Some told him that it was his own staffs fault that he'd been misled, but MacArthur rejected that. Generals Willoughby and Sutherland had been with him through thick and thin, and while they certainly made some human mistakes, they were loyal to him and that was that.
He let go of the rail and began to pace back and forth across the narrow bow of the cruiser. Above him, the three eight-inch guns of the forward turret glowered protection for him as he reviewed the combat situation.
The marines on the west of Kyushu had reached the high ground between their landing sites and the deep waters of Kagoshima Bay. They could now look down into the large, sheltered anchorage, but they had not yet forced the west gate to the bay, and the Japs had dug in to prevent that. To deny Kagoshima Bay to the United States, the Japs only had to hold one side of the gate.
To the east, the two army corps were nowhere near their objectives. Only a few small towns had fallen, and the American navy was still unable to use Ariake Bay. Until Ariake Bay was taken, there could be no port or airfields developed. Without a port, there could be no massive reinforcements of men and equipment. Take Ariake and the army could leapfrog into Kagoshima Bay and join up with the marines. Without it, they were forced to live like vagabonds and depend on what was stored on the hundreds of support ships that waited in giant convoys just off Kyushu. It was not an efficient way to run a campaign and had to change soon.
MacArthur wondered how much of it was Krueger's fault. Certainly, Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger was a solid professional soldier, although perhaps a bit unimaginative. The men under Krueger's command seemed to lack a zest for battle and were getting bogged down at the smallest obstacle. Should he replace Krueger with Eichelberger? He would think on it. Eichelberger had wanted the task, but MacArthur had insisted on Krueger having his turn. Now he wondered if he had been too hasty in appointing Krueger over Eichelberger.
The casualties had been appalling. Instead of breaking and collapsing, the Japanese had fought like the devil in most places and showed no sign of changing, although some second-rate units and individual soldiers had given up. How the insidious General Marshall must enjoy seeing MacArthur's battle reports and realizing that all was not going as well as he had predicted.
Marshall now had Truman's ear just as he'd had Roosevelt's, and that situation bore watching. Truman was such an intellectual lightweight that Marshall was bound to dominate him. MacArthur did have to give Marshall his due; he had a keener mind than MacArthur had thought and had used it to his utmost advantage.
At least MacArthur had managed to keep the invasion both an all-American show and an all-white-American war. He had withstood pressure from Roosevelt and then Truman to incorporate three divisions of British Commonwealth troops into his army. Great Britain had offered them, but he had withstood it. The three divisions- one each from Australia, Britain, and Canada- would have been a logistical nightmare to keep in the field. Unlike the European theater, where there were ports and occupied landmasses where vast and differing kinds of supplies could be stored, all of his men would have to live for some time off what was on the ships. MacArthur had rightly convinced Marshall that he didn't have the resources to supply the Commonwealth troops with their own ammunition, food, and weapons. Therefore, the three Commonwealth divisions had to change to American tactics and equipment if they were to join the battle.
With neither the time nor the resources to do this, the British had backed off, although they were beginning to switch over to American gear in anticipation of the second phase of the battle for Japan- Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu. This MacArthur could accept. When Coronet occurred, there would be supply depots on Kyushu, and the logistical problem would be over.
As to minority soldiers, MacArthur simply didn't think they would fight well. Roosevelt, doubtless egged on by his aggravating wife, Eleanor, had felt they should be incorporated into the army as fighting men, instead of supply soldiers and laborers, which was their normal use. Truman now supported this incredible idea as well, to MacArthur's astonishment. MacArthur felt that he could understand the political logic and the urgency to widen the population base from which the soldiers were drawn, but he could not permit this to happen to the detriment of his army. Negroes, while fine fellows in their own way, were simply not cut out to be warriors. He had put his foot down before and would do it again. There would be no Negroes in the front lines in the invasion of Japan.
