“Sir we’re level with the Jin,” reported Benson. “Sorry, Tango one.”
“Keep going planes.”
“Now two miles ahead sir.”
“Ok, planes, trim for ascent fore and aft. Up bubble ten. Match depth 300 feet. At three hundred come about and face him.” The boat’s deck tilted up to the bow. A few minutes later the Plansman reported. “300 feet sir reciprocal 060 degrees. We are facing him.”
“Range to Tango one Benson?”
“Point.8 miles sir.”
“Weaps, make one ping, directional at Tango one.”
“Sir.” A loud ping sounded out from the boat.
“Planesman, down twenty, 3 knots. Sink, where you are. Depth 1,800 feet. Weaps. Flood tube, four, open outer doors launch Deputy Dawg.”
“Aye sir the Dawgs out now. Just got a message from the Jin sir.” Nathan frowned.
“Who let the dogs out, who, who.”
The USS Stonewall Jackson sank almost vertically down into the Pacific blackness.
CAPTAIN WANG YITIAN started, he heard the ping without the need for any headset. The whole boat would have felt it.
“What the hell?” Out here it must be an American boat probably an SSN. What the hell was he doing? Why not just follow and launch when ready? He could be saying thus far and no further. Or could he be playing mind games?
“Sonar, any sign of him?”
“Searching sir.” What was this joker playing at? He’d met a few of their Captains and Commanders. It’s not always a Captain in command. They are a type in a way, all individuals. They played by their own rules. That made them difficult but oddly predictable. They’d try to take the initiative, losing it was an anathema to them. They’d always try to do what you least expected. So just expect the unexpected and narrow the angles, they’re a bit like a cat with a mouse. Play with it first, then strike. You had to find when they were off guard and strike.
“So, what will he not expect?”
“Sir sonar, I have a faint prop noise getting deeper and some sounds indicating a sinking boat. Going deep.”
“How deep?”
“Sir, hard to say approx. 1,000 feet.” Ok, Wang Yitian had the first card.
“Weapons Officer. Flood tube one, open outer doors. Launch Yu-6 at sinking target T1, spiral search.”
“Flood tube one, opening outer doors. Launch Yu-6, running, down search.”
“SIR, FISH IN THE WATER Yu-6 spiral search pinging.” Benson called out.
“Keep sinking. Ready countermeasures port and starboard.” Nathan waited for a few minutes. “Chief get the knocking crew down back aft.”
“Sir.”
The Chief went aft, he heard him going through the crew cabins. “Any lazy shits will do. That means you Johansson. Stop stroking off, get up and follow me, bring the rest of the room hiding behind their wank curtains. You lot in there, Mary fucking Goodnight, get the whole coven up, stop rubbing em, hide the dildos and come on aft.”
They assembled with tools handed out by the engineers. The Chief Engineer looked at them like filth.
“When I say knock, you monkey’s knock.”
“Fish has acquired us sir, pinging running in. I don’t know its crush depth.”
“Nobody does Benson. Range?”
“Point five miles. Coming down now. Five hundred feet, three hundred feet going to our starboard.”
“Launch countermeasures to starboard, come to port two thirds rudder. All ahead full.” barked Nathan.
“Yu-6 closing, I think it’s gone for the bait.” A huge explosion rocked the boat. She turned and rocked left and right, he heard steel groaning. The rocking grew violent as the shockwave hit the hull. Nathan remembered thinking, come on Japanese Kobe steel, hold please.
“Keep sinking Planesnman.” The depth passed 2,000 feet. The pressure hull moaned but held.
In the engineering spaces the rocking was just as bad. There were cries as heads hit pipes and valves.
“Ok you fuckers knock,” shouted the Chief Engineer. The crew banged with spanners, pipes and hammers.
“SONAR, HUGE EXPLOSION at the correct depth. I heard hull stress sounds. Rhythmic battering noise from T1. Sir, I don’t think we sank her, but she’s in bad shape. Probably leaking from cracks and serious failures of machinery.”
Captain Yitian was cautious, it’s quite feasible that she’s crippled. He’d seen what a Yu-6 could do. American SSN’S were all capable of 1,000 feet, with a crush depth well below that. This one was now below 2,000 feet. It had to be near implosion time. But he knew their damage control was very good and they were practiced. They may come back from down there. He had to try. Finish them off for good.
“Planes, hard starboard. Down 30. Flood forward one and two. Weapons Officer. Flood tube two, open outer doors. Ready Yu-6.” Great Wall II dove down into the depths in pursuit of its stricken prey.
“Sonar sir, I have him 2,300 feet and sinking. His hull’s strong for a US SSN.”
“Captain,” said the Weapons Officer, “I have tube two Yu-6 in a firing solution.”
Captain Yitian looked at him. “It’s time, flood tube, open outer doors.”
“Sir, sir,” sonar called out alarmed, “we have an active ping two miles to our west and above us. It’s a Virginia class boat sir. A hundan US SSN.”
“Xielinlin di diyu,” cursed Yitian. Now we have two of the bastards, get rid of this one first.
“Launch tube two.”
“Tube two, Yu-6 running in on T1.”
“Weapons Officer, designate Virginia as T2.”
The sonar operator opened his mouth. “Torpedo in the water Mk 48, the Virginia has launched.
“Ready tube three Yu-6. Snapshot on T2.”
Yitian knew with two of them the odds were turning. One was disabled, and probably sinking, but the Virginia was fresh.
It had come down to this, time to play his ace card.
“Planes, trim for ascent, come port and head west. Periscope depth.” The Jin pulled out of her dive and turned to her left, rising for the surface.
“LAUNCH REN TO STARBOARD. Get him to simulate countermeasures.”
“Ren Launched. He’s away to our right, countermeasures on.” Weaps crossed his fingers.
“Yu-6 running in. range 900 feet,” cried Benson.
“Eject countermeasures Port and Starboard,” Nathan ordered, “blow forward one and two. Planesman, up full. All ahead full, max revs.” The jet drive pushed out hundreds of tons of water and the boat was pushed up through the deep waters. The buoyancy pulled her up too.
Benson called out, “Yu-6 is turning up, I can see it hunting left and right. Countermeasures are confusing it. It’s going right, it’s heard Ren’s call. Pinging, pinging.” The boat was pushed to the left violently by the force of the Yu-6’s warhead. Crew were pulled hard against their harnesses of fell over and against cabinets and bulkheads.
“It went for Ren. We got high enough, just,” said Benson.
“Weaps, get tube one ready in all respects.”
“Tube ready sir.”
“Snapshot on Tango one. Launch.”
“Fish running sir, fish hungry. He’s turned up full power and buoyancy. Jin has released countermeasures.” The crew heard the explosion through the hull. Fish detonated.
“Hot datu… No, Tango one still surface bound, our fish exploded behind him.”
Bastard, thought Nathan, we should have waited that bit longer.
Chapter 21
CAPTAIN YITIAN PEOPLE’S Liberation Army Navy, knew there was only one thing they could now do.