Counter-attack

by Max Glebow

  “Gentlemen, you’ve all read the intelligence report presented by Rear Admiral Lavroff’s department. Honestly, I don’t really understand why I’m getting such important information from the head of the Department of New Equipment and Armaments, and not from the General Intelligence Agency, but that’s not what this is about. In less than a month, the enemy will strike one or more of our star systems. I want to hear from you how we can resist an enemy attack. Mr Minister of Defense, you have the floor.”

  “As we have learned from this report, Rear Admiral Lavroff’s subordinates have conducted reconnaissance of ten star systems in the rear of the enemy, seven of them were visited twice, at intervals of one week to two weeks,” Bronstein began his report, “In most cases, reconnaissance mission observed a decrease in the number of heavy ships and aircraft carriers in the systems' cover squadrons as well as the disappearance of completed ships from the docks. Based on their observations, we can estimate the lower limit of the enemy fleet. There are about 120 cruisers and battleships, at least ten of which are Titan class, and about 25 aircraft carriers, half of which are new class. These new aircraft carriers are estimated to hold twice as many units of mosquito fleet as the standard carrier ship. Again, this is only the lowest possible number, the scouts did not visit all the enemy’s systems, where its shipyards are concentrated and heavy ships are deployed. I’m not saying we were able to make an accurate prediction,but after processing all the information we have, Defense analysts have concluded that we are facing a battle with a fleet that is at least twice the size I estimated.”

  “What do we have against these enemy forces?” Tobolsky kept an appearance of calm, but those who knew him well understood the cost.

  “If we get our entire fleet together, having fully exposed all star systems, including the Solar System, we can send into battle 93 battleships, only one of which is Titan class, about 100 cruisers and 24 aircraft carriers. Besides, there are currently 64 'Invisibles', and within the next 20 days, the Minister of Military Production is promising to put in operation about a hundred more ships of this type, as well as eight battleships and three aircraft carriers.”

  “We can’t expose the systems, it’s unrealistic,” responded Tobolsky, “A cover squadron is essential to deter the enemy until the main forces approach, otherwise, by the time our fleet arrives, the system will have been overrun and the entire infrastructure destroyed. Then the enemy can leave without fighting, because the goal will have been achieved. How many ships can we assemble under these circumstances?”

  “Up to 35 battleships, 50 cruisers, 12 aircraft carriers, and about a hundred 'Invisibles',” Bronstein responded gloomily, knowing full well that his words sounded like a death sentence, “In a frontal collision, the firepower ratio is about one to four in favour of the enemy. It doesn’t take into account the contribution of the 'Invisibles', which I’m not going to estimate exactly.”

  All eyes were on me. A new type of ship was introduced into the fleet by my department, and it was I who took full responsibility for the effectiveness of their use in combat.

  “Rear Admiral,” Tobolsky turned to me, “At your suggestion, we have dramatically increased the production of drone torpedoes, unmanned pursuit planes and carrier ships for them. The meeting awaits your comments.”

  I knew I wasn't destined to keep silent at this meeting, and I've prepared for it beforehand. Well, top officers, Sirs, listen to another adventurous plan. Having kept a small pause, I started to talk.

  “Gentlemen, let me start by making a small adjustment to the balance of power. My department is now actively working with the Allies to create new types of ships using technology from both races. To be sure, this partnership has great potential. I won’t go into details, but we’re not going to have one Titan-class ship, we’re going to have three, and in fact, this class is defined in very conditional terms, I estimate that the new battleships will be stronger than Titan.”

  “Are you planning on finishing these ships in 20 days?” Bronstein didn’t believe me.

  “The allies' technology has allowed us to build ships in outer space without docks. The speed at which armor and internal bulkheads are grown is several times greater than our own capacity to build them in the usual way. Now all we need is for our industry to make the guns and engines in time,” I smiled at Zverev.

