CHAPTER XXV
Inthe Fall of 1929, Robert and Walter made a large amount of money in cotton and wheat. Robert was unusually happy. Altho over three years had passed without any direct news of Marie he was sure she was alive; felt that the time was not long to wait before she would reappear. The war clouds had begun to appear as Robert had predicted. Spain and Japan were threatening the United States. Controversies over airplane airports arose. Japan had forbidden the United States commercial ships to land on her soil. Diplomatic relations were not smoothing affairs out and Robert knew that war was inevitable. Spain had made rapid progress with airplanes and was anxious to try her power against the United States. The United States Government was waking up to the fact of their need of a greater air fleet and the Air Department was making some great progress. Robert knew they were working on secret plans and knew that he had something that could be used successfully at the right time. He was spending money lavishly and working to improve on his Ezekiel plane. He was keeping everything secret, sending out plans to different manufacturers and having the parts made, Walter and himself secretly putting the machine together. Robert had made a large amount of money buying oil stocks. A big bullcampaign in oil stocks had been brought about by the decreasing oil supply. The Government realizing the increased demand for gasoline on account of the large amount of airplanes used, knew that in time of war their success would depend upon the supply of oil and gas, so a decree was passed conserving the oil resources. There was still a big foreign demand for oil and gasoline as war in Europe was still going on. Affairs in England were in a bad state and revolution was threatened.
April, 1930
Japan declared war on the United States and Spain joined forces with her. They secured the aid of Mexico and established an air base there. The United States was unprepared for war as they had not kept up the programme of building a sufficient air fleet to protect the country against invasion by such a large fleet as commanded by Japan and Spain. There was a hasty call by the Government for volunteers to the Aviation Corps. Robert Gordon and Walter Kennelworth hastened to Washington, tendered their services to the Government and joined the Aviation Corps. They were made Lieutenants and ordered immediately to San Antonio, Texas, where the Southern Aviation Division had its headquarters. Robert offered the benefit of his experience to the officials, but older and wiser heads refused to listen to his advice because they thought he was too young. At that time they knew nothing about his long years of secret work and his great inventions, but they soon learned the value of his discovery andpatent which he had sold to Japan,—the muffler which made the airplane silent.
The United States Government fearing that Japan would make the first attack on the Pacific Coast either around Los Angeles or San Francisco, rushed the battle fleet to the Pacific. This proved to be one of the greatest mistakes of the war. As soon as the battleships cruised into the Pacific, Japan attacked from the air with their noiseless airplanes and began dropping deadly bombs from great heights. The anti-aircraft guns from the decks of the battleships were powerless to reach the bombing planes at such great heights. Defeat was swift and severe and only a few of the battleships escaped complete destruction from the first attack. The United States Officers had found that the Japanese planes could rise more than twice the altitude of the United States planes. They knew that Japan had some invention that was superior to ours which enabled them to reach such great heights that their airships were practically immune from attack. This placed the United States at a great disadvantage as they were unable to protect the coast cities from being destroyed by bombs from the Japanese planes.
A council of war was held. The commanding officers were called together. The President hastily summoned the Cabinet. There was no minimizing the danger for everyone knew that the ingenuity of Japan had designed a superior fighting plane; that this was to be a war in the air and that all old methods and weapons of war were obsolete; that the United States must move quick and fast to prevent destruction of the Pacific Coast cities.They decided to confiscate the large manufacturing plants and start them on making new inventions and the manufacture of airplanes. Central Steel was confiscated; also Major Motors and Major Electric Co. The war council decided that they should scatter their air forces from Brownsville, Texas, up to El Paso to protect the Rio Grande from attack thru Mexico; that the battle line should extend up the Colorado River on across to Portland and Seattle. The land forces were all rushed to the Coast, forming a battle line from Brownsville, Texas, across to the Northwest to Seattle. It was decided that this line should be held with reserve forces to be sent to support a second line of defense running from San Diego up the Coast to Portland, to protect inland invasion by the foe in case they were successful in capturing any of the coast cities. People in Los Angeles and San Francisco were in a state of turmoil. Thousands were leaving every day by train and airplane, going to the Grand Canyon where there were no cities and they hoped they would be safe from attacks. Others went to the central and eastern parts of the United States because they feared attacks any day.
