REIWA JIGOKUHEN - Chaotic Disturbance of Reiwa Era

Chapter 42 - Deadlock

Arlington, Virginia: the Pentagon

Newly-appointed President of the United States Harry S. Truman had to get things under control first.

He had been the second-ranking, a vice president, for only a little over two months when he suddenly became the leader of the United States of America. There was plenty to do, including negotiating with cunning allies such as the Soviet Union and Great Britain, checking on military secrets such as the Manhattan Project, of which he had no knowledge, and supervising the command of officers in the Army and Navy, who seemed to have a quirk or two of their own. However, everything was firmly set in stone with regard to war leadership on the Pacific Front. There was no choice but to follow the last speech of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had passed away so heroically and was revered as a great leader.

"Mister President, we need reinforcements as soon as possible, anyhow! The damage is rapidly increasing due to the recent incomprehensible attacks!"

General MacArthur's urgent voice boomed over the SIGSALY telephone. Truman had heard that this man at the top of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific theater was an unbelievably difficult man with heroic pretensions. But now there was no hint of that in his words. Truman was a military novice, but he intuited that this was a defeated general.

"General, can you explain to me exactly what is going on?"

"Yes, Mister President. Since yesterday, our troops have been mysteriously bombed throughout the Philippines, rendering nearly all of our air bases unusable! We can barely fly our small liaison planes!"

"What...?"

Truman was appalled. He had only recently been briefed that the Japanese bombing was to resume from Clark Air Base near Manila. Did this mean that everything, including the bombing, had been intensified? Or were the enemy using chemical weapons again? Everything about the war was going on, like Iwo Jima and the Mariana Islands. His hands trembled at the thought.

"What in the world could have caused that to happen!?"

"Extremely fast speed... probably the Japs are operating bombers capable of exceeding the speed of sound."

"How is that possible!?"

"I can't believe it but it's true! Anyway, we're going to need every interceptor, anti-aircraft gun, and radar we can get our hands on—"

"Huh? General?"

There was no response. MacArthur's voice trailed off abruptly.

The hands of the 805th Communications Company, operating the huge communications machinery, were dismayed and hurried to find out what had happened. Truman, who had been caught in the act, also had a bad feeling about what was going on.

"Mister President... we have lost contact with General MacArthur's flagship, the Boise," a pale-faced communications company commander reported. All these unbelievable things were happening.

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South China Sea: off the Nansha (Spratly) Islands

The escort ship Takanami and her companion Ōnami were exploring the Southeast Asian trade route. At this time, there was a large US military presence in the Philippines, and landing craft and other vessels that were being prepared for the Battle of Okinawa were gathering there. Task Force 58 was destroyed off the coast of Iwo Jima, and this area was selected as a place to evacuate after the reverse landings on Saipan.

However, the air force, which numbered well over 1.000, had already been turned into objects on the runway by the repeated bombing of the Air Self-Defense Force based at Naha Air Base. Furthermore, battleships, escort carriers, and cruisers were either sunk or rendered immobile by direct hits from anti-ship missiles. In such a truly one-sided battle, the destroyers were putting the finishing touches on the battle.