marines, led by the formidable Kandemir Troyak. He pictured them in their dress olive greens, long double breasted trench coats with gold buttons and collar tabs, braided gold belts and the brilliant red sash strap from shoulder to waist, where a six inch tasseled gold horsetail tied it off. Their black Ushankas rose proudly as they marched, stiff backed, their pace timed precisely to the beat of black jack boots polished to a mirror like finish. Each man would carry a bayoneted rifle, and the squad leader would hold a long silver sword, gleaming balefully in the morning light. Behind him would come the flag bearer, with the tricolor of the new Russian Federation snapping proudly in the wind. The symbolism would be apparent to all those who watched them come, their eyes glazed with awe, jaws slack with fear and surprise. They would be the sword of Mother Russia. They would seem a phalanx of doom as they marched, with the Captain strutting boldly in their midst as commanding officer.
Karpov smiled to himself, dwelling on the image. But it would not be mere theater, he mused. The considerable weight of Kirov's firepower, and the nuclear weapons he could demonstrate on some empty forsaken tract of Newfoundland would be his big sticks in the negotiations, sure to bend the minds of both heads of state. If they gawked at his helicopters, he could only imagine their shock at the sight of a nuclear detonation, and their fear as he calmly told them his ship was laden with a hundred similar warheads, lozh to be sure, but a lie that would surely be believed after his demonstration. What would the duplicitous titans of the West do, he wondered?
Roosevelt and Churchill had given their assurances time and time again, toying with Stalin throughout the war as they promised to eventually open a second front in Europe, while in fact they left most of the fighting to the Russian army. They might do the very same with him, he thought, promising him the world with sweet tongued graces, yet delivering nothing in the end. What would he do with the ship in the meantime, while the British and Americans most likely gathered every fighting vessel they could get their hands on and vectored them in? He needed to know more about the enemy capabilities to make a firm decision one way or the other. As much as he disliked Fedorov, the navigator was the only man on the ship he could rely on for the information he needed. The book he had been reading was in no way comprehensive.
“How many more ships might we expect to encounter if we proceed south now,” he asked.
Fedorov was grateful for the opportunity to speak. Perhaps he could persuade the Captain to alter his course and avoid further combat. “I've done some research, sir, and we are fortunate that many British capital ships are laid up for repair and refit at this time. They have four or five more aircraft carriers available, but two are in American ports for refit, and one is in the Indian ocean. Aside from the two we have just driven off, that will leave them only the Ark Royal at Gibraltar. This is a more experienced ship and could pose a threat.”
“It will serve only as a good target for our Sunburns,” said Karpov. “And we have already seen what happens to their aircraft should they dare strike us again. But what about battleships?”
“Well, sir, we've driven off Home Fleet for the moment, but as I said earlier, I don't think we seriously damaged either Repulse or King George V. The Prince of Wales is at sea, and that ship will likely be on Admiral Tovey's mind. Given the shock and surprise they must have experienced with your missile attack, I believe they have probably fallen back to consolidate and reassess the situation. But they are out there sir, and they'll have several heavy cruisers to throw in the mix as well. If Ark Royal sails from Gibraltar, she will most likely be escorted by the battlecruiser Renown, and possibly the battleship Nelson with several more cruisers. Nelson is slow, however, but given what has happened, I would have to believe the British would put everything they have to sea. In a few weeks time her sister ship Rodney will also be on the list. She was refitting at Boston and was ready for action again later this month. They could bring her out early in great need. If, however, we turn east, I think we could safely slip through the net and out to sea to get in a better tactical position.”
He was hoping this array of ships would give the Captain second thoughts about keeping on this heading, but Karpov was simply stacking these ships up in his mind. They were nothing more than names to him. Unlike Fedorov, he could not quote their speed, gun caliber, armor thickness, but these things did not matter, as his navigator was always close at hand. For now they were nothing more than targets to him, and he was mentally pairing them with various missile systems aboard ship, deciding how he would engage each task force the enemy was likely to assemble against him. Then the same question occurred to him that Brind had asked Tovey.
