Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 145



Only Krnovel

#145

The Army Air Corps had many talented people.

Mitchell, Arnold, and Elliott in China were all Army Air Corps graduates.

One of the most successful people of recent times was Doolittle, who participated in the bombing of Tokyo as a member of the Mitchell Special Forces.

A lucky man who went to a strange place other than his intended destination, Tokyo, but had the best results.

But Doolittle wasn’t just a lucky guy.

“The Major General’s idea for operating the bomber escort was great.”

It was Doolittle who had made the greatest contribution to destroying the Luftwaffe. However, LeMay could not hide his excitement at the fact that he had been called by MacArthur, beating out Doolittle.

LeMay felt as if his heart was going to burst when he saw MacArthur personally explaining the background of this operation to him, even though he was only a brigadier general.

“So this operation is···”

Unlike Europe, I had heard a lot about how unlucky the seals were on the Pacific side. But this was a plan where they ran up to me first and hung on me.

It was clear that they had finally admitted that the Naval Air Force alone was not enough.

He wanted to brag that he would make their eyes pop out, but the words coming out of Lemay’s mouth were monotonous.

“I will do my best.”

Seeing Marshal Arnold nodding silently to his words, as expected…

I already tend to be misunderstood by people because of my blunt and lacking speech, and I was worried that I would be unnecessarily hated by my superiors this time too.

“Okay, I believe you.”

But contrary to his worries, General MacArthur seemed to like him and laughed heartily, patting him on the shoulder.

##

“Is this you?”

“Yes. Isn’t it cool?”

Next to LeMay, who was examining the B-29 with interest, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbits kept talking.

“This is Boeing’s masterpiece. Not only is its operational radius of over 5,000 km amazing, but its maximum altitude of 30,000 feet and speed are also···.”

LeMay waved his hand to silence Lt. Col. Tibeats, who had already read the documents, and stepped inside the B-29.

“The internal structure is definitely different from other guys.”

“Because we created pressurized cabins for passenger aircraft. No more having to go back and forth shivering in the cold, carrying oxygen tanks.”

It was certainly innovative. In fact, it was quite cold at altitude. Especially the cold air that came in when opening and closing the magazine to drop the bombs…

“But there was a lot of talk among the frontline pilots?”

“Ah, that···.”

At Lemay’s words, Lieutenant Colonel Tabitz’s face slightly distorted.

“To be honest, the development period was extremely short. As you know, we had to be careful from above.”

Lemay’s brow furrowed when he heard that the engine was still a bit unstable, even though he had barely managed to meet the specifications.

“Still, we definitely did a test flight.”

Lemay asked with a puzzled look on his face at Lieutenant Colonel Tabitz’s words.

“Were there any volunteers?”

“that is···.”

It wasn’t easy to find a test pilot, honestly, because the prototype was crashing. No matter how good the money was, isn’t life precious?

“Marshal Mitchell introduced us to the graduates of the Philippine Aviation Corps.”

An introduction by Marshal Mitchell (who had declined the rank of Field Marshal in the U.S. Army, but already held the rank of Field Marshal in the Philippine Army, and so the Army Air Corps personnel referred to him as Marshal out of respect) would have been credible.

“There were some women among them. He yelled at them once, saying that the men were afraid of what the girls were doing.”

“···”

Perhaps, it was a much more refined transmission workplace. If it were Mitchell, as I remember, then perhaps···.

“You told me to cut off the middle leg, right?”

“Ha, ha. Did you hear that?”

“I know his personality well.”

“Anyway, Marshal Mitchell also guaranteed stability.”

Of course, to ensure that, extremely strict maintenance guidelines were created, and it was explained that the maintenance team was going to die trying.

“How’s this guy’s chin?”

“If you look at the thickness of this body, don’t you get a feel for it?”

“Hmm. I guess 20mm should be able to handle it.”

“sure.”

The new B-29 wasn’t perfect, but I still liked it quite a bit.

One day, while he was in the midst of training with his subordinates to adapt to the new aircraft, news came from India, and the Army, Navy, and even the White House were turned upside down.

“That’s why we decided to increase the scale of the bombing operation a little bit.”

In short, the Tommy guys had messed up again and it was time for them to work harder to fix it.

Some people looked burdened by Marshal Arnold’s explanation, but LeMay was different.

“All right.”

Arnold looked at Lemay for a moment as he answered briefly with a bland expression. But soon he nodded and left.

After Arnold left, LeMay opened his mouth.

“Review the plan.”

“yes?”

“You heard what the Marshal said. If we want to do it properly, we can’t do it with high-altitude bombing like we are doing now.”

“but···.”

When the bombing of Tokyo was decided upon, the first plan drawn up by the Army Air Corps command was high-altitude precision bombing.

First of all, the US Army Air Force’s bombing strategy up until then was precision bombing, striking only military strongholds during the day when visibility was secured. Indiscriminate bombing, disregarding civilian casualties, was not their strategy.

The second reason was safety.

The B-29, a bomber that could reliably make a round trip from Guam to Tokyo, was available, but there was no suitable escort.

It was a distance that even the Mustangs, which were active in Europe, could not handle, and had to be held out solely with the bomber’s own defense and attack power.

So, they decided to bomb from high altitudes where it would be difficult for Japanese interceptor planes to reach.

“Isn’t the B-29 completely different from the B-24 or the B-17?”

“Yes. This time, I’m going to properly attach the Norden sight and go···.”

“You know that if you do that, it’ll all just get blown away by the wind when you drop it, right?”

“So, wasn’t that why you decided to compete on quantity?”

