He checked the location of his other forces, using the small tactical radios that Yamamoto had produced from somewhere. They had succeeded in their first set up objectives; the radio station had been captured intact and the army command post had been destroyed. He knew that the Naval Infantry couldn’t hope to hold onto the entire city for long, not with army battalions so close, but if Yamamoto’s plan worked, they wouldn’t have to. If it didn’t… well, there were worse people to die for than the Emperor.
“Move out,” he shouted, leading his force towards the palace. He allowed Captain Kenjo to take the lead, snapping orders into his radio. The Imperial Palace would be converged upon by three armies, threatening it from three different directions. “Come on!”
They shot their way through a hastily-erected blockade and entered the palace grounds. The white pavilion lay ahead of them and they spread out, securing the palace. Even the army hadn’t had quite the audacity to turn the palace into a fortress; they’d simply replaced the Royal Guard.
“We hold the palace,” he shouted. He didn’t dare to enter, or to try to visit the Emperor himself. That was up to Yamamoto and his consort. He lifted his radio and made his report.
Yamamoto had half-expected failure. The gods had seemed to have forsaken Japan – or perhaps they liked the thought of the Japanese fighting to the last – and he smiled as the news of their success came through the radio network. Even so, he felt nervous; if the Emperor ordered him to commit suicide he…
…Would not have to obey. Somewhere along the line, he realised, his loyalty to the Emperor had been replaced with loyalty to Japan. He held out a hand to Yurina and led the way out of the battleship, into the armoured car that had been captured during the fighting. It was safer; army snipers still infested the city, fighting desperately for a bad cause. Bullets pinged off the armour as they drove up towards the Palace, refusing to stop for anything.
“We’re here,” Yurina said. He realised that she was nervous; he took her arm and led her out of the car, leading the way through the main gates.
“You have no right to be here,” a servitor said. Yamamoto ignored him. “Admiral, I protest…”
Yamamoto glared him into silence. “Where is the Emperor?” He asked. He knew that the servants, members of the Court themselves, would be reluctant to talk to him, so he lifted his sword. “Where is he?”
“In his private rooms,” the servitor stammered. Yamamoto was disgusted; the man had grown fat, while soldiers and sailors starved and died. “I can lead you there.”
Yamamoto motioned for two of his guards to hold the servitor. “I know the way,” he said, and led the way into the Palace, climbing stairs without thinking about what he was doing. For Yurina, he realised, it was worse; the Palace might have been very different in her day. They reached the Emperor’s private rooms – he noted the lack of a guard with anger – and he knocked politely.
“Please, enter,” a voice said. Yamamoto shivered; Hirohito’s voice was exactly as he remembered it, but weaker. “Please, don’t stand on ceremony.”
Yamamoto entered and prostrated himself. He was vaguely aware of Yurina doing the same thing beside him. “Please, rise,” Hirohito said. “Admiral, what are you doing here?”
Yamamoto had expected anger, or annoyance. The mildly polite tone was different. He pulled himself to his feet, taking a moment to take a covert look at Hirohito, and realised that the Emperor was thin and gaunt. Had the Army not dared to feed him, for fear that he might order their arrest?
“I have a vitally important report to make to you,” he said, and detailed the war situation, leaving nothing out. Grimly aware that Hirohito knew nothing about the war, he explained about the three nuclear detonations, the invasion of Vladivostok by the Americans, the militarists decision to add America to the list of enemies… and the defeat of the Combined Fleet.
“Your Majesty, we have lost the war,” he said. “Sire; the British have made some agreements to us, if we surrender now and…”
“What of my people?” Hirohito interrupted. The Monarch’s voice seemed stronger. “How fare they?”
“Many are starving,” Yurina said. Yamamoto noticed that Hirohito didn’t take offence at her tone. “They know that they have been betrayed. Your Majesty, we have to end the war.”
“I agree,” Hirohito said. Yamamoto blinked. “They have never told me any of that, not since the first conference, when you yourself assured me that there would be time to seize a commanding position.”
Yamamoto lowered his eyes. It was true. “I know my mistake,” he said, “and I will offer the only recompense I can, once the war has come to an end.” He was aware of Yurina’s alarm beside him. “But we have to save the people.”
“I won’t ask you to die, Admiral,” Hirohito said. Yurina relaxed. “I will ask you to do something worse, to live for me. We have to end the war.”
Yamamoto almost collapsed with relief. “Your Majesty must broadcast to the army,” he said. He lifted his radio and gave orders for the British transmitter to be brought to the palace. “You must issue orders to surrender.”
Hirohito bowed his head. He was older than he looked, Yamamoto knew; a man who had never wanted to be Emperor. “I will,” he said. “Have they made any agreements about my person?”
“They have agreed that Your Imperial Majesty will keep the throne,” Yamamoto said, as the radio was carried in. “Your life is safe as always.”
Hirohito shook his head. “Then others will be condemned to this half-life,” he said. He inspected the radio; Yurina showed him how to speak into it. Hirohito took a deep breath, and began. “People of Japan,” he said. “The war situation has taken a turn not to Japan’s advantage…”
He spoke on. Yamamoto was only dimly aware of Yurina’s shock at the speech. “We will make a truce with our enemies before they destroy us to the last man, before the Japanese people can be wiped from the face of the Earth,” Hirohito concluded. “I appoint Admiral Yamamoto as the new Prime Minister. He will make the arrangements with the British.”
Chapter Thirty-Four: Unanswered Questions
The White House
Washington DC, USA
19th May 1942
It had taken only three days for the surrender of Imperial Japan to be finalised. General Vandegrift, who had been expecting to receive the attentions of a Japanese Army, had been astounded when it offered to surrender instead. A five-sided war had promptly broken out, between Japanese factions who wanted to surrender, Japanese factions that didn’t want to surrender, Chinese and Russian factions who wanted to seize the Japanese equipment and extract revenge, and the Americans.
Ambassador King shook his head as Truman detailed the surrender agreements. The Japanese had expected to surrender to Britain, and so America would not be contributing an occupation army. King was wryly amused; Churchill hadn’t been happy over Britain’s exclusion in the original timeline, but Truman couldn’t care less. Instead, the United States would exercise a protectorate over Korea, until some form of native government could be installed.
He frowned. That might prove difficult; the Japanese had torn up the ethnic Koreans pretty badly. Between heavily-armed Japanese settlers, the remains of the Korean people and Chinese collaborators with the Japanese, it didn’t look good for lasting peace. The rest of China wasn’t much better; some Japanese generals had even allied themselves with warlords against everyone else, and the Japanese bioweapons were still wrecking havoc.