Show of Force (19 page)

Plot in
Lenin
was similar to that in
Nimitz.
It was a bit smaller, since the Russians often sacrificed human space for weapon space, but it performed essentially the same functions. Many of the weapons were different, yet they had been devised for the same purposes. As Alex entered the room to assume his position next to Captain Svedrov, his Chief of Staff, he quickly reviewed the status of operations. He saw the flight of A-7's approaching his force, the American submarines to the south, and in another corner of the room, a board showing the dispersed American force.

As he seated himself, Svedrov reported, “All ships have expanded the screen in preparation for any nuclear attack, sir. Our computers indicate that the American planes are not armed with atomic weapons at this time, but I felt it better not to take any chances. We have already dispersed high-level chaff to counter their missile radar, and our escorts are radiating large-ship signals. I doubt they will be able to select
Lenin
unless they are willing to come within visual range.”

“The lead aircraft will fire Harpoon missiles, and that should be any minute now. Their range is over fifty miles,” remarked Kupinsky. “Once those are locked onto a target, they will then send the secondary flight in with their Bullpup missiles. Do not let anyone be fooled when those first aircraft turn back after firing. I know that is just what David Charles would like to see.”

“Who, Admiral?”

“Admiral Charles, their commander. He believes quite strongly in the dual-strike method.” Svedrov looked quizzically at his commander. “I know the man well v Svedrov. Remember my explanation of the other day? He is a brilliant commander. I can also assure you that his submarines are maneuvering to position now to fire at about the same time as those aircraft.”

It didn't happen exactly the way that Admiral Kupinsky predicted, but it was close enough to satisfy his staff. The submarines anticipated the A-7's by just half a minute, but David Charles had expected that would be possible. All of his fleet units were instructed to act independently when they were going into action, unless they were tied into the master computer. In this case, he wanted his commanders to shoot when they were in the best position.

While
Dallas
sped off underwater to the east to draw off some of the helicopters, the captain of
Mendel Rivers
simply went full ahead for a few moments, directly toward the center of the Russian force. It was relatively easy to evade the helos in the vicinity for long enough to confirm a solution in the computer and fire the Harpoon missiles. The formation had been adequately plotted by satellite earlier in the day and
Rivers'
sensors were able to maintain the locations of the larger Soviet ships.

The missile broke the water approximately forty miles from the southernmost cruiser in the extended screen. After igniting and orienting itself, it raced toward the target in full view of the helos already warning of its approach. The CO of
Rivers
had chosen his target because of its name and importance to the Russian people. He had a perfect solution for the missile, and it was fired too close for the captain of
Marshal Timoshenko
to consider evading. There was no time for a solution for his own antimissile weapons, and his men vainly fired their 76- and 23-mm. guns at a missile that could barely be perceived at that speed. The ship also tried to maneuver. The explosion on impact literally ripped the stern off the 7,500-ton ship, completely destroying the after engineering spaces and detonating one of the magazines. The secondary explosion tore a hole farther forward from the main deck to well below the waterline. She was dead in the water in less than thirty seconds, the fires providing an excellent target for any aircraft that cared to finish off the long sleek cruiser, but she soon sank of her own accord.

Just moments later, as the lead aircraft from
Nimitz
were launching their own attack,
Dallas
successfully fired two missiles, one at the lead destroyer of a group of four heading in her direction, and the second at another cruiser in the rear of the formation. An instant before the missile exploded, blowing the bow off
. Bodry,
one of the newest destroyers in the fleet, the Russian ship fired its own antisubmarine missile, based on a quick solution in tandem with one of the helicopters. The missile from the fated destroyer did not land in the water as close to
Dallas
as it had been planned, but that was of no help to the American boat. The torpedo carried by that missile locked on to its target immediately. Seconds before
Dallas's
pressure hull was shattered, each man heard the whine of the high-speed propellers overtaking their boat. The destroyer, racing forward at thirty-two knots, ripped itself apart. With no bow, its weak interior bulkheads collapsed from the forward motion. The second missile from
Dallas
removed the bridge and the three top levels from the giant cruiser
Nikolayev,
named after the yard that had built so many of the ships in that task force.
Nikolayev
was also a target of the air attack. Just as she regained control in after steering, with her executive officer now in command, two more missiles hit, one amidship at the waterline, destroying main control, and the second in a torpedo magazine. The dual explosion, and the water rapidly filling the starboard side, rolled
Nikolayev
onto her beam. Secondary explosions completed the job, and she turned turtle.

As far as Admiral Kupinsky was concerned from his position in flag plot, the exchange was weighing in favor of the Americans. While the latter did not have as strong a defense against airborne missiles as his own force, he decided -that his own antisubmarine protection was not as effective as it appeared on paper. Though their ships carried enough weapons to sink each American sub three or four times, they had to catch them first, and the rapid acceleration of a nuclear attack boat easily confused his own helicopters. He needed the long-range standoff capability to fire on the subs before they fired on him. The loss of one cruiser and one destroyer convinced him that it was time to send his ASW units away from
Lenin to
keep the subs at a distance. He would have credited
Dallas
with a second cruiser, but that had actually been finished off by the Americans' planes.

Just as he had predicted to Captain Svedrov, the American aircraft first launched their long-range missiles from enough distance to protect them from shipboard missiles. Then, right behind that attack, came more aircraft with the shorter-range weapons. Their ploy was to hide behind the Harpoons, assuming the Russians had their hands full just bringing down the first flight of missiles. The less maneuverable Forgers that
Lenin
had launched earlier were no match for the American fighters. The Tomcats flying shotgun had been armed with Sidewinder missiles. These easily brought down most of the Soviet jets, which had been designed as bombers anyway.

