Paradox Hour (30 page)

On they came, low on the sea, the bright fire from their tails now suddenly visible. They were so fast that it was impossible for the gunners to adjust for the oncoming range. Böhmer would see them come right at his ships again, unerringly, as if they had night eyes, bat like things, creatures of the night that flew with senses unknown to man, vampires. To his utter amazement, the first of five came boring in right towards his formation.

“Hard to port! All ahead full! All ships to match speed and turn!”

He scarcely had time to shout out the order when the first lance struck his shield on the starboard side.
Loki
was hit just forward of the bridge, smashing right into a 4.7-inch dual purpose gun turret as it fired in futile reprisal. The turret exploded, completely obliterated by the 200kg warhead, and bright orange fire lit up the scene with its angry light.

Then the second missile pummeled
Loki
amidships, the small 6800 ton destroyer rolling with the heavy punch. It was just the size and type of ship the missile had been designed to kill, and it would do exactly that, just as
Sigfrid
had died in this same way a year earlier.

Then, to Böhmer’s amazement, he watched the next two missiles alter their course. They were not simply well aimed lances thrown from beyond the horizon, a feat that was astounding enough. They maneuvered, making lightning quick turns that not even the most agile fighter could have achieved. They maneuvered—right into the gap between
Prinz Eugen
and his own ship, but it was not the veteran Prince they were after that morning.

Graf Zeppelin
was struck on her starboard side, about 200 meters forward of the main elevators. There were two 15cm guns there in twin-gun
Dopp MPL C/36
casemate mountings, with 1.2 inches of armor. It was not enough to stop those 200kg warheads, and the turrets fared little better than the smaller guns on
Loki
. The fury of the fireball glowed orange and red on the grey hull of the ship, and then the second missile smashed right behind the heavy anchors suspended on the bow, piercing the thin armor and blowing clean through the ship and out the port side.

The last thing to strike the bow of the ship had been a bottle of champagne during the launch, but now it was a blackened wreck, with heavy fire and smoke coiling up from the wound.

Böhmer soon learned that neither rocket had penetrated to the arming deck, where the
Stukas
were sitting like a flock of densely packed black crows, with heavy bombs mounted beneath the stubby, folded wings. How in god’s name could they move like that, he thought? These are precision guided weapons! Nothing on earth could fly so fast, and turn so smartly to find his ship in the middle of the formation like this. It was almost like magic!

And it was only the beginning.

Chapter 26

Aboard
Kirov
, Volsky was standing by the Captain’s chair, where he had insisted Fedorov take his seat to lead the opening action against the German fleet. He was watching his young Captain closely, as if he thought Fedorov might wince when Rodenko reported that all five missiles launched had found targets. That was no surprise. Karpov had said it many times before—
what we target, we hit, and what we hit we can destroy.

Yet Fedorov did not feel like Karpov that day. Yes, he was bothered by the thought that each order he gave here was sending men to their death, and burning their ships, still unseen over the far horizon. At least it was not as bad as that day when they had faced off against the great battleship
Yamato
, its mighty guns flinging massive shells at
Kirov
, coming within a hair’s breadth of striking the ship at one point, and sweeping away the top radar mast as it passed overhead like a merciless hammer of doom, striking the sea with a thunderous roar.

Thankfully, they had replaced that system when they returned to Vladivostok, and now it spun rapidly on that same mast overhead, its electronic fingers seeking out the German task force in the early pre-dawn hours.

“They had another ship in tight on the primary,” said Rodenko. “It looks like it absorbed two hits, and I think we will sink that ship. Two more missiles struck the primary. They have made a hard turn to port and are coming around 180 degrees.”

Fedorov looked at Volsky. “Two hit’s sir.”

“What is your assessment, Fedorov?” said the Admiral. “Will they be enough to put that ship out of action?”

“We will not know that unless we get the KA-40 back up for battle damage assessment, or unless they begin launching planes. In that instance, I believe we must fire again.”

