Kurita cleared his throat, taking some time to find his voice. “Sir,” he said. “The mission was not well coordinated, and I take full responsibility. I was prevailed upon to hold my battleships back, though I had every wish to close and engage this Mizuchi when it finally appeared. Yet this Captain Harada aboard Takami pleaded with me to refrain, and I was foolish enough to heed him. I should have advanced to engage when I saw how futile the strange rocket weapons he used were.”
“Futile? You saw them?”
“Of course. My battleships were out in front, some 20 miles ahead of the Takami. We first saw the enemy missiles firing, and my men beat to quarters to engage them.”
“Did you not heed the warning I gave you concerning these rockets?”
“I did sir, but I believed the armor on my ships was strong enough to prevail, and my gunners brave and skilled enough to defend my battleships. To do otherwise would be cowardice.”
“Yes, yes I have heard that from many others, and I do not wish to hear it again now. A man has a brave heart when he goes into any battle, but he must also have a head on his shoulders, and know when and how to fight. Did these missiles attack your ships?”
“One struck Haruna, but for the most part, these rockets simply passed us by, six or seven in a long train, all heading south. I should have increased speed immediately to engage the enemy, but this Captain Harada…”
“You should have done no such thing. I sent you to the wreck of the Mutsu for a good reason, and now we have damage on Haruna to repair. I will tell you that I second the movement suggested to you by Captain Harada, and it is very fortunate that you carried it out. Had you persisted in any attempt to engage this Mizuchi, you would have surely been visited by more of those naval rockets.”
“But sir, how can we defeat the enemy if we do not attack him?”
“That remains to be seen,” said Yamamoto. “Certainly Captain Harada hoped to use guile, and his own naval rockets to prevail. What happened to the air strike?”
“It was ill-coordinated. The carrier planes were late, the land based planes ineffective, and I must—”
“No Kurita, do not attempt to take that upon yourself either. It was the responsibility of the carrier commander to get his planes where they belonged, not yours. Frankly, when I discuss this further in a moment with your subordinate, Captain Harada, I expect I will learn that this battle could have ended in no other way. Everything depended on the rockets his ship carried. If they failed to find and hurt this Mizuchi, then there was nothing more your battleships were going to accomplish. At least both ships remain seaworthy, as well as both of our carriers. Haruna has damage, but it will be repaired soon enough. I want you to see to it personally, but that ship will be detached from your division. You will take the newer ship, Hiraga, in its place. Then prepare your battleship squadron for further operations as soon as possible.”
“But sir, I…”
“But sir what? Do not think any shame you may feel in this failure exempts you from further duty here. Nagumo felt the same when he returned from Pearl Harbor with only three operational carriers. We fight, we take losses. Sometimes we prevail, and at other times our enemies will get the best of the situation. That is the end of it. That is war. It is clear to me now that I failed to place the adequate tools in your hands to complete this mission successfully. Two carriers were not sufficient. It would have taken at least four in my estimation, and your battleships should not have been where they were. As you can see, the range of these naval rockets makes such a strategy foolish. Only our carriers have the means to strike the enemy at long range. From now on, your battleships will serve as fast escorts, running with the carriers, and doing everything possible to protect them. So this will be my order to you. Get Haruna operational again, and then prepare to join Carrier Division 3 with Hiraga and Satsuma. You will receive further orders in the near future. Understood?”
Kurita bowed again, then nodded.
“Good,” said Yamamoto. “Now then, I will see this Captain Harada and his executive officer next, and hear their report. But understand this—you did everything I asked of you, and so I order you to set down the burden that you now carry, just as I asked the same of Nagumo. This war is only beginning. I need every officer, and every ship we have. We had 15 carriers operational on December 7th, 1941. Now we have only eight operational, and six have been sunk. Zuiho Survived the 5th of May, but just barely. Even when that ship returns, our carrier fleet is nearly cut in half, though we are now commissioning the Taiho to try and redress those severe losses. That said, Taiho will likely be the only new aircraft carrier to join the fleet for many more months until Shinano is completed. So every one of our remaining carriers is now worth its displacement in gold. See that Carrier Division 2 is well guarded.”
That was that. Yamamoto had no room for shame ridden officers. The war was now going to enter a much more dangerous phase. The Americans had been hurt, and very badly, but it had taken those seven carriers lost in action to put that damage on them. Yamamoto knew that there were now at least seven or more enemy carriers building in the United States, while in Japan, only the Shinano would be ready for operations soon. That was a matter he would have to redress, and quickly.
He himself had already gone to the Emperor, his own head lowered with shame, to make his report. He knew this war would be costly, never expecting Japan to emerge from it unscathed, but these early losses were particularly severe. He had been forced to ask the Emperor to activate the emergency fleet expansion project that had been secretly planned before the war.
As for this Mizuchi, that ship was a monster of a different kind. Yes, it would have taken at least four good carriers to have any chance against that beast, he thought. But how many of them would survive? I had hopes that this Takami might weigh heavily in the balance, but apparently those hopes were ill-founded. Now I must find out why.
