Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 122



Only Noblemtl

#122

“They’re coming, right?”

“Of course you won’t come, right?”

In anticipation of the attack on Port Moresby, the Japanese Navy General Headquarters absolutely expected that the US Navy would be dispatched to block them.

No, I really hoped they would come.

It was a known fact that the US Pacific Fleet was in dire straits following the Battle of Guam.

That’s why the Japanese military racked their brains trying to predict what kind of trap would come.

“We will definitely send a newly selected battleship.”

“No. The new ship has to guard Hawaii, so someone else will come.”

“Won’t the aircraft carrier come?”

“The aircraft carrier will come, of course, and the battleship is important, isn’t it?”

After the Battle of Guam, the Japanese Navy was brimming with confidence.

“If we win another big victory over those Yankees this time, the Army won’t be able to say anything.”

“Yes, honestly, do you think our guys could have achieved this much without us?”

“yes.”

In fact, the Navy was quite pleased with the sight of the Army fighting in Luzon.

After the Southern Operation began, the Army, which was on a winning streak, began to challenge the Navy’s every move.

In particular, the Army’s audacity in taking over Burma across Indochina and the Malay Peninsula was, the Navy thought, going too far.

“They think their major is great, but they are busy belittling ours.”

“Yes, that’s right. Think of the Battle of Guam.”

Even the great victory in the Battle of Guam was nitpicked by the Army.

“Don’t you think they’ve suffered any losses? When you fight, there are losses and such.”

“That’s right. It wasn’t a defeat, it was a victory, but to this extent···.”

There were loud voices denouncing the army, saying that if they had lost, there would have been chaos.

The reason the Navy is gnashing its teeth like this is, of course, budgetary issues.

The Navy won the Battle of Guam, but suffered heavy losses. It lost two aircraft carriers and two battleships. There were also many other minor losses.

Naturally, the Navy wanted to somehow replace the lost battleships and aircraft carriers and further strengthen its warship force, which was superior to that of the US Navy.

“Of course, unless the Yankees are idiots, wouldn’t they pick a better ship?”

“This time, we too must strengthen our power properly.”

“We need to produce more Yamato-class ships.”

Naturally, the land dogs and their leader, Tojo, strongly opposed the navy’s claim to use large guns.

And the Navy needed just as much expertise as the Army to overcome such opposition.

“If you’re going to press those motherfuckers, you better show them this time.”

“Right. But what if they get scared and don’t come?”

That’s right.

The Japanese Navy’s concern was not that the US Navy would come in droves, but that they would be too scared to come.

But in fact, the reason the Japanese Navy was unable to reinforce its forces in time was not simply because of the army’s obstruction.

“We also need to select Yamato-class ships, or better.”

“What’s more urgent now is the aircraft carrier. We all saw how important air supremacy is!”

“Aircraft carriers, we need to build more aircraft carriers···.”

“What on earth did that carrier do this time? Battleships are the most important. They are the only way to survive.”

Even within the Navy, there was fierce fighting every day over which ship types to add, and no proper conclusion was reached.

Naturally, Tojo and the Japanese army were delighted.

“In our current situation, both are impossible. Decide whether it’s an aircraft carrier or a warship.”

For that reason, the Japanese Navy was in a somewhat impatient situation. Among them, those who insisted on building aircraft carriers were particularly impatient.

“I have to show real results this time.”

“you’re right.”

“Honestly, when you look at Luzon, don’t you get a sense of how important the right to provide is?”

“That’s what I mean. Those Battleship Faction kids must have only udon noodles in their heads.”

The Japanese air fleet, having lost one battleship in the previous naval battle, was determined to properly demonstrate their capabilities this time and avenge the Akagi and Kaga.

And they weren’t the only ones vowing revenge.

“This time, we must show the spirit of the Pacific Fleet.”

In particular, the fighting spirit of the Naval Air Force, which had been under Mitchell’s thumb for a long time, was higher than ever.

“If we seem inadequate···.”

“How much will you torture us?”

“I’m already being cursed at for being incompetent.”

