Chapter 45 Chapter 44 Targeting the West Coast of Japan

"My opinion," George Marshall folded his hands behind his back, looked around the entire meeting room, with a kind face and a calm tone, "The bombing target must be selected on the west coast of Japan, and it must be a city." Standing over six feet tall, the general stood out even more from a crowd of people sitting at a meeting.The soldiers and scholars present looked at each other without saying a word.They know that the "opinion" of a five-star general is an order.Didn't you hear him say two "musts" next?This is the tone only when an order is given.

"Understand?" Perry turned to Aum beside him. "What do you understand?" "Why did George take a fancy to the cities on the west coast of Japan?" "Oh, I hadn't thought of that." "George had a private conversation with me the other day. He stood in front of a large map of Japan and looked intently, long, up and down the west coast of the Japanese archipelago. Finally, he told me wistfully , the Japanese army that invaded China, and the Japanese aircraft and warships all set out from the ports on the west coast.” "yes?" "Also," Perry leaned closer to Orm, "you forgot what Harry said?"

Harry Truman said in front of Aum that Margoll lived in Tianjin, China for three years, and he can speak Chinese fluently. He has never forgotten China, saying that it is a country that people cannot forget... This is a very high level meeting.The purpose of the meeting was to select the target city for the atomic bombing of Japan—yes, it must be a city!It's not mountains or countryside, and it's not some desert island outside of Japan.Roosevelt decided to build the atomic bomb in order to use the atomic bomb, use it to bomb Japan, to end the war as soon as possible.Truman inherited this idea.The target of the bombing is of course the city, and the bombing of the city can produce a huge shock!Marshall and the Secretary of War, and General Perry, understood this, so every target they proposed was a city, and every target the President approved was a city.The government and the military also unanimously decided that as many atomic bombs as there are, there will be as many bombings as there are, and none will be left behind or used for "storage".As long as Japan refuses to surrender, and surrenders unconditionally, it will continue to bomb without stopping!Beginning in September 1945, the United States can produce one hundred kilograms of uranium-235 and twenty kilograms of plutonium-239 per month, which means that several atomic bombs can be produced every month; as time goes by, the production will increase rapidly.All these atomic bombs, as soon as they were built, were used to bomb Japan - if she still refused to surrender unconditionally.

"Japan has rejected the Potsdam Proclamation, saying that the 'Proclamation' does not mention the future status of the Emperor." Marshall looked at Perry, "Aaron, can you talk about what you think the Emperor should have after the war?" What kind of status?" "You mean Hirohito?" Perry shrugged. "If he hadn't been killed by then, he should have been hanged as the number one war criminal, and his body would be ashes!" There was warm applause in the conference room. The five-star general was noncommittal.He just gave Perry a deep look, and continued talking—

The U.S. attack on Okinawa in April 1945 was the last battle before attacking the Japanese mainland.The crazy tenacity of the Japanese in the battle and the recklessness of the "Kamikaze Commando" caused the death of 12,000 U.S. troops, which caused a great shock in the U.S. government and the public.On the Japanese side, 110,000 officers and soldiers and 75,000 non-military personnel were killed. The U.S. military was originally scheduled to launch the first phase of the offensive on the Japanese mainland on November 1, 1945, attacking the southernmost island of Kyushu from both sides of the East and West, investing 650,000 troops, 2,500 ships and fighter planes. Japan has deployed 540,000 troops in Kyushu and plans to invest 5,000 suicide kamikaze fighters in an attempt to force the United States to accept a compromise plan.The decisive battle on the Japanese mainland will undoubtedly be unprecedentedly brutal.It is estimated that the US military casualties in the 90-day battle in the first phase will reach 100,000.The second phase of the offensive is planned to start on March 1, 1946. The US military will deploy 25 divisions on the Kanto Plain to attack Tokyo and Honshu on a front of 120 miles.With such a long front and a vital area so close to Japan, it is estimated that the U.S. military casualties will at least exceed 150,000...

In early 1945, Perry predicted that several atomic bombs would be built in a few months.He reported to the Chief of Staff of the Army and suggested organizing a group of senior military officers to study what to do in the face of the advent of the atomic bomb.Marshall shrugged and replied easily: "Don't you know 'what to do'!" After the first successful atomic bomb test, the problem of scientists' "rebellion" was reflected to Truman.The focus of the debate was "whether to bomb Japan with atomic bombs".The president spent fifteen minutes listening to the report, and then took one second to answer: "Bomb!" The president then made it clear that the bombing must be carried out within the first week after August 3.