“Agreed,” said Volsky. “This is an armored ship?”

“No more than 100mm on the belt,” said Fedorov. “45 to 60mm on the flight deck.”

“Then it is vulnerable to plunging fire as well.” The Admiral folded his arms.  “We might do more damage that way if it becomes necessary.”

They had decided to strike in the early pre-dawn hours, thinking to pre-empt any air strike that may be launched by the German carrier. Now they sat like a dark spider at the center of an electronic web spun out by the ship’s powerful radar systems. All about them, their adversaries were creeping into that web, unaware of the danger that lurked over their horizon… until those first missiles broke the stillness of the dawn, and the battle began.

Fedorov knew it was to be a one sided affair. Their enemy could not even see them, let alone strike at them in reprisal. With their speed, they could stay well beyond the range of the massive guns on the German battleships, so it would be a simple and merciless equation as he saw things. It would be a contest of fire and shock against German steel. How much of a pounding could their ships take before the steel broke in the wills of the Admirals and Captains who commanded them.

Before the action he had discussed the situation with Admiral Volsky, and came down to a grim conclusion. Fedorov had pointed out that they had only 28 anti-ship missiles, still more than a normal combat load, due to the fact that they had pirated missiles from the submarine
Kazan
.

“This is the heart of the German fleet, is it not, Fedorov?”

“It appears so,” said Fedorov. “We’ve identified all three battleships, the two battlecruisers, the carrier
Graf Zeppelin
and the light escort carrier that was with
Hindenburg
.”

“Then if we use the power we now have, we can literally take the German fleet out of the war. Yes? I am not speaking of a nuclear option here. Yet my question to you is this—can we cripple the German navy for good here by using the conventional warheads we still have?”

“Very likely,” said Fedorov. “That will depend on how we hit them.”

“Hard, Fedorov. We must hit them very hard. A carrier must be saturated to achieve a certain kill. I know this is our tactic in modern times, but will it apply here?”

“The
Graf Zeppelin
has only a third the displacement of a typical
Nimitz
Class carrier, sir. And the
Nimitz
could sustain three times the damage of even the best built carrier in WWII. We may be able to mission kill this German carrier with two or three hits.”

“Yet that would allow it to survive, would it not? Now I begin to sound like Karpov, but would that mean we must fight this same battle all over again, and without the missiles we fire here today? No. I think we must take a hard line here. If we engage, then we must do so with the intent of killing these ships, not just putting damage on them to discourage them. Do you agree, Fedorov?”

After a deep breath, Fedorov nodded his assent.

“But you still have reservations,” said Volsky. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“It’s not that, sir,” said Fedorov.

“That hand again? Is all well there?”

“Yes sir, my hand seems to be fit and staying put now. I think that was a temporary effect, or at least I hope as much.”

“Then what? Tell me why you hesitate?”

“It isn’t the tactics, Admiral. I agree. If we fight here now, and with a limited missile inventory, then we should seek a decisive engagement. Yes, I know I also sound like Karpov now, but we both admit that in many ways he was correct when it came to battle. I was thinking about something else—how the Germans could have learned about
Rodney
.”

“Volkov? Might he have tipped them off?”

“I’ve wondered about that, but cannot see how he would be privy to that information Miss Fairchild disclosed. Yes, he might be able to look up the service record and see that
Rodney
did have that gold bullion aboard, and the Elgin Marbles, but that would be of little consequence. It would not be anything that would compel the Germans to maneuver as they have here, and seek out that single ship.”

“Could we be reading more into their maneuvers than they really know, Fedorov? After all, both task groups now appear on a course to rendezvous by mid-day, and they are merely heading away from the British battleships behind them.”

“Yes, and directly towards us. I think they must know we have followed them through the straits of Gibraltar, sir. Yet that northern group is not bearing on our position. It is on a course to intercept
Rodney
. So is the
Hindenburg
group.”

“Mere coincidence,” Volsky suggested.

