The Final Storm - Jeff Shaara [69]
BENEATH SHURI CASTLE, OKINAWA
APRIL 6, 1945
It was his favorite lookout, the wide opening of his primary cave, safe from enemy fire only at night. During the day the opening that dug straight into the mountainside was covered by the thick mat of camouflage, designed to look exactly like the brush that surrounded it. Despite the shattering carpet of explosives the Americans had draped across the area, the opening had seemed to escape detection by the American spotters completely.
The sun was just beginning to set, the western sky a blaze of pink and orange, the reflection on the ocean broken by the shadows of the American ships. He held a teacup, heard nothing from the security guards standing in rows behind him, lining both sides of the corridor.
“When this is over, I should look forward to sharing moments like this with all of you. You have been loyal and efficient. Perhaps if I am allowed to return to teaching, some of you would consider attending the Imperial Military Academy. It would require the recommendation of someone in … authority.” He turned, saw the surprised faces. “I suppose I qualify.”
The lieutenant closest to him bowed deeply, said, “Thank you, sir. From all of us. We shall leave this place with the enemy’s blood on our swords. I would be honored to learn the art of war at your hand.”
“Your loyalty is appreciated. All of you.”
Ushijima said nothing more, knew very well he would never see the academy again.
The day had been rainy, but the storms had cleared now, remnants of clouds to the south. He knew that the poor weather had been to his advantage, the rains deepening the mud that would slow any advance by the Americans. For his own men, the rains provided much-needed fresh water, which was lacking in most of the caves. With the setting sun, his work details waited near the mouths of the many caves, preparing for darkness, when they could retrieve the tubs and empty the cisterns. They had learned long ago that there were few wells anywhere near the mountains, but the army had its needs, and on Okinawa the wells were on flatter ground. Thus, whether the farmers offered up the water on their own, the soldiers knew where the wells were found. But carrying the precious water to the caves was a long and treacherous job by night, and nearly impossible by day. The American fighters had continued their patrols, and so far the thunderstorms had been too brief to ground the fighters for long. Each time the thunderstorms subsided, they had come again, a swarm of blue bees rising up from the distant aircraft carriers. Once it was dark the soldiers could emerge from underground once more, not to do the actual work, but to supervise the legions of laborers. They were Okinawans mostly, along with the Koreans and Chinese that had been brought over to assist in Colonel Yahara’s enormous construction projects. Any hope of building a pipeline had long been dismissed, Yahara as certain as his commander that the American bombs would destroy it in short order. So the laborers hauled the water in buckets. Ushijima had warned his officers not to brutalize the Okinawan farmers, that their work in the fields was essential to providing food for his own troops. He knew the order had been disobeyed, suspected that General Cho had overseen some of the occupation of the farmhouses for officers who remained out beyond the caves. Reports were many that Okinawan homes had been established as comfort stations for the officers, local women and their daughters hidden away with one purpose, to serve the needs of his men. He had known of such things in China, and everywhere the army had been, most of the High Command blithely looking away, as though such activities were completely acceptable, so long as the women were not Japanese. Ushijima had forbidden this behavior around his own headquarters, knew that the women he saw daily in his offices were performing valuable work. Others, mostly Okinawan, were serving the army as nurses, a service that could only grow more crucial as the days passed. I cannot stand guard