Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 09 - Under Fire

Almond laughed dutifully.

"Those black days seem like a long time ago, don't they, Fleming?" MacArthur asked.

"Yes, sir, they do," Pickering agreed.

"Ned, if you'll excuse us, I'm sure General Fleming would like a little time in private with me."

"Yes, of course, sir," Almond said, smiled, nodded at Pickering and left the office.

If it bothers Almond-El Supremo's chief of staff-to be excluded from this conversation, it didn't show on his face.

MacArthur walked to his desk, picked up a humidor, and carried it to where Pickering stood. It held long, rather thin black cigars, which Pickering suspected were Philippine. He took one.

"Thank you," he said.

"Philippine," Mac Arthur confirmed. "I think they're bet-ter than the famed Havanas."

"They're good," Pickering said, as he took a clipper from the humidor. "I remember."

MacArthur returned the humidor to his desk, and re-turned with a silver Ronson table lighter. They finished the ritual of lighting the cigars.

"If I promise beforehand not to have the messenger exe-cuted," MacArthur said, with a smile, "perhaps you'll tell me what message you bear from the President."

"The only real message I have, sir, is that the President wants you to know he has full-absolute-confidence in you," Pickering said.

MacArthur nodded, as if he expected a statement like this.

"And his concerns?" he asked.

"He doesn't want Korea to start World War Three," Pick-ering said.

"There's not much chance of that," MacArthur said. "We have nuclear superiority."

"He was concerned that this has taken us completely by surprise," Pickering said.

"And it has," MacArthur said. "That's very probably a result of our underestimating North Korea's stupidity. There's no way they can ultimately succeed in this en-deavor, and-stupidity on our part-we presumed they knew that, and that this sort of thing simply wouldn't hap-pen."

"And their successes so far have been because of the sur-prise of the attack?"

"Yes, that's a fair description. Willoughby's best judg-ment, with which I concurred, was that the risk of something like this happening was minimal. Our mistake. But with nothing to suggest something like this was in the works..."

Nothing but a report from an intelligence officer that Willoughby not only didn't want to believe, ordered de-stroyed, and then tried to bureaucratically execute the messenger.

And if I had brought that report to you the last time I was in. Tokyo, what would you have done? Put your faith in Willoughby, that's what you would have done.

"You've been traveling," MacArthur said. "Let me give you the current picture."

He gestured for Pickering to follow him to what looked like a large-scale map mounted on the wall. When he got close, Pickering saw mat it was actually one of half a dozen maps, which could be slid out from the wall one at a time.

This map showed all of South Korea, and went as far north in North Korea-above the 38th parallel-to include the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

MacArthur took a two-foot-long pointer from a holder and held it between his hands like a riding crop. Pickering saw that the base of the varnished wood was a glistening.30-caliber rifle casing, and that the pointer was the bullet.

The bullet was black-tipped-indicating armor piercing- and Pickering wondered if that was simply coincidental.

"This is the most recent intelligence we have," MacArthur began. "Early yesterday morning, the 24th Di-vision withdrew to defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River near Taejon."

He turned to the map and pointed to Taejon, which was roughly equidistant between Seoul-now in North Korean hands-and Pusan, a major port at the tip of the Korean peninsula, on the Straits of Korea.

"Engineers have blown all road and railroad bridges, and destroyed all ferries and flat-bottomed boats, and both the division commander and General Walker-who has es-tablished Eighth Army headquarters here at Taegu-feel these positions can be held, at least for the time being, and even that a counterattack may be possible."

That's why they retreated across the river, right, and blew the bridges? So they can counterattack?

"General Walker's front," MacArthur went on, using the pointer, "extends from Taejon northeast to Chongju, and across the Taebaek Mountains to Pyonghae-ri on the east coast. The 24th Reconnaissance Company is keeping then-eye on the most likely river crossings west of Kongju, and the 34th Infantry Regiment is here at Kongju."

And what's the 24th Reconnaissance Company-no more than 200 men, and probably far less-going to do if the North Koreans start to cross the river?

"The 19th Infantry Regiment, which just arrived, is here at Taejon," MacArthur went on, "and the 21st Infantry is a blocking position here, southeast of Taejon. The 21st has been involved in some heavy fighting, and is down to about 1,100 men."

"They lost half their strength?" Pickering blurted incred-ulously. Just in time, he stopped himself from saying what came to his lips: If they took those kind of losses, they're in no position to block anything.

Keep your mouth shut, Pickering!

"A bit more than half," MacArthur replied matter of factly. "If memory serves, they lost a little over 1,400 men, KIA, WIA, and missing, in their first week of combat."

"General, I have to ask this question," Pickering said. "What's going to happen?"

"Well, what we're doing now is buying time until rein-forcements can be brought in. Two days ago, the 2nd In-fantry Division was ordered here from the West Coast, for example. The Marines are sending a brigade; it may al-ready be at sea."

"It is," Pickering said. "Today's the fourteenth. They sailed from San Diego today for Kobe."

"You're sure?"

"I had a chance to meet with General Craig, the provi-sional brigade commander, in San Diego. That was his schedule."

"No wishful thinking involved?"

"No, sir. He said they would sail, not hoped to."

MacArthur nodded his head.

"Yesterday," he said, "the 24th Infantry-the third regi-ment of the 25th Division-debarked at Pusan, and at this moment are moving forward, which will bring the division to full strength."

If one of its regiments has lost more than half its men, then it won't be at full strength.

"Moreover, the 1st Cavalry Division is at this moment on the high seas, and the lead elements-the 5th and 8th Cavalry-are scheduled to debark here at Pohang-dong on the eighteenth."

He put the bullet-tip of his pointer on a small port on the west coast of the peninsula, and looked at Pickering to make sure that Pickering was following him.

"Delaying the enemy until we can achieve something like equal strength in the South is only part of the plan, Fleming," MacArthur said. "The other part, the part that will turn what some might consider a rout into a very bloody nose for the enemy, is not yet quite fixed in my mind, but essentially, what I plan to do-another of the reasons I asked for the Marines-is to strike somewhere far up the peninsula with an amphibious landing that will permit us to cut off the enemy's supply lines and then batter his forces to bits. They have to be made to pay for this invasion."

"Up the peninsula?" Pickering asked. "Where?"

"There are a number of possibilities," MacArthur said, using the pointer. "On the east coast of the peninsula we have suitable beaches in the Kunsan-Komie area, here. And farther north, at Taechon, Anhung, and Inchon."

Christ, Inchon is the port for Seoul. And I was in there only once, years ago, but I still have a memory of thirty-foot tides and mudflats. Inchon's not some gentle South Pa-cific beach, and the others are probably no better. Is he dreaming?

"Of all these," MacArthur went on, "I prefer Inchon, but I'm frankly a bit hesitant to say so. I don't want to be pre-mature with this, as you can well understand."