1945

It didn't even bother Dennis that Nomura had made it clear that he, and not Dennis, was in total charge of this two-man operation. For the first time in a while, Dennis Chambers began to think it really possible that he would survive this ordeal.

CHAPTER 24

Harry Truman sat on a plain wooden chair and looked about. "Tell me, General Marshall, did you know this room existed?"

As always, Marshall answered truthfully, no matter how much it discomfited the still new president. "Yes, sir. I've known about it since it was put in, even been here a few times, but most people, even those pretty high up, have no need to know about it."

They were in the White House map room on the ground level of the White House. It was directly across the hall from the elevator that went to the president's private quarters. The walls of the room were covered with maps, many of them from the National Geographic Society, and the windows had been covered with dark paper to provide its occupants with a degree of privacy. Normally it was staffed by officers whose job it was to keep up-to-date the symbols on the maps that showed the progress of the war. For the duration of this meeting between himself and Marshall, Truman had chased the staff out.

"It was almost two weeks after I'd become president that I learned of this place," Truman mused. "FDR would take the elevator to this level and wheel himself in almost daily and be able to keep track of things. Imagine, it was going on in the White House for almost four years and most people, myself included, were wholly unaware it existed. Makes sense that FDR would have something like this, though. I wonder how many other secrets I still don't know about."

"No more, I would hope. Certainly nothing major," Marshall said truthfully.

Truman swiveled in the chair. "Now, tell me about that damned typhoon."

"And about the atomic bomb, sir, and not much of the news I've got is good news."

Truman laughed, which startled Marshall. "It never is, General, it never is, and no one can accuse you of being a fair-weather sycophant- no pun intended. Well, give me the truth. I can stand it."

The typhoon had done extensive damage on Okinawa. The resulting injuries and loss of life were small, but a great deal of the equipment being gathered on and around Okinawa was destroyed or seriously damaged. Literally hundreds of aircraft were demolished and many others damaged. Large numbers of valuable landing craft were either sunk or damaged. The larger ships had been able to get to sea and ride out the storm without too much difficulty, although a large number of carrier planes were destroyed or damaged. Mother Nature had handed the navy a devastating defeat.

The men on Okinawa were without equipment, and many didn't even have a complete uniform to wear. Everything they owned was blown out to sea. Even though most of the staging for the invasion was in the Philippines and elsewhere, the need to refurbish and replace what was lost on Okinawa would definitely delay the invasion of Japan.

Supplies stockpiled to replace those lost in the invasion would have to be used to resupply the half-naked men on Okinawa. The invasion would be delayed, perhaps as long as a month.

"November fifteenth," Truman said. "Sooner if you can do it."

While the fighting would doubtless be raging during the Christmas season, the president didn't want an invasion too close to that date, Marshall knew. He would expedite the resupply of the forces on Okinawa even if it meant accepting the risk of running short at some time during the campaign.

"Now, do you have any other bad news for me?"

"Sir, it is highly unlikely that we will use atomic bombs during or after the invasion."

"What now?" This was too much. Were there any uses for that weapon?

"Sir, we no longer believe it is a viable tactical weapon for use against Japan in either Olympic or Coronet."

Truman looked at Marshall in disbelief. "Why?" he asked simply.

"Mr. President, the radiation threat is too great to be ignored. We had naively thought that we could use A-bombs to blast our way through Jap frontline defenses and push our men on into the interior of Kyushu and elsewhere. Now it turns out that our boys would not be able to go through those areas because of lingering radiation, which is still causing people in Japan to sicken and die. Further, the mushroom cloud itself is an uncontrollable variable that could easily sweep over our men and ships, causing great harm, even deaths. The prevailing winds over Kyushu blow from the north to the south in the winter. Therefore, any atomic cloud would be swept over the beaches and out to sea, and possibly over our fleet. Our men would be contaminated with falling radioactive dust, rain, and debris. The ships can simply be hosed down by properly dressed personnel, but the men on the beaches would have no such option.