Chapter 11: Everything Ready?

‘So much to do, and so little time to do it in, ‘ as the saying goes. We’d had no time to spare as we were coming down to the wire, as it was now the summer of 1941. We had less than six months left to prepare.

I went over my checklist.

The first items on that list were the medical and health concerns. In the wars on my timeline, disease had caused more casualties than the actual fighting.

Penicillin was a drug that was in its infancy, and not widely available till later in the war. I needed to change that. I found that Alexander Fleming, in 1928, had claimed to have discovered Penicillin. But, because of his methods, he had progressed slowly in its development. He was one of the first ones I had my people contact. I needed his work, and I needed ‘yesterday.’ My people assisted, and we did in a year what had taken him nearly twenty. Mass-producing the drug was a higher priority than anything else! Its need was just that important!

There were other things to be gathered, such as Quinine tablets, mosquito abatement items. Wire window mesh and mosquito bars (a netting for beds) and DDT. These were all lacking in the Philippines at the start of the war on my timeline, but they wouldn’t be on this one. While DTT had been banned in my time, expediency dictated I use it as other means would have taken too long to develop.

I didn’t ask my research teams to return to the Philippines with me, but was pleasantly surprised when many did. By this time, they had trained enough people back in California, to jump start Silicon Valley and to ensure it would keep up the standards we had started. I had begun construction of a new compound in the States that was a copy of what had ended up in the Philippines although not in the same location as the original. It wouldn’t be ready for occupation for some years, but it was coming along. Those staying behind would supervise its construction for a while longer before their return in early November. Meanwhile, my military would be coming with me in force.

This brought me to Item Two: Sustenance. Disease had been able to take hold due to the troops’ weakened condition of malnutrition. They had gone on half rations almost from the onset of the war. To that end, along with shipping thousands of tons of canned food items, I had built additional farms, for poultry and eggs, pork, beef, and dairy production, as well many vegetable farms. Those along with the higher yielding strain of rice, should take care feeding my troops as well as the expected refugees. These were all well underway within the Bataan province itself, so as not to be cut off should worst come to worst.

Item Three was training, or the lack thereof. It had caused the USAFFE to lose ground so quickly that they had been unable to bring what little in the way of supplies they did have with them as they retreated. I had been able to start proper training from the start, with three and a half years of lead time, and a vast cache of weapons already on the compound. I also had the men trained to use the modern mechanized armored vehicles, and the trucks to carry supplies, so nothing need be left behind in any case. Again, I was bringing modern trucking and shipping containers, to act as portable warehouses. We would not be caught flatfooted and unable to move supplies as needed.

Item Four. The inadequate training was due for the most part to the lack of weapons and ammunition to train the men. I had set up an assembly line for both, and had them shipped in independently from the US military. I hadn’t been locked into a lend-lease program as the government had.

As the numbers of troops increased, the new weapons from my stateside factories arrived in plenty of time to arm them, and training was able to continue uninterrupted. It helped that I wasn’t going to try to train and arm hundred thousand men with modern weapons, either. I did concede to myself I would be arming some of MacArthur’s troops, but with the M1 Garand. I couldn’t see punishing his soldiers with letting them use those out of date even by 1920 standards, Springfield bolt action rifles.

My education about the military mindset was abrupt, indeed! To be sure of that MacArthur and his staff refused the M1 Garands offered, because and I quote “they were not military issue, nor procured through military channels.” Just one more sign that for all his charisma, he was an egotistical, elitist, unwilling to accept help from anyone other than the ARMY. He even resented the Navy’s part in the Philippines’ defense but knew he needed them. On my timeline, I think he was secretly pleased they did so poorly in some of the battles.

Item Five. Getting it all to the Philippines in time, and having the ability manufacture arms and ammo locally, once we were cut off from resupply. I had my small fleet of LSTs, cargo ships, oilers, and transports on their way by July. One of my cargo ships made a stop at Kauaʻi to offload my surprise. I also left a small group of observers on Oʻahu to record the attack when it came, with updated communications and equipment. We would see first hand, and in real time, the attack.

I had had the airfield on Kauaʻi quietly lengthened to handle my transports and my private jet. I didn’t want too many people knowing about those improvements. To be sure it didn’t look like that big a deal since there were so many other military construction projects going on. One more didn’t seem to draw much notice. What with additional modifications or buildings added, there wasn’t even need to hide the fuel and communications off-site as I had first thought.