“Very well, send in this Captain Harada and his Executive Officer. That will be all.”
Chapter 2
“Then you have no more missiles to attack this Siberian ship?” Yamamoto had heard Harada’s report of the battle, the how and why of it all; the decisions made, missiles fired, and the outcome. Now his mind had moved on to the possibilities that lay ahead.
“No sir,” said Harada. “To have any chance at all against a ship like that, it was necessary to fire everything we had in one salvo. Admittedly, the odds were long, but we at least had some chance of scoring a hit. As I have told you, our ship was primarily designed as an air defense fleet asset. We are meant to operate in a task force of similar ships, guarding other important fleet assets.”
“Your modern day carriers?”
“Such as we have. The Japan of 2021 does not have very many aircraft carriers. A few helicopter carriers are now receiving a new plane, but otherwise, our navy was prohibited from building carriers, because they were deemed to be an offensive weapon, and the force was merely designed for defense after Japan’s defeat in this war.”
“I see…” said Yamamoto. There was that word again, defeat, and it was a hard one to bear. The images he had seen in the library of the Takami still haunted him, the burned out cities, the image of Musashi dying that gallant but horrible death. For all the power he felt beneath him as they sat there in his stateroom aboard Yamato, he knew his own flagship was also fated for destruction. It all seemed inevitable now, just as he feared at the opening of this war. It all seemed to be written, as it was in that library, and how could he ever hope to write that history otherwise? He realized, even now, that Japan had gone to war with the United States without any clear plan on how that enemy would be defeated.
“So now you are a fleet defense asset,” he said to Harada. “You have no further offensive capability?”
“We have a few torpedoes, though they are also defensive weapons, largely for use against enemy submarines. The explosive charge is under 100 pounds, only ten percent as compared to your own Type 93 torpedo. We might use some
of our anti-aircraft missiles in an anti-shipping role, but only against very lightly armored targets. They would not put much hurt on a cruiser or even an American carrier of this era.”
“But this Mizuchi… It still has such weapons that can hit our ships?”
“If I may, sir,” said Fukada, “we aren’t exactly certain how many missiles they have, but twenty is a normal loadout on their main ship killers. They fired thirteen at us, and we stopped them all, except the one that struck Haruna.”
“Thirteen?” said Yamamoto. “Interesting. They have already fired three at my carriers, so that make sixteen. And they fired three at Mutsu and Chikuma, so that makes 19. Are you suggesting they may only have one more of these naval rockets at their disposal?”
“We don’t know that for certain,” said Harada. “Yes, twenty is a normal loadout, but they may have been carrying more—at least they seemed to suggest they had a loaded gun still pointed at my head when we spoke with them.”
“Spoke with them?” This surprised Yamamoto.
“Yes,” said Harada, “we had a nice little parley with the enemy in the middle of the fight. They threatened us with further harm unless we withdrew. I called their bluff, but nothing else came of it. In the end, withdrawal was the wiser course, and I strongly recommended that to Kurita, though I know he wasn’t happy about it.”
“Very well,” said Yamamoto. “Even if this ship does have only one more of these rockets, it only took one to sink the Hiryu and one to send Akagi into the docks for four months. Let us assume they have at least that many, and possibly more.”
“I believe they do have more sir,” said Harada. “Missiles are bundled in groups, and then mounted in silos or compartments beneath the deck. They fired twelve of one type missile at us, a very deadly model that we call the Sunburn. It took a good many of our own missiles to stop them, but we got them all. Then, near the end of the engagement, they fired a different kind of missile at us, much faster, though with a smaller warhead. We used a special defense system I have not spoken of to target and kill this missile, but the point I am making is that it would be rare, indeed very odd, if such a missile were mounted alone. In fact, they are designed to work in groups and be fired in salvos. They hunt like a pack of wolves, and are even able communicate with each other and make independent decisions about targeting assignments. No, it would have to be in a module or group like the other missiles we faced. For this reason, I suggest they have more of that type. A small group might see four in one underdeck compartment, so I would say they have at least three more.”
“Unless those were the other three missiles they fired at the carriers,” said Fukada.
“They may have been the nest mates of the last missile they fired at us, yet we can’t be sure in any case,” said Harada.
“Then let us simply assume our enemy can still harm us,” said Yamamoto. “That is enough to guide our thinking here. However, the fact that his ordnance is limited is most interesting. I suppose I always knew this to be the case, but now it is more important, because we can threaten his ship and force him to use what he may have left, even if it costs us lives and ships to do so.”
“And it will,” said Harada. “Count on that, so choose the ships you want to expend carefully, and the men. I made such a threat, but the enemy failed to fire anything more at us. If they had, we might not be discussing this here.”
“Then you would agree that your ship has little offensive capability now.”
“True, but that does not mean we cannot be very useful. Our defensive capability is still available, and our electronic systems and radars can provide a great deal of situational awareness in a battle scenario. We can scout and find the enemy, and defend against air attack with an almost certain kill on any plane we target.”
“Until your own anti-aircraft missiles run out. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“And how many of these remain on your ship?”
“38 of one type, and 12 of another longer range variant.”
