Chapter 110:
Chapter 110
On a spring day when cherry blossoms fluttered, Yamamoto Isoroku, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, led his admirals to visit the Yasukuni Shrine.
The invincible imperial army had succeeded in annihilating the US Pacific Fleet in Hawaii and dominated the Pacific with unstoppable momentum. But not all of the brave soldiers of the imperial army had returned safely.
The US army had failed to respond properly, and even their response was pathetic, but that did not mean that no one died.
“Salute to the patriotic spirits!”
Snap. The admirals bowed their heads with utmost reverence in front of the memorial tablets.
The priest who presided over the ceremony recited a strange prayer.
Yamamoto also prayed sincerely.
All the soldiers and officers who participated in the operation so far had received rewards.
Especially, all the soldiers and officers who participated in the Pearl Harbor attack were promoted by one rank.
Those who were injured received medals along with promotion, and those who died… What use was it?
They were all posthumously promoted by two ranks.
In addition, those who died in battle after achieving great feats were recognized for their contributions and enshrined as patriotic spirits, even at the Yasukuni Shrine located in Tokyo.
“What a high honor this is!”
Shimada Shigetaro, the naval minister, shook his wrinkled neck and exclaimed.
“Ah, live and achieve great feats, die and become the spirits of the empire, protect the country both in life and death!”
Yamamoto read the names of the spirits enshrined in the shrine one by one in his mind.
‘Navy Lieutenant Yamagata Hidetsugu, Navy Captain Anzai Takahashi, Navy Private First Class Uegaki Tomohiro, Navy Senior Private Oki Sadanobu, Army Captain Matsui Hideo…’
As he was leaving with the flashlights of the reporters on him, Yamamoto met a poor-looking couple and their daughter who seemed to be their daughter.
The couple, who looked at him with stiff faces among the cheering crowd, caught his eye and he walked toward them.
The couple bowed deeply with a nervous expression.
Yamamoto also bowed politely and asked carefully.
“By any chance… your son?”
He could not muster up the courage to finish his sentence.
The crowd still could not see what he was doing and just cheered, and the reporters seemed to find a scoop that the current commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet and naval marshal bowed to a common citizen and flashed more vigorously.
The wife seemed to choke up at his words, trying to hold back but her eyes reddened, and the husband answered calmly with a suppressed voice.
“Yes, that’s right. All three of our sons died there at Pearl Harbor. They achieved great feats while alive, and were enshrined at the shrine built by your majesty after death, so it must be an honor indeed. We are only grateful for your grace, commander-in-chief.”
“Ah… I… see.”
The young girl did not know why her mother was sobbing and tugged at the worn-out sleeve of her yukata.
The wife cleared her throat and said to Yamamoto with a high-pitched voice mixed with a thick accent and a forced smile.
“Our youngest son who died in battle was on the newspaper too. What was it? He… on the coast there, he attacked an aircraft carrier with a special attack and blew it up…”
“Ah! That… Kitasato Saburo Sergeant, no Corporal?”
“Oh my, oh my, oh my, how do you know that even you high-ranking people…?”
As the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, he had read and processed countless reports.
And there were some special notes on some of the reports that came up to him. Among them were reports on those who died in battle who were noteworthy.
The children of prominent fire or air clans, those who bravely achieved feats and died in battle like that.
There were no brothers who were assigned to the same air squadron or fleet among those who died in battle.
But there was a rare case where three brothers participated in one operation and all three died in battle.
The case was reported as a sacrifice representing the loyalty of imperial citizens along with the great feat achieved by the youngest brother.
Kitasato’s eldest brother Junichiro and second brother Jiro were serving as senior sailors on Kirishima, a heavy cruiser-class battleship that departed for Pearl Harbor attack.
The youngest brother Saburo was a fighter pilot of Zero fighter belonging to Akagi aircraft carrier’s air squadron.
The naval air force attacked several times to destroy the battleships and aircraft carriers that were targets of Pearl Harbor.
But after all, warships protected by thick steel armor did not suffer much damage from glancing blows and counterattacked.
The battleships fired dozens of anti-aircraft guns at once. In addition, coastal batteries installed on each island of Hawaii also attacked the Japanese fleet.
The ‘small’ aerial bombs could not destroy the coastal batteries covered with concrete.
Decisively, the Japanese battleships had to enter the range of the coastal batteries to launch the special torpedoes that would cut off the lifeline of the US warships.
Yamamoto’s 18.1-inch gun hit the 16-inch coastal battery several times, but it did not inflict much damage.
Rather, Kirishima, a heavy cruiser-class battleship that approached to launch the special torpedo, was sunk by the counterattack of the battery.
