Roads to Delhi 303
but Habib held the higher military rank and had served as his deputy
chief of staff in Singapore. The hope was that the Japanese would pro-
vide another plane for the others to follow their leader. There was a
mad rush in two cars to the airport, where General Tsunamasa Shidei,
a Japanese of fi cer well versed in German and Russian affairs, had been
waiting for a couple of hours.^149
“Well, Jai Hind, I will meet you later,” Netaji told the five bewildered
and confused Indians he was leaving behind. After a round of vigorous
farewell handshakes, he “stepped majestically as ever toward the plane,
walked up the little ladder and vanished into the plane.” At 5:15 p.m.
the Japanese bomber took off from Saigon airport, carrying Netaji. The
five Indians stood there transfixed and strained their eyes “in the direc-
tion of the plane until it grew smaller and smaller and was no more
than a speck in the distant horizon.”^150