This was a solution that came from the idea that if precision drops, you can just drop it enough to compensate for it.

however,

“Things have changed. And it’s better to do it right once than to do it half-heartedly two or three times.”

“But will the higher-ups really accept it?”

If we descended to a lower altitude, the bombing results would certainly increase.

“But isn’t it not enough to simply bomb from low altitudes?”

“Yes, to achieve proper results···.”

We should have used incendiary bombs like the British did at Drasden.

And what happened after the British guys had their fun playing with fire?

Arthur Harris, who successfully led the bombing operation, was kicked out and called a butcher.

“If I do something wrong···.”

Lemay snickered at his subordinates’ worries that it might turn out that way.

“Do I look like the kind of person who would be afraid of something like that?”

Eventually, a new operational plan was drawn up, just as LeMay had suggested.

##

“This is a new plan?”

Marshall’s face hardened as he handed over the plans Arnold had handed him.

“What the heck is this···.”

“Isn’t this a radical but surefire way?”

Marshall’s eyes turned to the side at Arnold’s words. LeMay, who caught his gaze, opened his mouth.

“This is a revised and supplemented version of what the British wrote in Drasden. Also, Mitchell, who had been to Japan several times before the war···.”

“under.”

Marshall sighed and rubbed his forehead at Mitchell’s name that came out of nowhere. Lemay continued his explanation despite Marshall’s obvious displeasure.

“Japan has many wooden houses, so using incendiary bombs is very effective…”

“Okay, okay. Are you planning on turning Tokyo into a total Stone Age?”

“Shouldn’t that be something that needs to be done?”

In response to Lemay’s question, Marshall took out a cigarette and lit it.

Click.

“Thank you.”

Marshall briefly thanked Arnold for lighting the fire, then exhaled a long puff of smoke.

“Yeah, we should do that. Considering what they did to us.”

Aren’t they beasts who capture living prisoners and eat them as a snack?

Considering what the British had done in India, this was enough to discourage those damned beasts.

But the problem is,

“People don’t know that those guys are worse than animals.”

It would have been a welcome operation if the bloody hell they committed had been made widely known.

But for the honor of the dead, the Navy stubbornly tried to prevent the facts from being reported. And Marshall believed that judgment was correct.

In any case, weren’t they those who sacrificed themselves while fighting for their country? Their honor had to be protected.

Marshall, who had been thinking for a moment, opened his mouth.

“Go to General MacArthur.”

Arnold followed along, enthusiastically agreeing that he would surely have a solution.

##

“Hey, what are we doing here at this hour?”

Arthur III was the one who welcomed the three people who came to MacArthur’s house.

“But Mr. Chairman···”

“This is my brother’s house.”

“ah.”

“Come in first.”

Marshall showed Arthur III the operation plan he had brought in advance, saying that he was putting the children to bed. He was going to find out anyway.

“New plan? Hmm.”

Arthur III’s face, which had been turning over documents with a calm expression, began to brighten up. And then,

“This is totally killer. It’s really good. It’s just right.”

Arthur III’s actions, which sparkled in his eyes and made him exclaim in admiration, caused a sigh to escape Marshall’s lips.

“But the use of incendiary bombs···.”

“Are you talking about the Geneva Convention? That’s a promise between people. It’s not something made with animals.”

Arthur III, who had finished speaking, extended his hand to Marshall. Arthur III spoke to Marshall, who was looking at him without knowing what was going on, as if urging him.

“Give me a pen.”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

Arthur III, who received a pen from Marshall, signed with a single stroke of his hand.

“Okay, let’s go. The payment is complete.”

“yes?”

Arthur III glanced at the three bewildered people and glanced at the stairs leading upstairs. After confirming that he still had no sign of his brother, he opened his mouth.

“I, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, approved it. What else do you need?”

“but···.”

“General Marshall. This is a joint operation between the Navy and the Army in the Pacific Theater. And my brother up there is the Commander-in-Chief of the European Expeditionary Force. I didn’t see it that way. Does the Army have no concept of rank?”

Marshall was momentarily angered by Arthur III’s harsh words, but he soon realized Arthur III’s intentions.

Arthur III was hoping that MacArthur would stay out of this, or at least not know about it.

“No, I’m sorry. Thank you for your payment.”

Arthur III smiled with satisfaction at Marshall’s answer. It seemed that the two behind him still did not know, but Marshall was certainly useful as a land dog.

“Then go now.”

Immediately after sending the three people away like that,

“Who was here?”

“Oh, I have something to pay you.”

“At this hour? Anyway, the seals are gone.”

The little brother who was licking his tongue muttered in a pitiful tone. Arthur III wanted to tell him that it wasn’t us, it was you little shits, but he held back.

“Even so, you didn’t even give me a glass of water when I came all the way here at this hour?”

“Huh? What’s so pretty about it?”

“Wow, you’re really poisonous, hyung.”

“Okay. When are you going to London?”

“Three days later. Shit. Those fucking Tommys.”

Although he had originally planned to remain in Washington for several more weeks, MacArthur was preparing to return to Europe as the situation in India rapidly changed.

India was a colony of utmost importance to Britain, and if Britain had problems there, there was no telling what kind of troubles it might cause in Europe.

“Okay. Then I won’t be able to see the bombing of Japan.”

“Oh, I’m so sad.”

Arthur III nodded his head as he looked at his regretful younger brother.

It would have been really great if it had gone as planned, but it was a shame that we couldn’t see it.

“Doug.”

“why?”

“My brother paid off his debt.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Looking at him with an expression that seemed to indicate that he did not understand English, Arthur III finally felt a sense of accomplishment at becoming the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Navy and Army.

Things that are on fire