Kirov Saga: Armageddon (Kirov Series) (21 page)

Tonight he was to find Kataoka and meet with him aboard his
Squadron Flag. To do so he elected to leave his flagship with his squadron and
board one of the faster destroyers he had with him, the
Asagiri
. More
talk, he thought. Well, the faster I get there the quicker I will get back.
Then we can do the fighting. But when he reached the anchorage near the
lighthouse at sunrise, and took the longboat over to the old battleship
Chinyen
,
he was discourage to learn that no engagement was to be permitted!

“What do you mean, Kataoka? What are we here for then?”

“We are to spot this ship, report its heading and intended course,
and to move away from it, to this location hidden by the headland of Tsushima
Island.”

“To do what? Go fishing? Enjoy the scenery? Watch that stupid
lighthouse spin round and round? It’s time we went after this Russian Captain
and settled the matter!”

“I know that is what is in your mind, Dewa, but this signal comes
directly from Admiral Togo. We are to wait here, and outlying ships should
attempt to lead the enemy here as well. Mines are to be placed on the
approaches to the headlands, and then, when Admiral Togo arrives with the First
Division, we will all engage the enemy as one.”

It was very much like Togo, to gather all his hounds together
before the hunt. To spin out lines of fast destroyers and torpedo boats as
taunting lures, beckoning the enemy to advance across his cleverly laid
minefields. But Dewa remembered the sharp crack of the guns, the smell of the
battle, the anger in Tsushima Strait those years ago when they had met the
whole Russian Baltic fleet and dismembered it, ship by ship.

“This is but one ship,” he said, shaking his head. “Why must Togo
mass the whole of the Imperial Navy to face it? My squadron alone should be
more than enough.”

“That is what Vice Admiral Kamimura thought,” said Kataoka. “Now
Tango
and
Mishima
are gone and he has one cruiser laid up in port, another beached
on Dozen Island and four others black as charcoal from the fires set by enemy
guns!”

Dewa was astonished to hear this. “What?
Tango
and
Mishima
gone? Where?”

“They were sunk, Dewa.”

“I cannot believe this… It was confirmed?”

“The final report was sent three hours ago to Admiral Togo by
wireless telegraphy. Kamimura himself was wounded! So do not be so eager to
rush in with your four cruisers and four destroyers. This report has everything
to say why Admiral Togo has issued these orders.”

Dewa frowned, troubled by the news. “Then the reports are true,”
he said darkly. “Some of the fishing boats we encountered told us word has
spread all down the west coast of Honshu. It is said this ship was a great sea
dragon, a monster that could breathe fire and devour an entire ship in one
blow.”

“This is what we have heard…” Kataoka lowered his voice now, so
that none of the younger staff officers would hear him. “
Tango
and
Mishima
were struck by something we do not yet comprehend. They died in minutes, burned
within and without in terrible flame. It was said that a flaming lance was
thrown at them by this Russian ship, faster than an arrow, and deadly accurate—a
rocket
weapon. We have never faced anything like this. Now do you
understand why Togo disposes the fleet as he does? He wishes to mass our fist
against this enemy, to make certain the victory that will surely be ours.”

“I would see this with my own eyes first,” said Dewa stubbornly.
“Let them throw their fire arrows. As for me, I will use my cannon and
torpedoes.”

Kataoka smiled. “You are early, Dewa, but yet your squadron still
lingers in the strait. I know you all too well, my friend. You are hoping yours
will be the first to spot and engage this Russian ship. Well remember the old
saying: be careful what you wish for …”

Dewa looked at him, with a disapproving frown, but something in Kataoka’s
eyes disturbed him. If he did not know the man better, having seen him in
battle before, he would think it was fear in those eyes, though he could never
say as much to Kataoka.

Yes, I want battle, and I will find one soon enough, he thought.
That was the way of things. But I will not be frightened by fisherman’s tales
of sea dragons and fire lances. No. I will see this ship for myself, and watch
as my gunners bring it to heel.

Or I will die trying.

Chapter 17

“Now
we choose,” said Karpov as he stood on the bridge examining the
situation map. They had reached the northern tip of Tsushima Island and now had
to decide their course, either left down the Tsushima Strait or right through
the Korea Strait. The Captain seemed in good spirits, the rest he had taken
doing him some good, and he was ready for the action ahead.

“From the latest
Oko
panel radar data, it appears that they
have pulled back to protect the straits. By assembling at the southern end of this
island.”

“That is understandable,” said Rodenko. “As we come south they
will have amble opportunity to spot us from any of these islands. And note all
these clutter contacts.” He pointed to the Tsushima Strait, indicating many
small contacts scattered throughout the sea there. “They are probably trawlers
or fishing boats…commercial traffic, but some may be military. It’s a thin veil,
and nothing that could impede us, but if we take that channel we will be seen
in time.”

“Then we have the Korea Strait, a much more likely approach,” said
Karpov. “It avoids all this clutter you speak of and is a much more direct
route to the Yellow Sea.”

“You believe they are expecting us to take that route, sir?”

“I do,” Karpov smiled. “Which is precisely why we will steer for
the Tsushima Strait instead.”

“You give up the element of surprise. They will spot us much more
easily there.”

“No, Rodenko, I
create
the element of surprise. You said
yourself that they have assigned their heavier ships to the Korea Strait, west
of the island. That is where Admiral Togo will be. I would love to sail there
directly and engage him, but that would leave all these other ships unfought in
the Tsushima Strait. So I will do what Togo does not expect. I will sail boldly
into those waters, destroy his squadrons there, one by one, and then, when he
comes rushing to the scene from the other side of the island, the surprise will
be complete.”

