Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 146



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#146

“Is this really okay?”

Marshall responded with a look of bewilderment to Arnold’s question, which seemed to ask anxiously.

“If you’re so anxious, shouldn’t you not have brought this to me?”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

Arthur III’s approval was a statement of his own commitment to responsibility. At the same time,

“I was short-sighted. The presidential election is just around the corner.”

“ah.”

It was only then that Arnold realized why Arthur III had practically banished them.

“But maybe General MacArthur could find a better way.”

“Maybe so. But I think this method isn’t so bad right now.”

“but···.”

Arnold flinched at the sharp gaze of Marshall. However,

“I think General MacArthur already knows.”

It was Lemay, who had been quiet, who intervened in their conversation.

Lemay spoke his mind as Marshall and Arnold looked at him, asking him to elaborate.

“I heard that it was General MacArthur who selected me. Honestly, there was Major General Doolittle and Major General Hansell, so why did he call me?”

“Surely His Majesty···”

“No. The Marshal never gave any specific instructions regarding the bombing.”

But Arnold let out a sigh when Lemay asked why he had called him from Europe.

“And honestly, even if the enemy goes to Europe, can we cover his eyes and ears?”

He was like that too. What kind of person was MacArthur?

But Marshall seemed to think otherwise.

“It doesn’t matter. Three days should be fine, right?”

Arnold nodded to Marshall’s question.

“That’s about it.”

“Then it will work.”

The important thing is not whether MacArthur really didn’t know, but whether people think he didn’t know and had nothing to do with it.

“The bombing will take place when the Marshal is in the middle of the Atlantic, and by the time you hear the news in London, everything will have already been concluded.”

“ah.”

It was only then that the two learned of Marshall’s calculations.

##

India was falling into increasing chaos, and it was finally beginning to affect Europe, which made me feel even more depressed as I returned to London earlier than planned.

It was especially depressing to have to part with my youngest brother, Malcolm Jr.

“Daddy, Daddy. Sharahae.”

“You’re the cutest right now, Malcolm. Don’t forget Daddy. Okay?”

“Dad, where are you going? Where are you going? Don’t go. Hehe.”

Malcolm, the youngest child, was just ten years younger than Mary and was barely two years old.

How cute is the way he walks and babbles with birdlike pronunciation! How can I leave this cutie behind?

Fucking Churchill, fucking Tommy bastards.

The night before I returned to London, gritting my teeth.

Roosevelt came to see me, saying he had something important to talk to me about.

“It’s the last night, do you really have to call me like this?”

Roosevelt ignored my complaints and continued to do whatever he could.

“When can I arrive in Berlin?”

“How can we be sure of that? War is not child’s play.”

“I know, I know. But at least I have to finish it and come back by summer···.”

I sighed heavily when I heard Roosevelt say he might run for president.

“Didn’t you say you’re not interested in politics?”

“Ha, a guy like you, the governor of New York, isn’t interested in politics?”

“That’s it···.”

“Look at me. Isn’t that enough for a disabled person who can’t even walk on his own to be imprisoned and serve for 12 years? Don’t you feel sorry for me?”

No, it was absurd that he was criticizing me as if I had been ordered to do so by the President.

“What are you talking about? You ordered me to do it. Who else are you to turn your back on when you said there was no one else but me?”

“Ha, if someone heard that, they’d think I was forcing them to do something they didn’t want to do.”

“Yeah, I didn’t force you to do it. But you know, there’s no one. There’s no one.”

Willis was a capable man, and that’s why he was kept as vice president for the past 12 years.

“But this author is getting too red. If that guy becomes president, America will be eaten up by the Soviet Union.”

I thought it was unlikely, but you never know. Wasn’t it a time when many authors were blinded by the bright light and couldn’t tell the difference between heaven and earth because the darkness of socialism was not yet properly known?

What is truly amazing is that those who are well-off and well-educated are more likely to fall for socialism than those who are poor and uneducated.

