MacArthur kept coming up with them, though. He had an endlessly fertile, endlessly inventive mind. If only he’d had a better sense of what was practical… Well, in that case he would have been someone else. Dwelling on it seemed pointless, which didn’t always stop Dowling.
The general commanding made his headquarters in a house different from the one he’d occupied the last time Dowling came to Warrenton. Then he’d chosen the fanciest place in town for his own. Perhaps knowing his habits, the Confederates had knocked that house flat-not while he was in it. Dowling tried not to think about whose war effort they would have helped more if they’d got MacArthur as well as the building.
Not that MacArthur’s current residence was anything to sneeze at. Having lost the most impressive place-and, no doubt, thereby endeared its owner to the USA for ever and ever-the American general had chosen the next grandest for his own: another Classical Revival home from before the War of Secession. Sandbagged machine-gun nests and a thicket of barbed wire around the place detracted from the air of quiet elegance the colonnaded entranceway tried to project.
Sentries gave Dowling a careful once-over before letting him inside the perimeter. Some of them carried Confederate-made submachine guns in place of bolt-action Springfields. “You really like those better?” Dowling asked a corporal who toted one of the ugly little weapons.
“Yes, sir, for what I’m doing here,” the noncom told him. “Wouldn’t care to take it up to the front. Not enough range, not enough stopping power. But for putting a lot of lead in the air right up close, you can’t beat it.”
“All right.” That struck Dowling as a well-reasoned answer. He did inquire, “What does General MacArthur say about your using a Confederate weapon?”
“Sir, he says he wished we made one as good.”
That also struck Dowling as a cogent comment. He wondered how MacArthur had come up with it. But that was neither here nor there. He walked on toward the house: Greek refinement surrounded by modern barbarity. But then, considering some of the things Athens and Sparta did to each other during the Peloponnesian War, the Greeks had surrounded refinement with their own barbarity.
One of MacArthur’s staff officers, a captain as lean and probably as swift as a greyhound, met Dowling at the door. “Please come with me, General,” the bright young man said after saluting. “General MacArthur is eagerly awaiting your arrival.”
Eagerly? Dowling wondered. What could make MacArthur eager to see him after the way they’d quarreled? Was the commanding general going to cashier him? Dowling resolved to fight like hell if MacArthur tried. He hadn’t done anything wrong, and he thought he’d done more things right than his superior.
“Here we are-in the map room,” the captain murmured. Daniel MacArthur had had a map room in the other house he used for a headquarters, too. If he’d had the sense to read the maps instead of just having them…
“Good afternoon, General,” MacArthur said. A cigarette-Confederate tobacco, by the smell-burned in the long holder he affected. He also affected an almost monastically plain uniform, one whose only ornaments were the stars on his shoulder straps. Custer, by contrast, had made his clothes more ornate and gaudy than tightly interpreted regulations would have allowed. Both approaches had the same purpose: to call special attention to the man wearing the uniform.
“Reporting as ordered, sir,” Dowling said, and waited to see what happened next.
“You were the one who discovered the Confederates were thinning their lines in front of us here in Virginia.”
By the way MacArthur said it, he didn’t think Dowling’s discovery would go down in history with Columbus’. His tone declared that Dowling might have been found picking his nose and wiping his finger on a trouser leg. Ignoring that, Dowling replied, “Yes, sir, I was the one. I’m sorry you discovered we couldn’t take advantage of that at Fredericksburg.”
He’d told the exact and literal truth there. He was sorry the U.S. attacks hadn’t succeeded. If they had, MacArthur would have become a hero. That wouldn’t have filled Dowling with delight. Custer was already a hero when Dowling got to know him. When the pompous windbag became a bigger hero, that didn’t delight Dowling, either. It hadn’t broken his heart, though. Custer’s success had meant the USA’s success. MacArthur’s would mean the same thing. Dowling prided himself on his patriotism. I’d admire a skunk who helped my country. He eyed MacArthur in a speculative way.