“I don’t understand, sir. He will be well aware of our movements.”

“Yet surprised to see half his fleet burning when he gets there.
Then we fire up the
Moskit-IIs
and I will make a quick end of his
battleships. The rest is done with mirrors.”

Rodenko still seemed troubled, his expression hardened, eyes
betraying his concern. “Are you certain we must do this, Captain?”

Karpov gave him an exasperated look. “How many times must we go
over this, Rodenko? What is your problem with this? You would rather we take a
vacation cruise here?”

“It just that… Well I was thinking about all this last night, sir.
Suppose we do what you plan and smash the Japanese fleet here. Suppose it does
have the effect you hope for, and Russia returns to the Pacific as a great
power. Japan might eventually be driven from Manchuria and Korea.”

“Yes, and led by
Kirov
, our navy becomes the master of
these waters.”

“Except for the Americans, sir.”

“The Americans?”

“Their Great White Fleet is approaching the region. Nikolin said
he picked up some telegraphy traffic about an altered itinerary, so I looked it
up. They were supposed to be steaming for the Philippines and then on to New
Zealand and Australia first, but they have altered course, sir.”

“Indeed? Then things have already changed.”

“That mail steamer, sir. There were American citizens aboard and
several were killed when we fired on the ship. Their Captain was spitting mad
and threatened to make a major diplomatic protest.”

“To who? The Mayor of Vladivostok? The Tsar won’t hear about it
for weeks, and would likely give it little notice. Besides that, Nicholas could
send me a direct order to cease and desist here and I could tell him to go to
hell without a second thought. There’s nothing anyone can do about what I now
have planned, Rodenko. Nothing.”

“Well what about the American Great White Fleet, Captain?”

“It it makes an appearance, which is very unlikely, I can deal
with it just as easily as these other ships.”

“But they have sixteen battleships, sir! We have only nineteen
SSMs left in inventory, and there will never be any more after that. If we use some
now against the Japanese that will leave us even less. Can you sink the whole
American fleet with the deck guns?”

“I have some surprises planned for the Japanese, but to answer
your question, yes. I can sink them all if I wish. Don’t forget our torpedo
inventory. We have the
Vodopad
system, and a few torpedoes for the
KA-40. I have ample ordnance to prevail, against the Japanese or the Americans
if they get pushy.”

“Alright sir…” Rodenko took another tack now. “Suppose we defeat
Admiral Togo here, and the Americans do stay out of things. Then it comes down
to a standoff between us and them. Years go by, and they continue to improve
their ship designs. We could sink their existing ships, but what if they build
more? You saw what they did in WWII. They’ll start building aircraft carriers
after the First World War.”

“Yes, I have thought about all of this too, and perhaps the one
thing we
will
do here is change the complexion of WWII in this theater.
If I stop Japan now—”

“Then it’s the Americans and Russia, sir. You said yourself that
you would restore Russia to prominence here, but I don’t think the Americans
will back down that easily, even if we do destroy their Great White Fleet.
They’ll be outraged, and simply build another fleet. They know their place on
the world stage depends on their navy, just like Great Britain. Why, the enmity
we create here could have an effect on the First World War as well. Both Russia
and the United States came in to fight against Germany, but with those two
countries as enemies who knows what will happen?”

“You worry too much, Rodenko. We cannot control every possible
outcome, or even predict what may or may not happen as a result of our
intervention here.”

“But we can make reasonable assumptions, Captain. And we should.
Each second that we pass here widens the rift we tear in history. There may
come a point when it can no longer hold together and it all comes rending
apart. We have no idea what will happen then, as you just said yourself. We
won’t be able to control things, sir, not with all the missiles, torpedoes, and
shells left to us. This ship is in good trim now, but it is already wounded and
will need maintenance. Things will fail in the months and years ahead. The
missiles also have a limited life span. We will get weaker and weaker, and the
world will get stronger each and every day.”

“I don’t plan on trying to rule the world, Rodenko, just my little
corner of a self-made hell, here. Understand? Yes, we are young men. I am
thirty five, so if I live to be eighty-five that gives me fifty years here. I can
do a lot with that time…change many things. But that is tomorrow. We start
building that future
today
, in the here and now. Nothing happens unless
we make a choice to do something about it, and that is what I have done—it’s
what the crew of this ship chose as well, or have you forgotten that?”

Rodenko was silent, brooding, and still unsatisfied. “Don’t you
see, Captain? The very existence of this ship arises from a very complex weave
of history.
Kirov
was built as a result of the cold war, but we see how
fragile that history is now, and you yourself seem to think you can change it
all at your whim and no one here will suffer any ill effects. But what if we
cut the very strand that we dangle from? What if we do something at affects our
very existence?”

“Now you sound like Fedorov.”

Karpov looked out to the sea, noting the winds rising and a bank
of clouds scudding low over the waves in the distance. It was pristine in its
simplicity and emptiness, yet now it was the vast tapestry where he would sew and
weave all of that future history. Rodenko’s fears were justifiable, but somehow
Karpov believed they could do nothing that would affect their own existence
here.

“Don’t clutter your head with these impossible thoughts, Rodenko.
If I could do something to affect the fate of this ship and crew, then how did
it ever get here to do that in the first place? It’s a paradox! You just go
round and round with it in your head and the only result is that you become
frozen with fear and uncertainty. Well I cannot live like that. I will do what
I choose, and the world can go to hell with me when I leave. So forget
tomorrow! Forget fate and time and destiny—all of it. Think of what we must do
in the here and now, one thing at a time. This will be an easy engagement. Enough
talk and strategy and useless speculation. Let’s do something! Let’s get
moving!”