Like the famous Cambridge Five.

So, Roosevelt had a point when he said that Willis was untrustworthy, regardless of his competence.

“You kept praising him, so Harry watched him too···.”

Truman, this kid hasn’t been drinking red water, but I’m worried that he’s too extreme an anti-communist.

“You’re too young. Of course, not all young people are incompetent, but you just lack experience.”

So after eliminating all the other people, I am the only one left.

But I’m the President of the United States…

“You should be honest with yourself. Do you really not like it?”

My heart thumped because I didn’t like it.

Of course, just because I’m in that position doesn’t mean I can do everything the way I want.

Perhaps it would have been more suited to my nature to be in the forefront of things like Roosevelt and wield power behind the scenes.

I guess picking a fight with politicians is not really my style.

But at the same time, there have been more than one or two instances of history being distorted because of my intervention.

Like Rommel, the desert fox who survived and was told by Mary that he was not good enough, or the liberation of Normandy and Paris that took place months earlier.

Who would have imagined that de Gaulle would become pro-American?

Looking at this confusing reality, I also thought that it was not something that could be done by just stepping back.

And it seemed like the same was true for Roosevelt.

“Think carefully. If you back out this time, do you think you’ll get another chance?”

Even though I have strong bones, after 8 years, it’s definitely too much.

As if he had read my mind, Roosevelt chuckled and continued speaking.

“It’s not a question of age. There’s a time for everything. Look at Pershing. That rascal has never been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so he’s at least gotten that position. There’s nothing you haven’t done.”

Now that I think about it, there’s only one position left that I can climb to: President.

“But this time, a concession? That won’t be a concession, it will be a retirement from politics.”

Roosevelt was not wrong.

“So come back before the cold wind blows. Until then, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop you.”

The call was to destroy Hitler in Berlin by summer.

“I’ll try my best.”

“It’s not about effort, it’s about being unconditional.”

“Oh, really. I’m going to fight this war alone? Who knows what kind of crap those damn Tommys are going to do next.”

To my words, Roosevelt shrugged his shoulders, saying that there was nothing he could do about it.

He looked so mean that I really wanted to hit him.

When I returned home, of course, the children were already deep in dreamland. From Mary, who had grown up so quickly, to Malcolm, who was still very small.

How angelic they all look when they sleep. Even Mary, who is scary when she’s wide awake and can’t figure out what to say, looked like a doll when she slept.

Roosevelt talked complicated things like retiring from politics and such, but there was another reason why he decided to become president and enter the White House.

These kids.

It wasn’t because Mary was making a fuss about how much she liked the White House.

Unlike me, who is still confused about whether or not I am American on the outside, these children were born American, are growing up American, and will probably die American.

So, as a father, what would be the best legacy I can leave to these children?

It will be a proud, prosperous, and livable country. The other little things are already prepared.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to dedicate all of my old age to him. No, but I’ve been running for decades, so I guess I can enjoy my old age comfortably.

Still, for the sake of those children, whom I would never mind putting in my eyes, and for the sake of the grandchildren they would have, who I may or may not be able to see, I was willing to serve for a few more years.

For that, he had to plant the flag in Berlin as soon as possible.

##

Why

“The enemy has appeared.”

“Go.”

The area around Tokyo became a scene of chaos when a column of US military aircraft suddenly appeared.

For several days already, the F-13, a reconnaissance version of the B-29, has been conducting reconnaissance missions over Tokyo and returning several times.

Interceptors were dispatched every time, but it was impossible to even climb to the altitude at which the reconnaissance aircraft were flying.

Thanks to this, Japan shot down only one aircraft during more than a dozen reconnaissance missions.

Thanks to this, Japan was able to predict the Tokyo air raid immediately after receiving information about the approach of a large formation from radar and air defense observation posts installed in the Agasawara Islands.

