Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan

by Bruce Lee

Another reason why the messages from Moscow are so important to Washington is that they prove, early on in the war, that our ally, Stalin, never, ever intends to allow American planes to “shuttle-bomb” Japan, i.e., allow them to depart from Alaskan soil to land on airfields in Siberia. Just as the Japanese were afraid to attack Russia, the Russians are afraid to do anything that might upset their nonaggression agreement with Tokyo. Later on, the question of shuttle bombing will become a major irritant in Soviet-American relations. Be that as it may, Roosevelt and Marshall know by reading the Magic Summaries that, from the beginning, Russia is never going to help us defeat Japan until it becomes expedient for her to so do. In turn, this means that the war in Europe will end in an unexpected way.