  Zverev nodded silently, and I continued: “The enemy has recently developed a reasonably effective tactic against the drone torpedoes. The basic idea of quargs is to negate our advantage in electronic warfare, which makes torpedoes a very difficult target for any guidance system. Unable to significantly improve the quality of their scanners, they opted to increase their number. They began to put a dense network of unmanned devices in the path of torpedoes, which scanned the space and provided the anti-aircraft systems with precise targeting. They followed the same path while improving their ships' direct defense systems, and simply tripled the number of anti-aircraft guns. I have to say, in the Delta Trianguli system, the quargs have taught us a good lesson by making it clear that they will not just let their battleships be destroyed by torpedoes.”

  “So you’re telling us, Rear Admiral, that the ships in which we have invested so much of our resources won’t be able to give us a major advantage over the enemy?” The Chief of the General Staff, General Mazilescu could hardly contain himself, he was so furious.

  “I didn't say that, General of the Army, Sir. The new techniques and tactics of the enemy are not ideal and have a number of serious flaws. This is an attempt to solve the problem with bad means, though rather witty, and the quargs have made a very serious bet on it. From the experience of previous battles, they have seen that, despite the dangers of our torpedoes, they are vulnerable to the mosquito fleet. The enemy apparently decided that he had already achieved a decisive advantage in the heavy ships, and sadly, he was right about that. The only obstacle the enemy sees now is the 'Invisibles' with their torpedoes, and the adversary has decided to eliminate this problem by using new aircraft carriers capable of launching into space not only pursuit planes, but also carriers of unmanned probes with scanners. This is again a quantitative approach to the matter, but this could create serious difficulties for us if we do not take adequate countermeasures.”

  “And what do you suggest, Rear Admiral?” asked Bronstein.

  And I spoke of a new tactic to combat the shield of light forces, which the enemy puts in the way of torpedoes, spontaneously born at the Battle of Iota Persei, then I went on to tell them about the allies' engines that would make the drone torpedoes even more imperceptible, about the new projectiles with a cluster warhead, which were unable to penetrate the battleship’s armor but were effectively incapacitating the anti-aircraft guns.

  “Not all of these innovations have passed the combat test,” I have summed up my report, “but I fear we will have the opportunity to do so much sooner than we would have liked.”

  “These are just beautiful words, Rear Admiral,” Masilescu commented on my statement with a slight squint, “We can’t rely on your assumptions about the efficacy of a weapon that hasn’t been tested in a real combat. I think you have quite an impressive poker face and are just trying to hide your mistake behind empty promises. The torpedo weapon proved to be quite effective in the Battle of Groombridge, but it was an isolated episode, a success based on the enemy’s unpreparedness for our unexpected tactics. This is only an exception, and it only confirms a rule which states that the outcome of a space battle is decided by heavy ships and aircraft carriers, and the very modest result you achieved in the Delta Trianguli system has convincingly demonstrated this once again. I believe we must avoid a general battle that will lead to the loss of our fleet with minimal damage to the enemy. The four-to-one ratio doesn’t give us much of a chance.”

  There was a bad silence in the audience. The Chief of the General Staff’s reproach could not have gone unanswered, but I didn’t have time to say anything.

  “If I were you, Gener
al of the Army, Sir, I wouldn’t accuse Rear Admiral Lavroff of trying to cover up a mistake behind empty words,” General Knyazev’s rude voice got into the discussion, “It’s too serious a charge to be pressed without evidence. I mean, I’m not a Fleet officer, but I was there at Groombridge-2, and I saw drone torpedoes ripping the quarg battleships to pieces. It wasn’t about surprise, rather, surprise is not the most important factor in success. It’s about the ability to use a new weapon so that its advantages will be fully demonstrated and its disadvantages will be overshadowed. Rear Admiral Lavroff has this skill to the fullest, and if he says the enemy’s new tactics are surmountable, then they are.”

