“Speaking of that,” said Kurita, “will I have naval air cover for this mission, or rely on our land based aircraft?”
“Both. Admiral Kakuta is being given command of the 2nd Carrier Division—Kaga and Tosa. Between those two you will have 150 naval aircraft, and at least three more squadrons operating from airfields on Hokkaido. Think of this Mizuchi as if it were an enemy aircraft carrier, not a battleship. Consider its rocket weapons as determined pilots—so dedicated to bringing harm to their enemies that they would pilot their planes directly into your ship to be certain they scored a hit. That is what you will be facing. Hopefully, our new fleet defense cruiser Takami will prove its worth, but you must also be prepared to strike the enemy in any way you can.”
“I promise you I will find this demon, and slay it.”
“I would never doubt your skill or heart for battle, but be cautious, Kurita, be very cautious. You must allow Takami to take a position in the vanguard of your fleet. It has advanced radar systems that can find the enemy for you, and scout aircraft as well. I have also spoken to Vice Admiral Kakuta and ordered him to keep his carriers well behind your main covering force with the cruisers and battleships. That is your second mission—protect those two carriers! The loss of Zuikaku and Shokaku dealt us a very hard blow. We must preserve all the fleet carriers that remain, and thankfully, Tosa is now ready for operations with Kaga. Remember what I have told you. Hiryu was struck by just one of these deadly enemy rockets, and it set off all the ready ammo, fuel, and combat loaded planes in the hanger deck. The fires were terrible. Remember that.”
“Do not worry, Admiral, our pilots are every bit as capable as those rockets may be.”
“That may be so, but this Mizuchi also has smaller rockets designed to shoot down our aircraft. That was why there was no air cover over Kazantochi when the Siberians surprised us there. Again, all of this is my fault. I was so preoccupied with our operations in the south that I overlooked the threat in the north. That will not happen again, which is why I now send you, our most promising and dedicated Admiral. Fight well, Kurita, but use your head.”
“You can rely on me, Admiral.”
“Good… One thing I have told Kakuta is that he must disperse his strike wave into individual Shotai. No more than three planes must be in close formation, and even they are to disperse at the first sign of enemy rocket fire.” This was something Lieutenant Commander Fukada had tried to impress upon Yamamoto, and he passed the lesson on. “Another thing,” Yamamoto continued. “Takami must first do all it can to stop the enemy rocket attacks aimed at your fleet. That is why it stands in the vanguard. Kakuta’s carriers should only strike after the signal to do so is received from Takami.”
“And what if we were to lose that ship?”
“Then you must use your best judgment in deciding how to proceed, but do as I have ordered and walk the decks of Mutsu. Preserve those fleet carriers, and also realize that, while you will command our two newest battleships, Mutsu did not suffer that damage simply because it was old. After considering that, if you can kill this demon, you will do the Emperor, and your nation, a very great service.”
Kurita bowed, a gleam in his eye, and was soon on his way.
DDG-180 embarked on the long voyage north with Kurita’s cruiser squadron, while the outcome of Operation FS was being decided in that hot carrier duel in the south. Fukada had been restless the whole time. He had been unhappy with Yamamoto’s decision to send the ship north. In spite of the fact that the history was already quite different, the battle in the south, was one he could at least grasp and easily understand. While Operation FS had actually been planned before it was eventually cancelled in the history he knew, the situation in the north was entirely different. It was a history that had never happened, and there was no safe harbor for his thinking and planning, no way to understand what was really going on—at least not in terms of the Second World War.
“Face it,” said Harada. “We have to look at this situation as if it were happening in our own time now. We’ve drilled maneuvers in the Sea of Japan for decades. The Bear was always our presumed adversary, along with China. So this is going to be a simple fleet defense operation. That’s the only way we can look at it.”
“It’s going to be dangerous,” said Fukada. “We’ve gamed out maneuvers against the Red Banner Pacific Fleet, but that was when their toughest capital ship was an old Slava class cruiser—and we always had the American 7th Fleet watching our backs.”
“Having a few regrets now about the side we picked in this fight?” asked Harada. Sure, it was always reassuring to know the US fleet was out there with us, but not this time. We’ve got to internalize this another way. Assume it’s 2021. The 7th Fleet is mustering near Guam and intending to intervene in the Taiwan thing. We’re left up here and get word the Russians have crossed the demarcation line on Sakhalin. Takami is ordered north to accompany a couple of our helo carriers and show the flag. We’ve converted them to light strike capable carriers with the F-35s aboard, again, thanks to our old American friends.”
“Don’t rub it in,” said Fukada. “Alright, the one common denominator in both situations is the incontrovertible fact that Russia is our adversary. This time they mean business, and there’s a Kirov class battlecruiser in the Sea of Okhotsk supporting their Air/Sea reinforcement of Sakhalin. We’re to support Kurita’s task force, which will include two carriers, and assure the transport of two regiments to Sakhalin.”
“That’s job one,” said Harada. “And I think we can handle that easily enough, unless Kirov intervenes directly. Then we’ve got a real fight on our hands. My advice is that we ask Kurita to play a defensive role here, but suppose he decides to get more offensive minded?”
Fukada shrugged. “Those two carriers won’t have much real offensive punch against a ship like Kirov,” he said. “If they could get through their SAM defenses, then yes, they could deliver 250 KG bombs that would hurt that ship easily enough. But they won’t get through. You and I both know that.”
“And we haven’t the SSM inventory to put any real pressure on Kirov’s SAM umbrella. Our eight Type 12 Anti-Ship Missiles would all have to be fired in a big salvo to have any chance of even one getting through, and that is a slim chance at best. Could we time a salvo like that to coincide with a strike from those two carriers?”
“We might, but remember, Kirov is packing S-300s. They can engage any formation of carrier aircraft well before they ever have a chance to close on the target. Those men won’t know what hit them. I stressed this with Yamamoto, and asked him to order the pilots to fly widely dispersed patterns on approach.”