1943 (Kirov Series Book 27) by Schettler John

Author:Schettler, John [Schettler, John]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: The Writing Shop Press
Published: 2016-10-30T04:00:00+00:00

Part VII

The Rose

“He who dares not grasp the thorn

Should never crave the rose.”

— Anne Brontë

Chapter 19

“Ships that never were,” said Karpov. “Very interesting. Do we have a fix on their location?”

“Not yet,” said Fedorov. “These were long range intercepts. They were on shortwave when they transmitted, and those signals can propagate a good distance.”

“It’s clear we have no further business up north for a while,” said Karpov. “What course would you recommend?”

“Due south. There’s a 1400-mile gap between the first two Japanese outposts we’ll encounter, Guam and Wake Island. We can go right through the center, and the only planes that might spot us would be very long range seaplanes—flying boats. Frankly, I doubt they even mount regular patrols in that sector.”

“Then make it so,” said Karpov.

“After that, we’ll be approaching the Marshall Islands from the north, and Ponape will be due south of us on that course. That island will probably be lightly held, but a few degrees to starboard is Truk, about 450 miles from Ponape. That is the main operating base of the Japanese Combined fleet. It will have airfields, large anchorages in a protected lagoon that will probably be well used. There will be transports, tankers, and a lot of warships come and go. The fleet headquarters is presently operating from the battleship Musashi. That is the sister ship of the vessel we encountered earlier, the Yamato.”

“A tough ship,” said Karpov. “Will it be at anchor?”

“Most likely.”

“Carriers?”

“Yes, they use that base to refuel and replenish. There might be a full carrier division there, but we won’t know until we can recon the area. That could be risky, as there will be a lot of naval air patrols originating from that base, and probably a strong fighter presence.”

“Excellent. Then we move on Truk.”

Fedorov raised an eyebrow. His warning had been received with enthusiasm. “You mean to attack that base?”

“Didn’t the Japanese take the war right to the heart of their enemy when they started this? Two can play the game.”

“Yes sir, but it will likely involve some risk. Don’t forget what the Japanese did to the aft battle bridge.”

“Forewarned is forearmed. We were running low on SAMs, if I recall. That won’t be the case for this raid. Was this base ever attacked by the Americans?”

“Not until mid-February of 1944—Operation Hailstone. They simply did not have the power to penetrate that deeply into Japanese held waters through most of 1943. The US wanted to invade Eniwetok in the Marshalls. Any reinforcements and support would have come from Truk, so they wanted to neutralize that base before the invasion. They hit it with five fleet carriers, three light carriers, seven battleships and over 40 other warships—a massive attack. The base was useless after it was over, and it was bypassed as the Americans continued north into the Marianas.”

“We’ll see what we can do now,” said Karpov, eager for battle.

“You plan on expending missile ordnance on ships anchored there?”

“Possibly. Particularly warships. I think we can get close enough for the KA-226 to sneak in and get us some camera footage.

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