Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 143



Only Noblemtl

#143

While the Navy worked to reclaim control of the Pacific and islands like Wake Island and Guam, our Army also worked tirelessly.

First, Eisenhower, who was in Luzon, fought hard against the Japanese who had landed in the northern part of the island.

The already fortified island of Luzon effectively held back more than a hundred thousand Japanese troops.

“It is said that since the fighting began on Luzon Island, the pressure from the other side has been considerably reduced.”

“Of course.”

One of our army’s tasks was to support various guerrilla activities in Japanese-occupied territories such as Indochina and the Korean Peninsula in cooperation with the Strategic Office.

And above all, there was one thing that he spared no effort in, and that was none other than the ginseng.

I know better than anyone what comes out when you grind a whetstone, so isn’t that obvious?

“A bomber bigger than the B-24.”

“If I had a guy like that, I could go from Manila to Japan in one go.”

“The bigger the aircraft, the better.”

As a result, the B-29 Superfortress was developed slightly earlier than its original history.

No one was happier than Elliott at the appearance of the B-29, which had an operational radius of over 5,000 km.

So, that Elliot who went to China instead of Stillwell.

Elliot’s presence was a great help to the Chinese army in holding out against the Japanese army.

Although Britain’s loss of Burma has caused many disruptions in its supply chain, the current situation in China is still much better than it was during the Yuan Dynasty.

First of all, unlike in the original history, when the British deliverymen ate everything in the middle and left only the bones to deliver to China, this time the delivery accident was not serious.

Next, unlike Stillwell, Elliot knew better than anyone the limits of his abilities.

Although he seemed to have had high ambitions before going to China, Elliot quickly figured out his position after arriving there.

“How can I command the Chinese army? This is no place for someone like me to get involved in this chaos.”

Elliott knew that his role as Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces was not to demonstrate any great ability.

“I came here because I’m Roosevelt. So all I have to do is show that old man over there that America doesn’t treat China badly. I’m just a totem. A totem.”

And Elliot’s judgment was correct.

Thanks to this, Elliot, like Stilwell in the original history, did not underestimate the Japanese and offer to help the British in Burma, only to lose 100,000 men.

Afterwards, he did not even try to hide his own incompetence by criticizing the British army, which made the atmosphere in the Allied forces uncomfortable.

Without a deep understanding of the situation in China, he did not unconditionally ignore and ridicule the Chinese military as being incompetent, nor did he even attempt to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek in order to gain command of the Chinese military.

So Elliot did nothing special, and thanks to that, the situation in China was able to improve even more than in the original history.

Originally, wasn’t it true that in war, it wasn’t the one who fought well who won, but the one who made fewer mistakes who won?

That doesn’t mean the guy really didn’t do anything.

Elliot faithfully fulfilled his role as a ‘totem’, as he put it.

The United States constantly reassured Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang leadership that they were a trustworthy friend.

“We in the United States value our friendship with China. Otherwise, why would I, the son of the President, come here?”

“That’s true, but it’s just talk…”

“Surely my father would abandon China while I am here? I know that the lend-lease money sent from the mainland to China is enormous.”

“Then what should I do? Nothing is coming.”

“It’s all because the British guys messed up the delivery.”

One of his greatest achievements was opening his mouth to Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang leadership, who were complaining about being passed over immediately after the Casablanca Conference, and saying that all of this was the work of the Tommys.

“It is said that if you know history, you can see the present and the future. You know what kind of country England was in the past.”

“Well, what they did in China was….”

“There are many things that are outrageous. How can a person change so easily?”

That was possible because Elliot and Chiang Kai-shek had a very good relationship.

Elliot treated Chiang Kai-shek, who was much older than him, as an adult and respected him, and naturally Chiang Kai-shek was quite fond of Elliot.

Even without that, Elliot’s blood ties as President Roosevelt’s son and MacArthur’s brother-in-law were enough to make him an “American prince” in China.

“You’re better than I thought.”

“Isn’t he a smart guy?”

“Is that so?”

Although he sometimes did things that were out of his mind, he was a man with outstanding political sense who deserved the name ‘Roosevelt’.

“Everything is going well except that he sometimes makes his adjutants’ hearts sink when he says he wants to fly a fighter jet and go into combat.”

Elliot was doing a great job, to the point where Marshall gave him such praise.

In particular, Elliot had very good relationships with the leaders of several colonies who were actively engaged in guerrilla activities in Japanese-occupied territories, including the Indochina Peninsula.

“This is what Ho Chi Minh said the last time the Strategic Office visited. They said that Brigadier General Roosevelt was involved then too.”

“Huh? Really?”

After all, wasn’t the Philippines a stronghold of Asianism and a haven for colonial intellectuals after the Great Kanto Earthquake?

In the history of the Yuan Dynasty, it was also said that Elliot’s achievements were the reason that Koreans, who had difficulty achieving real achievements due to Chiang Kai-shek’s restraint, were able to play an active role as a member of the Allied Forces and be recognized.

And the activities of the Koreans even created a virtuous cycle that strengthened the position of Elliot, who actively supported them.

“But the problem is, of course, distribution.”

It was better than the original history, but it had already been over a year since the Burma Road was lost.

In such a situation, the B-29 appeared, so Elliott and others could not help but be delighted.

“If we deploy B-29s, we can supply from Luzon to Chongqing.”

Distance-wise, British India was a bit closer, but the terrain there was too rugged.

“It is very difficult because we have to cross the Himalayas.”

“How can you trust those Tommy guys more than that?”

“There is also a great possibility that the base will be exposed to the Japanese military in Burma.”

The opinion was that it would be better to go from Luzon even though it was a little further.

“In that case, shouldn’t we first drive out the Japanese troops that landed in Luzon?”