As for my Air Corps? I had all the pilots I needed, with more on the way for my Air Corps of updated P-51W Mustangs and bombers. The training for the B-36’s was the hardest. Even though there were only the six, no one here had ever flown one before. They were so unusual and so much larger than anything anyone had ever seen before. They were of the same size as a widebody jet (They were in fact the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built.) Training with them was to be in baby steps. But in the end, all the crews had logged in at least a hundred hours of in the air flight. With over hundred touch and go landings without incident.

I added dozen helicopter gunships, and pilots to fly them. They had been the other exception to my use of jet-powered aircraft. One full battalion, of Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Huey type looking. Recruiting for them had been very difficult at first until more pilots learned how much fun they were to fly, then I had too many. They were not my first choice of the helicopters’ to use, but they were relatively easy to build and maintain. As with everything, replacement parts would be the bottleneck for regular maintenance, let alone battle damage. That would limit their use. I would depend on their uniqueness for shock and awe to maximize their effectiveness. For the essential work, I would use the ones I already had, as I had abundant parts for them, for both non-battle and battle point use. Lastly two C-130 gunships! You wanted overwhelming force if at all possible.

My military advisers had me build additional drones for battlefield surveillance. These would be key in informing them of developments in real time and to hit targets of opportunity.

Our mechanized armored infantry division, was complete with hundreds of armor personnel and cargo/fuel/ammo carriers to support my tank forces.

Then there were our private naval forces. The non-nuclear ships - cargo, oilers and for the most part the LST’s - could be manned with ordinary Merchant Marines. There were, however, the nuclear warships. Those were a different matter. It had taken the whole of three years to train those who would man them.

As none of my militia personnel had Naval experience, I found myself looking elsewhere. For the most part, I tried to recruit from retired Naval Personnel and those advocates for naval airpower. I would need those that were most dedicated to getting it done right. It wasn’t too difficult in reality. The Navy as had the Army, was also downsizing. (There had been a conspiracy theory going around on my time line that the attack on Pearl Harbor had been allowed to happen. Some saying FDR even provoked the Japanese to attack us. Would a man knowingly downsize his forces if he knew he was going to need them shortly?) That meant there had been plenty of experienced officers to choose from, and it helped that I gave the most qualified applicants tours of the ships while they were still in drydock. That piqued their interest as they were so modern and unique. I then had my choice of commanders as well as executive officers. They, for their part, talked to their fellow officers into filling in other officer billets. A few even knew some retired enlisted, Chief Petty Officers that might be interested as well. As no one was taking the threat of a possible war with Empire of Japan seriously, I made sure none of those chosen had that same misconception.

We had done all we could to build a small navy of Landing Ships Tank, or LSTs, plus fifty high-speed Patrol Torpedo boats, with two attendant tender/support ships. Plus, we fixed our torpedo’s firing pins for the American subs. (We knew of the defective firing pins and fixed them.) The regular Navy hadn’t even wanted to acknowledge the torpedo problem, as it might prove embarrassing. Politics! I was beginning to wonder if I was wasting my time, but I wasn’t about to hand over my people to the Japs without a fight, and that meant fixing the damned torpedos. “Damn the torpedos full speed ahead.”

The nuclear navy I had was not as ready as I would have liked. After nearly three years they were still conducting some shakedown cruises off the Oregon coast and a lengthy series of tests and training exercises designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear-powered ships. Additional sea trials with mock Marine assault landings were added. I was reminded that this was normal, even on my timeline, and for me to just be patient.

Then, of course, the pilots needed to practice of taking off and landing I had thought they would be ready in time. However, due to their uniqueness, it was taking longer. I was hoping it wouldn’t be much longer. I was also wondering how many I would be losing when the war took off for real. We had had more than a few training accidents already.

The plan was to deny the Japanese Manila Bay and the Island of Luzon as a base of operations. The American Military should be able to take it from there, without the need to island hop from the far southeast, as they had before. We would provide a secure base of operations for the bombing attacks on the Japanese home islands and to disrupt their activities throughout the South Pacific.

We now had five thousand crack Filipino troops trained and armed by my people, with an additional thousand of the Stateside Family troops and recruits, as we trained as Marines stationed on the amphibious assault ships, then there were my own people. I was bringing and training thousands of skilled support personnel to take care of the equipment. I had been shipping in hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies over the course of the last three years. Along with the many other improvments, a refinery was added, with additional fuel storage.

Of course, the Japanese had taken notice of the unusual build-up, and had protested to the United States government thinking it was a military build up. Something they had been able to successfully stop, before. The government had politely explained that what they were seeing was private citizens building commercial enterprises with a non-governmental militia. They were being trained to protect their interests from the Moro’s of Mindanao, one of the main islands of the Philippines, as US troops were not permitted to be used by private individuals. At least that was what we had told the government officials that had asked about them. The local military was still mystified at our appearance, and they were not getting answers they liked. FDR, after my visit and the help with his walking, was not inclined to ask too many questions. (The old saying ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’ Came to mind.) The Japanese might not have bought it, but it didn’t matter as they couldn’t do anything about it.