Japan was quick to follow up her victory gained on the water by attacking Los Angeles from the air in the middle of May. Here again the great value of the silent motor was proved and the height to which the Japanese plane could rise. As the enemy stole over the city in the silence of the night, not a sound could be heard from their motors at the great heights which they were sailing. Bombs began to fall in the business sectionand the skyscrapers crumbled to pieces. Every street light was ordered out, leaving the city in total darkness. The people were aroused at the first noise of exploding bombs and rushed out to find the city in darkness. This caused a panic. Army officers tried to quiet the people and keep them in their homes because they realized the danger if they rushed out into the streets where the bombs were falling. Powerful searchlights were sweeping the sky in an effort to locate the invading planes. Then the giant aircraft guns were trained on the enemy, but the distance was so great and the planes moving so swiftly, that they were unable to do much damage. They only succeeded in bringing down three of the bombing planes. The United States scouting planes were sent out immediately, followed by the fighting planes carrying 6-inch guns. They found that the Japanese planes were dropping bombs from a height of 60,000 to 80,000 feet and the United States planes were unable to rise high enough to attack them.
The battle waged thruout the night and when the sun rose the next morning, the beautiful city of Los Angeles was in ruins. Thousands of people had been killed and the most of the important buildings had been destroyed. The people of Los Angeles were more excited than they had ever been during earthquakes. The destruction and loss of life were so great that everyone forgot all about their property and money and only thought of saving their lives and protecting their loved ones. The commanding officers held a hasty conference, realizing the great damage the enemy had done and the small damage they had been able to inflict upon them and knowingthat the enemy would follow this attack by more attacks it was decided that to force the people to remain meant certain death and a destruction of the balance of the valuable property, so the only thing to do was to move the people out as fast as possible and surrender the city. After the commanders had held this council, news of their decision was conveyed to the subordinate officers.
Lieutenant Gordon's heart was broken when he realized that the beautiful city of Los Angeles must be either surrendered or destroyed, yet he knew that unless the Government quickly made some new and wonderful inventions, many more defeats were in store. When Captain George Cooper who was in command of Lieutenant Gordon's company, received orders that no move was to be made and no scouts to be sent out until further instructions, he called Lieutenants Gordon and Kennelworth and conveyed to them the orders. Lieutenant Gordon was desperate. He wanted to do something to help save the situation, but to offer his advice to his superior officers was futile. Finally, he decided to disobey orders and go out on a scouting expedition alone and see what he could find out. He thought he might locate a Japanese base, as he believed they had a mother ship somewhere near from which they were sending out the bombing planes. He was flying very low as he crossed the line below San Diego. All at once a Japanese plane was coming straight toward him. He immediately turned his plane and rushed back across the line followed closely by the enemy who was gaining on him rapidly. Lieutenant Gordon whirledhis plane around quickly and charged the Japanese plane. The fight lasted for several minutes.
After Lieutenant Gordon had been gone some time and failed to return Lieutenant Kennelworth knowing that he had disobeyed orders and gone out with his plane decided that some harm might have come to him and that he too must disobey orders and go to his rescue. He jumped into a fast plane and sailed out, going direct toward San Diego. He soon sighted the two planes in combat and just before he reached the scene, they went down together. His heart sank within him. He knew it was his old friend Robert and feared for the worst. Landing along the side of the wreck he found that the Japanese aviator had been killed. Robert's leg had been broken; otherwise he was uninjured. He quickly hauled him aboard his own plane and started back for headquarters and was just in time as other Japanese planes were approaching and followed him close into Los Angeles. Lieutenant Gordon was confined to the hospital three or four weeks before his leg healed and he fully recovered. He was given a severe reprimand for disobeying orders but because he had brought down an enemy plane the Government made him a Captain for this bravery and also promoted Lieutenant Kennelworth, his chum, to the same rank.
In the meantime, the people had been moved away from Los Angeles as fast as possible. There had been several minor attacks by the enemy and more buildings had been destroyed and only a few of the enemy's planes had been brought down. The situation was desperate. People were frantic. The United States was hopelesslyoutnumbered by the Spanish and Japanese air forces. England was threatening to join forces with Japan and Spain. An attack on San Francisco was expected at any hour. People wanted to get away and move east into the mountains for protection, but the Government had notified everyone to remain. The fact that the foreign planes were noiseless put the United States at a great disadvantage. Robert and Walter were using their secret radio to communicate with each other. They had offered this invention to the Government and it had been accepted. This was a great help as the Japanese were unable to intercept their code messages or take any message from the air because there were none.
