Resurgent: The Next War, Volume 4 (Kirov Series Book 44) by John Schettler

Author:John Schettler [Schettler, John]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: The Writing Shop Press
Published: 2019-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

Part VII

South China Sea

Maxim 18:

“If the officers are leading from in front,

watch out for an attack from the rear.”

—Howard Taylor

The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

Chapter 19

War was in the heart of Captain Gordon MacRae as Argos Fire slowly entered the South China Sea. He knew he was going there to sink ships, put men in the water, hulls beneath the sea, and to prevent the enemy from doing the same to him.

Thus far, the ship had fought well in the three engagements it undertook. It decisively shifted the balance of sea power in the Black Sea with the heavy losses it put on the Russians there. It helped stop the Russo-Chinese 5th Escadra in the Med, and forced it back to its Syrian port, and it had cleaned house in the Indian Ocean, eliminating Chinese commerce raiders while protecting valuable friendly ships.

This assignment might prove to be a little tougher, he thought. We’ll be pushing into waters under an ancestral claim by the Chinese. They’ve invested a lot of time, money and effort into building out their island outposts here, and they won’t want us meddling with them. Morgan has identified at least nine Chinese ships forward deployed, but that’s just down here in the Spratleys. The whole bloody Chinese Navy is up north, and if we ever get up near Woody Island, they’ll certainly let us know we’re unwelcome. They might even mount a strong counterattack if we’re successful down here. Good to have the Aussies with us this time out.

DDG 42, Sydney, was the newest ship in the Australian Navy, a Hobart Class destroyer. Its sister ship, Brisbane, was with the Tripoli group, and the lead ship, Hobart, was still in home waters. It had the American Mark 41 VLS, a special 48 cell variant carrying SM-6 and the ESSM. The two frigates, Arunta and Newcastle were of the same class, with a smaller eight cell Mk41 carrying 32 ESSM’s, the missile that could be quad packed, with four in each cell. Having Sydney there with SM-6 was a real boost to the task force defensive power, for by all rights, that missile was better than the Aster system.

Sea Viper (Aster 30) had a 60 mile range, good up to 65,000 feet, but SM-6 more than doubled that at 130 miles, and it could engage a target as high as 115,000 feet. It was the best missile the Americans had, and could even be used as an anti-ship weapon. So MacRae felt confident with his mission, and having not only one, but two Lightning Carrier groups behind him made him all the more happy.

Kearsarge was going to be assigned to the Persian Gulf until it was deemed that the single America carrier group could handle that situation. It then diverted to Diego Garcia, picked up the auxiliaries carrying war supplies and weapons, and helped out a great deal in the Indian Ocean. The Tripoli group had been down training with the Australians when the war broke out, and was sent north soon after.

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