rapes of those people whom we would wish to utilize as hostages, or even allies. It could be a political and diplomatic disaster.”
Yamamoto was relieved. Although the bulk of the terror in Hong Kong had been directed at the indigenous and despised Chinese population, it would be too easy for the troops of the 38th to run amok. Anything resembling a massacre would polarize resentment and make the conquest and occupation more difficult.
“However,” Tojo continued, “there is always the possibility of incidents occurring during the heat of battle, and the army always has permission to utilize terror against the military population to induce surrender.”
This time Yamamoto’s concurrence was more reluctant. Tadoyashi’s troops had butchered British prisoners, then raped and murdered the female military nurses they’d captured and threatened the entire garrison with death if they didn’t surrender. The horrified, outnumbered, and outgunned British had immediately pulled down the Union Jack. After that had come the reign of terror against the civilian population.
“I can only trust in the army’s best efforts,” the admiral said warily.
“Indeed,” Tojo responded. “On another matter, it now appears that we could have given you one of the better trained divisions from the Siberian border. Our embassy in Moscow is quite convinced that the Soviets will make no move toward Manchukuo. They are far too involved in their counterthrust against the Nazis to entertain any thought of opening a second front against us.”