1945

Finally he stood, dripping and naked on the deck of the American warship. He was surrounded by at least a score of armed men. Submachine guns were leveled at them as if the seven cold, miserable, and naked Japanese would try to take over the destroyer.

They are afraid of us, Hashimoto realized. They are terrified. They outnumber us and outgun us, yet we are to them the stuff of nightmares.

Hashimoto picked out a man who was obviously an officer, perhaps even the captain. Hashimoto's English was extremely limited, but he felt compelled to say something.

Bowing with as much dignity as he could manage under the circumstances, he said, "Surrender. We surrender. We fight no more."

CHAPTER 65

Secretary of State Jim Byrnes and Undersecretary Joseph Grew joined General Marshall and President Truman in the Oval Office. The meeting had been called at the request of Marshall, who immediately told them that Magic and other sources confirmed that the Japanese were planning to use gas and biological weapons.

The news visibly upset Byrnes. "Not poison gas. Not at this stage of the game."

Truman was deeply concerned, but took the news calmly. "General, I gather you can verify this."

"Sir, they've had a gas and biological warfare program based in Manchuria for a number of years."

"Go on," Truman ordered.

"Gentlemen," Marshall began, "one Lt. Gen. Shiro Ishii was in charge of what the Japs referred to as Unit 731, and it was located near Harbin, Manchuria. I believe it was situated there well before the war started, so it's had time to grow and develop with relative secrecy. The unit was in charge of virtually all of Japan's research into poison gas and germ warfare. Ishii is rumored to have authorized the use of gas and germs on Chinese villages a few years ago as well as performed medical experiments on prisoners of war."

Byrnes glared. "Sadistic bastards."

"Agreed," said Marshall. "They may have attempted germ warfare against the British in Burma, and it is possible that they attempted to spread plague germs among U.S. troops on Saipan. Mercifully, the sub bringing it in was sunk, but some evidence did drift ashore."

Truman shook his head. "How successful would you gauge Japan's program to be, General?"

"Very successful. The key would be the fact that Ishii rose in rank from major to lieutenant general in only a few years. Without success, he would not have been promoted. Ishii and some of his staff are back in Japan. This means that the Russians let them pass through. They doubtless brought additional quantities of their inventory."

Truman seethed. "And now they can send waves of poison gas against our boys."

"Not exactly," Marshall answered. "I do not believe they have huge supplies of gas, but if they do use gas, it will more likely be in the form of artillery shells or bombs attached to kamikaze planes. That would be far more accurate and nowhere as dangerous to the senders as the old method was."

In the First World War, gas had been released from containers and blown by the wind across to the enemy's trenches. One real problem was the likelihood of the wind shifting, thus sending the clouds of gas back to the side that had released it. Using gas in artillery shells and small bombs effectively eliminated that problem.

Marshall continued, "We've had a number of requests from our own side to use gas against dug-in Japanese positions. A solidly built Jap bunker can withstand a flamethrower, but not gas, which will permeate through whatever flame-retarding barriers they have constructed. On my own initiative, I have sent more than five thousand gas artillery shells and chemical bombs to Okinawa. They are in place and can be transported for use on Kyushu at any time."

Truman started to glare at Marshall, but realized that the man had once again planned far ahead. "If the Japs use those shells, even if the number is limited, can our boys protect themselves? Do they have gas masks?"

Marshall laughed harshly. "While all of our boys were issued masks at some time in the past, I doubt that one GI in ten still has them. They are normally the first thing the soldiers throw away as excess weight to carry. It would take a while to resupply, and I'm afraid the danger still wouldn't be taken all that seriously. Also, the gases and chemicals now in everyone's arsenals are far more lethal than the ones used in the last war. In some cases, the merest touch of poison on bare skin can kill, which means gas masks would be useless. We would have to dress our men in rubber suits to protect them, and that is simply not feasible."

"We don't need more casualties," Truman said softly. "Particularly not from gas."