Finally, the two men approached the summit of Guinhangdan Hill. The view was impressive, with the sweep of the beach below clearly visible. Aqua water broke in gentle waves upon the shore. It was an idyllic scene and almost impossible to imagine that it would be interrupted all too soon by the sight of an invading force.
Near the summit stood Noguchi’s pride and joy, a sight even more rare than a coveted black pearl. A massive cave had been carved into the volcanic rock, yet the entrance was so cleverly disguised that it was hard to spot from the air or even from the sea. Like the hollow eye of a massive skull, the cave managed to disguise its contents. In a sense, this cave and its contents were Noguchi’s masterpiece as a military engineer. From within the cave, like the head of a hydra, jutted the muzzles of three massive guns. Their sheer size made them monstrous, dwarfing any of the artillery on that hill — or anywhere else on Leyte, for that matter.
It was a mystery why the guns had been sent to Leyte, clearly part of some master plan that Noguchi was not privy to. But he had obeyed his orders by putting them into position, and he knew how to use them well enough.
These were Type 94 eighteen-inch naval guns that had been designed for the Yamato, the largest of Japan’s naval ships. Only a very few guns of this size had been manufactured. Each gun could fire a three-thousand-pound shell up to twenty-six miles, delivering a truly devastating blow. The guns had also been designed to use special “beehive” antiaircraft rounds that could sweep clear entire sections of sky. If the Americans planned an aerial assault on Leyte, they would be in for a nasty surprise.
Installing the guns had been a tremendous task, considering the overall weight of the battery. It had been akin to dragging an entire section of a battleship up the hillside, all done with ropes, pulleys and chock blocks, and sweat.
But Noguchi hoped that the effort had been worth it. If Leyte’s defenses had been impressive before, they were now downright formidable.
An artillery officer approached, scrambling down from the cave mouth. “Sir, we have reports of a target off the coast.”
“A target?”
“An American ship, sir. It is just within range. Forty thousand meters.”
Noguchi nodded. Could this be the first of the American invasion fleet? He could see Ikeda peering out to sea, as if hoping for a glimpse of the American ship, but that was impossible at this distance. He even put his rifle to his shoulder and peered through the telescopic sight.
“Stop wasting your time, Ikeda,” Noguchi said.
At that distance, the ship couldn’t be seen by the most powerful binoculars, because the destroyer was hidden by the curve of the earth itself. It was like holding an upside-down bowl in front of your eyes and trying to see what was on the other side.
But that did not mean the American ship was out of reach of the battery, which some had nicknamed Orochi after a multiheaded dragon from children’s tales.
“Captain, I think that this would be an excellent time to exercise the guns.”
“Hai!” The younger officer snapped off a salute, his excitement evident from his broad grin as he turned back toward the cave.
“Sir, you are actually going to shoot that thing?” Ikeda asked.
“Even better, Sergeant Ikeda. We are going to sink an enemy ship.”
Quickly, preparations were made. It required a tremendous crew to operate the guns, with more than twenty men assigned to each gun. A clever mechanical system carried the heavy shells and gunpowder up from the armory deep within the hill itself. The guns were not quick to load, and each could only fire approximately one round per minute. Noguchi smiled, thinking that the slow rate of fire would be more than compensated for by the sheer firepower those guns delivered.
As the guns themselves were loaded by their crews, the artillery officers made firing calculations. Noguchi left them to it.
“Come,” he said to Ikeda. “Let us get inside the cave. We do not want to be standing out here when those guns fire, believe me.”
Noguchi sent another officer to order the men off the slope in front of the guns, offering a clear line of fire. Although the muzzles would be elevated, he didn’t want anyone near the guns when they went off.
It was a curious thing that artillery crews on both sides were not offered any sort of hearing protection. Some men were smart enough to stuff cotton in their ears, but the accepted practice was simply to cover your ears with your hands. As a result, the most common word in any artilleryman’s vocabulary was, “What?”
“Ready, sir,” the artillery captain said, looking at Noguchi. The major gave a curt nod.
All around them, the men put their hands over their ears — except for the artillery captain and Noguchi, who both kept high-powered binoculars trained on the horizon. The captain also wore a headset that put him in radio contact with the spotter plane that had sighted the American warship. The report from the spotter would be the only way that they would know if they had missed. They might then have a chance to adjust their aim, but by then the ship would be zigzagging across the surface, trying to present a more difficult target for any enemy submarines or planes. The only thing visible out there was ocean and more ocean, stretching to where the sea met the horizon, another reminder of the vastness of the Pacific. The crew of the ship probably thought that it was safe. The massive guns would be quite unexpected.
In rapid succession, the three guns fired. The entire hill shook, rattling the men to their very bones. Firing these guns was nerve-racking enough due to their immense power. It was hard to even begin to imagine what it must be like to be on the receiving end.
Considering the distance involved, it took a minute and a half for the heavy shells to make their flight. Their ears ringing, the gun crew waited with tense anticipation, ready to scramble into action to reload the massive guns.
The radio headset crackled into the ringing silence. “One splash! Two hits!” the artillery captain shouted. “The enemy ship is sinking!”
A cheer rang through the cave. Noguchi grinned with satisfaction, then patted the captain on the shoulder. This had been the first firing of the battery in anger, so to speak. The success promised to be an omen of good things to come.
The captain had more details from the spotter plane. “The spotter says that the enemy ship was broken in half and has already slipped beneath the waves. He can see a few men in the water, but no lifeboats — there wasn’t time.”
“Are there any American ships in the area to rescue the survivors?”
“No, none very close.”
“That’s too bad. We might have claimed another target. Still, sinking a ship was an excellent outcome. The men did well, Captain. You did well. Orochi did well.”
It might not have been acceptable military practice, but the younger officer couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, sir!”
Beyond the mouth of the cave that sheltered the battery, medical personnel could now be seen on the hillside beneath the guns. They were tending to a handful of soldiers who had been too slow clearing the area and had found themselves close to the muzzle blast. They had all suffered concussions. Curiously, the men were naked, or nearly so. The shock wave caused by the force of firing the tremendous guns had ripped their clothing from their bodies. The men wandered in a daze, their eardrums bleeding. It was yet another reminder of the powerful nature of this battery.