The Shield: a novel (56 page)

“
What do you mean by ‘some acting’? It takes talent to be able to impersonate somebody just on the basis of a couple of short telephone conversations. I don’t think Brereton had any doubt he was speaking to Sutherland.”

“
I agree he was convinced, though whether it was your perfect performance or the fact that he wanted to do what you told him to do is a different question,” joked the Captain, “I hope this is all the intervention we have to do.”

The
Leviathan was on its way towards Formosa. Their mission was to monitor the American attack from 200 miles south of the island. If need be, the submarine could intervene to insure enough damage was done, but only if absolutely necessary.

***

General Masaharu Homma, Commanding General of the Japanese 14
th
Army, was worried. It was early morning and Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata had just radioed him from Formosa. His 500 aircraft, both bombers and fighters, were fueled up, armed and ready to take off for Luzon. There was heavy fog which, if it did not disperse soon, would delay the planned air attack. Obata was worried that the Americans would hear about Pearl Harbor and attack Formosa, catching his planes in the worst possible position. Homma told him to just wait. The die was cast and there was not much they could do now.

Homma’s worst nightmare
came true. General Obata reported that hundreds of U.S. planes were attacking the airfields. They were bombing and strafing. It was a massacre.

The first wave of the
American attack was over in about twenty minutes. The Japanese general could see from his command dugout that the situation on this airfield was desperate: planes were burning everywhere, ammunition and bombs exploding. A stray bomb, or maybe it was aimed, who could know, hit a large aviation fuel tank behind the hangars. It was burning merrily, sending smoke and flames high into the morning air. When the second wave of attackers came fifteen minutes later, General Obata jumped out of his reinforced command post and ran to where the action was. He died a hero.

General Homma knew that he would have to be extremely lucky to conquer the Philippines without air superiority. With complete
American control of the air, it was unlikely that his forces would survive the first hours of an invasion, even if their transports were not sunk by U.S. aircraft. He radioed the High Command for instructions.

***

“General Wilson, I appreciate you receiving me on such short notice. “ Mizrahi sat in the chair Wilson offered him.

“My government thinks that it is time for me to present my credentials to the King. If you see no problem, I would like to do it next week. We would also like to increase our staff and post our own guard in front of our embassy.”

“
Why wait a week?”

“
We need to make some arrangements, including establishing informal contact with the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Can I count on the Prime Minister’s introduction to both of them?”

“
What do you have in mind?” asked Wilson.

“
Maybe he could invite me, the U.S. Ambassador and the Soviet Ambassador, separately, to very private cocktail parties, or a more formal personal introduction. I will accept his judgment on how to do it.”

“
I suppose he will be agreeable,” responded Wilson, “although, as you know, the Soviets are difficult to deal with. In any case, I will present the request to him later today.

“
Since you are here, I would like to discuss a number of issues. First let me apologize for the incident at our last meeting. You must understand that I am not an anti-Semite. Some statements are part of the culture and not intended to offend, but I should have shown more sensitivity.”

“
General, I have to apologize as well. I was a little impatient. I hope we can put this incident behind us.”

“
Good,” Wilson smiled. “I’m glad we’re over this unfortunate incident.

“
I discussed your proposal regarding French North Africa with the Prime Minster. It’s not really an infringement of our strategic sovereignty. Or rather it is, but we are allies and I realize that without your recent help we would have been in a very difficult situation with Rommel. We still have misgivings about negotiating with the French, but we will take the chance and let your officer conduct the negotiations. I hope he will be successful.

“
Now, regarding Italy, your proposal is very interesting. If we could knock them out of the Axis it would, at the least, give us a toehold on the Continent. There are risks, especially if the Germans get wind of our activities. They may invade, at Mussolini’s ‘request’ of course, and attack your Brindisi base.”

Mizrahi smiled a wolfish smile
. “I have no doubt that very soon after we establish formal relations with allied and neutral countries or, more likely, as soon as I present my credentials to the King, the Germans will attack. They may have a nasty surprise. The question is where will the surprise happen and how do we cooperate to make it real nasty.”

General Wilson thought for a moment.
“Yes, I agree. After your performance against them in North Africa…
But this may be different. They will, undoubtedly, devote all the available forces. Italy is close to home. Hitler can’t ignore the danger. On the other hand Germany is committed in the East. There is a possibility that if Italy remains non-aggressive he will refrain from interfering.”

“
Sir, I suggest that we leave the details to our respective military experts. Let me assure you that we will do our best to defeat the Nazis, but it has to be a cooperative effort.”

Wilson nodded
. “Very well. I agree that we have to establish a joint planning committee.

“
The other issue I would like your government to consider is the problems we and the Americans are having with the Japanese. I don’t have a clear understanding of your abilities, but it is clear to me that the position in the Far East is precarious. In addition, the American’s predicament reflects on their ability to support us through lend-lease. They have already warned us that their first priority will be Japan, since they are not at war with Germany.”

“
General, I will convey your concerns to my government. In my personal opinion the Soviets are in much greater need of U.S. help. I sincerely hope that President Roosevelt does not cut down on assistance to them. They are on the verge of folding and need only a little push to do so. Hopefully Roosevelt will not push.

