Chapter 135
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: The Fall of the Giant (5)
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"A letter for you. It's from Japan."
"Oh, thank you."
Phew, this damn popularity of mine.
The endless echoes seeking Asia's great hero, Eugene Kim, were still resounding through the halls of the War Department in Washington D.C.
If it was from Japan, I didn't even need to open it. The nation of valentines. Wasn't there something called Chuseok greeting cards too?
But the moment I saw the sender's name, I rubbed my eyes and took a moment to reflect on my past life.
—Greetings, General Kim.
Thank you for the invaluable enlightenment from our last meeting... Thanks to the immense grace Your Excellency has bestowed upon the Empire for its sake, the Empire has now escaped the sinister schemes of scoundrels and petty villains, uniting the entire nation in vigorous preparation to leap toward the future...
Henceforth, the Imperial Army will lead the subjects onto the righteous path, and as a member of that army, I too shall devote myself utterly to the service of the nation. I humbly ask for your continued protection. Thank you.
Tojo Hideki.
Oh my god, what the hell is this? I'd have been better off getting seven chains of lucky letters. Even the plague or a draft notice from the military would have been more welcome.
What the hell was going on in Japan? Had these bastards really staged a coup?
I rifled through the newspapers looking for signs of major changes in Japan, but there was no big news or reports of any significant movements.
Still, I couldn't shake off the nagging unease completely.
What a shitty way to start the day.
September 2, 1925.
The Navy's airship, USS Shenandoah, got caught in severe weather and crashed, killing 14 crew members.
The incident turned the Navy upside down.
—Why did the Shenandoah, which refused takeoff, end up airborne?
—Tragedy from top brass pressure! 'Must show Navy aviation's prestige.'
—Safety ignored for PR ends in catastrophe!
To me, it seemed obvious why the seals had flipped out.
In this tense disarmament season, they desperately wanted to put on a show for the public: 'We're worth every penny! Don't cut our budget!' We were doing something similar ourselves.
With stunt flights popping up nationwide, nonstop flights and transatlantic crossings dominating headlines, anyone not riding the wave didn't deserve their tax funding.
Of course, launching an airship in foul weather wasn't exactly a sane idea... but I could at least 'understand' it.
But the scandal didn't end there.
—Tourists flock from across the nation!
—Hyenas desperate for airship wreckage or souvenirs!!
—Where has American civic pride gone?
The United 'States' of America.
What a grand chest it swells.
Mad with spectacle, crowds swarmed the crash site before federal investigators arrived, looting the tragedy. The landowner even charged admission.
Did this event end as a lament over the era's materialism and hedonism?
It would have died quietly if so.
The spark was the Navy Secretary's statement.
"Some people have unrealistic expectations about aviation. There have been impressive achievements, of course. But with the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in place, America is secure from any aerial invasion."
People had died—under pressure from the Navy's top brass no less—and here he was using the incident to downplay aviation.
Billy Mitchell, aviation's champion brimming with pride to his bones, could no longer hold back.
The moment his term expired in March, he was appointed air officer of the 8th Corps in San Antonio. A de facto demotion.
The current U.S. military preferred temporary ranks tied to positions over permanent promotions.
Legally, sure. But shoving a temporary brigadier general into a colonel's role and forcing him back to colonel wasn't common.
Mitchell was one of those rare cases, reverted to his original rank of colonel.
Whenever officers gathered, whispers about Mitchell filled the air.
Retaliatory reassignment, effective exile and demotion—rumors everywhere. His aviation buddies still called him 'General Mitchell.' His public popularity turned it into gossip fodder beyond military circles.
Mitchell wouldn't back down. Soon after the Shenandoah disaster, he called press outlets and unleashed a 6,000-word manifesto.
His long-dreamed strategic bombing's first target: Washington D.C.
"Many have asked my opinion on this horrific tragedy, so after careful consideration, I wish to share my views on the incident."
Don't say it. Please. Just don't.
You're a soldier. Why's a grunt grabbing the mic on his own? I love media plays too. But this is reckless as hell.
"This accident is the direct result of the incompetency, criminal negligence, and almost treasonable administration of national defense by the War and Navy Departments."
He said it.
The madman went and did it!
I read Mitchell's statement—printed in every damn paper—with the mindset of a Nagasaki resident watching a mushroom cloud rise.
"All aviation policies and systems are run by orders from people who know next to nothing about flying.
The Air Service is merely their lackey, and officers dispatched by the War and Navy Departments to Congress always submit incomplete, misleading, or outright false information. Those who spoke truth or disagreed with ignorant superiors were stripped of uniform or blocked from promotion."
I'd misjudged Billy Mitchell.
