“If I told you China would one day rise to be one of the world’s great powers, what would you think?” said Fukada.
“China? There are 500 million of them over there, and we have only 70 million, yet we ride the Dragon’s back, and tame it well. They have no real military capacity, but they come in their millions to pose a challenge. The Army has been bogged down in that war, and that will likely remain the case. The Chinese cannot defeat us, but real victory has also eluded us there.”
“And the Siberians?”
“A mere nuisance. Yamashita will deal with them. If your ship can find this Mizuchi we face at sea up north, then we will settle that issue as well.”
“Well we must be very diligent with the Chinese. They could pose a real problem in the years ahead.”
“Yamamoto fears the Americans more,” said Ugaki.
“As well he should. This is only the beginning of the war. The Americans have tremendous industry. They will out build us, even as I spoke earlier.”
“Nonsense,” said Ugaki. “And what was that garbage you told Yamamoto about the loss of all our carriers?”
“Anything could happen,” said Fukada, hedging his bet. “Yet it is now incumbent upon us to make certain no such disaster ever takes place. What are your thoughts concerning our best bet for renewed offensive operations, if I may humbly ask?”
“We always planned to fight a short war, swift, and even brutal if need be. Yamamoto hoped to eliminate the threat from the Americans at Pearl Harbor, but it is regrettable that there were no carriers at the harbor when Fuchida led the attack in that morning. They were lying in wait for us, and we managed to sink one. Now we must find and sink all the others.”
“You sunk one?”
“The Lexington. Where have you been? On the one hand you make pronouncements as if you were privy to intelligence that only the Kempeitai might ferret out. On the other hand you seem surprised to hear of things that even rank and file crewmen might know.”
“Due to the secrecy surrounding this ship,” said Fukada, thinking quickly, “we were kept very isolated. Yes, much news of the war in recent weeks has not come to us.”
“Well you will learn soon enough. The offensive has gone very well, and we are poised to take Sumatra, Java ,and the barrier islands. That will be the outer wall of our defensive line, and we will make it impregnable to enemy counterattack. Yet the best defense remains a good offense. Yamamoto is of a mind that we must still seek out the American fleet and destroy what remains of it in one great decisive battle. Yet you have the audacity to tell him this will end in our defeat. Believe me, he was very forgiving of your impudence earlier.”
“I meant no disrespect. I only said as much so that we could steel ourselves to avoid any possible mistake, and achieve the victory I know we can now have easily enough. Takami can make us invincible. And yes, we must destroy the American fleet, just as I spoke earlier. We must push them all the way back to their west coast, and keep them there.”
“And this terror weapon you blather about? What if they attack us with that?”
“They do not have the weapon now,” said Fukada. “And we must take steps to make certain they never obtain it.”
How he thought they could do that, Fukada did not say, or even really know himself at that moment. One thing was clear, however. His mind was firmly set on how Japan could prevail in this war, and talk of peace was the farthest thing imaginable as the wheels of his thinking slowly ground on through the saké.
“I must tell you one thing that I hope you will take very seriously, Admiral Ugaki. It is a matter of grave importance, no matter what plans might be devised for the future course of the war. The Americans have broken our naval code system.”
“What? How can you know this?”
“It is what I believe. How else could they have cleverly moved all their carriers out of Pearl Harbor just days before our planned attack?”
“I have had my suspicions concerning that.”
“Well founded suspicions this time, Admiral. They have broken our code, and we must make every effort to change it at once.”
“This is the ship’s Library, sir,” said Captain Harada.
Yamamoto looked around, somewhat confused. “But where are the books? I see nothing here but these tables and chairs, and those strange flattened typewriters. And what are those dark panels?”
“Information screens. This is what we call a virtual library. Those keyboards can be used exactly like a typewriter. You can use them to search our library data files, which are most extensive, especially concerning the Pacific War. Simply type what you wish to look for. You may also sit down before any of those panels and speak your request. Here, let me show you.”
Harada sat down, and then began speaking. “Shattered Sword, Midway.” Immediately a reference came up to a book by that title, Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall.
“This man has done an extensive analysis of a battle you have yet to fight, the decisive engagement my First Officer was commenting on earlier, the Battle of Midway. It was there that we lost all four fleet carriers assigned to the Kido Butai, and over 300 planes with our best pilots, effectively ending our ability to cover offensive operations with naval air power. You are a great proponent of the naval air arm, and so you must realize how much this hobbled us and forced us on to the defensive. That was the great turning point in the war here, at least as we know the history. After Midway, the Americans took the offensive, and never relinquished it until they finally leapt from one island to the next, ending at Okinawa and planning the actual invasion of our home islands. It was then that the war ended, in August of 1945, with the terrible bombing of two of our cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, each destroyed by the weapon Lieutenant Commander Fukada spoke of earlier. Here, let me show you campaign maps and photography.”
For the next hour, Yamamoto sat mesmerized before what he had first called a flattened typewriter and strange black panel, which suddenly bloomed in full color maps overlaid with thrusting arrows showing the inevitable Advance of the United States Navy and their Allies. Then he was stunned to see the images presented, of the ships, planes and men he knew so very well. The images would haunt him for the remainder of his life, particularly those of his carriers burning, the sinking of Yamato and Musashi, the terrible bombing of Japan, and the massive mushroom cloud over Hiroshima, the utter devastation after that bombing, and the terrible aftereffects.
He closed his eyes, thinking. Everything he had feared was depicted in these images and maps, written up in these documents with such astounding detail, as if it had already happened. How was this possible? Who could have concocted all this material, built this ship, crewed it with these men, and sent it to me like this? It makes absolutely no sense… Unless… their story is true.
After leaving the Admiral quietly at his workstation, Captain Harada finally returned and waited respectfully at his side. “Have you seen enough, or would you care to see more?”
Yamamoto turned to him, with an almost leaden slowness. The renowned leader was not a big man, only five feet three inches tall, and now he seemed smaller yet, as if weighed down by all he had seen, carrying it on his shoulders like a shroud in black and white. He rubbed his brow. Feeling the same dark mood that had fallen on him just after the successful, yet abortive attack on Pearl Harbor. They were going to lose this war, he knew. It was only a matter of time. Hiryu was already gone, Akagi and Kaga in the dry docks for upgrades. Mutsu had been pummeled by a ship they had never even seen, Mizuchi, the demon of the sea. Something warned him that if he ordered a major operation up north to secure that flank of the Empire again, that unseen demon would wreak havoc, and exact a terrible cost.