“What about the Americans, Fedorov? They're not yet involved in this war, yes?”
“Officially, they are noncombatants. They've only just begun to relieve the British garrison on Iceland, and to take responsibility for the sea route we are sailing on at this very moment. In fact…” Fedorov thought hard for a moment. “If I’m not mistaken they have a convoy ferrying more troops, planes, supplies and equipment to Iceland even now.”
“I saw such a notation in your book,” said Karpov, “but the dates were vague.”
Fedorov wished he had never told the Captain about that book but nothing could be done about it now. “Just a second, Captain. I think I can get more specific information.” He was hoping that the added weight of the American presence in the region would be enough to tip the argument in his favor. He reached for another volume from the shelf above his station, and quickly looked up a reference while Karpov watched with some interest, his eye drawn to Fedorov’s small book collection, noticing them for first time. “Here it is, sir. Two groups: Task Group A with the carrier Wasp, the heavy cruiser Vincennes and two destroyers. They were ferrying those Army P-40 fighters to Iceland-” His eyes widened. “They’re due to arrive on August 6th, Captain! They must be just south of us, and very close by now. It would be best if we steered to avoid them.”
“Rodenko has seen nothing south of us for hours.”
“We may pick them up soon, sir. And behind them will come Task Force 16 with the battleship Mississippi, heavy cruisers Quincy and Wichita, five destroyers and several transports.”
“Another battleship?”
“An older ship, sir. Her keel was laid down in 1915. She’s slow, perhaps no more than 21 knots, but had decent protection with belt armor just over 340 millimeters thick, and she has twelve 14 inch guns and fourteen more 5 inch guns. We cannot get anywhere within twenty kilometers of that ship, sir. The carrier may pose no immediate threat, given that she is on a ferry mission and probably not at full battle readiness.”
“Well we’ve already beaten off the professionals,” said Karpov, speaking of the Royal Navy. “I suppose it’s time to send the amateurs packing as well. Rodenko!” He shouted at his radar Chief. “Let me know the moment you have any contact south of our position. Samsonov, how is the missile reprogramming progressing?”
“The men are working on it now sir. I have a few Sunburns reset to disable their low altitude descent. They’ll just come right down on the target, sir.”
“A few? How many, Samsonov?”
“Four, sir,” the Chief said sheepishly. “But we’ll have another four ready in a few hours. As for the other missiles, some will have to be taken out of their firing tubes to get at the guidance module. It may take a while.”
Karpov was not happy. All his ship’s weapons were still largely calibrated to fight another class of warship altogether. “Will the Americans be hostile?” Karpov turned to his navigator again.
Fedorov was thinking what to say. Was the Captain seriously thinking of engaging the Americans too? What could he say to dissuade him?
“If they believe us to be a German raider, I fear they will treat us that way, sir. As I explained earlier, there were policies in place at this time to treat any hostile contact within a hundred miles as an enemy and sink her. There was a great deal of discussion about it, but the end of it was that the Americans decided to consider any German surface raider or U-boat as a hostile threat if found in these waters. Their naval forces were given the orders to engage and destroy such contacts if encountered.”
“Then we must consider any American ship hostile as well,” said Karpov. “What else may lay ahead?”
“But sir, you don’t want to engage the Americans, do you? I thought your plan was-”
”What else is out there, Fedorov. Don’t concern yourself with my plans.”
“Well, sir, they’ll have two battleships anchored in Argentia Bay, the Arkansas and New York. And they will also have another available on the East Coast, the Texas. The Carrier Yorktown is also operating with the Atlantic Fleet at this time, but she is in the Caribbean at the moment. The heavy cruiser Augusta is already en route to Newfoundland with the American president aboard. There will be other ships in that group as well.”
“My, my,” said Karpov. “Their entire Atlantic Fleet, and most everything the British can put to sea on top of it! And they are all within a few days cruising distance from us at this very moment. Get busy, Samsonov. We’ll be needing those missiles as soon as possible.”
“But sir,” said Fedorov. “We must be very cautious now. There were several incidents involving German submarines and American destroyers in these months leading up to Pearl Harbor. None of them were serious
