Free The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara Page A

savored the sweet burn. “General, how about we put every ounce of energy into capturing Okinawa? You’ll have your emergency airstrips, and you’ll have your staging area for your fighters. In no time we’ll have that place fixed up so your boys can get back to work on those Jap cities. I know damn well you’ll pin a medal on the first fighter pilot who machine-guns the emperor’s front door.”
    LeMay seemed to ponder the image, nodded slowly.
    “Yep. Suppose I will. Look, Admiral, I’m not oblivious. I know what it’s going to cost to rout a hundred thousand enemy soldiers off Okinawa. I know what it cost to take Tarawa and Peleliu and all the rest. All I want is for you to give me the airbases, get me close enough to do my job like it needs to be done. Hell, I’ll bomb MacArthur’s headquarters if it’ll end the war any sooner.” Nimitz flinched, and LeMay seemed to know he had crossed the line. LeMay lowered his voice, one fist slowly pounding the table in front of him, his words following the steady rhythm.
    “You send that damn Buckner out there to get me those airstrips. That’s what
I
want.” He stood, clamped his hat hard under his arm. “One more thing. When you go out to Iwo Jima, pat a couple of those Marines on the back for me. We’ve got a hell of a flock of Superforts who need those landing strips, and I know your boys got beat to hell grabbing them. Hope it’s not as bad on Okinawa.”

3. ADAMS
    A T S EA , N EAR THE C AROLINE I SLANDS
M ARCH 23, 1945
    “B ust him up!”
    “Left hook! Come on! One more!”
    Adams heard the roar of voices, ignored them, his brain focused only on the man in front of him, a flicker of motion from the curled brown glove, a lightning jab that whistled past his ear. He ducked, too late, another jab thumping hard straight into his face, square on his nose, watering his eyes. He backed up a step, the man coming forward, closing the gap, sensing some vulnerability, but Adams was angry far more than he was hurt. The jabs had been a nuisance, nothing more, but had kept him off balance just enough to keep him from setting his feet, getting in the good shot of his own. He ducked again, moved to one side, frustrated, but kept his focus, an unshakable stare on the man’s chest, the one place the fighter couldn’t feint. Adams tried not to look at the man’s gloves, knew to ignore the flickers of movement, the quick shift of the man’s head, all the fakes designed to mislead. Adams held his own gloves up tight to his chin, his elbows in against his ribs, protection from a man who was becoming less and less of a threat. There had been a few hard punches, one catching Adams flush on the side of the head, but there had been no thunder behind it, noeffect at all, and from those first few moments, Adams knew it was only a matter of time. Adams continued to back away, watched as the man pursued him with a clumsy bobbing of his head. His opponent was tall, lean, spiderlike arms, his best asset, used them perfectly, keeping Adams away with the jabs to his face. But there was no damage from that, just the massive annoyance, infuriating frustration from the man’s pecks and probes, the occasional attempt at a heavier shot into Adams’s face. But the man’s lack of power had seemed to discourage him, and as the fight moved into the third round, the gangly man worked harder to keep Adams away. Adams had seen this before, a man no longer fighting to win, but just to survive. The jabs continued to come, flickers that mostly slipped past Adams’s ears, bouncing off his gloves, anything to keep Adams out of close range, keep him off balance. In his corner the sergeant was spewing out words, instructions, advice, words that melted away with the shouts and cheers of the Marines on the open deck around them. Adams had forgotten about the
plan
, the careful strategy, the sergeant’s instructions meaningless now, the only thought in his brain the search for the opening, seeking the