A Japanese general asked the navy how they were going to use 60 thousand tons of oil for their war effort. The japanese fleet was carrying just six tankers and the oil that they carried, says author John Toll. Tolthen: There's talk of this being a last chance, so that the fleet can have a glorious death. But no sailor wants to lose his life trying to fight a battle in which there's no honor on either side.
When do spirit, tenacity, resilience and bravery cross into madness? When cities are incinerated? When suicide attacks become the norm? When atomic weapons are used? Japan's leaders test the limits of national endurance in the war's last year.