Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th Read online

  Phenomenal praise for the novels of

  New York Times bestselling authors

  NEWT GINGRICH AND WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN

  “The authors’ research shines in accurate accounts of diplomatic maneuvering as well as the nuts-and-bolts of military action.”

  –Publishers Weekly

  “The authors skillfully mix historical and fictional characters in an enjoyable and thought-provoking tale.”

  –Library Journal

  “Masterful storytelling that not only captures the heroic highs and hellish lows of that horrific day that lives on in infamy–it resonates with today’s conflicts and challenges.”

  –William E. Butterworth IV,

  New York Times bestselling author of The Saboteurs

  “A politician and a novelist, each an accomplished historian in his own right, are emerging as master authors of alternative history. In this ‘what if’ treatment of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen combine their talents to make the diplomacy as suspenseful as the combat, even for readers who know what happens next–or think they know.”

  –Dennis Showalter, former president of

  the Society of Military Historians

  “This book is not only a great read, it is a fascinating historical story that applies today in Iraq as it did in the Western Pacific in the late 30s and 40s.”

  –Captain Alex Fraser, USN (Ret.)

  NEVER CALL RETREAT

  “With each book in their ongoing alternate history cycle, Gingrich and Forstchen have gone from strength to strength as storytellers. Unabashedly, this is a work of popular historical fiction; it aspires to entertain, first and foremost, but it has passages of genuine depth and poetry which elevate it above many other specimens of its peculiar sub-genre.”

  –William Trotter, Charlotte Observer

  “The authors’ research is impeccable…the reader is left believing it could really have happened this way.”

  –Booklist

  GRANT COMES EAST

  “An exciting alternative history of the Civil War. Character depictions are vivid, detailed, and insightful. One of the best novels of the Civil War to appear in recent years.”

  –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “Gingrich and Forstchen have produced a very readable entry into the literature of speculative history. It will be interesting, perhaps even thrilling, to see how the military strategy and political maneuvering plays out in the next installment.”

  –Civil War Book Review

  “A good yarn. The authors provide apt historically plausible detail to give substance to the premise.”

  –Washington Times

  “What the authors come up with is as rivetingly plausible as what they devised in the previous novel. Notably original.”

  –Booklist

  “The Gingrich and Forstchen ‘what-if’ take on the Civil War gathers some steam. The battle scenes continue war, lovingly rendered.”

  –Kirkus Reviews

  “Unabashedly, this is a work of popular historical fiction; it aspires to entertain, first and foremost, but it has passages of genuine depth and poetry that elevate it above many other specimens of its peculiar subgenre.”

  –Charlotte Observer

  GETTYSBURG

  “Sure to become a Civil War classic to be read and remembered.”

  –W.E.B. Griffin, author of Retreat, Hell!

  “Surprisingly plausible, written with compelling narrative force and meticulous detail.”

  –Atlanta Journal Constitution

  “Gingrich and Forschten write with authority and with sensitivity.”

  –St. Louis Post Dispatch

  “[Gettysburg] is believable and beautifully written…every bit as good as Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels. Not only do Gingrich and Forstchen bring the characters to life, and often horrible death, but they do so with memorable observations on the ways of war and vivid, technically accurate descriptions of frightful Civil War combat.”

  –Courier Journal (Kentucky)

  “An eye-opener…filled with gore, smoke, heat of battle, and a surprise ending. The writing is vivid and clear. A ripping good read.”

  –Washington Times

  “Well-executed alternative history. The authors show thorough knowledge of the people, weapons, tactics, and ambience of the Civil War. A veritable feast.”

  –Publishers Weekly

  “As historical fiction, this stands beside The Killer Angels. As an alternative history of Gettysburg, it stands alone. The mastery of operational history enables the authors to expand the story’s scope. The narrative is so clear that the action can be followed without maps. And the characters are sometimes heartbreakingly true to their historical originals.”

  –Dennis Showalter,

  Former President of the Society of Military Historians

  “Gettysburg is a creative, clever, and fascinating ‘what if?’ novel that promises to excite and entertain America’s legions of Civil War buffs.”

  –James Carville

  “The novel Gettysburg puts forth a highly plausible and exciting scenario of a Confederate victory in the Pennsylvania campaign of 1863. The authors exhibit an in-depth knowledge of not only technical details, but also the various personalities of the leaders and how they could have reacted had things gone quite differently from history as we know it.”

  –Don Troiani, noted Civil War artist

  ST. MARTIN’S PAPERBACKS TITLES BY

  NEWT GINGRICH AND WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN

  Gettysburg

  Grant Comes East

  Never Call Retreat

  PEARL

  HARBOR

  A Novel of December 8th

  Book One of the Pacific War Series

  NEWT GINGRICH,

  WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN,

  AND

  ALBERT S. HANSER,

  Contributing Editor

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks

  To those who gave the last full measure of devotion in the Pacific War, and, as well, to the often forgotten victims of all such wars…the parents, spouses, and children who gave so much when their loved ones fell, and for whom final victory would always be shadowed by profound loss.

