On to the Philippines!

Now about Nimitz keeping silent in the face of the Japanese propaganda offensive: By Friday the Japanese were going to town; by Saturday they were full of fanatic pronouncements; yet not a word was heard from Pearl Harbor except that the Japanese were attacking. By Sunday the screams of the Japanese were heard around the world: the Americans were beaten and being pursued. The list of ships sunk and damaged grew and grew. And still Nimitz kept silent! Several hundred million people yearned for a few words of comfort that only Nimitz could deliver, but he held back. By Monday you would have thought that Mount Fuji was erupting and the world was beginning to despair. But the chess master kept his silence, waiting for the Japanese Fleet to come out. Only when it was clear that they would NOT come out and fight did he say that not a single ship was lost; not one battleship or aircraft carrier was even heavily damaged! Only two medium-sized ships retired with "minor damage." The whole world listened, stupefied ... almost in disbelief. This evening, some 15 hours after he spoke, radio stations in Japan, Manila and Axis countries are still busy telling the world that Nimitz was silent, but nobody's listening anymore.