No Merciful War

Everything We Had Summary

November 1941: War is coming to the Pacific.

In Europe, the Nazis are triumphant. England is under siege by air and sea. France has fallen to the Nazi Wehrmacht, which in turn fell on Soviet Russia. The Red Army is in full retreat, with the Nazis at the gates of Moscow.

In the Pacific, Japan has been at war with China since 1937. Her war industries depend upon imports of scrap metal and oil from the Allied nations. When an embargo is placed on imports to Japan, they are left with a year's supply of oil to supply their armed forces.

Japan surrounds American possessions in the Philippines on three sides. The US Army is making a desperate, last-minute attempt to reinforce the Philippines garrison, but the clock is ticking for the Japanese, with their oil running out. The armed forces of Imperial Japan may attack the Philippines at any moment.

Two brothers, Jack and Charlie Davis, are pilots in the US Army Air Forces. They are part of the reinforcements sent to the Far Eastern Air Force, charged with air defense of the Philippines.

For Jack and Charlie, in a time when the US is on the brink of world war, a simple question must soon be answered: What will I do when the Japanese come?

©2015 Tom Burkahlter (P)2021 Tantor