“They may be very cagey,” said Ugaki.
“Yes, but if we strike at a place that is vital to them, they will have to respond. This, I believe, is in Admiral Yamamoto’s mind. We also have the element of surprise, because they will not expect that we have such technology.”
“But they saw those rockets take down two of their bombers.”
“That was regrettable,” said Fukada. “It was why I spoke up and advised the Captain to destroy the remaining bombers. It was also unwise for us to boldly shoot down that target drone right here over the bay, but at that time we had no other option. We had to shock you with our capabilities to at least gain this audience.”
“But with such a strange story? Come now, how was this ship really built? Who was behind it?”
“Mitsubishi industries,” said Fukada with a wink. He was telling the truth, but making it seem that the company of this day was responsible.
“Then what was this business about MacArthur escaping from the Philippines? Don’t tell me you are reading tea leaves and foretelling the future. I did not ask to visit your library, because I am quite satisfied to live in this world as it is.”
“As am I,” said Fukada, with a strange inner feeling. He was not a married man, and had dedicated most of his young adult life to the service, coming up through the ranks to his present post, and hoping for a captaincy soon, his own ship. Now, however, he was dreaming of something more.
“Mark my words,” he said with a hush, as if confiding secret present day intelligence to Ugaki, and not now making fanciful boasts. “MacArthur will attempt to escape from Homma’s trap in the Philippines. He has plans to do exactly what I have said, and that was another reason I wanted to shoot down those remaining three contacts. They were most likely B-17s, yet I spoke with our Lieutenant Hideo Honjo, who conducted that engagement in the command center we showed you. He tells me those last three contacts diverted their course before we fired on the others, so they already had some pre-arranged plan. Our radar’s tracked them bearing north along the coast of Mindanao, before turning west again. They can have no other destination in mind but Del Monte airfield. I urge you to take it, and then let us see if this MacArthur will enjoy the accommodations we provide for him in an interrogation room before he presumes to become the Military Governor of Japan.”
He smiled, and got the same reaction from Ugaki, his golden mask melted away by the free flowing saké. It was the only time Ugaki ever allowed himself to drop his carefully guarded persona, the austere aspect he projected now softening considerably.
“What was all that nonsense about losing our own fleet carriers?”
“That was what the Captain fears if we are not careful. Of course, you and I know that may not happen at all, particularly not with Takami sailing with the Kido Butai! But tell me, Admiral, what was it that happened up north with Mutsu and Chikuma?”
“Both ships struck by naval rockets,” said Ugaki. “Just as Admiral Yamamoto said. Mutsu was old, and ready for the scrap yards. In fact, we have been entertaining plans to convert that ship to a hybrid battlecarrier. There is no point in trying to salvage it as a battleship. If any guns remain functional, we should move them to the forward turrets, and then sweep away all the damaged superstructure and throw up an armored flight deck.”
“And Hiryu was also sunk the same way, by naval rockets?”
“We had some idea where the enemy was,” said Ugaki, his loose lips freely disclosing this otherwise classified information now. “Nagumo was preparing to launch, and when Hiryu was struck, the resulting secondary explosions and fire simply gutted the ship.”
“Takami can prevent that from happening again,” said Fukada. “Our missiles are good enough to even stop other naval rockets.”
“Oh? Our gunners certainly could not stop them. Nagumo thought they were piloted. They bore in on the targets unfailingly, but were simply too fast for our flak guns.”
“We can stop them,” said Fukada. “That is unless the Captain loses his nerve with all this talk of peace negotiations.” There, he stuck his pin in this voodoo doll, knowing that Harada could be the one major obstacle to what he was proposing to Ugaki now. “Tell me, what did this man Karpov demand before the outbreak of the war?”
“Oh, nothing much,” said Ugaki with just an edge of sarcasm. “All he wanted was Urajio back, and all of our Siberian provinces with it, including Karafuto.”
“Karafuto? You mean Sakhalin Island?”
“Yes, what else?”
“And what was that first place you mentioned?”
“Urajio, the old Russian port at Vladivostok. Can you imagine the impudence of that man? We have held that territory since 1908!”
Fukada resisted the urge to say anything more here, but he was truly surprised to hear this, a confirmation of his own hunch on the matter. Clearly the history was already skewed, but he could not imagine how that could have happened, unless it was all the doings of that Russian ship. Yes, that had to be the answer. He had attributed the other oddities they had uncovered in the radio news broadcasts to the presence of Karpov here, things that may have been changed by his deliberate intervention. Yet 1908 was a long time ago, and what was Ugaki saying to him now? He probed a bit further.
“So they want Urajio back?”
“That and all of Amur province with it, and all the other territories we took from them long ago. Well let me say that it will take more than this back stabbing attack on Kazantochi. He has done one thing with his brash declaration of war. He’s finally got our attention. Thus far, the setback on Kazantochi is not generally known outside top military circles, but now the Army has been ordered to plan an operation in the north. Tojo has even sent our Tiger of Malaya up there to coordinate everything.”
“Tiger? Ah, you mean General Yamashita?”
“Who else? He will get three or four divisions together from the Kwantung Army and put the Siberian incident to rest. Of that I have no doubt, but this Russian ship, Siberian ship, who knows what it may be. That is our concern. Can this ship of yours really shoot down those naval rockets, or was that another wild story?”
“No sir, it was the truth. We can track them as they fire, and then shoot them down. That is exactly what Takami was designed for—fleet defense.”
“Well, Lieutenant Commander, you may soon get your chance to prove this claim, that is, if Yamamoto doesn’t lose his nerve first.” He gave Fukada a conspiratorial wink, then shook his head. “After a few glasses of saké, you are much more tolerable, and a man begins to believe anything he chooses. Very well, I will not cut your head off today, but mind your manners tomorrow when I awake with the headache that will surely follow from my indulgence this night.”
Part XI
Supercharge
“You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked, therefore, knowing where and when to attack, and where to defend, is essential.”
Chapter 31
Admiral Ugaki and Lieutenant Commander Fukada had come to an understanding, though it was one that was going to pose a problem for Yamamoto in the weeks and months ahead. Their rambling conversation had turned to the future course of the war, and the millstone that the invasion of China had placed around the necks of Japanese leaders.