The United States Army officers knew that they must fight for time to get some new inventions ready to combat the enemy. On June 14th, Los Angeles was surrendered. White flags were run up all over the city as a signal for the enemy planes to stop attacking. The plan was to send no message to the enemy headquarters in Mexico but to wait and see what action they would take or what terms they would offer to make. General Pearson of the Aviation Corps, General Johnson of the Cavalry, Admiral Dawson of the Navy and General Marshall of the Infantry held a council to decide the next and wisest move to make. A plan was discussed for crossing the Rio Grande into Mexico with land troops and making an attempt to capture the supply base of the enemy. General Pearson said that the days of old tactics and war had changed, that the enemy evidently intended to make this a war in the air and that they would attack troops from the air. To sendan army into the mountains of Mexico would not only mean the loss of thousands of lives, which would prove useless, but that part of the air force would have to be sent into Mexico to protect the army and this would weaken the coast patrol and give the enemy a chance to make an air attack on other coast cities. Admiral Dawson said that in the weakened condition of the Navy, since the disaster from the first attack by the Japanese planes, it would be foolhardy to attempt any aggressive campaign by the Navy, that what ships they had were now scattered along the Southern, Eastern and Western shores for protection and to concentrate them at one point would only weaken other joints from which they would have to be withdrawn. General Marshall was of the opinion that the best plan was not to attack, but let the enemy make the first move every time and try to find some way to protect the coast cities, that what we needed was time to get better equipped with sufficient airplanes to cope with the enemy's superior air force. So it was finally decided that the wisest course to pursue was a waiting attitude.
There was a panic in Wall Street when the news came of the surrender of Los Angeles. Edna had been left in charge of the office in New York and thru the secret Pocket Radio, kept in communication with Walter and Robert. She was conducting a campaign in the stock market for them and had made a fortune on the short side of the market. Business was bad, and the whole country was in a state of turmoil.
After the white flags were floated over the ruins of Los Angeles, days went by and there were no moreattacks by the enemy, nor was any word received from enemy headquarters. The American patrol planes around Los Angeles reported occasionally seeing the enemy planes scouting over the city at great heights, evidently taking observation as to what was going on. This mysterious action on the part of the enemy was a source of worry to the commanding officers of the United States. The people all over the country were in a state of anxiety, wondering where the enemy would strike next. The Infantry and Cavalry were restlessly waiting orders to go into action along the Rio Grande.
On the night of August 1st, the enemy planes crossed the Rio Grande and dropped bombs all along from Brownsville to El Paso, destroying property and killing more than a hundred thousand men among the Infantry and Cavalry. The enemy planes were again flying very high. The anti-craft guns and the attack by our planes did very little damage, only bringing down five of the enemy planes along the entire lines, while more than 200 of the American airplanes were destroyed by bombs dropping on them from above. General Marshall in his report to General Pearson next day said: "Hell turned loose in the sky last night from Brownsville to El Paso. Our loss was terrific and the enemy's loss was very small. There is but one hope and that is to get more and better airplanes. We must get planes that will rise to a height where they can reach the enemy and make the fight in the air."
Captain Robert Gordon was still stationed near Los Angeles and when news came of the terrible loss of life along the Rio Grande, his mind turned to "Marie theAngel of Mercy,"—his great plane secretly stored away in the Adirondack Mountains for use in just such an emergency as this. He knew what the "Demon of Death" could do and the sleeping gas invented by Captain Kennelworth. He thought of going to General Pearson, telling him of his discoveries and offering them to the United States to put into immediate use, but after meditating over the matter decided that they would only call him a fool and refuse to listen to him as they had before, because he was too young. However, he asked General Pearson for orders to permit him to go on a scouting expedition over Mexico and up and down the Rio Grande to see if he could learn anything of value.