MacArthur was looking back, also in a speculative way. He was, no doubt, trying to tease an insult out of Dowling’s remark. But Dowling hadn’t said anything like, Only a blind jackass would have tried to break the Confederates’ line at Fredericksburg. He might have thought something like that, but MacArthur couldn’t read minds-and a good thing, too.
Ash almost as long as the first joint of a man’s thumb fell from MacArthur’s cigarette. The general commanding ground it into the expensive-looking rug. That was bound to make whoever owned the place love him even more than he did already. He lowered his voice to a portentous whisper: “I think I know where they’ve gone.”
“Do you, sir?” Dowling was ready to get news or gossip from anybody, even MacArthur. “Where?”
“To the west.” Yes, the general commanding sounded portentous, all right. Half a dozen Old Testament prophets could have taken lessons from him.
Once Dowling had the news, it didn’t strike him as improbable. “What are they going to do there?” he asked.
“I doubt they’ll dance around the Maypole and strew flowers over the landscape,” MacArthur replied.
“Very funny, sir.” Dowling lied dutifully. Why not? He’d had practice. “But I did wonder whether they were going to push toward Toledo and Detroit or go east toward Cleveland and Akron and-what’s the name of the place? — Youngstown, that’s it.” He felt proud of visualizing the map.
“Ah.” Daniel MacArthur nodded. He took another cigarette from his pack, stuck it in the holder, and lit it. With his prominent nose and his jowls wattling an otherwise thin face, he reminded Dowling of a chain-smoking vulture. “That, I must tell you, I do not know. If the budding Alexanders at the War Department do, they have not seen fit to impart that information to me.”
Dowling snorted. He was little more fond of the functionaries at the War Department than MacArthur was. He realized he’d acquired his attitude from George Custer. That realization didn’t thrill him, but also didn’t change his mind. He said, “In case they do attack in the West, what’s the best thing we can do here?”
He could see he’d made MacArthur unhappy again. He needed a moment to figure out why. MacArthur didn’t want to be reduced to a sideshow. He wanted to be the main event. But even MacArthur could see he wouldn’t be the main event if major fighting erupted in the West once more. Reluctantly, he said, “Keep the enemy as busy as we can, I suppose. If you see a better choice, point it out to me.”
“I’m afraid I don’t,” Dowling said. What was the world coming to when one of Daniel MacArthur’s proposals made sound military sense?
“Very well. I may call on your corps to try to break through the Confederate defenses and threaten Richmond,” MacArthur said now.
I failed at one end of my line, so I’ll try the other. That was what it amounted to. Dowling gave a mental shrug. MacArthur had the right to ask that of him-and the busier the Confederates were in Virginia, the smaller their chance to send even more men west. With a little luck, they might even have to bring some back. Dowling said what needed saying: “Of course I’m at your service, sir. Whatever you require of me, I’ll do.”
Nothing made Daniel MacArthur happier than unhesitating obedience. He looked quite humanly pleased as he answered, “Thank you, General. That was very handsomely said.”
For once, Dowling made his farewells without getting the impression of breaking off an artillery duel. As he headed for his green-gray motorcar, another one-a bright blue civilian Olds-pulled up alongside it. A woman not far from his own age got out. Her hair was the
pinkish white peculiar to aging redheads. She moved with a brisk spryness that belied her years.
“Hello, Colonel Dowling. No, excuse me-hello, General Dowling. I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said. “Got a cigarette?”
A broad smile spread over Dowling’s face. “Hello yourself, Miss Clemens. I sure do. Here you are.” He pulled the pack from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” Ophelia Clemens lit one and sucked in smoke. Then she stuck out her hand. When Dowling took it, she gave his a firm pump and let it go. The formalities satisfied, she nodded toward MacArthur’s headquarters and asked, “So how’s the Great Stone Face?”
One of the reasons Dowling had always liked her, as a reporter and as a person, was that she said what was on her mind. He, of course, did not enjoy the privilege of being outside the chain of command. He answered, “General MacArthur seems well.”
“Oh, yeah?” she said. “Then how come he’s dumb enough to keep feeding troops into a meat grinder like Fredericksburg?”