As a result, an air-raid warning was issued throughout Tokyo even before the bomber squadron arrived.

Why?

At the sound of the loud siren, people lined up in unison and headed to a nearby shelter.

“Are you training today too?”

“Ugh, I’m bored.”

But not everyone was like that. Those who remembered the sirens that rang out over Tokyo several times and the days when nothing happened went on with their daily lives calmly.

But that day was a little different than usual.

“Oh, the plane···.”

There were too many. And

“Isn’t it flying really low?”

As bombers, larger than fighter jets, descended at low altitude, they appeared to people as if they were close enough to fall.

“Is the plane big?”

“Isn’t it because it flies low that it looks like that?”

Unlike the civilians who were absentmindedly watching the bombers, the military base was in chaos.

“What are the interceptor squadrons doing?”

“They say they’re going into interception soon.”

“What about the anti-aircraft gun?”

“···”

From the mouths of those who realized that it was useless from the silent expression, sighs and curses poured out.

“shit.”

“Damn it. Is the only thing we can trust the interceptor?”

But even that couldn’t be confirmed.

“What the hell are these Yankee bastards···.”

How can they build so many airplanes of that size?

And where on earth did they send that guy from···.

“But it’s a little strange.”

“huh?”

Reconnaissance aircraft of the same type flew much higher. So high that interceptors had difficulty approaching them.

“But why did they come down so low?”

There was no one who could answer anyone’s question.

A moment of silence fell as a sudden chill and ominous feeling came over us.

And the heart that sensed this began to pound.

Regardless, the interceptor formations poured in, seeing the bombers descending to a high enough altitude to attack, unlike before.

“This is the perfect opportunity to catch them!”

“We have to catch more than those seals.”

“Let’s catch more than those land dogs!!”

Interceptors, regardless of whether they were from the Navy or the Army, poured out fierce attacks on the US military aircraft.

However, neither the Army’s Shoki nor the Navy’s Zero were enough to deal with the B-29.

Boom. Boom.

It was not American aircraft but Japanese aircraft that were exploding in the sky, bursting into flames.

“Wow. This is really amazing.”

“I think they’re better than us. Are they flying around on a piece of paper?”

“Anyway, you’re saying that the seal pups whined because they couldn’t deal with those guys?”

Although it was a bomber, the B-29’s flight performance was decent.

In particular, the B-29 had something that the Japanese interceptors did not have: a radio that allowed real-time communication with friendly aircraft.

With the addition of a sturdy hull, the B-29s were even able to catch the Japanese planes that came to intercept them.

“We have reached our destination.”

“Okay, ready? Then drop.”

“Old story. Drop the bomb!”

“throwing down!”

At the command that was transmitted from LeMay’s plane, which was in the lead, the B-29s began to rain down bombs simultaneously.

And soon a firestorm began to rage in Tokyo.

“Ugh.”

The flames were so intense that several crew members unconsciously frowned at the pungent smell of coal that rose through the cracks in the pressurized cabin.

“Over there, there’s a river.”

“Let’s jump into the river.”

The Arakawa River, which runs through the northeastern part of Tokyo, resembled a bathhouse as people jumped in to escape the flames.

However, the death-inducing aura emitted by the huge flames created by the meeting of the incendiary bomb and the wooden building could not be stopped even by the river.

The Mitchell Raid bombing in 1941 was more shocking than the actual damage it caused, as it was the first attack on the mainland in history and shattered Shinto ideology.

But this bombing of Tokyo had a completely different outcome. It completely reduced the city to ashes.

“Is His Majesty the Emperor safe?”

“What on earth is going on!”

It wasn’t just the city that burned.

The Army General Headquarters, which was smiling brightly at the great success in India and talking about the completion of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, was also in full swing.

And a few days later, London.

“Here is a message from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

“Brother?”

“yes.”

I read the urgent message that the person who was running towards me just before getting off the transport ship handed me and I ended up laughing.

Brother’s War