What Yamashita did not know at the time was that the complete air supremacy of the Japanese over the skies of Singapore had terrified the local population and much of this fear had quickly seeped into the troops themselves. Once the troops caught the fear, both civilian and military discipline collapsed—very soon, drunken allied troops were looting stores and deserting in droves. The deplorable behavior of the British troops had been reported to Stimson by cables from the American chargé d’affaires in Singapore since early February. The phantasy of the superiority of the British army evaporated in a trice—they were seen for what they really were: pompous, hide-bound and useless.
Nomura politely asked if the Secretary of War had received any reports of any “events” as he called it by Japanese forces against any American troops or ships.
Stimson said,
“I have heard nothing. Admiral King, have you had any reports?”
King shook his head.
Then Nomura raised, as delicately as he could, the purpose of his visit.
“Mr. President, Mr. Stimson, Admiral King, my government is most anxious to put the recent past behind us. As you know, there are many of us who were horrified by the events of last December, and for this monstrous mistake I can tell you that we are extremely sorry. And I can assure you the hotheads in Tokyo now are no longer in power.”
Roosevelt said,
“Ambassador Nomura, that is all well and good, but the fact of the matter is you have blood—American blood—on your hands. We’re not talking about a Ruben James here with one hundred sailors, but a massive death toll; many American people are still baying for blood. Now, they have calmed a little but vengeance is still sought by many.”
While literally true, Roosevelt had to walk a very fine line—with the fall of Singapore, the Japanese now effectively controlled all of Asia, and all four men knew that America was powerless to do anything about it, at least not for two years.
After a pause, Roosevelt asked, “So what do you suggest?”
The reply was painfully long in coming.
“Well, Mr. President, my Emperor is extremely concerned to protect the honor of the United States. This is his first and only concern. It is the honor of your country, so it has been suggested to my Emperor that the Japanese ring leaders of this callous attack be put on trial for all the world to see, and hear with radio broadcasts, in neutral Switzerland in a specially convened court consisting of an American judge, a Japanese judge, and a Swiss judge. This court’s verdict would need a simple majority, and the government of my Emperor is willing to accept any punishment.”
Stimson asked, “Any punishment?”
Nomura nodded.
“Ambassador, thank you for your visit, I think it’s time we discussed your suggestion,” Roosevelt said.
Nomura rose, bowed, and left.
“Get me a drink, will you Henry and get one for yourself and Ernie.”
Roosevelt sipped his martini and looking at his drink remarked, “This is about the last pleasure left to me, you know.”
“Well, there we have it. I mean we have completely underestimated the Japanese all along. And as the events of the past days have shown, we’re not the only ones.”
Stimson added, “The biggest mistake we made was that fucking oil embargo. We knew it would hurt them, but who would have thought that they would be so effective in their fucking response—just the Hawaiian fiasco and we could have gotten by. OK, by the skin of our teeth, but add the Canal and San Diego and that fucking rubber fire and the Canadian trains and the attacks on the trestles bridges. Jesus Christ, the list is endless. And frankly, I am shocked by Singapore.”
King added thoughtfully, “And Nomura seems a natural ally. Yes, he is duplicitous, but what politician isn’t? No offense, Mr. President.”
Roosevelt smiled, “None taken—it comes with the territory, Ernie.”
Roosevelt requested another drink and then said,
“And let’s be realistic: we cannot mount an offensive and we can’t really mount a defense. With Singapore as a base, the Japanese can take the Philippines any time they like. And an attack on war ships is one thing, but losing an American possession like the Philippines, then Christ, that would make Hawaii pale by comparison.”
“I discussed with Henry Morgenthau my idea of a Super-NIRA for Asia and he told me something very interesting: Jacob Schiff, through Kuhn, Loeb on Wall Street, actually financed Japan in 1904 with a loan of 200 million dollars for their war against the Russians. With this money the Japanese were able to buy munitions and war materiel. Of course, Schiff hated the Russians because of their never-ending pogroms. Well, it’s just a thought but we could do the same in Asia. Why, we can even build dirigibles to fly from California.”
The odd mention of airships confused Stimson and King until Roosevelt explained,
“You may not know this but I was running a dirigible company that planned to establish a service from New York to Chicago. It was an idea before its time, but it has more merit today than ever before. And with a partnership with the Japanese, why I could even restart that business.”
After a pause to let this idea sink in, Roosevelt said, “Anyway, let’s sleep on it and meet tomorrow.”
In reality, the decision had been made by a pronoun: when Roosevelt referred to Nomura’s suggestion on a pan-Asia NIRA as “my idea,” the old snake had inadvertently shown his hand.
But the scheduled meeting with Nomura was preempted by another shock.
32: The Burning and Third Manassas
AT PRECISELY 8:00 A.M. on Wednesday, the German ambassador’s secretary rang Miss Tully and asked for an appointment for the German ambassador to see the President of the United States, “on a matter of extreme urgency.” As the German ambassador was known to be quiet and modest and normally never made any stronger requests than for a second glass of champagne at the interminable round of diplomatic parties, Miss Tully immediately penciled in the appointment for 10 a.m. that morning.
The ambassador arrived accompanied by a rather sharp-eyed individual by the name of Schneider.
The two men were shown into the Oval Office where they were greeted by the President and Secretary Stimson.
“How can I help you, gentlemen?” asked the President as he sat behind his desk in his wheelchair.
It was Schneider who spoke as his English was perfect; the elderly ambassador had wisely decided that the message was so important that translation errors had to be avoided at all costs.
“Well, sir, Mr. President, we want to inform you and Mr. Stimson that my country and the Soviets have earlier today been meeting in Geneva and are speaking about the possibilities of discussing arrangements and the extended modalities for a potential armistice.”
In spite of the painfully convoluted language, the last word jumped out at Roosevelt and Stimson, but both man said nothing.
“After our country’s tragic loss this past September, there have been certain, how shall I say, ‘rearrangements’ made, whereby General Jodl and Field Marshal Milch have made significant military, as well as political changes. Chief among the military changes is what we Germans are calling the new Brest-Litovsk-Kiev-Crimea line. I have it here on a map. If I may, sir?”
Schneider very carefully laid out the map on the old desk from the President’s uncle, taking extreme pains not to notice the President’s wheel chair.