Words he'd snapped at MacArthur flashed back.
I'd assumed he thought like I would, naturally.
This wasn't calculated politics like MacArthur or I wielding the press for gain.
It was a declaration of war. Let's throw down.
"—The War and Navy Departments, funded by taxpayer money, have formed a cartel solely to preserve their organizations, unrelated to public welfare... In aviation matters, their performance over recent years has been so repulsive that any proud person would feel shame in their uniform..."
I didn't need to be in D.C. to know.
Everyone reading that statement was probably trembling, crumpling the paper.
"—We all make mistakes, but the criminal blunders by the Army and Navy in handling aviation expose their incompetence. If we keep hiding this, we'll betray our fallen comrades' trust."
6,000 words.
Every single one dripping with raw vitriol against the Army and Navy. Nothing left to say.
Was aviation really this bad?
I couldn't claim expertise in aviation.
I couldn't even guess the treatment they'd endured, the agony from superiors' ignorance and bureaucracy.
After Mitchell's outburst, public opinion flipped.
People railed against the incompetent, corrupt brass; Mitchell became the crusader against evil.
But could this statement change anything?
No organization is as conservative, authority-obsessed, or rigidly hierarchical as the military.
A junior spitting in the top brass's face? Even if every word rang true with noble justification, they'd oppose it reflexively.
The upper echelons' response was fierce and resolute.
"They're sending Colonel Mitchell to a court-martial, I hear."
"Jeez. In this disarmament crunch, did they have any other choice? They think they're special while the rest of us eat dirt."
"But a non-expert mouthing off like that—"
"So he's an admin expert justifying it?"
The War Department's mood upon my return was no different.
Even those partially agreeing with Mitchell or seeing his point felt too burdened to voice it.
How heavy was the atmosphere?
MacArthur, who never lagged in ego, looked downright troubled.
"...I can't fathom what possessed him to such recklessness."
And the one rising to Mitchell's suicidal challenge, beyond all expectations: the man himself.
"Court-martial him."
"Sir?"
"The Secretary of War will carry out the order."
The man who'd crushed a police strike as governor, earning national fame and his first step to the White House.
President Calvin Coolidge had no intention of letting Mitchell slide.
"A soldier is trying to inflame public passion and sway opinion to manipulate civilian government at will."
The President visiting the American Legion and US MILK to encourage veterans with a speech—a routine event.
It didn't take long for the jaded reporters' eyes to light up.
"Budgets, appointments, military rules—all decided by elected civilians. The day the military dictates to civil authority is the day our freedoms end."
No names dropped, but everyone knew who Coolidge meant.
And some grasped exactly how he'd framed Mitchell's actions.
Dragged along as Chief of Staff's aide, I felt my soul slipping away. Our eyes kept meeting—or was it my imagination?
After the event, General Hines approached Coolidge swiftly, sensing something, for a quick word.
"Mr. President, was today's speech perhaps—"
"Not aimed at anyone specific."
With lips pursed, signaling no more questions, the general lacked the guts to press and backed off with a smack of his lips.
"A moment."
"Yes, sir."
"That aide there, is he the—"
"Major Eugene Kim."
"...I see."
Impossible to read what this guy was thinking.
Just as the general opened his mouth again, Coolidge finally spoke.
"Mind if I borrow this officer for five minutes?"
"By all means."
Here? Now?
General Hines, selling me out, vanished with a quick "I'll wait in the car!"
Leaving me alone with this awkward figure.
Ignoring my bewilderment, Coolidge paused a while before speaking.
"...I've heard you've accomplished much."
"No, sir. Just fulfilled my duties."
"Word is Japan's cabinet struggles to control their military."
What? Is he a politician?
The topics jumped like Spider-Man swinging—hard to keep up.
"I hear you... inspired Japan's soldiers in some way."
"Misunderstanding, sir. Not at all. If anything, under the urgent circumstances, I merely said what they wanted to hear."
Deny it.
Whatever it was, deny first.
"The prime virtue of a politician. I noticed during your tank testimony in Congress too—you grasp politics well. Impressive even as Senate President."
Vice presidents double as Senate President. Same during the tank hearings.
I didn't know his point, but dread was building.
Shit. That earlier line—wasn't it about Billy Mitchell?
Am I... included too?
"These accidents are the direct result of the incompetency, criminal negligence, and almost treasonable administration of the national defense by the Navy and War Departments." — Billy Mitchell
"Any organization of men in the military service bent on inflaming the public mind for the purpose of forcing government action through the pressure of public opinion is an exceedingly dangerous undertaking and precedent.
Whenever the military power starts dictating to the civil authority by whatever means adopted, the liberties of the country are beginning to end." — Calvin Coolidge