  “Officers, Sirs, I beg you to calm down,” firmly pronounced Tobolsky,“We are not here to accuse each other, but to make decisions, I guess I don’t have to remind anyone what the price of a mistake is.”

  “I agree with the General of the Army Knyazev,” Admiral Nelson has added his voice in my defense, “The 'Invisibles' have not yet exhausted their possibilities, and access to the allies' technologies has clearly enhanced these capabilities. I’m in favor of a general battle. Even if we lose, the quargs will suffer such losses that they will not be able to continue the offensive for a long time. The Battle of Groombridge is a case in point.”

  “How do you imagine that, Mr Nelson?” Barrington asked a question without mentioning the rank, “We don’t know where the blow will be delivered. It is quite possible that the quargs will strike at the allies, not at us at all. In addition, they can split their forces and attack two or even three systems simultaneously. How are you going to force a general battle on them?”

  “The quargs won’t avoid it. They feel powerful, and they’ll want to kill our fleet with one blow,” responded Nelson, “And I’m sure they’ll hit us. The lizards are not a great threat to them now since they are unlikely to be able to act outside their star systems, so the enemy can afford to keep the reptiles for later. I don’t think the lizards are in any danger right now, but they must be warned if we are not to spoil relations with our allies.”

  “Information has already been sent through diplomatic channels,” responded Tobolsky, “let’s get back to our plans. I have heard two opinions, one for the general battle and one against it. Who else wishes to speak on this matter?”

  “Permission, Mr President?” The Minister of Military Production has asked for the floor. The officers looked at Zverev with surprise, they did not expect him to speak on a purely military matter.

  “We’re listening to you, Nikolai Andreyevich,” the President nodded to the Minister.

  “I am not a military man, of course, but I have a good idea of how and where the technical basis for the defensive capacity of the State is being created. If the enemy wishes to impose a general battle on us, he must choose a target to attack that will force us to fight and not to retreat. The first thing that comes to mind is the Solar System, but even I can see that, given the current power balance, this is still too complicated a target for the quargs. We’ll discover them at least two jumps from Earth, and they have to understand that in this case they will definitely face our ENTIRE fleet. I don’t think a general battle with unpredictable results is what they want,” Zverev paused for a moment, but no one objected, “Well, gentlemen, if not the Solar System, then what? The outer colonies are too small a target for those forces that the enemy is concentrating on, so one of the internal systems will be attacked, and it seems to me, as Minister of Military Production, that the impact will not be on where the population is most concentrated, but on the largest component of the military-industrial infrastructure. Except for the Solar System, there are six places like that in the Federation.”

  Zverev turned to the projection screen and added data from his tablet to the star map. Six stars in the central part of the Federation received additional markers.

  “I’m not going to judge whether it’s militarily advantageous to take a general battle,” continued the Minister, “but if the enemy attacks one of these targets, I suspect that we will simply have no choice, because we can’t afford to lose any of these industrial areas.”

  “And what would be the consequences of the loss of one of these systems?” Admiral Nelson asked a question that interested everyone.

  “The collapse of the military industry,” replied emphatically Zverev, “We’re not just going to lose some of our production capacity. Each of these systems has a unique production, providing the entire Federation with its own high-tech products, which are manufactured only there. It will not be possible to replace them in a short time. We never seriously considered attacking these systems by the enemy. Until recently, they were thought to be reasonably well protected, but now, I understand, circumstances have changed.”

  “But, as I understand it,” General Mazilescu reentered the discussion, “Fleet Admiral Nelson cannot claim with certainty that we will win the battle. Not only that, I’ve just heard from him that he’s quite open to the possibility of our defeat. I’m willing to believe that victory will cost the enemy a great deal, and he will suffer significant losses, but what good will it do us if the quargs can rebuild their fleet and we can’t? How do we do that when the military industry collapses?”

  “We can hardly win unconditionally in the coming battle, General of the Army, Sir,” answered I, carefully choosing the words, “but we have every chance to avoid defeat.”