I don’t know how much the Army has ignored and degraded the Navy since the failure of the Luzon supply.

In particular, whenever the Army Air Corps was making a mad dash in Luzon and Europe, the Naval Air Corps was treated, to put it mildly, as a sliver of a sliver.

It was Mitchell who delivered the final blow to their pride.

“It’s not that there’s a lack of wildcats, it’s that you guys lack skill.”

“How can we not do anything because the Zero-sen is so superior?”

“Do you know the saying that there is no grave without an excuse?”

There was also a brief moment of resentment toward the Navy leadership for throwing away the Mitchell when they asked for a better aircraft.

“Why.”

“Why on earth?”

“Is what that kid is saying true?”

“shit.”

“Fuck.”

Mitchell proved his words right with a few maneuvers, and the Naval Air Force had to roll over under Mitchell.

It was more humiliating than anything else.

“Kwaaak.”

“shit.”

And they said all this,

“It’s because of those Jabs kids.”

“Yeah, it’s fucking Japs’ fault.”

I thought it was because of Japan. No, I brainwashed myself.

Thanks to this, the fighting spirit of the naval aviation force heading for Port Moresby was higher than ever.

##

While we and Japs’ seals were making resolutions to have a proper fight, I was meeting Donovan.

Donovan, who had been my secretary when I was governor of New York, returned to active duty just as I did when the war broke out.

And after serving as the Director of the Army Strategy Office, he became the first Director of the OSS.

The Office of Strategic Services, aka OSS, was an intelligence agency and special operations force jointly operated by our Army and Navy, and was the predecessor to the famous CIA.

“We received a call from the Chinese branch.”

“What kind of contact is this?”

“I found Nguyen Sinh Cung.”

I tilted my head at the story reported by those who had been with Elliot on his mission to China.

Nguyen? I tilted my head when I first heard the name, but after hearing the brief explanation, I think it’s Ho Chi Minh…

“Why is he in China?”

“I think that’s when Japan sought out Chiang Kai-shek for help in trying to exert influence in Indochina.”

But instead of getting help, he was found by OSS agents and locked up in prison as a spy.

“If we found it, wouldn’t it be okay to send it to Vietnam and use it?”

Even today, Luzon is closely connected to independence activists and anti-Japanese activists in Vietnam.

This was because, no matter how hard Japan flew and crawled, it was impossible to control each and every small ship traveling the sea.

“Won’t the State Department be picking on us?”

“State Department? Oh, oh.”

I understood why.

“So Nguyen is a communist.”

“yes.”

That’s why Donovan came to me first. And it wasn’t that difficult for me.

A few hours later, in a White House conference room.

“For that reason, our Strategy Office intends to support Nguyen.”

As soon as Donovan finished speaking, Secretary of State Hull opened his mouth with a frown.

“Joseon is good. It’s much better to make it independent. It was a colony of the Japs to begin with, so of course it should be independent. And its location is also killing it. China? That too. But Southeast Asia is different.”

“What do you mean?”

“France and England···.”

I laughed at Secretary of State Hull’s statement that there was no way France would give up Indochina, including Vietnam.

“The Netherlands has already agreed. Queen Wilhelmina has made her decision. France? The Allies are not all the same, are they?”

“That, that···.”

Heol shut his mouth at my words that he didn’t intend to treat those who couldn’t even defend their own homeland and had become elite in just six weeks as equals to us.

Then someone else came up with a problem.

“But isn’t that author a communist?”

yes.

As expected, the issue that Donovan was worried about was brought up. However,

“How about that?”

“yes?”

Perhaps, if it had been someone else other than me, people would have immediately asked, “Are you a communist?”

However, no author dared ask such a bold question to me, who had already been accused of being a communist due to the Bonus Army incident, and who was even the son-in-law of the president who currently wielded absolute power.

“If you can reduce the blood of our soldiers for the president, the president can join hands with the red.”

“but.”

It is clear that the power of the Reds is strong, as there are still people who oppose. However,

“And in Europe, aren’t we already in a situation where we’ve joined hands with the red bosses?”