“No sir, they know the position of
Rodney
well enough. The U-boat that torpedoed it will have reported this information.”

“Then they are obviously out to pick off the wounded water buffalo, and thin out the herd,” said Volsky.

“Possibly, but I would think they would not perceive
Rodney
as a threat here, given the speed advantage they have over that ship. The
Invincible
is a real threat to them, and yet they are not maneuvering to intercept us at this time, even though they had a fix on our position yesterday with that seaplane.”

“It does seem odd,” Volsky agreed.

“And don’t forget that we have that previous message intercept. It appeared Lütjens was ordered to take this course—ordered to seek out
Rodney
.”

It was then that Nikolin turned with a report that deepened the mystery. He had picked up another signal using the German naval code, and was translating it with the application Fedorov had in his pad device. When he finished, it soon appeared that there was now some confusion on the German side. Wilhelmshaven was asking what orders needed confirmation.

“Repeat order needing confirmation. Objective is as per original orders in
Fall Rheinübung
…” Fedorov’s eyes narrowed. That was the first time they had picked up the actual name of the operation now underway, and it was identical to the one put forward by the Germans at this same time in the history he knew. It was an oddity, as the history here was vastly altered. And now it also seemed that the intent of the German battle strategy was no longer clear. Fedorov did not have the original orders, as they must have been given by other means than coded signals, possibly transmitted to Lütjens before he left Toulon. The sudden turnabout made by the
Hindenburg
group appeared to be in response to a direct order from Wilhelmshaven, but now this directive seemed to contradict that and re-affirm the original plan. What was going on here?

“Confusion in battle is commonplace,” said Volsky.

“Yet we have the decoded message received earlier, Admiral. It was a clear order to find and sink
Rodney
. Lütjens requested confirmation, and now we have this? Wilhelmshaven seems to know nothing about that earlier order.”

“Very strange,” Volsky agreed. “Yet I do not see how this impacts our decision here on how to proceed. I believe we must eliminate the German carrier as our opening move in this chess game. Correct Fedorov?”

The Captain nodded, again with some sense of misgiving obvious on his face. Minutes later they began their attack, and now the next move was plotted in this uneven chess game, where the Russian ship could move to develop all its pieces before the enemy could lay a finger on a single pawn.

“Twenty four missiles remaining,” said Volsky. “Two must have struck a smaller escort ship.”

“They are learning, Admiral,” said Fedorov. “They are trying to steam in tight formations around the carrier to protect it.”

“Correct,” said Rodenko. “I can now read two ships in close proximity to the primary. They must have redeployed the cruiser escort to replace the ship we hit with those first two missiles.”

“All the more reason to change our angle of attack,” said Volsky. “I was told we still have several
Moskit-IIs
programmed for vertical strike profiles—is this so, Mister Samsonov?”

“Correct Admiral. I have three of nine missiles in that system programmed for vertical strike.”

“Then I think this is the next move, Fedorov,” said Volsky. “A knight leaping from above, and not the slashing, sea-skimming attack of the Bishop.”

“I’m seeing air activity over the primary,” said Rodenko. “I think they’re launching.”

“So out first strike was not enough,” said Volsky.

Fedorov hesitated, just long enough for Volsky to turn his head from Nikolin to regard him more closely. Then the young Captain swallowed, nodded, and turned to Samsonov.

“How many
Moskit-II
missiles remain?”

“Nine missiles loaded and ready—one in the number ten bay.” Samsonov was reminding Fedorov that one of the nine was mounted in the special weapons bay, where a nuclear warhead could be loaded onto the missile if so ordered. That was not to be the case today, but Fedorov took note of that. They still had three special warheads, and if they ever had to use them, they would need missiles. So instead of 24 missiles available, he really had no more than 21 now if he wished to retain three for those special warheads. It was time to do some heavier hitting.

“Ready one
Moskit-II
for immediate launch,” he said. “Vertical attack profile. Target the primary, carrier
Graf Zeppelin
.”