“So you can kill 50 planes. I suppose that is useful to know, for it represents a good part of an American carrier wing.” Yamamoto was filing all of this away into a compartment of his mind. There was no recrimination in his interaction with these men, and he did nothing whatsoever to shame them. They had done what they could, and failed to kill Mizuchi. Now he wanted only to ascertain how he might still integrate Takami into his fleet.
“Well gentlemen,” he said. “I must say that Admiral Kurita was none too happy when he left just now.”
“We could see that,” said Harada.
“He is a proud man, and perhaps I was remiss in putting him in a situation where he held the burden of command, while your knowledge of your own capabilities required you to intervene. I will not do this again. Henceforth, you will operate with our carriers. I will now take the advice offered to me by your Executive Officer earlier. Your ship will assist operations currently underway here in the south.”
“We would be honored, sir.”
“And you may be very busy. While you were away much has happened. Operation FS was launched, and initially with some success. We sank two enemy carriers in the Coral Sea and a third in the Koro Sea off Fiji. Yet for this we paid a very high price. Our own carrier fleet has nearly been cut in half. We lost Hiryu last December to this Mizuchi, then Gozo and Mezu were sunk in the Gilberts, Shokaku in the Coral Sea, and the hardest blow of all fell on that Koro Sea battle. There we lost Zuikaku and Shoho.”
“Those are very heavy losses,” said Fukada.
“Heavy indeed. At the moment we have 8 carriers operational. Kaga and Akagi are repaired and constitute Carrier Division 1. Soryu and Tosa form Carrier Division 2. The new carrier Taiho was commissioned in June, well ahead of schedule, and is presently in sea trials. Beyond that, we have three smaller carriers, the Hiyo, Junyo and Taiyo. I would like to assign your ship to Carrier Division 3. It will operate under Hara with the new Taiho, and two of the light carriers. I have a new mission in mind, but first you must understand the present situation.”
“Operation FS?” asked Fukada.
“It was partially successful. We have troops on Fiji, but so does the enemy. Their Marine Division has landed there, and it has been a bit of a slugfest. At first it appeared as if they might push us right into the sea, but we were able to reinforce our garrison. Yet keeping them supplied is now a daily burden. By day, planes we send to Nandi duel with their own planes at Suva Bay. By night, we send in fresh troops and supplies on fast cruisers and destroyers from Noumea. Their own carrier force remains in the area, though it now operates from Samoa as a forward base.”
“Which carriers survived?”
“Enterprise and Wasp. They also have the two hybrids that could return to the theater at any time, and a small escort carrier, more a seaplane tender, the Langley.”
“Excuse me sir, two hybrids?”
“Yes, they fought the French fleet before your arrival, sinking the Bearn, and even jousted briefly with one of our own light carriers. One was damaged in that action and sent to Pearl Harbor, but I must assume it has been repaired.”
“French fleet?” said Fukada. “I don’t understand.”
“It was just a few destroyers, light cruisers, and the one carrier, which the Americans quickly sunk.”
“Do you know the name of these ships—the hybrids you mention.”
“Antietam, and Shiloh. I believe those are battles from their Civil War.”
“Yes,” said Harada, “but we’ve not heard of those ships, at least not this early in the war.”
“Antietam was a long hull Essex class ship,” said Fukada. “Yet it did not appear until very late in the war, and there was no carrier by the name of Shiloh in WWII. Nor was there ever an engagement with the French fleet.”
“Nor a ship by the name of Takami, or another we call Mizuchi,” said Yamamoto. “Perhaps you gentlemen need to spend some time in our ship’s library.”
“It ap
pears so,” said Harada, looking at Fukada.
Yamamoto continued. “There are three operations before the navy now. The first is the continuation of Operation FS. The second the persistence of this enemy raider in the north, Mizuchi, and the action on Karafuto. I fear neither one will have an easy or a speedy solution. My choices are limited. I can split the fleet 60/40 and try to bring one or another theater to a decisive resolution in our favor. May I ask you whether you think a massed fleet effort would prevail over this Mizuchi?”
“A massed effort,” said Harada. “You mean with many more carriers? That would be hard to say.”
“What if I were to assign four carriers to attack this ship?”
“Then they should all be grouped together, and Takami would have to be slightly forward of that group as an air defense picket. Any attempt to confront this raider on your own would likely only result in more losses to your carrier fleet. Of this I am almost certain. But with us present, our missile shield could defend you, and perhaps your strike wings could get something through, but you should expect heavy losses.”
“From the anti-aircraft missiles on this ship?”
“Yes sir. It is a much larger ship than Takami, and carries many more missiles.”
“How many more?”
“Fukada?”
“Over a hundred medium range, and perhaps another 30 to 40 longer range missiles after those they expended against our attack. Beyond that, they have very potent close in defense systems. Even planes that manage to get through the missile shield will face conventional gunfire that is lethal, and even more short range missiles. This Mizuchi, as you call it, is one of the best defended ships in the world—even in our world of 2021, and certainly in this one.”
Thor's Anvil (Kirov Series Book 26) Page 2