Furthermore, the action is getting too close for comfort. It is clear that the British are attempting to close inside 100 miles, but our advantage is to stay outside their missile range.
“The task force will now come to 105 degrees west,” he said. “Also, signal Captain Zheng on the Shandong. If they have any J-31’s armed with the YJ-91 externally, they must switch to air superiority loadouts at once. They are to use the PL-15, and only in the internal weapons bays. The British are using their fighters as an air defense shield, and we must smash it.”
The Admiral was going to use his J-31’s in their strongest role, to sweep the skies clear of enemy fighters, radar pickets and AEW planes. His mood would soon lighten, because his forward sub screen had a boat up quite close to the advancing British fleet, and it was about to fire.
Chapter 24
The Type 041 Yuan Class diesel boat had been creeping at just four knots, angling toward a point that would see the British ships come across its bow. The Captain had six Yu-10 Torpedoes ready, and five targets now in range. That torpedo would normally be fired inside eight miles, but it could run 27 miles before exhausting its fuel, so getting this close was a good guarantee of a hit. Fast at 65 knots, any ship targeted this close in was in real trouble. Every ship in the fleet, including the four RSN frigates, now turned away from the attack, and went all ahead flank.
Invincible immediately launched a pair of Wildcat Helos with Stingray torpedoes. They raced to the suspected contact point, put two sonobuoys in the water, and had the location of that Goblin in short order. A minute later, a Stingray had found the sub, which was just 70 feet deep in these relatively shallow waters, where the bottom was less than 200 feet. The white water bubble that emerged on the surface told the tale well enough. That sub was gone, but not before it had put five deadly torpedoes in the water, which were now closing on their targets, even though the controlling wire to the mother ship was cut.
The four RSN frigates had been found, and the swift, silent fish were running true, having locked on with their own internal sensors. Supreme was the first to be hit, its back broken in the terrible explosion. Steadfast was next, her bow gutted by the lance that found her. Stalwart took the third hit, soon to roll over like a skewered whale and die. Intrepid was the last to go up in fire and smoke, the entire squadron of four frigates wiped out.
The fifth and last torpedo fired was after the Type 31 frigate Archer, soon to be fatally hit, with a raging fire aft, and systems down all over the ship. Adding insult to misery, a second Yuan class diesel boat was able to make certain Archer would not survive, and also put a torpedo into Battleaxe before it too was pounced upon by the helicopters and killed.
In that one fell blow, Admiral Pearson had lost six of his nine frigates, and with them went any chance of staying in this fight. Even before the terrible shock of the attack struck home, he knew that any man in his right mind would simply turn and run from this ordeal. He was never going to get close enough to the Chinese ships to fire anything at them. They had the speed to remain at a distance, where they could use their own missiles with impunity, and with the bravery of being out of range.
Grim faced, and somewhat pallid when the news came, he turned to his flag adjutant and issued an order, his tone almost solemn.
“Signal all remaining units. Launch helicopters to recover men in the water. Then this squadron will withdraw to Singapore immediately.”
The Admiral went to the ready room aboard Invincible, and drafted a message to Whale Island:
“29 NOV 2025 - 04:20 Zulu - 11:20 Local – Fleet attacked by two enemy diesel subs, which were subsequently sunk by Royal Navy helicopters. All RSN frigates in escort hit and sunk, along with HMS Archer and HMS Battleaxe. Given these circumstances, and with no further allied support at hand, it is my decision to withdraw to Singapore, and if necessary, to transit the Strait of Malacca so as to preserve what remains of Her Majesty’s Far East Squadron. With regret, and respectfully, Admiral William J. Pearson, Commander, Far East Fleet.”
The gravity of this decision could not be understated. It meant that the Royal Navy was relinquishing control of the eastern end of the Malacca Strait, and by extension, the approaches to the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.
But support from allies was at hand. Karpov stood on the bridge of Kirov, looking at the BDA report on the Chinese attack.
“A submarine attack,” he said aloud. “A goddamn submarine… Fedorov, the British fleet looks like it is turning back for Singapore.”
“They lost six ships,” said Fedorov. “Those four RSN frigates were the only large combatants in Singapore’s navy. Without them, the British will simply not have the ability to defend against the kind of attacks the Chinese have been throwing.”
“Well then,” said Karpov, folding his arms. “It’s time they picked on someone their own size. Mister Samsonov, we will give them some covering fire as they withdraw. Target this squadron here. Put two Zircons on each of these three ships in the forward screen, then four on these two leading destroyers in their inner screen. For the carrier, allocate six. Their missiles are very good, and those are two Type 055 class destroyers there, but let’s shake them up a bit. The American Tomahawk strike is just starting to hit Miri. This attack, from an unexpected vector, might blow the foam off their beer.”
The missiles arced high into the stratosphere, reaching the speed of Mach 5 in little time. Then they fell like lightning toward the Chinese ships, and when they were 25 miles out, the first ship to fire on them was destroyer Changsha, which was actually positioned just behind the carrier Zhendong. They barely got to the first two Zircons before they reached the frigate Henyang. As the range closed, and the missiles slowed to 2300 knots, the HQ-9’s finally began to fire in volume, but the Vampires were just too fast to get them all.
Type 055 destroyer Huoshen, the Fire God, took a direct hit and there was a tall column of fire as her heavy magazines exploded. A second missile pushed all the way through to take the carrier Zhendong amidships and Admiral Wu Jinlong felt the ship shudder with that hit.
Samsonov looked up at Karpov, a glint in his eye. “Sir, sixteen missiles fired as ordered, thirteen destroyed by enemy SAM fire, one malfunction, and two hits, both on prime targets.”
“Not bad, Comrade! I think we got their attention. Yes?”
Karpov smiled.
Aboard Zhendong, damage reports were coming in swiftly after that hit. There was no fire, but the missile had penetrated into the hangar deck and put all air operations on reduced capacity. Then the communications station relayed the news from Miri. The airfield was now under heavy attack by enemy cruise missiles. Facilities there were severely damaged—hangars, shelters, the ammo depot, control tower, tarmac spaces, runway access points, and the air strip itself. Virtually every plane hosted there was destroyed in the attack, including a full squadron of twelve J-10 fighters. Miri had simply ceased to function as a viable base for the Chinese.