The reason the Panay incident did not lead to war despite general outrage in the United States was that Japan appeared to be genuinely contrite about the "accident." Most Japanese were shocked by news of the attack. Both the admiral in charge of operations in China and the air officer who commanded the squadrons that took part in the attack were relieved of their commands, and numerous individual Japanese contacted the US Embassy in Tokyo to express their deep regrets. Moreover, the Japanese government agreed to and promptly paid the indemnity demanded by the United States. Pearl Harbor was still four years away in late 1937, and at the time the Japanese government was no more eager to fight a war with the US than the US was to fight a war with Japan.