Kirishima exploded with a huge explosion, whether it was an ammunition depot or not, and slowly tilted and eventually sank in front of Oahu.
The Japanese warships, who thought that the battery was disabled by the black smoke rising from it, approached and were surprised by the explosion and started to evade.
The US battery crews thought that the giant battleship was nothing and started a more heated counterattack.
The situation was about to turn in favor of the US side.
Then, Saburo, the youngest brother who saw his two brothers’ ship being sunk by the US battery, attacked the aircraft carrier with a special attack and succeeded in destroying it.
“Wow, wow, wow, how do you know that even you high-ranking people…?”
“That’s enough, dear. The commander-in-chief is so kind to us that our sons must be resting peacefully… Thank you, thank you…”
Sergeant Saburo, now Corporal, flew his plane into the aircraft carrier and succeeded in detonating the fuel and destroying it.
Like this, one by one, one by one.
The US warships disappeared under the waves of Pearl Harbor.
Under the cold waves, the heroes who rode on special torpedoes rammed into warships and died gloriously like cherry blossoms.
The fighter pilots followed their seniors’ example and attacked the aircraft carriers in unison.
The fleet command, including Yamamoto, who achieved this amazing feat, investigated his identity and after learning about his situation, they could not say anything.
The people around who heard the conversation praised the couple for their situation.
“Ah, truly a model of imperial citizens!”
“Truly an inspiration for everyone to have such sons.”
The flashlights of the reporters now turned to the couple who had given their three sons to the country as war heroes, and they also asked them to pose for a picture of Yamamoto and Kitasato, the father of the three brothers, shaking hands.
‘What are they doing to the parents who lost all three sons in one day!’
Yamamoto wanted to shout that, but the atmosphere around him was so heated that even a war hero like him would be buried alive if he poured cold water on it.
Was this madness?
Or was this victory?
In the midst of the blinding flashes that popped, only the girl who did not know what was going on clung to her mother more tightly.
“Ah, if you raised such excellent sons, then your daughter must be a graceful lady worthy of being an inspiration for the imperial women. I would like to make her my daughter-in-law.”
“No, how about our family? We are…”
The soldiers who were listening to the speech were surprisingly quiet.
It was just a while ago that they were cheering for Halsey’s speech. But something was bubbling up in that silence.
“Let’s kill them! Let’s kill more of them! Let’s kill even more of them! Even if those bastards beg us to stop, let’s kill a few more!!!”
“Waaaaaa!!! Let’s kill those dick-like Japs!”
William Halsey, the admiral of the aircraft carrier squadron, spewed out words that would have shocked anyone else.
It was acceptable in wartime to say that they would kill Japs until they surrendered, but it could be interpreted as a violation of international law to say that they would kill them even after they surrendered.
Of course, there was not a single person who objected to that.
The Pacific Fleet disobeyed the orders from above and wanted to fight more.
The pilots poured bullets at the Japanese fighters until their fuel ran out, even though they were ordered to return.
Some even insisted on flying with bombs and crashing into Japanese aircraft carriers and asked for permission to take off.
‘The Pacific Fleet cannot afford to waste such valuable pilots on such tasks.’
Nimitz, the only one who kept his calm, put a brake on this madness and offered a reasonable compromise.
“Live today and fight another day. That’s the best you can do.”
And the last day to fight came.
The US-Australia-New Zealand coalition forces succeeded in defending Port Moresby, the capital and airport of Papua New Guinea, at a huge cost of blood.
Their spirit of sacrifice was so admirable that even Yamamoto, their enemy, admired it.
They probably had a sense of crisis too.
If Port Moresby fell into Japanese hands, northern Australia would fall within the range of Japanese air raids.
In addition, they could use aircrafts with amazing range like Zero-sen to cut off the connection between the US and Australia.
“Now, there have been many soldiers who wanted to die on the battlefield. And I have used my position and authority to stop them as much as possible.”
The soldiers were quiet as they listened to his speech.
It was just a while ago that they were cheering for Halsey’s speech. But something was bubbling up in that silence.
“Now the enemies are right in front of us. We have no more room to retreat. We have to defend this place! We must! We must win at any cost! Long live freedom! Long live America! God help us!”
“Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”
The soldiers shouted hooray until their throats burst.
The old and gray admirals and officers around him also cried and applauded.
‘We have to defend this place.’
The last force of the US Pacific Fleet that remained for Enterprise gathered here to defend Port Moresby.
Most of the remaining forces except for the Marine Corps forces attacking the Azores in the Atlantic also gathered here to defend it.
The decisive battle was approaching every moment.
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