The Russians' electronic deception equipment was the equal of the Americans'. The missiles fired at the Soviets had locked on the best available targets. They wanted
Lenin,
but only visual contact would suffice. As the second flight came in more closely with their Bullpups, they saw the destruction caused by the submarines. They had unknowingly assisted
Dallas
in the sinking of
Nikolayev,
but many of their Harpoons had been picked out of the air by antimissile fire. One had streaked in past the defenses to explode on
Sevastopol,
a guided missile cruiser, but now this secondary attack was necessary to inflict maximum damage.

The Bullpup missile has a range of about ten miles. The Soviet antiair missiles have a range of about fifteen miles, and the latter were fired first. The A-7 pilots spent their time evading these missiles while their men in the rear coordinated their own firing. First one, then two, then three of the attacking planes were hit. The remainder were able to complete their attack, turn, and head back for
Nimitz.
As they turned, two more were brought down, and a third was hit and began immediately to lose altitude, desperately struggling for that long glide toward safety.

Kupinsky watched the boards before him anxiously.
Nikolayev
was lost—a combination attack. One of the Harpoon missiles had exploded aboard
Skory,
one of his older high-speed destroyers, leaving her dead in the water. A total of twelve Bullpups were fired by the surviving aircraft.

“Svedrov. Are our destroyers using that new countermeasure equipment, the one that radiates false targets to their missile radar?”

“Yes, Admiral. Only two of the forward ships have it installed, but they are radiating now.”

Kupinsky watched the progress of the American missiles, two each fired at six targets. He noted that two of them winked out seemingly before they reached the lead ship. He turned to his Chief of Staff, who smiled and nodded before his Admiral could even ask the question. The missile had convinced itself to explode on a target that never existed. The destroyer
Razitelny
was not so lucky. Built in the late 1970's, her captain had been personally selected by Gorenko to command this powerful little destroyer. Capable of traveling at speeds in excess of thirty-eight knots, they had felt this ship could be the prototype answer to the American high-speed attack submarines. But two missiles easily got through all the defenses, one exploding just behind the forward launcher. It detonated the missiles just then being loaded, and blew off the front of the bridge. The second hit, amidships near the waterline, exploded in the engineering spaces. Immediately she was enveloped in flames and the damage-control parties found themselves unable to control the fires.

Many of the ships were successful in exploding the missiles before they got to their targets. One hit the after launcher on Kupinsky's first surface command,
Admiral Fokin,
putting her stern weapons out of action. But she was still able to maintain her position in the screen. The only other missile to get through found
Lenin
and exploded in her starboard elevator. There was no fire, but the elevator, so important in bringing the remaining Rigas to the flight deck, was jammed in twisted metal.

“How long before that elevator can be repaired, Svedrov?” Kupinsky inquired. “If we can't have it in operation by the end of the day, I want to turn away. Their reconnaissance aircraft will easily be able to spot that hit, if the satellites haven't already photographed it.”

“Commander Kalinn has reported that his damage control people will need at least twenty-four hours, sir. The hydraulics are not damaged, but metal must be cut-away and it will take time to complete repairs to make it operational again.” He paused in his report, -then said, “But I wouldn't be overly concerned about their satellites, sir. We believe that Admiral Gorenko has seen to that. My assistant is checking now, but he believes a message we received an hour ago stated that our missile satellites may have neutralized theirs.”

“Is there some problem with your communications?”

“Yes, sir. We aren't sure what it is, but the last messages were badly garbled, almost as if our own satellites were malfunctioning.”

Kupinsky leaned back in his chair, his chin resting in his left hand, waiting for Svedrov to look up again. “Captain, I suggest you have your man try to establish direct contact with Moscow right now. It is just as conceivable for them to do the same thing to our own satellites. It is important to me and our tactics over the next twenty-four hours to determine if we are alone here or not.”

Captain Svedrov, an understanding look on his face, rose immediately to join his communications staff. Kupinsky returned his attention to the boards before him. The last of the American aircraft were disappearing to the west. He had lost two cruisers, one of which was new, and two high-speed destroyers.
Admiral Fokin
was badly damaged, but her forward launchers were operable. One destroyer was so badly damaged by explosion and fire he would probably sink her. His own carrier was operating with only one elevator, and that meant that he would have to move the Rigas to the other side of the hangar deck if he needed them soon.

The Americans were not much better off, he noted, although the major victory had been the sinking of
Virginia.
A U.S. frigate and one attack sub had been sunk, and the Rigas had left four ships badly damaged, a cruiser, two destroyers, and a frigate, and
John Paul Jones
had been reported burning so badly that she, too, might have to be sunk.

“Admiral.” It was a concerned Svedrov. “Admiral, we are unable to contact Moscow at this time. We are in the process of checking all the equipment step by step. We are not in contact with the satellites.”

“Svedrov, you may let your officer make sure his equipment is in working order again, if you like. Then you can tell him to stop worrying about it. The trouble, I am sure, is in the sky, and there is little we can do about it. We are on our own for the time being.” He looked first at the now-blank screens in front of him, and then back at his operations officer. “You may signal the force that we are turning to the north until
Lenin
is fully operational again. I want a report on
Admiral Fokin.
If she is unable to contribute or protect herself adequately, I want to send her to the yards for repairs. If
Razitelny
is as bad as I think she is, sink her. You may also schedule rendezvous with the service ships. Since we have no communications with Moscow and we can see nothing by satellite, I want you to try to contact the submarines in the American area to learn what they are doing. At this point,” he grimaced, “I am operating with about the same information that our commanders had during the Great War forty years ago.”

Captain Svedrov saluted him and left. The plot area was back to its normal operation status again. Few men were present in comparison to the recent crowd. What, he thought, did we accomplish today?