Kirov Saga: Armageddon (Kirov Series) (31 page)

I have to know where they are, he thought. I cannot get too engaged
here until we have located the
Kazan
. We would be in the midst of battle
for the next two hours if I attack now as planned, and what if Tasarov suddenly
hears incoming torpedoes off that damn submarine. No! I’ve got to find
defensive cover and eliminate attack bearings for torpedoes. That island there
is perfect, but what if they hit us with a missile barrage? I’ve been
reprogramming all the remaining SAMs to be used as anti-ship missiles! How far
has that progressed?

“Mister Samsonov.”

“Sir!” Samsonov sat up stiffly, expecting battle orders, as he
could see the range was inside 16,000 meters.

“How many S-400s remain?”

“We have thirty-one missiles, sir.”

“And how many have been converted for ship to ship usage?”

“Twenty-two, sir.” The big man’s hand hovered over the S-400 bank,
expecting Karpov to order them into action.

My God, thought Karpov. He had given orders to restrict the
missiles to low altitude flight paths with reduced speed. That leaves us only
nine long range SAMs that could hit anything at altitude like an incoming
cruise missile before it dives to its sea skimming approach. “Halt all
conversions. Send down a message to the weapons bays and tell the crews to
begin restoring the S-400s to normal operating parameters until further
notice.”

“Restore to air-to-air configuration, sir?”

“That is what I said! Why is it I must repeat an order twice?”

“Sorry, Captain. I will send down the order at once.”

That got Rodenko’s attention, and he walked slowly to the
Captain’s side, folding his arms as he leaned into the interaction with
Samsonov.

“Air-to-air defense, Captain? I don’t understand. I thought you
wanted to use the S-400s in SSM mode. If I am not mistaken the Japanese have no
aircraft here.”

Karpov turned his head, eyes dark, lifeless, like those of a
shark, but he spoke only to his CIC officer. “How long will this take, Mister
Samsonov?”

“Sir? Well the men have been working for the last eight hours and
doing about four missiles per hour.”

“Tell them to work faster. I want another dozen S-400s returned to
original configuration within the hour. Activate
Kashtan
system and establish
air alert two.”

“Captain,” said Rodenko again. “As
Starpom
I must
understand what you are doing here.”

“What I am doing here, Mister Rodenko, is giving orders. Your task
is to second them and see that they are accomplished in a timely manner. Now… Thirty
degrees right rudder. The ship will come to one-five-zero. Battle speed! Ready
on all 152mm batteries.”

Rodenko was ready to ask another question, but he turned his head and
seconded the order. “Helm, come right thirty degrees and steady on 150. Battle
speed. Ready on all deck guns.”

“Helm answering, and ahead at thirty knots, sir.”

“All batteries report ready,” said Samsonov.

“Captain?” Rodenko was even more insistent now. “What was that
radio message about, if I may inquire, sir?”

“The main enemy column will be northwest of us on this heading,
Mister Rodenko. I want to open the range.” Karpov deftly ignored the question,
focusing on giving Rodenko information as to his battle strategy. “That
surprise we had when we stumbled upon those other two battleships is also in
mind.” He strode over to the tactical display and Rodenko followed to see the
Captain increase magnification, centering the map on Iki Island. “Look there,”
he said. “See those bays and islets at the southern end of that island? Who
knows what they may be hiding there, eh?”

“We had no radar returns from that sector, sir. All their capital
ships are massing to the northwest off our aft port quarter after this turn. It
looks like they are trying to get into a position to prevent us turning on a
heading to the Yellow Sea.”

“I can hit them any time I choose,” said Karpov. “But the
helicopter is now replenishing, and they may slip something behind that
island—perhaps a flotilla of those pesky torpedo boats. I intend to go over and
have a look. This maneuver south may also compel them to move in this direction.
I want to see what this Admiral Togo does. If they follow me the will be strung
out like a string of pearls.”

Nikolin had been watching the scene, knowing exactly what was
happening and why, but unable to say or do anything about it. Rodenko was
slowly beginning to perceive that something was amiss, he thought. The incoming
radio message, the Captain’s speedy retreat to the briefing room, the
conference there with Tasarov had all been noticed, and started some suspicion
smoldering. Now the odd order to Samsonov to refit the S-400s and an air alert order
must have him thinking something is wrong. I can add fuel to that fire if I
just speak up now.

The adrenaline pounded in his chest as he considered what to do.
“Sir,” he said, trying to sound like he was making a routine report. “KA-40
reports ready for operations in ten minutes. Full ASW loadout.” He looked at
Rodenko briefly as he said that, hoping it would be the last match required to
light the fire. It worked.

“A word, sir,” said Rodenko firmly. “I still don’t understand what
we are doing. Why the order to reconfigure those S-400s? There is no air threat
here. Why is the ship on air alert two? And what is the KA-40 doing with an ASW
loadout?”

Karpov’s jaw tightened, the emotion there intense. Rodenko thought
the Captain might yell at him for a moment, but he saw how he mastered himself.
Then he spoke in a hushed tone. “The ship will steer one-five-zero. Mister
Samsonov, engage the nearest enemy ships with the two forward deck guns. Walk
with me, Mister Rodenko, if you please.”

Chapter 26

Tasarov
suddenly knew what was happening. He read the text message again,
eyes widening with surprise and disbelief. It read:
“Admiral and Fedorov are
at Vlad – Have ordered us to break off and return there! Direct order from Moscow!
If not obeyed command falls on Rodenko!”

Tasarov began to text back:
Does he know?
He looked over at
Nikolin after he sent it, waiting until the communications officer slowly shook
his head in the negative. Now Nikolin was furiously typing another message and
when he saw it cross his screen everything suddenly made sense to him.