They took to setting up a trawler to keep tabs on us, for our part we sent out a destroyer and placed it between the trawler and the Compound, then warned them off as they were not doing any fishing. It was cat and mouse after that. We bullied them, and they would protest. We boarded them, and threw all the radio equipment over the side, along with their captain. We watched as they retrieved him, then escorted them out of the area.

I made sure the Japs never saw the aircraft I’d brought in. The pilots were not happy, but I explained they were to be a surprise, I did have small groups sent south to fly and attack the Moro’s in Mindanao. As well as operating with the Flying Tigers in China to give them actual combat flying experience rotating them often to try to keep them happy. The five hundred dollar bonus for shooting down an enemy plane did wonders in that direction. The North American P-51 Mustang, and Vought F4U/FG Corsair gave them the edge there.

Then there was the training of the crews for the PT boats. I made them up of local Filipino fishermen, as they knew the waters better than anyone I could bring in from the States. I had American officers in as advisers, mainly for the training; but the first in command would be a Filipino, with the understanding that the Americans would take advice from the Filipino and vice versa. Being more heavily armed, and with radar, better communications equipment, and still just as fast; they would prove a much needed and appreciated deterrent to Japanese shipping.

I would put my men up against the best of any country, and say I had the best. To be sure they were better equipped with 21st-century weapons. They also had been trained to 21st century standards, rather than those of the current US trained Filipino forces of 1939.

I was well pleased with my briefings of the progress made while I was away, and was thanked for the constant stream of supplies being brought in. No one was fool enough to say there was no chance the enemy could prevail, but they would be highly contested!

The thing was, how would all this affect the Japanese invasion plans come Dec. 1941. There was no telling just how much the Japs had seen. To be sure I had given orders that the mechanized and air-units stay under wraps. I had rotated teams to the States for most of their training, and I’d been informed they were ready. The majority of the Division would be shipping in that summer and fall. They might even be misidentified as US Army reinforcements that were expected. That was good enough for me. The ships, of a type never seen before, would have to come in under cover of darkness.

It was now a waiting game, I had visits from MacArthur’s staff, he deemed it below him to come himself. Inquiring as to what I was doing. They were still curious as to how we had gotten there in the first place. Some of them believed I was interfering with their recruitment and training. I pointed out they were doing a poor job of training as it was, and I could hardly do worse, then adding they couldn’t even arm those they had recruited. They were not happy with my assessments knowing them to be true and made blustering threats of commandeering my troops and equipment. I told them they could try, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

They had toured the camp, and firing ranges and saw firsthand how competent were the Filipinos I was training. They were shocked at the amount of ammunition I was allowing for training, but they couldn’t argue with the results. The men were hitting their targets consistently. MacArthur’s staff still felt the weapons too unusual in design, and short ranged and the small caliber ammo impractical. I simply smiled. I had instructed my officers to have the troops take their time firing, and not to use the three round bursts or full automatic firing. I hadn’t let MacArthur’s staff see the weapons capabilities, nor the wound impacts in test animals.

I told them that should they need my aid they only need ask, I was rebuked in no uncertain tones that would never happen. I just nodded my head.

“Okay then, we are in agreement gentlemen. You will not need nor ask for my help, and I shall not be obliged or compelled to give it should you ask.”

That set them back a bit, but they didn’t back down from their position. Those officers had full faith in MacArthur and his plans.

They asked about the M1 Garand I had offered to MacArthur (That had been flatly refused.), and why I was not using them myself. I told them I was under no obligation to use army approved weapons. I had seen and liked a test prototype so much I was equipping my men with them. I let them hold one to see how much lighter it was, pointing out the advantages, and with the smaller caliber ammunition, the men could carry many more rounds. They were again predictably unimpressed. This is coming from Generals still using cavalry tactics from the so-called Great War.

Then taking the weapon back, I put the assault rifle to my shoulder, and fired on full automatic at a group of targets, expended the mag reloaded and fired again, the targets flying apart on the bullet’s impact. I did this twice more. There wasn’t much left of the targets down range when I lowered the assault rifle; I had just fired one hundred and twenty rounds down range destroying all the targets in the time it took one of their troopers to shoot ten shots with those bolt-action Springfields, with nowhere near the effectiveness.