"The President believes that according to this plan, the U.S. military will not be able to surrender Japan until November 1946 after paying a terrible price of 250,000 casualties." Marshall continued: "The United States will therefore desperately need the Soviet Union. Send troops to contain some of the Japanese troops in China so they can't come back home - and this is against the wishes of the president. He has always insisted that the United States is capable of winning this war alone. Besides, the United States is not Japan, not a medieval emirate , not savage tribes; in the United States, the most important thing is human life, not to mention the lives of as many as 250,000 American youths—the president even believes that the total number of US military sacrifices may eventually reach 500,000 to 1 Millions. The only way to end the war as soon as possible, to save the lives of these hundreds of thousands to one million American youths, and to rescue hundreds of millions of people in Asian countries from the tyrannical rule of Japan at an early date is to use atomic bombs. "

The President "thinks" so, and so does the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy -- and that's enough!It doesn't matter what other people "think" and everything can even be temporarily hidden from them.Congress had never heard of the "Manhattan Project."No one in the military except the Army Chief of Staff had heard of the Manhattan Project.Only two or three cabinet members in the government knew about it as "friends of the president", and even the Secretary of State was kept in the dark. The atomic bomb must be used - there was no dispute at the meeting.The ensuing question is where to drop the atomic bomb?Perry spoke first: "I recommend it—Hiroshima."

"'Recommended'?" Marshall looked at the large map of Japan hanging on the wall, turned around and smiled, "Okay, let's consider it recommended. Let's talk about the reason." Perry pointed out that Hiroshima is an important military port and naval base, and it is also a transportation hub from Honshu to Kyushu.Public utilities and urban transportation are developed, military industry is dense, many small and medium-sized factories and almost all family workshops are producing arms and military supplies.Hiroshima is stationed in Japan's Second Army Command and 25,000 troops.The urban population is 300,000, and the population density is 12,300 people per square kilometer.The terrain of Hiroshima is flat, and there was not much damage in the previous period. In addition, the urban area is densely packed with wooden houses. It has not rained for three weeks. Once it is bombed, it will easily cause a raging fire...

"A raging fire?" "Yes, this is very good, as many Japanese as possible can be burned to death." "Is there any reason?" "Also—the Japanese naval and air forces that attacked Pearl Harbor and destroyed nearly the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet, mostly from Hiroshima." "There is another reason you didn't say, it may be because you don't know—" Marshall looked at Perry, "In September 1894, Emperor Meiji held an 'Imperial Meeting' at the Hiroshima base camp to deploy the Japanese army to invade China. war." Kokura, the second target identified at the meeting, is also on the west coast of Japan's southern tip.There is the largest arsenal in Japan, as well as a large number of machine factories, spare parts factories and power plants supporting it. During the war, various killing weapons and military equipment were produced frantically.The third target, Nagasaki, is located at the western end of Kyushu Island. It is an important military port and commercial port closest to China. It has developed industries and has the largest ship manufacturing center in Japan, producing a large amount of naval equipment.The fourth target, Niigata, is farther away. It is located in the north-central part of Honshu, and it also faces China. It is a seaport city, an important steel and chemical center, and a production base for gunpowder, bombs and shells...