“I’m afraid I’m not the one to answer that, since he is my superior and since my corps is stationed at the other end of our line.” Having said what any loyal subordinate ought to say, Dowling couldn’t resist adding, “If you need to know his views, you’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Ophelia Clemens said, and Dowling wanted to hug himself with glee. Unlike a lot of correspondents, she had no patience with bloated egos or double talk. She had cut through Custer’s pompous bluster like a regiment of barrels going through Sioux Indians. He didn’t think she’d have any trouble doing the same with MacArthur. Then she surprised him by asking, “And how have you been?”
“Oh, tolerable. Yes, tolerable’s about right.” Dowling batted his eyelashes at her. “I didn’t know you cared.”
She was taking a drag, and choked on it. She went alarmingly red. Dowling had to pound her on the back. When she could talk again, she wheezed, “God damn you, General-you caught me by surprise.”
“Sorry, Miss Clemens.” Dowling more or less meant it.
“A likely story,” she said, sounding more like her herself. “You’re just trying to get rid of me so you don’t have to answer questions about how things got screwed up this time.”
“I thought you already had all the answers,” he teased.
She shook her head. “Not yet. But I aim to get ’em.” With determined stride, she advanced on Daniel MacArthur.
The Townsend slid over the improbably blue waters of the tropical Pacific as smoothly as if Japanese airplanes had never bombed her. As George Enos, Jr., swabbed her deck, he looked over the side every now and again to see if he could spot the feathery wake of a periscope.
When he did it once too often to suit a petty officer, that worthy barked, “Enos, you’re goldbricking. You think your eyeballs are gonna spot something our hydrophones miss?”
“Probably not.” George knew better than to make a challenge too blatant. “But you never can tell, can you?”
“I can tell when you’re goofing off,” the petty officer said. After the one growl, though, he went off to harass somebody else. George’s answer held enough truth to let him wiggle off the hook.
He swabbed conscientiously for a while, in case the petty officer came sneaking back and caught him doing too close to nothing. He wasn’t terrified of the man, the way some ordinary seamen were. For one thing, he was in his thirties himself; the other man didn’t put him in mind of an angry father. For another, he’d been yelled at by experts on the Sweet Sue. What was one more fellow with a big voice? Getting along was easier, but one more bawling-out wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Fighters buzzed overhead. These days, American ships didn’t sail out of range of land-based aircraft from the Sandwich Islands. Somebody in Honolulu, or perhaps somebody back in Philadelphia, had finally had a rush of brains to the head. George wished that would have happened sooner. The Townsend would have been better off for it.
Or maybe it wasn’t such a rush of brains. About fifteen minutes later, the destroyer’s klaxons hooted for general quarters. George threw the mop into the bucket and ran for his antiaircraft gun. He didn’t know whether the skipper had spotted an enemy submarine or aircraft or just had a case of the galloping jimjams. That wasn’t his worry. Being ready to do his little bit to keep the ship safe was.
He got to the twin-40mm mount just ahead of Fremont Dalby. If you were ahead of your gun chief, you were doing all right. “You know what’s going on?” Dalby panted.
“Nope. All I know is, I run like hell when I hear the siren,” George answered.
Dalby chuckled. “Long as you do know that, what you don’t know doesn’t matter anywhere near as much.”
The rest of the sailors who served the gun took their places within another minute or so. The Townsend’s intercom crackled to life: “Now hear this. We have detected aircraft approaching from the northwest. Y-ranging gear says we have about fifteen minutes. Assistance from more land-based airplanes is promised. That is all.” A pause. “Do your duty and all will be well.”
George laughed a sour laugh. “ ‘All will be well.’ Yeah-unless we get blown to kingdom come, anyway.”
“I’d like to see those Army assholes get more fighters out here in fifteen minutes, too,” Dalby added. “Matter of fact, I would like to see it, but I’m not gonna bet the damn farm.”
Two other destroyers cruised with the Townsend, a reconnaissance in force north of Kauai. The American powers that be wanted to tell the Japs the Sandwich Islands weren’t going to be their ham and cheese on rye. That was what the American authorities wanted to say, yeah, but they were liable to be offering the patrol up as an hors d’oeuvre.