“Isn’t that because of Nazi Germany? Are the Japs so strong that they have to even join hands with the Reds?”

“No, that’s not it.”

The story was, “If they’re at the level of the Nazis, then I don’t know, but what’s the point of having a communist to catch those Japs?”

“We need to support independence activists like Nguyen, if only to rebalance the landscape in Southeast Asia after the war.”

After I finished speaking, I nodded at Mitchell.

Rather than me continuing the story, it would be better for Mitchell, who had been in the Philippines for a long time, to continue the explanation.

“Asia has many countries with long histories. So even if they are right next door, their affiliation and historical awareness are very clear. They became communists in order to receive support from the Soviet Union.”

“So what Lt. General Mitchell is saying is that if we support them, they will later be on our side and not the Soviets?”

“That is a possibility. Who can know the future perfectly? But Vietnam is a country with a long history in Indochina, and above all, its relationship with China is really bad.”

When the topic of China came up, Roosevelt’s eyes changed.

“Isn’t it too weak to be used as a word to check China?”

“Can’t we define strength and weakness by size?”

I added a word to those who were bickering.

“If Vietnam were alone, it would be difficult, but wouldn’t it be different if the Philippines and North Korea were added?”

Of course, I would have liked to have broken China into several pieces, but it was still too early to get there.

Still, Roosevelt, who had been constantly talking to me about the dangers of a unified China, made a decision.

“If you are good, if you can reduce the blood of our soldiers, you can be my dog.”

Thus, the fate of the post-war Indochina Peninsula was decided, starting with the support of Nguyen and the Vietnamese independence activists who followed him.

“France will never agree.”

Of course, some people still couldn’t hide their worries. But as I continued to speak, their worries melted away as if they were washed away.

“Well, isn’t the next target of the European Expeditionary Force the landing in France?”

“!”

##

At a time when the fate of Southeast Asia was being decided across the Pacific in Washington, the two navies, burning with fighting spirit to defeat each other, met in none other than the Coral Sea.

Pacific Fleet Commander Nimitz sent four aircraft carriers and support battleships to the Coral Sea.

There were several reasons for not sending battleships like the newly selected Iowa or Maryland, which had survived the clutches of former Commander Kimmel.

“The sailors’ skill level is too low.”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

There was also the issue of not being able to fully operate the new battleships, and the defense of Hawaii.

Instead, Hawaii had a land base, so there was no problem sending the carrier off.

The second is,

“In the last naval battle, it was the aircraft carrier that really made a difference.”

“That’s right. Wasn’t the Enterprise’s night bombing at the end more effective than the battleship-to-battleship fleet battle?”

The Pacific Fleet, or rather the US Navy, was now at a crossroads.

Should we continue to push for the big ship and big gun policy that has dominated the navy so far, or should we acknowledge that the era of aircraft carriers has arrived and move in that direction?

Unlike the Yuan Dynasty, where all the battleships were blown away and only the aircraft carriers remained, leaving them with no other choice, they still had four battleships left.

This gave the Navy leadership a choice.

Of course, anyone with even a little bit of intelligence, including King, Arthur III, and Nimitz, knew that an aircraft carrier was the answer.

“But can you always choose the right answer?”

“The battleship faction’s forces are also considerable.”

It’s been hundreds of years since the beginning of the Great War.

The strength of that force was beyond the ability of the newly-born aircraft carrier faction to do anything about.

“So you need proof?”

“yes.”

That’s why Nimitz sent only the aircraft carrier and escort battleships to the Coral Sea, despite all the criticism he received.

“You must be crazy.”

“You kicked out Kimmel and now you have Nimitz?”

Naturally, there was a lot of controversy over Nimitz’s order, both within the Navy and outside it.

however,

“I gave permission.”

Who would beat a king who says with a blank expression, “What are you going to do?”

But it wasn’t King in Washington that Nimitz was counting on.

“I trust the men under Fletcher and Kincaid.”

He trusted his men.

I trusted the air force that trained in the bitter midwinter winds under the persecution of that damn land dog, Mitchell.

And his faith was rewarded.

Battle of the Coral Sea