“Did we get off an attack?”
“Apparently. They found the Jap carriers and scored hits on both, but fuel was suddenly a big issue. They all had to divert to the Santa Cruz Islands.”
“Well we can get down there and bring them home,” said Murray.
“Captain, twenty minutes ago you were telling me about orders. No. Anybody that made it to those islands and landed safely will just have to sit there until we sort things out. Right now Nimitz wants us to meet up with Wasp and Shiloh. They left Pearl five days ago and have been heading our way. They’ll have a tanker waiting for us there as well.”
“Nimitz wants to draw another two cards before he makes his next bet,” said Murray.
“Sounds that way. Christ, this is almost as bad as Pearl. To top it off, the Japs got through to Moresby and took the place yesterday. Radio Tokyo made the announcement at 16:00, and rubbed it in real good. The bastards even invited us to try and take another crack at Tokyo and see what happens.”
Murray shook his head. “This is getting serious. We’re down to three fleet carriers now, and the two scout carriers. Antietam is still laid up in Pearl, and after Wasp, we won’t get anything else for a good long while. We just can’t afford to lose anything else out here. What do you figure Nimitz is scheming on?”
“Fiji,” said Halsey. “HYPO dropped this bullshit about A.F. and Midway, and now they think that’s where the Japs are headed next. They told Halsey an invasion group is already at sea. People have been saying something was up, and I never thought it was Midway from the beginning. It’s right down here—Fiji—that’s what they really want now. They take that, and they’ve damn near cut us off from the boys down under.”
“It’s a big ocean out there,” said Murray. “They can think that, but we’ll just fall back on Samoa. Pago Pago is every bit as good as Suva for a staging point. They’re even shipping in the 1st Marine Division there.”
“Well don’t throw this match just yet,” said Halsey. “If they are planning to hit Fiji, I should be down there as soon as possible. Waiting for Wasp and Shiloh could let them get ashore before we have anything to say about it.”
“Face it, Bill. We just lost Fletcher’s entire group, and Nimitz isn’t taking any chances now. He wants us loaded for bear before he moves anywhere close to the Japs again. They only had four carriers at Truk, and maybe Fletcher got one in that scrap. With Wasp, we can go toe to toe with them on a level playing field. That has to be the plan now.”
Halsey thought for a moment. “If they hit Fletcher that hard it had to cost them something. They would have lost planes, pilots, fuel, munitions, and hell, maybe a carrier too. I’d be willing to bet that was Carrier Division 5 in the Coral Sea, and for my money I’d say they would have to go to the corner before they come out for another round. That’s where we make our move.”
“Then you figure they’ll cover this Fiji operation with those other two carriers from Truk?”
“It’s looking that way. So we may even have the home field advantage when we handshake with Wasp. Nimitz knew I’d want to get down there and throw punches the moment I heard about this. That’s why the bastard split these orders into two parts. He wanted to make sure he got me out of the ring and heading east before he sent us that news about Fletcher.”
“The old man’s a sly one,” said Murray with a smile. “But it’s better this way, Bill. You want to take this fight south? With Wasp along, we’ll have the muscle. This isn’t over, and we’ve got to play this right. If we lose this one…”
He didn’t have to say anything more.
Chapter 18
When the strike wing finally returned to Hara’s task force they were dismayed to find only one carrier there. Sakamoto’s knowing eye spotted the Lucky Crane, a thin stream of white smoke still trailing from the starboard bow area. He made one fly by pass, seeing the decks were clear and undamaged, and then ordered his men to begin landing.
Hayashi was one of the first down, elated that he had put his bomb right on the enemy carrier, and further pleased by the news that both carriers had been sunk. “But where is Shokaku?” he asked.
“Hit many times,” said the flight crewman. “The ship went down an hour ago, but we were able to get most of her pilots and crew off safely. There are many aboard, so don’t be surprised if we have visitors tonight.”
Hayashi went below to find them, speaking with several torpedo plane pilots with consoling words. They had not had the chance to get airborne before the American dive bombers came in. “They made a clumsy attack,” one man said, a Lieutenant Sato that Hayashi did not recognize. “But there were many planes. We should have had more fighters up. The gunners on Shokaku did their best, but those 25mm guns do not do well against fast moving targets like dive bombers. They are difficult to elevate, track too slowly, and jam all too often.”
“I am sorry for your loss, Sato. How is it I do not know you? I recognize most everyone else here from the Division.”
“Because this is the second carrier the enemy has taken from me,” said Sato sullenly. “I should throw myself overboard, for all I will do here is bring you bad luck.”
“Second carrier? Then you were on the Hiryu?”
“A good ship,” said Sato, with just a hint of nostalgia in his tone.
Hayashi was suddenly very interested. “Tell me,” he said. “Is it true that Hiryu was sunk by a rocket weapon?”
“I saw it with my own eyes,” said Sato, “though I still cannot believe what I witnessed. It was terribly fast, so fast that our gunners had no chance to even take aim at the thing before it struck us. It came from above, then swooped low over the sea. I thought they would get it, but it was not possible. Nothing could have stopped it, and it found the ship as if it had eyes. To this day, I am convinced it must have been piloted, but where the enemy got such a weapon still escapes me. The Siberians? They’ve been under our heel for decades, and now they openly declare war on Japan? That is also unbelievable. Talk is that the Russians gave them this weapon. We do not know how it is deployed, but some say there is a ship operating up north that uses these weapons. You have been here in the South Seas, so you may not have heard, but our sailors have given this ship a name up north. They call it—”
“Mizuchi,” said Hayashi, yet even as he said that he could not remember ever hearing it.
“Yes!” said Sato. “Then you have heard the story once already? The name is well given. I have not seen this ship, but it must be a demon. It struck the Hiryu from well over the horizon with this rocket weapon, and then, when we sent Mutsu and Chikuma up to get after the Siberians, they came back as floating wrecks. I heard what happened—more of these naval rockets. They strike with terrible speed, and set off raging fires that are simply uncontrollable. Whatever this ship is, it is very powerful, very dangerous. But no one has seen it since. I am no coward, but believe me, when I got the news that I was to be transferred to the South Seas Fleet, I was very happy. The farther away from that demon, the better.”
Mizuchi… Hayashi could see a shadow in his mind, something dark and wavering on the sea. It was as if he was up above, ready to strike with his comrades and then he saw himself falling like a stone to attack. The sky was suddenly alive with the strange smoky tentacles of the beast below them. They reached up to find his brothers, striking the planes and smashing them to pieces as they dove—and yes—they were rockets. Now he felt a cold chill settle over him, and an oppressive sense of dread. Mizuchi… death on the sea… his death, but it was a brave death, an honorable death…