W.E.B. Griffin - The Corps 03 - Counterattack

"Yes, Sir," Captain Steward said uncomfortably.

"Nothing personal, Doc," the Commandant said.

"I know why it happens, Sir," Mclnerney said evenly. "But that doesn’t excuse it."

"Why does it happen? I’m really curious, Doc."

"I think it has to do with movement, Sir. Perspective. Two, or three, or four pilots report, honestly, what they have seen. But because they are looking at what they all see from different places, both in terms of altitude and direction, no two descriptions match. For example, one aircraft shot down, or one seaplane destroyed in the water, becomes three airplanes shot down, or four seaplanes destroyed, because there are four different reports from people who are, in fact, reporting honestly what they saw. You need a pretty good G-2 debriefing team to separate the facts. Or consolidate them."

The Commandant grunted. "Bad intelligence is worse than no intelligence."

"I agree, Sir," Mclnerney said.

"We sent a special unit over there to work with the Coastwatchers," the Commandant said. "Did you know about that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is that going to help this, do you think?"

"Sir, I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the value of the Coastwatchers. They will get us, quickly, valid intelligence from the islands, particularly about Japanese air activity, but also of course about ship movement. If we know as soon as it happens what the Japanese are launching against us, what type of aircraft, and how many, we can launch our own aircraft in time to have them in the air when and where it is to our advantage. As opposed to detecting the enemy with patrolling aircraft, or worse, learning about the attack only when it begins, which catches us on the ground. Or when we’re in the air almost out of fuel."

The Commandant grunted.

"I recommended to General Forrest," Mclnerney went on, "that he-we-should do whatever it takes, whatever it costs, to get our people tied in to the Coastwatchers. And I want some of our own people as quickly as possible to get onto the islands as Coastwatchers. I think I was preaching to the convinced, but he said he intended to do just that. But if you were asking, Sir, whether it will do anything about the confusing reports we get from pilots, I don’t think so. We’re just going to have to work on that. It’s inexperience, Sir, rather than dishonesty."

"I didn’t mean to insult your people, Doc. You know that."

"Yes, Sir."

"OK, Stew. Pardon the interruption."

"After the attack on Tulagi, Sir, Task Force 17 moved south to join up with Task Forces 11 and 14. They did so at 0930 6 May, and together steamed westward to intercept the Port Moresby invasion force.

"At 1030 hours, 6 May, Army Air Force B-17 aircraft from Australia bombed the carrier Shoho and her covering force, apparently without effect.

"The next day, 7 May, at 1135 hours, aircraft from the Lexington spotted the Shoho again. They attacked and sank her. Three of Lady Lex’s aircraft were lost in the attack."

"But they got the Jap carrier? That wasn’t one of these perception problems General Mclnerney is talking about?"

"No, Sir. In addition to the pilot’s after-action reports, there has been confirmation of the loss via Albatross intercepts."

"OK. Go on."

"At noon, 7 May, Japanese bombers and torpedo bombers flying off Admiral Takagi’s carriers, the Zuikaku and Shokaku, found the fleet oiler Neosho, escorted by the destroyer Sims. The Sims was sunk and the Neosho damaged. The last word on that is that she will probably have to be scuttled.

"Just before noon the next day, Japanese aircraft from Admiral Tagaki’s carriers attacked the combined Task Force. Both Yorktown and Lexington were damaged. Yorktown’s damage was minimal, but Lexington was badly damaged, and she was scuttled at 1956 hours 8 May."

"Damn!" the Commandant said.

"At that point, Admiral Nimitz ordered Task Forces 11 and 17 to withdraw to the south. Task Force 44, the cruiser force, steamed westward to intercept the Port Moresby invasion force.

"By that time, Albatross intercepts indicated that Admiral Inouye had called off ‘Operation Mo,’ which was the Port Moresby invasion, but inasmuch as this information could not be made available to Admiral Crace, his Task Force patrolled the Coral Sea south of New Guinea until word from the Coastwatchers confirmed the withdrawal of the Japanese invasion force."

"That’s it, then, Stew?" the Commandant asked.

"Sir, the radio messages are in the folders, and I have precise maps-"

"No, thank you. That was first-class, Stew. I know how hard you had to work to get that up in the time you had. I appreciate it."

Captain Steward beamed.

"My pleasure, Sir," he said.

"Now go get some sleep," the Commandant said. "And you too, Bob," he added to his aide. "I’m going to have a quick drink with General Mclnerney and then hit the sheets myself."

The Commandant waited until Captain Steward and his aide had gathered up all the briefing material before speaking.

"Was it worth it, Doc? One of our carriers for one of theirs?"

"Probably not," Mclnerney said, after a moment’s thought. "They have more carriers to lose than we do. But if it-and it looks like it did-if it called off, or even delayed for any appreciable time, their invasion of Port Moresby, then it was. If they had taken Moresby, I don’t think we could have held Australia."

"You don’t think they’ll be back?"

"I think they will. But we’ve bought some time. What worries me is that seaplane base on that island-what was it?-Tulagi. If they get a decent air base going in that area, we’re in deep trouble as far as our shipping lanes are concerned. We’re going to have to do something about that."

"Such as?"

"Maybe take one of the other islands and put a dirt-strip fighter base on it."

"With what? We don’t have anything over there. My God, we couldn’t even hang on to Corregidor."

Three days earlier, on May 6, Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright, USA, had surrendered the fortress of Corregidor, in Manila Bay, to the Japanese.

"I know."

"That’s the first time a Marine regiment ever had to surrender," the Commandant said. "Ever!"

"They were ordered to surrender, Sir, by the Army."

"That’s a lot of consolation, isn’t it?"

The Commandant walked to the whiskey tray and poured himself a drink. He held up the bottle to Mclnerney, who shook his head no and said, "No, thank you, Sir."

"What’s on your mind, Doc?" the Commandant asked.

"General, I’m really desperate for qualified fighter squadron commanders."

"I’ll bet if Al Vandergrift was here, he would say, ‘I’m really desperate for qualified company commanders.’"

Major General Alexander Vandergrift commanded the 1stMarine Division, which consisted of the 1stand 5thMarines, plus the 11thMarines, Artillery, and which had just been brought up to war strength on May 1 at New River, North Carolina.

"Sir, I have one Naval Aviation Pilot, Technical Sergeant Galloway, who is qualified by both experience and temperament to command a fighter squadron. I would like to commission him and give him one."

The Commandant flashed him an icy stare. "Galloway? That’s the young buck who flew the Wildcat onto the carrier of Pearl and enraged the Navy? I’m still hearing about that. Whenever the Navy wants an example of irrational Marine behavior, they bring up Sergeant Galloway’s flight onto the Saratoga. "

"Yes, Sir."

"You ever hear the story, Doc, of General Jubal T. Early in the Civil War? Somebody sent him a plan he turned down. So this staff officer sent it back, respectfully requesting that the commanding general reconsider his previous decision. Early sent that back, too, after he wrote on it, ‘Goddammit, I already told you "no." I ain’t gonna tell you again.’"