“Yes, we must reclaim not only Luzon but also Mindanao and Samar.”

“After that, I got my hands on Formosa…”

So, for our army, the first priority was to provide supplies to Elliott and those in mainland China.

If the Army’s argument was to gradually eliminate the Japanese forces in their path and then land on the Chinese mainland, the Navy’s opinion was different.

“We must turn Japan into a sea of ​​fire.”

“Yes, it absolutely cannot stay like this.”

So the reason why the seal guys suddenly became Stone Age enthusiasts was none other than what happened right after the recapture of Wake Island.

The testimonies of the prisoners rescued from Wake Island are what got the Navy guys fired up.

“They starved us because there was not enough food.”

“We were given enough rations to keep us from dying, since we were technicians, but···.”

“It wasn’t just a sandbag for venting anger, it was just a toy.”

The Germans were evil genocides of the Jews, but they tried to uphold the Geneva Convention for Allied prisoners of war.

Of course, the Allied forces also treated German prisoners of war humanely.

But Japan was different.

It was already widely known that they treated prisoners inhumanely, including abusing them and killing them for sport.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, incidents such as the Nanking Massacre were widely reported, and there was also the testimony of the five prisoners of war, including Sergeant Tweed, who were rescued in Guam immediately after the Battle of Guam.

In fact, wasn’t that why they recaptured Wake Island to rescue the prisoners?

But that wasn’t all the prisoners’ testimony said.

“Since supplies became scarce···.”

“No. Even when there are supplies, there isn’t enough food…”

“They are not human, they are devils.”

In response to the incredible testimony, the U.S. Navy cross-examined Japanese prisoners to confirm the facts and thoroughly searched through documents that the Japanese military had not yet disposed of.

And when the unbelievable truth finally came to light, there was no one in the Navy who was not shocked, from the lowest ranks of sailors to the highest ranks of command.

“These fucking bastards···.”

“I could never forgive you.”

Naturally, this was also reported to war correspondents.

“This is a scoop.”

“We need to report this immediately.”

“We must inform people of the atrocities committed by the Japanese military.”

However, all of the reporters’ scoops written under the title “Cannibalism” were banned from publication except for the first few.

“Why!”

“I want to make this known to the public···.”

It wasn’t just journalists who protested that people should be made aware of how bad the Japanese are.

“This is a golden opportunity to heighten public awareness of the war. Why are you blocking the reporting?”

Despite such protests and opposition, Arthur III and King did not rescind their ban on reporting.

“This is not a good thing to be known.”

“I agree. For the sake of the honor of the fallen soldiers, it would be better to avoid extensive media coverage.”

“Yes. The bereaved families must know that they fought and died honorably on the battlefield, so do we have to tell them that they were eaten in such a horrible way?”

“!”

Because of this, the atrocities committed by the Japanese military that were reported in newspaper articles were merely a somewhat sanitized version.

However, there was no one within the Navy who did not know about this.

“We can’t just cover it up like this.”

“We must take revenge on those bastards.”

“Geneva Convention? Give it to a dog. Are those bastards people?”

The Navy’s hostility toward the Japanese military burned endlessly.

Naturally, the Navy’s combat power skyrocketed. As a result, the recapture of Guam and the occupation of the Northern Mariana Islands were accomplished in an instant.

And shortly after that, I heard news of the B-29’s deployment.

When the Navy guys heard the B-29’s specs, they came running.

“Wouldn’t it be possible for the B-29 to bomb the Japanese mainland?”

“I can’t just let this go.”

And here the Army Air Corps guys also started jumping around because their eyes were drawn to it.

“Honestly, bombing is better than supply missions.”

“Of course. If we turn Japan into a sea of ​​fire, wouldn’t that also help the war?”

As a result, the US forces in the Pacific were divided in two.

There were two groups: the radicals who wanted to bring down fire and lightning on the Japanese mainland and turn it into the Stone Age, and the moderates who wanted to gradually deploy the military according to the existing strategy.

Naturally, the leaders of the radicals were some of the Navy and Army Air Corps guys who were obsessed with revenge.

The moderates were, of course, the majority of the Army, including Eisenhower and Elliott.

Of course, not everyone in the Navy agreed with the radicals’ claims.

King was a representative example.

He originally hated Japan, and after the Wake Island incident, he didn’t even think of the Japanese as people.

But that didn’t affect his judgment as Chief of Naval Operations.

“Bombing? What does that mean? Hasn’t it already been proven in Europe that bombing is not very effective? Wouldn’t it be better to just spread mines around Japan at that time?”

He was a great guy in many ways.

The problem is,

“I think my brother wants to do it.”

“···”

I wondered why he had dragged me here to cause trouble, but it turns out that the seal who was talking the loudest about turning Japan into the Stone Age was my older brother.

“I know. I know King is right. But···”

I could completely understand my brother’s feelings, that his heart was burning if he stayed like that.

So, being the kind and capable younger brother that I am, I offered a solution.

“Then why don’t you do both?”

“what?”

It was quite a sight to see Arthur III looking at me with that stupid face.

“It’s not that you can’t make a strong argument because of the King’s prestige, so you’re sick and have a headache. That’s why you need me.”

As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Arthur III, although a senior, would have been even less able to strongly argue against King’s claims.

But I am different.

And if I insist, the King can also pretend to back down without losing his dignity.

“And honestly, wouldn’t King want to bomb too? How could he dislike that human personality?”

“of course.”

As expected.

“Don’t forget, I will collect this debt in full. Not only you, but King too. They both owe me.”

It was a great deal. I owed the two seals money and burned down Tokyo.

I guess I’ll have to call Lemay. Tokyo Hotten needs a chef.

The battle was won…