When I had finished, I turned to the not easily stunned military officers, and quietly said, “And that, gentlemen, is why I’m not equipping my men with the Garand. Nor will you get any of these, since The Great General Douglas MacArthur (I used his full name and rank without any hint respect, but more of contempt.) does not accept weapons that are not Army approved, nor acquired through Army channels.”

I bid the ‘gentlemen’ good-day with that and wished them luck with the defense of the islands when war did come. Turning my back on them to walk off. Dismissing them as if they were cadets at the academy and not the General officers that they were. They were frustrated in that they knew they had been dismissed, they then tried to intimidate me, turning back, I told them not even to go there if they knew what was best for them. My own MP’s made themselves appear more than willing to deal with them should they prove difficult. With that, no further discussions would be entertained, in that I gave them a taste of what MacArthur had given me. I then had them escorted off the Compound.

It was now early October. I called in the remaining troops training in the States. A last-minute surge in cargo shipping came in with fresh vegetables, meat and plenty of the three ‘B’s. My officers had their troops inspect and re-inspect to make sure all their equipment was ready. (Note from the Auther; as an enlisted man, I can tell you there was a lot of grumbling over that sort of thing.)

It should probably be noted here that when the ground scans had been done, there had been found a large five hundred meter by five hundred meter square near the western edge of the compound. An excavation of it proved to be a basin some twelve meters deep, with an opening to the sea wide enough for my largest ships to pass through. Another indication that this had all been planned out long ago. Just how and why? When it was all cleared away then flooded, computer models showed that all of our nuclear navy could be tied up within it along with room for more. Now, why would someone think a landlocked compound would need a harbor? For that was just what it was. Not only that but in just the right place. How could anyone have been able to foresee that?

It was about this time that I received a request for an audience from the Catholic Diocese of Balanga, the capital city of the province of Bataan. I thought back to the warning I had given the ministers of the town. Damn, I going to have to make an example maybe even dig that hole.

Religion, as well as politics, is all about ‘the show.’ More so with the Catholic Faith. I made them wait and then come to me in my Villa; I wasn’t going to play on their home turf, where they would have the advantage. They would have to come to me. My audience hall, where I would preside, was as impressive as any throne room. Okay, I may have said something about my distaste for the trappings of the ‘Family’s’ leadership. But I couldn’t afford to ignore them, in this case. If I was to let the Catholic Church take control, I might not ever get it back.

I sat in my chair/throne with Nick and the girls by my side dressed ... well, to be frank, to intimidate. I was putting the clergy on the defensive. The President of the Philippines couldn’t have looked more regal. He may have expected me to be more deferential toward them. I explained that I was not Catholic. His Pope might rate such, but he did not.

They were ushered in by Mr. Tristan. I have no idea where he had gotten the livery he wore, he nearly outshone me in its impressiveness. With the ground rules now established. We began. As it turned out that the ministers of the town had only been a minor nuisance, and that had been dealt with. The problem was with the troops. It seems that in their off hours, they would be given a pass and head to the nearest watering hole. That was not the one on the compound, but in the local village and nearby town of Balanga.

It turned out it wasn’t merely drinking the was going on, but a host of vices including drugs that shouldn’t have been available, as well as a disruption of the local economy. My people had money, and nowhere to spend it other than ... Well... ?

When we had first arrived the compounds, my people were not a problem; they had been welcomed, having done so much good for the people of the village. But lately, with the growing number of new soldiers from the States of this timeline, there was an increasing problem. There was drunkenness, fights, gambling, and an ever-increasing prostitution problem where girls, many of them far too young to be doing so, were being pressed into it, some willingly, most not. It had gotten much worst in the last year. (It didn’t help that at this time the legal age of consent for girls was 12.) There was a lack of respect for the Filipino population as a whole, let’s face it, it was Bigotry at its worst. In fact, anyone of color was treated with bias, my troops of color were no exception. That matched with the arrival of the troops from the States. I had not taken into consideration the morals and bigotry of the times. A naive position to have had, given that even in 2037 there were still instances of racial bias that made it to the news far too frequently. While those of my own time were not completely free of it, they had mostly kept it to the on-compound establishments, and knew better than to cause problems. I had lived in a bubble, and I may even have such tendencies myself. To be sure no one is ever completely free of Prejudices of one form or another.

The gist of it was a growing criminal problem, and it had grown beyond the control of the local village captains, and they had requested help, they had turned to the church, and not to me. An example of the church’s deep roots, power, and influence. Taking care of this problem would go a long way in consolidating my power an influence in the here and now.