  “You contradict yourself, Rear Admiral. Be more specific. What do you suggest?” Mazilescu started to get annoyed again.

  “Well, first of all, we can take out a significant number of heavy ships from guarding all of our star systems, except for the Solar System and these six, as specified by Mr Zverev. In principle, we can even take them all.”

  “Have you not heard the words of the Supreme Commander, Rear Admiral?” Mazilescu’s voice went up, “You were clearly told not to touch the cover squadrons.”

  “Quiet, please, General of the Army, Sir,” spoke Tobolsky in low voice, “If Rear Admiral Lavroff has returned to this issue, then he has new arguments. Let’s hear them. Go ahead, Rear Admiral.”

  “As you pointed out, Mr President, cover squadrons are needed to give the main fleet time in case of an enemy attack to arrive in the system before it is captured by the enemy. This is an absolutely correct and time-tested approach, but it is now relevant only to those star systems where there is a lot of industrial infrastructure in space. It is clear that without fleet cover, it will be quickly destroyed. But we only have six systems where space objects have priority in terms of protection. In other systems, the main target will be planets, as was the case in the battles of Gliese, Groombridge and Barnard-3.”

  “And what difference does that make, Rear Admiral?” It was General Barrington’s question, but his voice sounded more interested than mistrustful.

  “If you remember, gentlemen, I didn’t always wear a blue Fleet uniform,” I took the liberty of smiling lightly, “So I can judge the capabilities of the ground forces firsthand. Now, we’re all used to the fact that if a fleet is defeated in the system, the fate of the planets can usually be considered solved. The party that won the space battle takes control of them, after spending one or two days to suppress the resistance.

  But something has changed over the past year, and many of you here have seen this in the battle for Groombridge. On the planets of this system, underground shelters have been prepared for quite some time. They were built precisely in case of a massive enemy landing to shelter at least part of the population and remnants of the troops before aid arrived. When these structures were built, it was believed that the enemy would need three days to a week to detect them. This, of course, gave a part of the population an extra chance, but this gain in time was not considered essential and the program was cancelled.

  As a result, there were very few underground shelters, but they played a surprisingly significant role in defence. And the reason for this efficiency was that the retreating ground troops were equipped with new
EW complexes, which had entered the army in large numbers over the past year. This new anti-detection equipment made the task of finding underground hideouts extremely difficult for the enemy and it allowed the troops to launch targeted counter-strikes, completely unexpected to the enemy. Notice, gentlemen, there was no unified plan, no defense plan based on underground shelters, no one was prepared for such a war, but the new tactic that emerged spontaneously has proved to be quite good.”

  “And you’re suggesting that instead of cover squadrons, we create ground-based, more specifically, underground infrastructure on the planets themselves and defend them with ground troops?” General of the Army Knyazev sounded surprised, but it seemed to me that there was a lot of excitement attached to astonishment. Like any commando, Knyazev has always suffered internally from the fact that his branch of troops plays a subordinate role in modern warfare, let's face it. The fleet can operate independently without ground troops, not the other way around. And now Knyazev has heard a plan which, for all his madness, promised to transform the ground forces into an independent force capable, if not to cope with the enemy invasion, to substantially slow it down, and - the most important - to stop being a defenseless target for battleships and enemy cruisers hovering in low orbits.

  “This is a perfectly manageable task, gentlemen,” I have confirmed the General’s words, “We have almost a month. This is enough time for the colonies themselves, with the support of the Federal Center, to create a network of shelters equipped with EW complexes. Not just safe havens for troops and the population. Similarly, anti-orbital batteries, surface-to-surface missile positions and atmospheric aviation bases should be equipped.”

  I didn’t come up with anything new, I shamelessly stole this plan from the toads who successfully used it in my last battle in the body of Brigadier General Dean. I knew it would work because I saw the result with my own eyes and felt it on my own skin. Except I couldn’t know if the generals and admirals of the Federation would believe it's reality.