  CONTENTS

  PART ONE: Thunder on the Horizon

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  PART TWO: The Countdown

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  PART THREE: The Battle of Pearl Harbor

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  COYPRIGHT

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Acknowledgments for a book such as this can be a bit of a daunting task… because so many people were involved in helping to bring this story to life.

  After the successful completion of our “Active History” series set around the Battle of Gettysburg, it was our editor, Pete Wolverton, who urged us to consider a story about Pearl Harbor. We dug into the research and found a plethora of works on the American perspective, but very few that took an in-depth and balanced look at the Japanese perspective that led them to the fateful decision to seek war at what they knew would be daunting odds. In particular, we must point out the historian John Toland’s efforts, not only for his superb writing style and research, but also for his highly accurate footnoting that led us to dozens of additional sources for our own research. From that research our thesis about what might have happened at Pearl Harbor emerged and thus our subtitle of A Novel of
December 8th, since but one change in the Japanese plans could have wrought a profoundly different outcome.

  Early in 2006, Bill spent a week in Hawaii, and we wish to extend our compliments to the incredible staff at the USS Arizona Memorial and the Battleship Missouri Memorial museum. Bill received a special opportunity, which anybody can request, for a detailed tour of the Missouri, which provided tremendous insights for our work, particularly what it must have been like aboard the USS Oklahoma during its final terrible moments. Ironically the Missouri is moored where the Oklahoma met its end. Bill also had an opportunity to fly around Pearl Harbor in a World War II vintage aircraft to gain a better perspective on the Japanese side of the battle, and his own piloting experiences have come into play as well since he owns an original plane from the period. If ever you should go to Hawaii, plan at least a day to visit the “hallowed ground and sea” of Pearl Harbor and the profoundly moving National Military Cemetery located in the “Punch Bowl,” and if possible, try to take an air tour as well to see it from “the other side.”

  A special thanks and salute to the men and women of CVN 71, USS Theodore Roosevelt, and a special thanks to the head engineer of that proud carrier, Commander Larry Scruggs, who provided a top-to-bottom tour of “his” carrier while operations were under way off the North Carolina coast, explaining the intricacies of damage control, relating how it is done now to how it was done in 1941. Though the technology has changed, the methods and procedures to “keep ’em flying” at sea are not much different now than in 1941. If any should doubt the ability and intellect of the young men and women who stand on the forward line of our defense, spend a day on the “T.R.” and you will come away profoundly moved by their spirit, maturity, discipline, and patriotism. They are indeed worthy descendants of the “greatest generation.”

  Numerous others should be mentioned here as well. Our researcher for work at the Naval Historical Center, Batchimeg Sambalaibat, who did a superb job digging up obscure facts and photo research; Liz Dwyer, the computer genius who repaired a major formatting glitch in our “final” manuscript; the staff of the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, where the USS Yorktown can be toured; Bill Butterworth IV for many a late-night conversation; and so many friends who took a special interest in this project and encouraged us to move forward.

  We’ve been blessed with a great team at Thomas Dunne Books. We’d like to thank our editor, Pete Wolverton, whose editorial instincts were on the mark. Pete is blessed as well by an incredible assistant, Kathleen Gilligan, who is a joy to work with. We’d also like to thank what Bill and I call our “home team” of Kathy Lubbers, our wonderful agent, and advisors like Scott Cotter, Randy Evans, Joe DeSantis, and Stefan Passantino, who were invaluable with the creation of this work.

  Also we extend our thanks to Callista Gingrich for her unflagging love and support in all things, Jackie Sue, Jimmy, Maggie, Robert, and Paul for their support as well, and Meghan Forstchen, who endured without complaint the long disappearances of her dad to his office. Thanks as well to Christine Inauen and Ron “Weasel” Weisbrook, who provided some excellent technical review points regarding World War II aviation.

  UNLIKE THOSE WHO READ OUR novels about the Civil War, some of our readers will indeed remember that “date which will live in infamy,” and some were present on Oahu on that day. We hope our work does justice to the experience you endured and pays proper respect as well. Some historians now claim that the famed statement, attributed to Admiral Yamamoto, that the attack of December 7th had “awakened the sleeping giant” was actually not said by him. Regardless of who said it, it was indeed true. When faced with a crisis, America can indeed stand united, and for potential enemies to assume otherwise is folly. As we found in our research, the war in the Pacific could have been avoided if wiser heads had prevailed… but they did not and a terrible price was paid by both sides. Let us ensure that all the lessons from that day will always be remembered. For Bill and me, the connections between 1941 and today are clearly evident.

  TECHNICAL NOTE

  It has become standard practice in Western accounts of the Pacific War to reverse the Japanese usage of family name followed by given name, to the Western usage of given name and then family name. On a cultural level we found this to be an interesting point and yet again, a nuance of the cultural differences between Japanese and Western society. We hope that the continuation of the Western practice in this book is understood by all as a means of providing a clearer narrative for all readers.

