Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 08 - In Dangers Path

«Yes, sir. And I disagree with them.»

«Briefly, what don't you like about a plan that has General Marshall's approval?»

«I've decided that sending that large a force into the Gobi—not to mention keeping it there, with the supply operation that would require—would call too much attention to the operation, General.»

»

You've

'decided,' against the recommendation of General Marshall and Colonel Donovan?»

«Yes, sir. As I interpret Colonel Donovan's message, it was a suggestion, not an order.»

«You are officially declining my offer to give you what logistical support I have been directed to provide? And 'a force of at least two companies of infantry'?»

«Yes, sir. But I may have to come back if my plan fails.»

«And your plan is what? To send a couple of your men into the Gobi in a couple of trucks to see if they can find the people that are supposed to be there? And then supply them by air?»

«Initially by air, sir. It may be possible to get everybody but the essential personnel out, and then supply them from here. The Japanese, so far as we know, have not shown any interest in the people who are already in the desert. 1 want to make every effort to keep it that way.»

«You're presuming that. For all you know, the people who were out there maybe in a japanese pow camp. or dead. either from Japanese action, or else because the bandits got to them.»

«Yes, sir, that's true. If Captain McCoy cannot make contact with them by the time his fuel runs out, he will call for the Catalinas to bring the equipment and the meteorologists to wherever he is.»

«1 have two questions about that,» Stillwell said. « 'By the time his fuel runs out'?»

«Captain McCoy has an ambulance, a weapon carrier, and two five-hundred-gallon trailers. He plans to accompany a routine Chinese Army resupply convoy into the Gobi, then strike off on his own. He believes, and i concur, that doing so will not attract much attention.»

«Question two. If the resupply by aircraft fails?»

«Then we'll have to follow the Platt Opplan, sir. By then, the extra equipment and the meteorological team will be here.»

«That suggests your man—just the two of them…«

«He plans to take four Chinese with him, sir.»

»… is not concerned with the bandits?»

«I'm sure he's very concerned, sir. But he believes he will be able to avoid them, or be able to run away from them, or, in the worst case, be able with six men to make them decide any attack on them would be too costly.»

«I can see why General Marshall and Colonel Donovan don't like your plan,» Stillwell said.

Colonel Easterbrook grunted in agreement.

«Ernie, what do you think?» Stillwell asked.

«There is no question that sending two companies of infantry into the desert would attract Japanese attention,» Easterbrook said. «And they're tenacious. They would keep looking until their curiosity was satisfied.»

«What makes you so sure the Chinese will be willing to let your Captain McCoy accompany them?»

«He plans to compensate them for their effort, sir, and he also believes that the patrol officers have probably heard more about the Americans out there than they have reported to their superiors.»

«Why wouldn't they report what they've heard, General?» Colonel Easterbrook asked.

«If they did, they would probably be ordered to investigate further,» Pickering replied.

«And your Captain McCoy plans to 'compensate' the Chinese for whatever other information they may have and have neglected to pass upward?»

«Yes, sir.»

«There is an implication in what you've said that you intend to commence this operation in the immediate future?»

«Yes, sir. McCoy is en route to Yümen right now. The Nationalist troops who go into the Gobi on patrol are stationed there.»

«That's a thousand miles,» Easterbrook said.

«He plans on making twenty-five miles an hour,» Pickering said. «That's forty hours on the road. If he can average thirty miles an hour, that's thirty-three hours.»

«That's if he gets there at all,» Stillwell said. «There's Nationalist roadblocks every fifty miles or so. I've heard some unpleasant reports from Americans sent into the hinterlands. They are stopped at roadblocks and detained until their bona fides are established. By the time that's been done, their vehicles and supplies seem to get stolen by party or parties unknown.»

«I don't think Captain McCoy will have any trouble getting past roadblocks, sir.»

«Why not?»

«McCoy and Gunnery Sergeant Zimmerman both speak fluent Wu, Cantonese, and Mandarin and are wearing the uniforms of Nationalist Chinese officers, sir, and carry very credible-looking identification documents. They're both old China hands, sir. Fourth Marines.»

«Passing themselves off as White Russians?» Easterbrook asked.

«They have Nansen stateless person passports,» Pickering said.

General Stillwell looked at Colonel Easterbrook for a long moment, but Pickering could detect no reaction on Easterbrook's face. «Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Ernie?» Stillwell asked.

«I hope so, sir,» Easterbrook said.

Stillwell turned to Pickering. «Whether you like it or not, General, I am going to augment your force with a couple of Chinese,» Stillwell said.

Easterbrook chuckled.

«There is on my staff an interesting Nationalist officer. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale Law School. Brigadier General Sun Chi Lon. He's connected with Chiang Kai-shek's family—I think they're second cousins, something like that. I'm going to put him and his aide—an enormous Mongolian major—on a plane to Yümen. I think the two of them can make things considerably easier for this Captain McCoy of yours.»

«That's very good of you, sir.»

«No, Pickering, actually it's selfish,» Stillwell said. «I'm chief of staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. No one would question my authority to order two companies of Nationalist infantry—and the necessary logistical tail—into the Gobi. But I would have to pay for it—with interest—sooner or later, by having to replace the troops and their supplies. And I have better things to do with my available troops and supplies than taking them from what they're doing and sending them to Yümen to replace troops and supplies which have disappeared in the Gobi.»

«Nevertheless, thank you, General,» Pickering said. «Sir. would it be possible for me to accompany General… ?»

«Sun Chi Lon,» Stillwell furnished. «He lets his friends call him 'Sunny.' Sure, if you want to go.»

«Thank you, sir.»

«Ernie, will you see if you can find the General? Ask him to come in here for a minute.»

«Yes, sir,» Colonel Easterbrook said, and left the room.

Pickering realized that Stillwell was smiling at him. «It just occurred to me, Pickering,» Stillwell said, «and I have been around the Army a long time, that you are the first person I ever met who is cheerfully ignoring a 'suggestion' from the chief of staff of the U.S. Army.»

«With respect, sir, 'cheerfully' is not the appropriate word.»

«Well, since you're obviously not a fool, 'cheerfully' may

not

be the appropriate word. You have decided it's the right thing to do. The word for that is 'courageous.' «

«How about 'with great trepidation'?» Pickering said.

«Stop fishing for compliments, General, it's unbecoming,» Stillwell said. «Can I offer you a cup of coffee?»

«Thank you, sir.»

Two minutes later, a very small and slight Chinese officer entered Stillwell's office, trailed by a heavily built, flat-featured man who Pickering guessed had 250 pounds on his six-foot-four-inch frame.

«Sunny,» General Stillwell said, «this is General Pickering. He's a friend of mine, and he needs your good offices.»