1945

"Possibly, although probably not. This was a secret move on the part of the Japs so they wouldn't broadcast the fact that our boys were out there as hostages. It would give away their little scheme. And if any of our guys were killed by the bomb, then it was the fault of the Japs for putting them there instead of in proper camps. Sorry, but it wouldn't be the first time Americans were killed by our own bombs. You do know that a couple of dozen were killed at Nagasaki, don't you?"

Bradley concurred grimly. Japanese usage of Allied prisoners in military and industrial work was contrary to international law and had caused a number of tragic casualties. "General LeMay, are you aware that many of the world's countries are calling us butchers and barbarians for dropping yet another atomic bomb?"

LeMay laughed harshly. He started to take a cigar from his shirt pocket and then thought better of it. "General Bradley, that's bullshit and you know it. Hell, I've killed ten times as many Japs, civilian and military, with conventional weapons as I have with nukes. And don't let them snow you with that crap about radiation. As I see it, anything that kills Japs, whether today or next month or even the next century, is fine by me."

LeMay again grabbed for that elusive cigar and retreated. He was not certain what Bradley's reaction would be to his smoking it. "What the hell do those people want, General? Should we go back to crossbows? Nah, the more we kill, the sooner this war ends and the killing stops. Then we can get prepared for the next one against the Russians. The commies are going to be a helluva lot harder to fight than the Japs."

No argument there, Bradley thought. He too felt that the Russians were the real threat to a peaceful future. "General, don't you think it would have been appropriate to inform your commanding officer of your intentions to bomb the straits?"

"General Bradley, the opportunity came up quickly and we didn't think we'd be able to communicate with you and explain the situation in time. We know the Japs are trying to pick up our broadcasts, and we were afraid they'd realize we were up to something. We also thought you'd approve, even if after the fact."

Bradley leaned back in his chair and glared. "You're right about my approving it. I would have. It's the best possible use of a terrible weapon. But the rest of what you said is pure crap. You don't just throw on a nuclear mission just like that and take off in ten minutes. You've been listening to the Japs planning this thing from the beginning, at least days and perhaps weeks, and decided a long time ago that getting me, or whoever else might have replaced MacArthur, angry was a risk worth taking. You weren't going to take the chance of being turned down, were you?"

LeMay shrugged unconcernedly. "Guilty. I got a war to win and Japs to kill. Screw it, sir, it was a target handmade for an atomic bomb. Conventional bombing would have been worthless because of the bad weather. With an atomic bomb, the bombardier only needed to drop the damn thing in the general vicinity of the straits and accuracy wouldn't matter one damn bit. Colonel Tibbets commands the squadron that's dropped all the atomic bombs and he flew the plane himself, and they managed to drop it right on the bull's-eye. The dumb Japs didn't know that the mist hung only a couple of hundred feet above the water so the bombardier had some recognizable mountains to use as aiming points. We bagged ourselves two full divisions and one field marshal. Not a bad night's work if you ask me, although the scientists say that the mist actually held down deaths from the flash."

Damned if LeMay doesn't remind me of Patton, Bradley thought with some satisfaction. He and Patton had once been friends until it was necessary for Bradley to rein him in once too often. He would try to avoid that problem with the belligerent LeMay.

"General LeMay, do you want that third star?"

The question surprised the young general. "Hell yes."

"Good. Now the way to do it is to keep from surprising me. You will not, repeat not, use any nuclear weapons in the future without my express permission. Had you told me of your plan for bombing the straits, I would have heard you out, asked some of the questions I've raised today, and then very likely approved. Thus armed I would not have felt like a fool when Truman asked me about the bombing. Whatever authority you feel you might have had from Truman, Marshall, MacArthur, or God Almighty no longer exists. Until and if the air corps becomes a separate service, it is still part of the army, and the army reports to me. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly." LeMay looked surprised and chastened.

"Do you have any plans for A-bombs pending now?"

"None whatsoever, although we are still looking for anything fat and juicy like the straits."