W.E.B. Griffin - The Corps IV - Battleground

"That's a field on an island called Guadalcanal," Banning said. "It's one of the larger islands in the Solomons chain.... Here, I have a map, too."

He took a map from his briefcase, spread it on the table, and pointed out the position of Guadalcanal in relation to New Britain and New Ireland islands, and to the islands nearer to it, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, Malaita, Tulagi, and San Cristobal.

"That field is near Lunga Point, on the north shore of Guadalcanal," Banning said, "between the Matanikau and Tenaru Rivers."

"I heard the Air Corps had taken some aerials of that area," Pickering said. "Is that what these are?"

"No, Sir. These came from the Australians. Feldt passed them to me."

"And does Feldt also think the Japanese are about to build a fighter strip there?"

"Feldt thinks-he's familiar with Guadalcanal-that when the Japanese build a field there, it will be able to handle any aircraft in the Jap inventory."

"Jesus," Pickering said softly. "If they get a fighter field going there, they can cover that whole area. And we don't have anything to stop them, and won't until we get that field on Espiritu Santo built... and God only knows how long that will take. Can I have these?"

"Yes, Sir, of course. We have Coastwatchers on Guadalcanal, but not in that area. We've radioed them to see what they can find out. But it will take them a couple of days to move over there."

" 'We'?" Pickering quoted.

"I should have said, 'Commander Feldt,' " Banning said.

"Hell, no. 'We' is fine. 'Them' and 'us' is just what I didn't want to hear. I was asking, are any of the Coastwatchers American?"

"No, Sir. The only Marines we have actually in place are Lieutenant Howard and Sergeant Koffler, and they're on Buka, to the Northwest."

"I thought you told me you were going to try to... what's the word? 'insert'?... some more of our people."

"So far, no luck," Banning said. "Which translated means that Feldt has shot down every proposal I've made."

"It's his show," Pickering said.

"Yes, Sir. I have been operating under that premise."

"If the Japanese manage to get this airfield up and running, we're in trouble," Pickering repeated, and then asked Banning, "Did Feldt have anything to say about how long that will take?"

"I asked him the same question. 'I'm not a sodding engineer,' he said. 'But they can probably start to land fighters there in maybe six weeks. It depends on what they are using, whether real engineers, with bulldozers and other heavy construction equipment, or whether they will just try to level the field with ordinary soldiers and picks and shovels. If they move in engineers and their equipment, they can build a real airfield in two months or so.' "

"Off the top of your head, Ed, how long will it take to get these pictures to Washington?"

"You're going to send those to Washington, Sir?" Banning asked, surprised.

"I really meant the pictures our Army Air Corps took," Pickering said.

"If they sent them by officer courier, maybe four, five days," Banning said. "Are they that important? To get them to Washington, I mean, rather than a message saying we think the Japs are about to build an airfield on Guadalcanal? A message could be in Washington in a matter of hours."

"A picture, to coin a phrase," Pickering said, "is worth a thousand words. If I were Admiral King and wanted to sell President Roosevelt on something, I'd think I'd want to have the pictures."

"Sir, I don't quite follow you," Banning admitted.

"The Army and the Navy are at war again," Pickering said, bitterly. "Does the name Ghormley mean anything to you?"

"Admiral Ghormley?"

"Yeah," Pickering said. "On nineteen June, Ghormley was appointed Commander, South Pacific, under Admiral Nimitz. Ghormley's all right. I went down there to see him. He was in London on December seventh, and isn't infected with that sense of humiliation that the other admirals from King on down seem to feel."

"Sir?" Banning said, asking for an explanation.

"The others seem to feel that their primary mission in this war is to make amends for Pearl Harbor," Pickering said, bitterly, "ahead of all other considerations, including the best way to fight a war."

"Which is?" Banning asked softly.

"Early this month, when was it Pluto? MacArthur radioed Marshall for permission to attack New Britain-New Guinea. Which would, if successful, remove the threat posed by the Japanese airbase, bases, at Rabaul on New Britain."

"Eight June, Captain," Pluto furnished the date. "It was an EYES ONLY for Marshall, and he sent an officer courier with some pretty detailed plans to Washington the same day."

"MacArthur wanted to use two U.S. Infantry divisions," Pickering went on, "the 32nd and the 41st, plus the Australian 7th. Problem One was that they're not trained for amphibious landings. But the First Marine Division, by definition, is. And it was already on its way over here. So MacArthur wanted the 1st Marines to make the landing, and then be replaced by the others. Problem Two was that the beach was way out of range for Army Air Corps fighters. Once the force was ashore, of course, and took the Japanese bases, land-based fighters could be flown in and operate from them. So the solution to Problem Two was to have the Navy furnish fighter support from aircraft carriers until the Army took the Japanese airbases."

"And the Navy didn't like that idea?" Banning asked.

"The Pearl Harbor admirals didn't like it worth a damn," Pickering replied. "Admiral Ghormley, on the other hand, thought MacArthur's plan made more sense than anything else he'd heard..."

"Excuse me, Sir," Banning interrupted. "What had he heard? What does the Navy want to do?"

"I'm telling you all this more to get it straight in my mind than for any other reason," Pickering said, a little sharply. "Let me do it my way, please, Banning."

"Sorry, Sir," Banning said, genuinely contrite.

"Ghormley, as I was saying, not only thought Mac-Arthur's plan made more sense than the Navy's, but fired off radios saying so. More important than Ghormley, so did General Marshall. And you know that Marshall and MacArthur agree on damned little. The day MacArthur's courier officer-he was really more than a courier; he was one of the assistant G-3s, a really bright lieutenant colonel, who knew what was in his briefcase. Anyway, the day he got to see the Chief of Staff in Washington, Marshall presented MacArthur's plan to Admiral King. Since New Britain was in MacArthur's territory, logically the operation should be under his command. But he threw in a bone for King: King would appoint an Admiral to actually run the operation, under MacArthur."

"And?" Banning asked.

"On June twenty-fifth, King gave the Navy's plan to Marshall. Instead of MacArthur-or an Admiral under Mac-Arthur's orders-attacking New Britain, King wanted a force under Admiral Nimitz-in other words, not under MacArthur-to make an attack in the Solomons and the Santa Cruz islands, as a first step toward taking New Britain. King wanted MacArthur to stage a diversionary attack against Timor, near the Australian Coast."

"And, of course, the Army doesn't like the Navy's idea?" Banning asked rhetorically.

"No," Pickering replied. "And with good reason. They think that the thing to do is hit New Britain first-specifically, the big Jap base at Rabaul. Our land-based bombers could support the attack, and probably take the airbases out long enough so they wouldn't pose much of a problem for us while we're getting ashore. Then, once we had captured the airbases and got them up and running, Army fighter planes could relieve the Navy's carrier-based fighters. And then once we had Rabaul, we could keep the Japs from supplying or reinforcing their other bases within bomber range. They'd be rendered impotent.