“I think the Admiral is aboard a submarine!”

This was no drill, Tasarov suddenly realized. The unusual nature
of Karpov’s conference with him and the questions about the submarine were most
telling, and it was a riddle he now easily solved. They must have come back on
a nuclear submarine! It was the only thing that united all the pieces of this
puzzle together and made any sense. Yes! They came back on a submarine, and
there were only a very few they might have chosen. The Captain had mentioned the
most likely candidate by name—
Kazan
—and he told me to load that profile
and listen for it. If they were on a submarine then the order to reprogram the
S-400s and the Air Alert made perfect sense as a defensive measure against
Kazan’s
missiles, as did the order to launch the KA-40 and this undersea alert drill.  This
is why he ordered me to make the
Shkval
and RBU rocket systems ready for
action. He’s afraid they are going to attack us, and if I report any contacts
he might strike at
Kazan
too!

He suddenly realized that the instant he opened his mouth the
dominoes would fall.

*
* *

Karpov and Rodenko were heading for the flag briefing room, and
when the hatch was sealed the Captain turned to his
Starpom
, a grim
expression on his face, his eyes animated with urgency and an edge of fear.
“The message was from Fedorov,” he said quickly. “They have come back.”

 Rodenko was very surprised. “What did he want, sir?”

“He is up to his old tricks again,” said Karpov, very edgy, arms
folded, eyes shifting this way and that. “He could not persuade us to sail to
the Bay of Bengal to make that ridiculous rendezvous, but they managed to shift
home. Now he is back again insisting we return to Vladivostok.”

“Vladivostok?”

“That is where he claimed to be.”

“Well what does he want us to do, sir?”

“Use that damn control rod again! They say they have a spare and
they brought it with them. Doesn’t he realize what’s happening here? We are
right at the edge of battle and now I’m supposed to rendezvous with him at
Vladivostok? This is nonsense! We don’t even have Chief Dobrynin here any
longer. There is no way the men we have could mount that control rod under
these conditions. Even if we did this there is no way we can control where we
shift without Dobrynin. What is he thinking?”

Rodenko considered a moment. “If we sail for Vladivostok
conditions may be better, sir.”

“No! We cannot go north. We have come all this way, and too far to
just turn tail and withdraw now after issuing an ultimatum as we did. I will
not run in the face of the enemy fleet.”

 Rodenko could understand why Karpov said that, but there was
something more that did not make sense here. “And the orders to Tasarov and
Samsonov? Why are we on air alert here? And what is the KA-40 doing with an ASW
loadout? It should have an
Oko
panel instead, just as before.”

“Look, Rodenko. We have whole sections of the crew specializing in
those areas and when they stand to battle stations they have nothing to do.
That is a bad situation, so I have given these orders to keep the men sharp and
involved.” Again, the well measured lie, told with a straightforward look that
Karpov had honed to perfection over many years of hard trials.

“Beyond that, you saw what happened up north. We had to use the
close in defense guns to engage those mines as well. Last evening I did some
additional research. The Imperial Japanese Navy purchased its first submarines
during the Russo-Japanese War as early as 1904. They had five Holland class
boats from the Americans, and also purchased several more from the British.
They will only be able to operate in littoral waters, but in battle you must be
ready for any contingency. I may be maneuvering near that island to the southeast.
Tasarov has just been sitting there, so I gave him something to drill on.
Besides, the KA-40 can still give us eyes in the sky that could be valuable. We
haven’t scouted east of the Shimonoseki Strait.”

“I see…” Rodenko nodded.

 “Satisfied now? What more?” Karpov’s anger was evident as he saw
his
Starpom
stiffen with the hard edge in his tone, the line of his jaw tightening.

“Why have we turned southeast like this? We are entering littoral
waters if we stay on this course. The area ahead could be mined, and you just
said yourself that we have not yet scouted the Inland Sea. If anything emerges
from the strait it will block our way north should we need to maneuver in that
direction.”

“Don’t be a fool. Nothing will prevent me from maneuvering in any
direction I please.”

“Captain… we are now facing thirty-five enemy contacts. Things are
about to get very hot out there. At least let me understand your thinking on
this. Surely it’s not because you suspect something is hidden behind that
island.”

“I have my reasons. We will draw the enemy out in a long line of
battle with this maneuver.”

That was not why the Captain turned southeast, of course, but it
would cover the real reason. What he really wanted to do was get into the
shadow of Iki Island to put it between
Kirov
and the open waters to the
north. He reasoned that
Kazan
was out there somewhere, and the island
would serve as a shield against torpedoes coming from the north. There was a
small bay at the southern end of the island where he thought
Kirov
might
hover, safe from incoming torpedoes on all but one axis, and that is where he
would post his KA-40. The island would also prevent
Kazan’s
Klub P-900s
from coming in at low elevation on a high speed terminal run. In effect, Karpov
was maneuvering to fight
Kazan
more than Togo’s fleet, and the turn
southeast also gave him the added benefit of buying time with the Japanese. He
explained that much to Rodenko, hoping it would quell his irritating
resistance.

“We’ll buy ourselves a little time on this course and extend their
line of battle before we turn west again.”

Rodenko was ready to say something more, but he stopped himself. “Very
well, sir.”

“Good. Now just
listen
for a change before you open your
mouth and don’t give me that stupid look every time I issue an order. Must I
explain all my tactics? You are
Starpom
. Act like it!”

There was sting in Karpov’s words, but Rodenko kept his cool. “I’m
sorry, Captain. I just wanted to be informed as to your intentions.”

“My intentions? I’ve explained that many times. I intend to smash
the rest of the Japanese fleet and change everything here. Understood?”