Rising Sun

The conference room was more of an auditorium and at least fifty people were present. Dane, as a newly ordained lieutenant commander, was one of the lowest-ranking officers present. As he took a seat alongside Merchant, Dane had the nagging feeling he still smelled of diesel and shit. He’d showered several times, but he still felt unclean. Torelli, also present for the briefing and unawed by the presence of all the brass, teased him mercilessly.

Admiral William Halsey—nobody who wanted to live ever called him “Bull” to his face—ran the meeting. He’d been hospitalized with a skin infection, shingles, when the Battle of Midway took place, and he still looked awful. Painful-looking blotches and scabs covered his arms and extended under his clothing, and Dane wondered how he could refrain from scratching himself to shreds.

Halsey looked for a moment at Admirals Spruance and King, who was just in from Washington. King had been appointed Chief of Naval Operations in the spring, replacing his good friend, Admiral Harold Stark, who was one of those blamed for the disaster at Pearl Harbor. King was reputed to be a lecher, a heavy drinker, and a hater of all things English. However, and despite all the rumors regarding his personal issues, he was considered a tough and highly qualified leader and, despite reservations, now supported the Europe-first strategy as the best way to win the war and ultimately get back at the Japanese.

Still, he wanted as much pressure as possible brought to bear on the Japanese as long as there were no major actions against Germany either occurring or planned for the near future. It was rumored that he was going to get his way but not for the reasons he’d anticipated. King’s normally sour expression looked even more depressed. Stark had been blamed for Pearl Harbor, but it was King who was currently in charge. He bore the responsibility for Midway and the current dismal situation in the Pacific where the Japanese fleet could strike anywhere, anytime.

Halsey began. “First let me say that those of you who piss and moan that we have no major warships in the Pacific, and that means Hawaii, California, and the rest of the West Coast, are largely correct. The cupboard is pretty Goddamned bare, especially when it comes to carriers.”

There were muted gasps and the sounds of chairs and feet shuffling. Halsey wasn’t going to be handing out dollops of happy bullshit this fine morning.

“The Japs have bombed and shelled what was left of our installations in Hawaii,” he continued, “and the islands are now of little military use. The Japanese can take them anytime they wish. However, they might just decide they aren’t worth the cost since we reinforced them after the attack on Pearl.”

Halsey grimaced and continued. “We are not totally toothless. We still have one fleet carrier in the Pacific, the Saratoga, and for the time being she’s anchored here in San Diego. The Japs, unfortunately, have maybe a dozen carriers with several more under construction. Since the Japs aren’t telling us much, that’s only a guess; but it does mean the Sara isn’t going out alone. We do have two fleet carriers in the Atlantic along with a couple of smaller ones, but they aren’t moving out here either. FDR says they are needed in that ocean to fight Nazi U-boats and, besides, the odds against us would only be slightly reduced. Any confrontation between our carriers and the Japanese fleet at this time would be suicide. We do have a number of fleet carriers under construction and they will start coming on line next year, which won’t do us a whole lot of good today.”

Halsey paused to let harsh reality sink in. “We are outnumbered in battleships as well, although not as badly. Admiral Pye has six battleships available, seven if the Pennsylvania’s repairs are completed soon. However, they are older ships, and the Japs have ten that we know of with at least two under construction, and those are reported to be real monsters. The West Virginia and Nevada are still being repaired and cannot be counted on for the near future.

“However, we will soon have some new battlewagons of our own. The North Carolina will arrive shortly, and Admiral King says the Washington will be shifted here from the Atlantic Fleet. No matter how many battleships we have, they aren’t going anywhere without carrier planes to fly cover for them.”

There were murmurs of agreement with that statement. Only a few months earlier such an assertion would have been heresy. But England had lost the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse to Japanese planes the previous October when they’d steamed into the Pacific Ocean without air cover. Whereas the battleship had been queen of the seas at the beginning of the war, that title was quickly passing to the aircraft carrier.

“In effect,” Halsey continued. “We can do nothing major. We will be postponing any offensive actions, including planned moves into the Solomon Islands. That means the Japs will be free to build an airfield on Guadalcanal that can threaten Australia, which is too bad for the Aussies. It also means that the army will be pulling back on building defenses in Alaska since the navy can’t protect them, and any planes up there will be flown back here because we cannot supply or support them.”

Dane looked around. Shock was evident on many people’s faces. Not only were American forces in Australia now threatened, but so too were the people of Alaska. The Japanese had landed army detachments on the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska and could possibly attack the mainland.

Halsey took a swallow of water and continued glaring. “So what will the Japs do? First, they will either invade and conquer Hawaii or leave her to starve. My money is on the latter. We also feel that they will likely strike at Alaska. It’s just too damned vulnerable. Finally, they will not invade California.”

Dane looked around and saw his own puzzlement reflected on other faces. How the hell could Halsey be so certain?

“All the same, the Japs will not leave us alone,” he continued. “We believe there will be bombing raids from their carriers and shelling from their battleships, and this will cause panic in California and elsewhere. Our army is moving a number of divisions to key spots along the West Coast to defend the cities and keep the politicians at bay.”

That brought laughter. California’s governor, Culbert Olson, had been strident in his pleas for military help. He’d called for the internment of Japanese civilians and wanted an endless wall of soldiers along the coast. The governors of Oregon and Washington weren’t much better. All politicos were being inundated by calls from people in coastal towns for a ship of their own or a regiment for their personal use to protect them from the rampaging Japs, who hadn’t arrived yet.

King interrupted. “Unfortunately, people like Governor Olson have a point. The Japs control the seas, so they can land with overwhelming force at any point they choose. If I ran their navy, that’s exactly what I’d do, and I’d stay to loot and pillage until we put enough pressure on them to leave. Fortunately for us, we do have a number of cruisers and destroyers remaining and they, along with Pye’s old battleship force, will run combat patrols along the coast. Our subs, of course, will be out scouting and patrolling.”

Merchant nudged Dane and whispered, “He’s saying the Japs will pull out from a raid if pressured. How does that square with your theory about Japanese fanaticism?”

“Withdrawing is not the same as surrendering,” Dane answered, and realized King was glaring at him.

“Do you have anything to add, Commander?” the CNO asked.

Dane swallowed. It was like being a kid in school who’d been caught talking in class. “Sir, I was wondering what the current status of the Panama Canal is and when we’re going to get reinforcements through it?”

Halsey took back the floor. “Good question, Commander. As you’re all aware, a Japanese commando force landed and destroyed the locks on the Pacific side. This caused much of Lake Gatun, which is needed to float ships, to flow down to the ocean. As the lake receded, it left a number of ships in transit literally stuck in the mud or damaged by the sudden flood of water downstream. Work’s already begun on repairs, but God only knows how long it’ll take. At least we’ve stopped the flow of water from Gatun by pushing dirt into the cut and making a rude dam. The rough estimate is at least several months and maybe up to a year before the canal will be back in operation.”

This brought more gasps. Any naval reinforcements would now have to go either around Africa and across the now-hostile Pacific, or around South America and up to California. In either case, the time for the trip had more than doubled and been made significantly more dangerous.

“The attack was made by a company-strength contingent of Japanese Marines,” Halsey added. “They succeeded, but all were killed after inflicting heavy casualties on our troops. Their commanding officer took out two of our men with a grenade while he was dying.” Dane looked at Merchant and the captain nodded. They would request a copy of the report from Panama.