“A new constitution was imposed on us,” said Fukada. “We were forbidden to design or deploy military forces possessing offensive weapons, which is one reason why this ship, Takami, has fleet defense as its primary role.”
“Eventually the Americans become our friends and allies,” said Harada, “opposing other enemies that arise in our time.”
“What enemies?” asked Yamamoto.
“China, and its ally Russia.”
“China?”
“Yes sir, the war there is already a quagmire for the Japanese army, where most of our ground forces are deployed. And it was very bitter, with atrocities that the Chinese will never quite really forget or forgive. In our day, China’s military is very formidable, and they are the new Rising Sun in the Pacific, with a navy that is much bigger than Japan’s. This ship was built to try and address that balance, and as war seemed imminent, we were on heightened alert. Yet now we find ourselves in the midst of a war we could never have imagined ourselves fighting. Now we find ourselves at war with history itself. If my supposition is correct, and the Russian ship plaguing you in the north appeared here as our ship did, then someone else is at war with the history here as well—Vladimir Karpov, a man from our time, and not of this world. He has already put Hiryu at the bottom of the sea, and if not stopped, what else might he change?”
Yamamoto nodded his head. “What then do you propose?”
Harada hesitated briefly, looking over at Fukada, then spoke. “Make peace, sir. End the war now while Japan is at the apex of its imperial expansion. Find a way to come to terms with the United States.”
“Then you came here seeking this meeting, with this ship and its wonder weapons, in the hope of persuading me to negotiate terms with the United States?”
“Yes sir, you are the only one with the prestige and authority who might do so, or so we believed, knowing the history. In a letter to Ryoichi Sasakawa, the financier and business man with whom you are acquainted, you yourself wrote that: ‘To make victory certain, we would have to march into Washington and dictate the terms of peace in the White House.’ Well sir, I do not think we can ever march to Washington, but we might be invited there by the Americans, and, if we do not attempt to dictate terms, but generously negotiate in good faith, we might have peace instead of the destruction of our homeland.”
“And do you think the Americans will seriously consider such a proposal?”
“Perhaps not, but if such a course were pursued as fervently as we now plan our war, there might be at least the hope of holding on to the victories we have already won, and yet obtaining peace instead of destruction.”
“Not likely,” said Ugaki now, finishing his third small toasting glass of saké. “Realizing this is all nothing more than a fool’s discourse, I will nonetheless join in, the saké tempering my anger, which is fortunate for the two of you at the moment. I do not believe the Americans will ever permit us to retain the territories we have already occupied, nor will the British. They will demand the return of Hong Kong and Malaya, and also demand that we withdraw our troops from Burma, Indonesia, and every other place we have taken in this brilliant offensive. As for the Americans, this General MacArthur you spoke of as our future military governor would never permit us to retain the Philippines, and they will want back Guam, Wake Island, and all the rest. You claim to have read my mind, Captain. Yet now I say the same thing to you that I said to Hara, it is too late. The water is already under the bridge, as the Americans might say. We could never relinquish these conquered territories without lasting shame, and so now if we must fight the Americans to retain our honor, so be it.”
“MacArthur will not be a problem,” said Fukada darkly. “We can see to that.”
“What are you saying?” asked Yamamoto.
“The history we know records that he will attempt to escape from the Philippines. He will come here, to this very island of Mindanao, and in a matter of a few days time. The Americans will send B-17 bombers to the one airfield they still retain here, Del Monte on the north coast. If you act quickly, occupy that field and interdict the sea lanes leading to it, MacArthur can be eliminated before he ever gets a chance to become our lord and master. And with Takami at our disposal, we can make certain he is either killed or made our prisoner.”
Now even Harada looked at his First Officer with surprise evident on his face. “Lieutenant Commander,” he said quietly. “We have not discussed this.”
“No sir,” said Fukada, “we have not. I only discovered it in my research a few hours ago after we engaged those B-17s. But now, knowing what I have just said, we cannot allow this opportunity to escape us. Can we? If we do so, then we would be the fools these Admirals already take us to be. Let us show them otherwise.”
Chapter 30
“It seems this man has no qualms about pursuing our war aims,” said Yamamoto to his Chief of Staff. “The Captain talks of peace, but his subordinate wants to eliminate our foes before they can rise to oppose us. How to solve this riddle? What should I do here, with these men and their ship?”
“Arrest them both,” said Ugaki. “Seize this ship with Naval Marines while we have them under Yamato’s guns, and conduct a thorough investigation. I assure you, we will get to the bottom of all this after that.”
“That would be a most unwise course,” said Harada.
“Agreed,” Fukada echoed, once again in harmony with his senior officer, at least on this point. “As we have demonstrated, this ship is valuable. I would venture to say that with Takami added to your existing fleet, we can seek and fight that decisive battle with our enemies that will assure a final victory. My Captain believes in the hope of a negotiated peace, but I must agree with Admiral Ugaki. It is already too late to expect our enemies will agree to a negotiated settlement favoring Japan. But after one more great victory, we might dictate terms, and not by marching to Washington. If we eliminate the remaining American naval power, then we can force them out of their principal base in Hawaii; force them to retreat all the way to their west coast. After that, we can see that no shipyard along that coast ever builds a single warship. Rest assured.”
“Lieutenant Commander—”
“You said we could speak our minds, Captain. This is mine. This is what I believe we must now do. We can eliminate MacArthur, destroy the American fleet, interdict their west coast ports, and force them to terms. We could even destroy the Panama Canal, and force them to sail all the way around Drake’s Passage at the southern end of South America if they want to send ships here from the Atlantic.”
Ugaki smiled. “I begin to like this man,” he said as he took another sip of saké. “Perhaps I will not kill him after all.”
“For that I would be most grateful,” said Fukada. “As for this Russian ship up north, you claim it is using missile technology. Takami has recorded data on all the weapons the Russians might be using. We can confirm our suspicion about this ship once and for all. Let us join any force you now contemplate sending north, and even the odds.”
“Lieutenant!” Now Harada allowed himself a flash of anger, and he deliberately left off the rest of Fukada’s title with that exclamation. “Our agreement here was to see if we could persuade these men to seek peace terms to end this war, not to begin planning out campaigns so we could continue it.”