The crux of the problem - beyond the drunkenness, fights, gambling, and a general lack of respect - was that girls were being promised marriage to lure them into bed and gaining exclusive use of them, and they were getting pregnant as a result, and the men were refusing to honor their commitments. Some of the men were already married to women back home, and weren’t free to offer marriage in the first place: Repudiating Responsibility. This had been an ongoing problem with the men of the USAFFE’s coastal shore Batteries. I had no idea how their command had handled it, from the looks of it, it seemed they had merely swept it under the rug. It had now gotten much worse, and it was my people involved, or more correctly those I had brought from the States to fill-in my army. It was an age-old problem of camp followers, not to make light of the matter.

I asked what it was they expected me to do about it. The USAFFE’s people were out of my authority. Then I heard those running the establishments were using some of the new buildings I had my people build for the town’s people. The reason it had gotten so far out of hand, was that bribes were paid to those that should have been enforcing the common good, to look away; but now, it was a problem they couldn’t ignore any longer. This was something that stuck in my craw, something I had created, used for...

I turned to Nick, lifting an eyebrow. Nick no longer intimidated me. If Nick had wanted to simply sink into the floorboards and disappear he hid it well. I could see that this had caught him flat-footed as well. And if that was the case, someone had gone to some pains to hide it from him. “I want to see Colonel Blood immediately.” The only reason he hadn’t been here already was I hadn’t expected the problem to be a military one. Truth be told, the Colonel had a great many demands on his time already. He too must have been unaware, or it would never have come to this. The day to day running of things was left to those you trusted to be able to deal with them. Did I have a traitor within my ranks?

Colonel Blood arrived, seeing how everyone was dressed, and while he in his crisp, clean uniform he still looked out of place. He came to attention before me, “Yes, Sir, here as ordered, Sir.” He was in the hot seat, and he knew it.

I looked back at the Bishop, “Would you please repeat what you have just told me.” Tenting my fingers.

The Bishop did so at length. When he was finished, I looked back to the Colonel, lifting an eyebrow.

Colonel Blood, “Sir, I take full responsibility, Mr. Wolfenstein,” Much as I had cut off Nick from the same thing, I lifted a hand before he could go on. He was a good man, and I was sure he would have dealt with it had he known. It was clear to me now that he hadn’t, and that was more disturbing than the reason the Bishop was here. I kept such thoughts to myself for now.

Instead, I said, “I want all passes revoked, and the compound placed on lockdown, no one in or out till I have this dealt with.”

“Yes, Sir, At once Mr. Wolfenstein.”

“Then assemble...” at this point, I asked just how many of these establishments are there? I was informed. Then to Colonel Blood, “One hundred men in full riot gear for MP duties. I want those places shut down, and the owners brought to me. The precinct captains as well. All the employees confined, with the women taken to the hospital for a full medical examination. I want a report on their condition as soon as soon as possible. Cut the road off; I don’t want word of this getting to the other towns before we get there, where you will do the same.” Then almost as an afterthought, “Have the men tested for drugs. Any that don’t pass, no matter who they are, to be shipped back to the States ASAP.”

Turning to Nick, “Nick!” I said a bit more sharply than I should have., “Yes, Sir,” he replied. “I need you to find out who is behind this; I want them in custody by nightfall.” I added, “I shouldn’t need to tell you that I don’t want this repeated.” To his credit, he didn’t blanch. “Yes, Sir, I will see to it personally.”

“Oh, and Nick, no half measures here, I think we have a good idea who is behind it, make it happen!”

“Yes, Sir! At once, Mr. Wolfenstein.” When they used my last name, I had no doubt it would be so.

I had good people here, the best, or at least they were on our timeline. Being here had distorted much of that. A hundred years difference making old problems reappear as new. We had been caught off guard; I would have to speak with Abraham about what other norms might be here, that was common here, so much so, it was taken for granted that all knew about them.

I then turned to the Bishop and his entourage, “Allow me to extend the courtesies of my home, while this is being taken care of.” Implying they wouldn’t be leaving till it was.

They accepted with what grace they could, knowing that here my word was Law.

It didn’t take long. In the earlier part of the day, those establishments were not fully open and wouldn’t be till later when the men were given time off, which in this case they wouldn’t be.

The managers and owners were brought before me, roughly put in line by Colonel Blood’s men, he had led the detail himself.

Everyone was there the Bishop, and his entourage, Nick, and the girls myself were all still dressed to be intimidating, except Colonel Blood who hadn’t changed.

I looked them over, scrutinizing them tenting my fingers. I wasn’t pleased, none of these looked smart enough to have organized this. I picked one, “You there,” pointing to the one. “You care to tell me just who it is that gives you your instructions and whom it is you report back to?”