At that moment, Nikolin spoke up again. “Admiral, sir. There it is again. COMINT profile has just picked up another transmission—very short burst this time, and aimed directly north.”
“North?” Karpov’s eyes narrowed. “Then it wouldn’t have originated from that forward group of five contacts. Who would they be signaling? It had to come from this ship here.” He tapped the screen to indicate the lagging contact. “They’re sending orders of some kind. That is a command ship, perhaps a flagship calling the shots. Very interesting.”
Rodenko was looking at his data very closely now. “You may be correct in that sir. The forward group has just increased speed by at least ten knots.”
Karpov looked at Fedorov. “A little cavalry charge,” he said with a grin. “Very well, I’m going to assume that is a surface action group up front, and that they are now attempting to close on our position.”
“How could they even know we’re here?” said Fedorov.
“Oh, they know we’re up here alright. They certainly won’t have a good fix on our position, but they know what we’ve been doing off Okha, and they’re sending this little group in to try and interdict our supply runs. It looks like the lesson we gave them off Kamchatka needs to be repeated.”
It was then that the situation took another twist. They all saw it, the red light on Rodenko’s board, and then the new contact winking on from the southwest.
“Airborne contact,” said Rodenko. “Three… five …. No, it’s looking like a good deal more, I have 15 contacts now, but they’re dispersing into multiple groups of three.”
“Shotai,” said Fedorov quietly.
“Mister Fedorov?” Karpov gave him a glance. “A strike aircraft?”
“A three plane formation, sir. That’s what the Japanese name a sub flight within a squadron—Shotai.”
“Look now, sir,” said Rodenko. “There’s another group—nine planes. The bearing is slightly off. I don’t think they really know where we are.”
“But they’ll be fanning out to search,” said Karpov. “That’s what this dispersal is all about.” He shook his head, having seen this so many times before, from the British long ago, and now the Japanese. “The ship will come to air alert one—S-300 system.”
Rodenko punched the alarm, the jangled nerves of the ship tightening up the sinews of war. Everyone on the bridge straightened in their seats, sitting taller, more alert. The tension was obvious, except around Karpov, who seemed completely calm and deliberating.
“The Japanese Navy,” he said, somewhat disdainfully. “So here they come at last, only they have no idea what they are getting themselves into. This time we teach them with the hard stick of war. Here they come, sewing the wind with their silly little planes. Now they reap the whirlwind.”
Kirov Saga: Second Front
Karpov is set to punish his unwary enemy, but the confrontation in the Sea of Okhotsk soon escalates into the shock and violence of modern warfare as Kirov faces a most unexpected adversary. The battle that will soon be joined could decide the fate of all concerned, a desperate throw of the dice by the Captain and crew of DDG-180, against the most powerful opponent they will ever face.
Meanwhile, the German Army has now recovered from the long, cold winter, and Eric von Manstein is ready to lead a strong new offensive push to the south. His objective is to finally link up with the forces of Ivan Volkov in the Caucasus, which would put the Axis in a position to pose a grave threat to Iran, Iraq and the entire British position in the Middle East.
Realizing that the Soviet Union could still collapse in late 1942, the Allies struggle to forge a plan that will open a second front in the West. President Roosevelt has given his consent to launch the first daring offensive of the war—Operation Torch. It will be aimed at French North Africa, intending to cut off German supplies to the Canary Islands and unhinge their Condor offensive. German occupied Gibraltar still guards the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as a terrible secret hidden beneath the Rock. Can the Allied forces storm and reclaim that vital port before the Germans learn what lies within their nest?
Coming Soon…
One of the longest running subplots of the Kirov series centers on a central character in the saga—the irrepressible Vladimir Karpov. Sometimes a hero, most times a villain, Karpov has dominated the action from the very beginning of the series, set in opposition to Volsky and Fedorov in his ceaseless quest to take control of the mighty Kirov and use it to impose his will on the world in which he now finds himself marooned.
Beginning on the bridge of Kirov in that tense and fateful moment at the climax of Season 1, Armageddon, the author now knits together, all the material depicting Karpov’s return and rise to power in the world he shattered in 1908. The tense situation on Siberia’s western border soon brings him into contact with Ivan Volkov, and the two men meet, with the real identity of each man revealed. That begins a long vendetta, as Karpov and Volkov become arch rivals and struggle for control of what seems like a lonesome backward railway inn in the small, insignificant hamlet of Ilanskiy.
Volkov will launch three successive raids using his formidable airship navy, each one more elaborate and powerful, coloring the action with a wash of Steampunk as Zeppelins duel in the skies for air superiority, while special forces and Marines battle on the ground for control of the vital railway inn and its dark hidden secret. Think of it as the “Director’s Cut” for this intriguing and engaging plot line featuring the long feud and war between the two great villains in the series. Includes new scenes and “outtakes” added to the story by the author as he stitches together material from twelve series novels into one continuous and uninterrupted narrative of this plot line, including a secret plan by Volkov not yet revealed in the main saga.
Reading the Kirov Series
The Kirov Series is a long chain of linked novels by John Schettler in the Military Alternate History / Time Travel Genre. Like the popular movie “The Final Countdown” which saw the US Carrier Nimitz sent back in time to the eve of Pearl Harbor in 1941, in the opening volume, the powerful Russian battlecruiser Kirov is sent back to the 1940s in the Norwegian Sea where it subsequently becomes embroiled in the war.
Similar to episodes in the never ending Star Trek series, the saga continues through one episode after another as the ship’s position in time remains unstable. It culminates in Book 8 Armageddon, then continues the saga in Altered States, which begins the second “Season” in the series, extending through Volume 16. The series is presently reaching the end of Season 3, as the Allies launch their first offensive in the West—Second Front.
The best entry point is obviously Book I, Kirov, where you will meet all the main characters in the series and learn their inner motivations. The series itself, however, is structured in “seasons “ with 8 books in each season. In Season 1, the first three volumes form an exciting trilogy featuring much fast paced naval action as Kirov battles the Royal Navy, Regia Marina (Italians) and finally the Japanese after sailing to the Pacific in Book III. Book 4, Men Of War stands as a sequel to that trilogy and the bridge novel that links it to the second segment of Season 1, beginning with 9 Days Falling.