On the morning of August 3rd, Captain Robert Gordon traveled across Arizona and New Mexico and as he neared El Paso saw the largest airship that he had ever seen before slowly drifting over El Paso. It was a giant plane and Robert knew that it was either a mother ship or one of the enemy's great bombing planes which had been so high that he had never been able to see them before. He began circling it at a great distance, watching to see what this monster of the air was going to do. Finally, it slowed down and came to a complete standstill. He saw that it could anchor in the air and knew that the enemy had another discovery that would beat what the Americans had. Waiting for awhile, he saw what seemed to be an observation platform emerge from the side of the plane. An officer appeared on it with some instruments. Captain Gordon thought that they were either taking photographs or making observations over El Paso for some purpose. Fortunately, he had started out on a bombing plane and had plenty of bombson board. Decided that he had but one life to give for his country and that he would rise as high as he could, sail swiftly over this monster and drop his bombs. When he got as close over it as he could gauge, he released the automatic control and started dropping bombs one after another. The first bomb made a hit and struck the ship near the middle, which was lucky, tearing a terrific hole in it. He knew from the way it acted that it was badly disabled. Now was the time to get in his effective work. Dropping lower, he let go more bombs, this time striking the giant ship both in the front and rear. It started to fall rapidly and he followed it down and got close enough to see that there were still men on board alive so he let go more bombs and in a few minutes there was nothing but a wreck of the greatest dreadnought of death which had ever floated over American soil.
Before venturing to land Captain Gordon ascended to a great height, circled the sky to see if there were any more enemy ships in sight which might endanger his life. Finding the air clear, he immediately radioed the news with his Pocket-Radio to Captain Kennelworth who was then stationed at San Diego. The news was quickly flashed to General Pearson's headquarters. On examination they found that the giant ship was a mother ship more than 600 feet long, bearing the name of "Tokyo J-1" and that it carried 25 bombing planes of the most modern type with collapsible wings and equipped with powerful searchlights carrying bombs and poisonous gases. It was estimated that more than 100 officers and aviators were aboard the airship when it fell. All were killed but two. They were badlywounded with broken limbs and were taken prisoners. There were found to be three of the enemy's planes that were not damaged badly. Captain Gordon and Captain Kennelworth tested these planes after they were put back in working order and found that they were high altitude planes and could rise higher than any of the planes used by the United States. This was a great victory because it would enable the American inventors to find out how these planes were built and they could also be used against the enemy.
News of this great victory was sent to the President of the United States. He ordered General Pearson to decorate Captain Gordon with the Cross of Aviation and convey to him the gratitude of the people of the United States and the President's sincere personal appreciation. The afternoon newspapers in every large city in the United States carried in big headlines "GIANT MOTHER SHIP CAPTURED BY DARING YOUNG AVIATOR, CAPTAIN ROBERT GORDON." The people thruout the United States breathed a sigh of relief; felt that the tide was at last turning and that now some way would be found to destroy more of the enemy's giant ships.
When General Pearson called Captain Gordon before him, he was very modest and meek because he remembered the severe reprimand before when he disobeyed orders and brought down the Japanese plane near San Diego. This time he had acted on instructions from General Pearson and was very happy to have rendered a great service to his country. As the General read the message from the President, tears came into his eyes. He thanked his commanding officer and said that hehoped he might have many more opportunities to render service to his beloved country. At that time his thoughts turned to Marie and he wondered where she might be and if she knew what was happening. He was especially happy because he had brought this enemy ship down in the State in which he was born and that State of which he was very proud. Captain Kennelworth came to congratulate him and said: "Robert, old pal, I am very proud of you and your great achievement. The Lone Star State of Texas which was distinguished by its brave sons at the Battle of the Alamo, has again been distinguished by one of her favorite sons, and Mexico as well as Spain and Japan will be made to realize that the Texans never surrender."
After the night attack and the great destruction along the Rio Grande, the American forces waited anxiously and in peril for another attack. Days went by without any sign from the enemy. Los Angeles had not been molested and the mystery was deepening as to what were the enemy's plans and the next move they would make. General Pearson had ordered one of the planes from the "Tokyo J-1" sent to the Major Electric Company in the East where they could experiment with it and make some planes like it or better ones. He gave one of the planes to Captain Gordon and the other to Captain Kennelworth to be put into service. Captain Gordon asked that they be permitted to go into Mexico, locate the enemy's headquarters and try to destroy more of their ships, but the General refused to grant this request, saying that he would not risk the lives of such valuable men or risk losing the ships which might prove very valuable when the enemy again made an attack.