From the second half of 1944, especially after entering 1945, the U.S. Air Force carried out long-term carpet-like indiscriminate bombing of major and medium-sized cities in Japan.However, the above-mentioned four cities have basically never been bombed. The effect of an atomic bomb thrown on a ruined city is quite different from that on an intact city; Waiting for four cities to be reserved as "atom bomb testing grounds"... "Is that true?" Ding Jieqiong asked Aum, "Leave the four cities as testing grounds?" "I don't know," Aum hesitated, "I don't want to know either." "Why? You have always been a person who likes to find out." "Stop talking, Joan," Aum interrupted the female scientist, "read on!" A group of scientists and engineers are looking at a slideshow.Professor Ding Jieqiong was sitting in the corner of the projection room, and Aum was standing behind her, with his upper body leaning forward and his elbows resting on the back of the chair.On the screen are aerial reconnaissance photos of the four cities of Hiroshima, Kokura, Nagasaki and Shinkan.These photos have been "selected", but there are still hundreds of them, and it takes hours to look through them.But no one left.Everyone is very serious, staring at the screen intently.Everyone was also thinking in silence, imagining: what would these cities with dense population, developed economy, tense pace of life and production, and many low wooden buildings with Japanese characteristics look like after being bombed by atomic bombs? ? Orm flew back to Alamos immediately after his meeting in Washington.At night, he accompanies Joan to the club to watch a slide show—it's not entertainment, it's work.After watching, they have the responsibility to provide opinions on the upcoming bombing, in order to improve the bombing effect as much as possible, and their opinions will be transmitted to the "front" as quickly as possible; but their more important responsibility is to analyze the bombing effect afterwards, Calculation and evaluation will make more atomic bombs in the next stage, with greater yield, better bomb delivery methods, and more terrifying destructive and lethal power... Aum rushed back to Alamos for this purpose: to wait for the news of the atomic bombing of Japan, and to preside over the manufacture of atomic bombs on a larger scale. Yes, there are too few atomic bombs in existence.The United States, that is, the world's first batch of atomic bombs, totaled three.One plutonium bomb was used in the test on July 16, 1945, and two remain: a "gun-type" uranium bomb, a "gift" for Hiroshima or Niigata; it is also known as "Little Boy" , also known as "Skinny Man", is ten feet long, two feet in diameter, and weighs four and a half tons—and the core part of this bomb, the uranium charge, weighs only a few dozen kilograms.Another "implosion" plutonium bomb was to be "dedicated" to Ogura or Nagasaki; it was nicknamed "Fat Man", eleven feet long, five feet in diameter, and weighed five tons... Scientists gathered around the two bombs in amazement and chatter.The unanimous opinion is that the "little boy" has a beautiful shape, which almost reflects the first-class sculpture art; the difference is concentrated on the explosive power, and there is no consistent conclusion so far.Most people think that the "little boy" has an equivalent of 5,000 to 15,000 tons, and the "fat man" has an equivalent of 700 to 5,000 tons, which means that the power of the uranium bomb is far higher than that of the plutonium bomb.Professor Ding Jieqiong put forward the opposite point of view, asserting that as far as the current two atomic bombs are concerned, the equivalent of "fat man" is higher than that of "little boy".She did not convince other scientists. Fortunately, she has developed a device that is thrown together with the bomb based on the principle of "nuclear explosion aerodynamics" she created, which can transmit the data of the bombing shock wave to the aircraft.That said, the final conclusion is just around the corner. "It's hot here," Aum said softly, "let's go for a walk." "Didn't the President decide within the first week after August 3rd?" The female scientist asked as she got up, "Today is already August 3rd, and the two bombs are still on Alamos." "That's a sample," Aum smiled lightly, "The live ammunition has already been sent away." "Really?" Ding Jieqiong was taken aback, "It looks like the real thing." "Perry's codename for the two live rounds is 'Irreplaceable'." On July 14, 1945, the "Irreplaceable" components were escorted to Alamos Albuquerque Airport by heavily armed soldiers, loaded onto three large DC-3 transport planes, and flew to the northwest. Landing at Francisco Hamilton Airport.This thing could have been transported by air or sea to the forward positions in the Pacific, but the air is not safe, and it is afraid that San Francisco, that is, San Francisco, will be razed to the ground if it fails.Thus, July 15 was loaded on the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis. The "goods" had a strange shape, like a big round cake, less than two feet high, but eighteen feet in diameter, and the outer layer was all lead.The captain asked, "Is this a bacteriological weapon?" But no one answered him. At eight o'clock in the morning on July 16, 1945, two and a half hours after the world's first atomic bomb was successfully tested at Alamos, the USS Indianapolis weighed anchor in San Francisco. .Immediately afterwards, two C-54 heavy transport planes carried the core components, namely several hundred pounds of uranium-235 and other parts, and flew via Hawaii to Tinian Island, an important US naval and air base in the Western Pacific. The USS Indianapolis entered Pearl Harbor on the morning of the fourth day.Continue westward for 3,300 nautical miles, arrive and unload on July 26.After that, she went to the combat sea area, but was unfortunately sunk by a Japanese submarine sailing from Hiroshima at 10:05 am on July 30. This heavy cruiser with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons and a crew of 1,196 people only Three hundred and sixteen people were rescued.Almost at the same time, the combat department selected Hiroshima as the first target and carried out the bombing on August 6th... Tinian Island in the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific has the largest air force base in the United States.There were a thousand B-29 heavy bombers that could carry seven tons of bombs and five hundred pounds of incendiaries.This kind of aircraft nicknamed "Sky Fortress" took off from 60 runways day and night at intervals of fifteen seconds, and carried out carpet bombing of major cities in Japan.This kind of aircraft lacks self-protection ability and is very heavy, especially when it is fully loaded. It is often intercepted by Japanese planes or bombarded on the ground, causing heavy losses; even if it is not attacked by the enemy, it crashes on the way to and from the airport Crashes are also commonplace, and a large number of pilots and crew members have died as a result.But here, there is a special air force that never participates in combat.It was hidden in a semi-circular mobile home between "Eighth Avenue" and "125th Street" at the airport, surrounded by barbed wire and heavy machine guns.One of the mysteries here is that scientists are always seen.The B-29 heavy bombers equipped by this air force never attack, but they often take off to conduct bombing training on certain deserted islands... "I see!" Ding Jieqiong shouted, "You said '509', the Hull Air Force." "Yes," Orm nodded, "it was just assigned to General Perry's command." "The first bombing target has been locked on Hiroshima?" "yes." "Is it the Hiroshima where Emperor Meiji held the 'Imperial Meeting' in September 1894 to deploy the Sino-Japanese War?" "yes." "Is it the Hiroshima from which the Japanese Navy and Air Force set off to attack Pearl Harbor and destroy the US Pacific Fleet in December 1941, and from which the Japanese submarines set sail to sink the USS Indianapolis in July 1945? " "Yes, yes, that damned Hiroshima!"