World Battlefronts: The Battlewagons Roar

No hair adorns the chin of Nippon's waxy, weak-chinned Emperor Hirohito. But last week his cheeks burned to the same scorching heat that Spain's gloomy Philip II knew when Britain's pirate captains sailed up to singe his beard.

Playing Francis Drake's role was U.S. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. For three weeks his Fifth Fleet had roamed Japanese waters on battle cruise, spreading destruction, taunting the shattered Japanese Fleet to come out and fight.

Bombs on a Bridge. Now the target was the sensitive Ryukyus, the 55-island bridge linking Formosa to Japan's main islands. From the carriers of Task Force 58 Vice Admiral Marc...