  In addition, the Japanese names for military ranks and also for equipment, especially airplanes, would create a most difficult hurdle except for the truly serious students of this conflict. Therefore we have adopted the Western equivalents for all ranks both military and political. One usage that is slightly off from the timeline of history is the Western naming of Japanese military aircraft, the Zero/Zeke, Val, and Kate. All three of these aircraft, though already in use in China, came as a complete surprise to Western forces in the Pacific. It was not until 1942 that standardized code names were given to different Japanese planes. For the sake of clarity and narrative flow we felt it acceptable to use these 1942 code names for aircraft in our narrative as, indeed, do nearly all historical accounts of that battle.

  Spelling of Oriental place-names has always proven to be a difficult affair. In general, however, we opted to use the 1941 spellings, such as Nanking and Peking, rather than the currently accepted Nanjing and Beijing.

  Honorific titles and the subtle nuances of the Japanese language, for example the difference in methods of address when an inferior and superior or a father and his son are talking to each other, tend to fail in translation, therefore in dialogue between our characters, a somewhat more Western style of twentieth-century speech is used as well.

  We hope you go along with our “tweaking” of history and cultural differences for the sake of clarity in our story in order to bring a clearer picture of the Japanese perspective on events leading up to December 8, 1941.

  PEARL

  HARBOR

  The forward magazine of the USS Shaw (DD-373) explodes during the second Japanese attack wave. To the left of the explosion, Shaw’s stern is visible, at the end of floating dry dock YFD-2. At right is the bow of USS Nevada (BB-36), with a tug alongside fighting fires. Photographed from Ford Island, with a dredging line in the foreground.

  NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER

  PROLOGUE

  8 December 1941

  Midnight Tokyo Time

  The clock was ticking.

  Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto looked up at the large, brass-mounted nautical clock that hung on the bulkhead before him. All was silent, except for that clock, and the background noises of a ship laboring through heavy seas.

  His staff stood respectfully, no one stirring, no one seated except the architect of this day, this day that all knew would be the most fateful in the history of their people, their race, their island nation, and their sacred Emperor.

  Yamamoto took another cigarette from the silver case laid on the table by his side and reaching into his pocket pulled out a lighter, an American lighter, lit the cigarette, and then looked back at the clock.

  It ticked through another minute to midnight, Tokyo time, 8 December 1941.

  “It has begun,” Yamamoto, the most successful noted gambler in the Japanese navy, whispered to himself.

  On the Malayan Coast

  8 December 1941

  12:03 a.m. Local Time

  Captain Cecil Stanford, eyes red-rimmed with exhaustion, lowered the heavy Zeiss night binoculars. The night was sticky, hot, and he rubbed the sweat from his face with a soiled handkerchief.

  Though he was technically a captain of the Royal Navy, his duties leading to this night had led him far from the deck of any ship… he had been a teacher at a foreign naval academy, an alleged reporter, intelligence agent, advisor to a prime minister, and now, this night, an observer whom few had listened to and who had moto
red north over treacherous jungle roads the length of this peninsula colony.

  His driver, Marine Sergeant Harris, leaned against the fender of their old Bentley sedan, sipping his tea, which was well fortified from Cecil’s flask, and with cupped hands nursed a cigarette.

  The only sound was that of tropical waves, gently lapping onto a tropical beach. If his mind had been of a different cast, it would have perhaps stirred a fantasy of romance, but he had stilled his heart to that. There had been only one real love, and both she and their child were gone.

  To the north several miles away a small port town, close on to the border with Thailand, glowed, the last of the cafés closing for the night, the town quiet. Everyone was asleep, or soon would be, or at least planned to be.

  A flicker of light disturbed him, and he looked over his shoulder. Harris was lighting another cigarette, trying unsuccessfully to keep light discipline, hands cupped around the Zippo, but still it was almost blinding.

  “How the hell did you survive the trenches at Gallipoli?” Cecil grumbled.

  Harris grinned, took a second cigarette and lit it off the end of the first, handing it to Cecil.

  “Now, sir. If I thought Johnnie Turk was out there and m’ head was sticking above a trench, that would be a different story now, wouldn’t it?”

  And at that instant the world turned to brilliant daylight.

  In that frozen instant he could see Harris’s face, eyes wide, then squinting, looking up in amazement. There was a flash thought of almost comic quality to it, as if Harris might think that somehow his small Zippo had suddenly illuminated the world.

  Cecil turned, looked over his shoulder. The brilliant flashes just as quickly winked out.

  “Bloody hell” was all Harris could get out when again the brilliant light appeared. Half a dozen star shells, high above the port town; the lurid light from the burning magnesium flares, even from several miles away, cast long shadows across the beach. Harris stood out in stark relief by his side, and then long seconds later came the distant, echoing boom of the guns that had fired them, several miles out to sea.