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Cuttlefish -> RE: Small Ship, Big War (11/21/2008 12:17:25 AM)
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September 29, 1944
Location: Bonin
Course: None
Attached to: TF 27
Mission: Surface Combat
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 410
Orders: Proceed to Bonin
---
The task force, now comprising a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, and nine destroyers, remains idle at Chichi Jima. Saipan reports that they have received no transmissions from the island for two days, so it has to be assumed that the garrison there has been destroyed. Recon flights show a large number of enemy transports there, well covered by battleship and cruiser forces. There is no sign of enemy carriers but they could be lurking in the area.
---
In the petty officer’s wardroom Taiki mentions to Shun the strange conversations he and Riku have had with base personnel. Shun nods fractionally.
“There is a strange feeling to the place,” he says. “I felt it while ashore.”
“What do you think is going on?” Taiki asks.
Shun looks at him impassively. “Don’t ask too many questions,” he says. “You might not like the answers. It’s not our business, anyway.”
“But aren’t you even curious?” Taiki asks him.
“No,” says Shun. This effectively kills the conversation for the moment. Taiki sits at the table, staring into space, his fingers drumming quietly on the table. Shun reads a newspaper.
“Black market dealing on a large scale?” says Taiki after a while. “Maybe this General Tachibana has been serving his men rats or something and selling the good rations. Or maybe…”
Shun just looks up at him and Taiki trails off. After a moment Shun sighs and sets aside the newspaper.
“Come on,” he says, standing up.
“Where are we going?” says Taiki.
“Ashore.”
---
Shun stands impassively as Taiki throws up into some bushes beside the road.
“Finished?” asks the chief as Taiki rejoins him. Taiki nods once.
“I think so,” he says. His face is pale and strained. Behind them they have left one of the base’s cooks, a friendly fellow who did not really start talking until he got well and truly drunk. Then he would not stop talking, even though there came a point where Taiki desperately wanted him to. The man finally passed out, bringing a merciful end to his tale. It is possible, Taiki thinks, that the man will not even remember talking to them.
“You were right, Chief,” he tells Shun. “I should have left it alone. It’s an abomination! We have to tell Captain Ishii, we have to…” He stops as Shun’s hand comes down on his forearm with a grip of iron.
“You will not tell the Captain,” says Shun. His gaze catches and holds Taiki. “You will not tell anyone. I have known Captain Ishii for many years. I know exactly what will happen if he hears of this. He will confront the general directly. And it will not end well for him, whatever happens. For his sake, you will remain silent.”
Taiki gazes back at Shun for a long moment, then he looks down. “All right,” he says. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I should have listened to you, Chief. I should have let it go.”
Shun releases his arm. “Too late for that,” he says. “What matters now is how you deal with knowing.”
Taiki groans. “How could they, Chief?” he asks. “How could anyone?”
“You are a rational man,” says Shun. “You do not understand, maybe, the savagery men are capable of. I think it’s likely that Tachibana is insane. As for the others, let me ask you this: if Captain Ishii gave you a direct order to take part in such a feast, would you do it?” Taiki looks at him for a long moment.
“I see what you mean,” he says. “It would be very hard to refuse. But…no, Chief, I wouldn’t.”
Shun nods in agreement. “There is strength in you,” he says. “Not everyone has that. You have learned a lot, Takahashi, but you still need to learn this: if you expect the worst from men they will seldom disappoint you.”
Something deep within Taiki rebels against such a cynical judgment but he says nothing. At the moment, in fact, he is inclined to agree with his mentor. He does not speak on the return trip to Hibiki and does not look back at the island.
---
Historical Note: General Yoshio Tachibana was executed in 1946, along with several members of his staff, for war crimes related to the murder of several captured American pilots. Tachibana, a brutal and sadistic alcoholic, appears to have been a head case even by Japanese standards of the time. Accounts contradict each other to some extent but it seems clear that between August 1944 and March 1945 Tachibana executed at least four captured pilots and had their livers served to himself and his senior officers. Other atrocities may also have been committed.
George H.W. Bush, the future forty-first president of the United States, was shot down while attacking Chichi Jima but escaped this fate when he was rescued by submarine Finback.
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