“
As to the situation in the Far East: In our opinion Japan’s attempt to conquer Singapore and some of the other British possessions will fail if you take some necessary steps. Right now, it may be a good idea to transfer more RAF forces to the Far East. A change of command in Singapore may also be beneficial. It needs a much more aggressive defense. I am saying this based on our history. This is not a guarantee of success but will help enormously.

“
With the U.S. controlling the Philippines, the Japanese navy will have problems reinforcing and supplying the troops they have already deployed. You may lose Malaya, but there is not much you can do about it.

“
Don’t worry too much about the loss of lend-lease assistance. We want the war in Europe to go well, and will assist you against the Germans. I hope that by the end of next week you will be in much better spirits.”

Wolf Frumin was interested in the lecture, or
, more precisely, in the lecturer. The Second Lieutenant was maybe twenty years old, and to Wolf she looked beautiful. Maybe not as beautiful as Sheina but still pleasant to look at. He had trouble concentrating on what she was saying. She was pointing with a laser at details on an aerial photograph being projected on the wall:

“
Here you can see very clearly the devastation a well-organized attack by a modern air force can cause a ground force, especially one without any air cover.

“
But look at this slide,” she said as a new slide popped up. “This is the same area two days later. You see the British involved in a shootout with a German unit. Compare this to the previous slide. The Germans have dug in and reinforced their position. There is a very important lesson here: it is impossible to defeat an enemy from the air. The air force may be of tremendous importance, but without infantry and armor there is no victory.

“
It will be you…”

Wolf’s attention wandered. This was his last day before graduating from the Armor School. He went from a somewhat rebellious eighteen year old with a good education, at least for 1941 Belarus, to a disciplined, though still somewhat argumentative, tank commander – all in
six months of intensive training.

It wasn’t easy. The first serious battle was with his parents. They refused to sign the necessary forms to allow him to serve in a combat unit. He wasn’t a single child but his only sister was lost somewhere in Russia, maybe dead. As far as Israel was concerned Wolf had no siblings and so needed his parents’ permission to serve in a combat unit.

Wolf was “rescued” by a neighbor. He was also 18 and planned on enlisting with Wolf. When Wolf told him about his problem, the friend had a suggestion. “Take your parents to the family event the Army is having two weeks before we are due to enlist. They’ll show you and your parents what options you have, the equipment you will operate and explain about the career you may expect.”

At the event both
of Wolf’s parents were impressed by the tanks. They saw Wolf’s enthusiasm, the large numbers of young people serving in combat units, and were introduced to other parents in the same predicament. They also realized that their son would not be a clerk. He was stubborn and if denied service in a combat unit would ask to be assigned to an armor engineering depot. They asked for clarifications and a young officer explained that Wolf’s request would likely be honored, assuming he didn’t fail his training. Serving at a depot sounded safe, but Wolf’s father had his doubts. He asked for an explanation and was told that the depot wasn’t really a depot. It was a mobile engineering unit servicing and repairing armored vehicles in the field. Not at the front line but certainly not very far behind. After this explanation Nachman Frumin figured that tanks looked relatively safe. It was all in G-d’s hands anyway. They signed the consent papers.

***

Ze’ev, Linda and Sheina Hirshson picked up the Frumins at eight in the morning. Ze’ev was glad that his Toyota had three rows of seats. Nachman’s brothers and their wives also wanted to come. They didn’t have space in the car for all the cousins. They had to take a bus to the graduation ceremony held at the Latrun Armor Corps facility, next to the Jerusalem road.

The speeches took at least two hours, after which the graduates of the latest Armor School course were called one by one to the podium to have their new specialist pins and unit insignia attached.

In the early afternoon, after the ceremony was finished, Wolf found his family. Tzila was crying and Nachman looked very proud of his son. Sheina was just smiling, which made Wolf lose a bit of his proud stance and smile back.

The new corporal looked good in his sharply-pressed uniform and black beret. Having fought in the First World War Nachman hoped that his son would never see action, but he was also reassured that if he did have to fight, it would be side by side with other Jews for a good cause.

Wolf had the whole week off and returned home with his parents. He planned on visiting with Sheina in Beer Sheba. She would be the first to know of his plan to apply for officers’ school as soon as regulations allowed. He also had plans to apply to college and wanted her opinion on all these complicated designs for his future.

***

Ze’ev and Linda came home late in the evening after the Frumins’ party for Wolf. On the way home Ze’ev was thoughtful.

“
What’s bothering you?” Linda asked after a long while of silence
.

“
Nothing really.”

“
Yeah, sure. I know you. What is it?”

“
I don’t know whether I can tell you. We still do a lot of work on the Merkava tank project and I get to know some classified stuff.”

“Yes. So?”

“Well, it’s classified.”

“
And since when did that stop you from telling your wife?”

“
Okay. You don’t tell anybody though.”

Linda nodded
, “Did I ever?”

Ze’ev
hesitated. “I think that the government is preparing for a big ground battle. I’m not sure where, but from what I hear it’s going to be overseas.”

“
Ephraim is there.” Linda sounded unhappy.

“
I wouldn’t worry too much about him. Generals don’t usually fight on the front lines. I’m more worried about Wolf. He was very proud to be assigned to the 7th Armor Brigade. You know their combat traditions.”

Linda looked uncertain.

“This is the brigade that did most of the bloody work at the Chinese Farm during the Yom Kippur war. My friend Dan was a platoon commander there – didn’t survive the battle.”