Fritz Gustafson kept things short and to the point: “Give me lots of ammo. Can’t do much without it.” There was a loader’s notion of practicality.
As usual, the time between the call to general quarters and the appearance of enemy fighters seemed an eternity and an eyeblink at the same time. One of the 40mm mounts on another destroyer opened up. Tracers tiger-striped the sky. Shells burst here, there, everywhere. The only trouble was, George couldn’t spot any airplanes but the U.S. fighters.
“Spring fever,” Dalby said scornfully.
“Better too soon than too late,” Gustafson said. That was thoroughly practical, too.
And then everybody spotted the Japs. The American fighters zoomed toward them. All three destroyers put up a curtain of anti-aircraft fire. Japanese fighters rushed ahead to hold the enemy away from the torpedo-carriers and dive bombers they shepherded. Almost at the same time, two fighters plunged into the Pacific. One carried the Rising Sun, the other the eagle in front of crossed swords.
George pointed. “Torpedo bomber, coming at us!”
He didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so ugly in all his life. In fact, the airplane carrying the torpedo under its belly-offset slightly to the left-was smoothly streamlined. The torpedo itself was a straight tube with a bluntly curved nose and with fins at the stern: a splendid piece of industrial design. But it was designed to sink his ship and to kill him. If that didn’t make it ugly in his sight, nothing could.
Streams of tracers converged on the Japanese aircraft. George wasn’t the only one who’d spotted it. The pilot had to fly straight and low to launch his fish. That left him a perfect, and perfectly vulnerable, target while he did it. He was a brave man; he did what he’d been trained to do. His airplane exploded into fire. But the torpedo was in the water by then.
“HailMaryfullofgracetheLordiswiththee-” George prayed in a rapid gabble. The prayer he chose took him by surprise. He’d turned Catholic because Connie made it plain she wasn’t about to marry him if he didn’t. He hadn’t thought he took it seriously, not till now. Somebody’d said there were no atheists in foxholes. The deck of a ship under torpedo attack evidently counted.
The Townsend was a greyhound of the sea, capable of well over thirty knots. Why, then, did sh
e feel as if she were nailed in place? The heeling, surging turn she made might have been filmed in slow motion. It might have been, but it wasn’t. It took her out of harm’s way, for the torpedo raced past her stern.
“Thank you, Jesus.” Fritz Gustafson used words as if he had to pay for them. He packed a lot of meaning into those three.
Meatballs on its wings and fuselage, a Jap fighter shot up the destroyer. Bullets clanged and snarled and whined in wild ricochets. Wounded men screeched. Every antiaircraft gun on the ship tried to knock the pilot into the Pacific. He darted away just above the wavetops, untouched or at least still flying.
Fremont Dalby gave credit where it was due: “He’s a motherfucking son of a bitch, but he’s a motherfucking son of a bitch with balls. I hope he gets home.”
“I don’t.” George was not inclined to be chivalrous.
Then, suddenly, the sky was full of airplanes-airplanes blazoned with the American eagle and swords. They threw themselves at the Japs. The Army was on the ball after all. Ignoring the enemy fighters where they could, the fighters bored in on the torpedo-carriers and dive bombers-those were the ones that could sink ships. The Americans outnumbered the Japanese aircraft. Before long, the Japanese decided they’d had enough and flew off in the direction from which they’d come.
No dive bombers had attacked the Townsend. George was pretty sure of it. Even near misses kicked up great columns of water and threw splinters of bomb casing every which way. He couldn’t have ignored anything like that in his singleminded ammunition-passing… could he?
One of the other destroyers hadn’t been so lucky. Black, greasy smoke poured from her. A bomb had burst near her bow. She wasn’t dead in the water, but she couldn’t do much more than crawl. Even as he watched, her starboard list got worse.
Sailors bobbed in the water not far from her. The bomb blast had blown them off her deck. Some-corpses-floated face down. Others struggled to stay above the surface. Still others, in life jackets, didn’t have that worry.
As the Townsend swung toward her stricken comrade, the exec’s voice blared from the intercom: “All hands! Lower lines and nets and life rings for rescue!”
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