tunnels cut right into the solid rock, with blast doors thick enough to protect what's inside from a nuclear blast. The first was completed, we think, in the early 1980s. Satellite photos show enormous structures against the hillside, with obvious submarine support facilities outside. Our submariners call them 'the barns.''
'Typhoons,' Brandt said.
'That's right. The Polyamyy complex is their primary Typhoon basing facility. They don't keep them all in one basket, of course. Way down here, a good one hundred sixty miles east along the Kola Peninsula from Polyamyy, is Gremikha. They base and supply Typhoons there too, as well as at ports in the White Sea, but their main PLARB center is at Polyamyy. The Russians, remember, like a tight, centralized administration, especially when it comes to their nukes, and the Polyamyy complex is nice and handy to Severomorsk.
'Altogether, the Russians have some forty air bases on the Kola Peninsula, as well as hundreds of SAM sites, radar installations, supply depots, bases for two motorized rifle divisions, and the headquarters, barracks, and training center for the Northern Fleet's Naval Infantry brigade.
All of that is not counting their fleet facilities on the White Sea, at Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk.'
'So where the hell does Washington get off telling us to 'close with and shadow neo-Soviet fleet units,' eh?' Brandt shook his bulldog head. 'What do they think, that CBG-14 is going to scare the Russkis into being peaceful?'
'After the Battles of the Fjords, I imagine they'll be a bit more circumspect,' Tarrant said, his eyes twinkling. 'And we'll be backed by CBG-7, the Eisenhower and her group, as well as Navy and Air Force squadrons coming out of Norway. But we're first-string this time. If the Russkis want to play, we'll be up to bat first.'
'Just like last time,' Tombstone said. 'When we were up first against two Soviet carrier groups. Does someone in Washington have it in for us?'
'Political, Tombstone,' Brandt said. He made a sour face. 'DACOWITS wants a report on how their girls ? excuse me, their women ? stand up to combat.'
Brandt had fought bitterly against the decision to use Jefferson as a test case for female flight officers, Tombstone knew. He'd lost, though, because the Jeff, in Norfolk for repairs, was the only carrier immediately available when the decision was made. Tombstone had heard rumors that Brandt had threatened to resign over the issue. If they were true, he was glad the skipper hadn't carried out the threat. He was a damned good officer, and a good ship captain. Jefferson was almost certainly his last command at sea ? how did a naval officer top command of a CVN? ? and it would be tragic if he was forced to go ashore under a cloud.
'I doubt that DACOWITS had anything to do with this, Captain,' Tarrant said gently. 'Jefferson is up to full strength with the new units brought on board at Norfolk. She also has the best combat record in the fleet. I'm sure that was quite enough to recommend us to the CNO.'
'Don't get me wrong, Admiral,' Brandt said. 'I'm not trying to wiggle out of this. But merciful God in heaven…' He surveyed the map, as though in amazement. 'One CBG can't possibly blockade the entire Murmansk coast!'
'We won't have to, Captain,' Tarrant said. 'Washington already has it blocked out.'
Tombstone listened intently as Tarrant laid out the plan as proposed by the Pentagon in their latest orders. It was simple and direct, but required considerable support from other fleet elements.
Jefferson and the other surface ships of the battle group would take up a patrol station north of the Russian-Norwegian border, far enough east to maintain their surveillance of the nearest neo-Soviet bases, far enough west to be able to head for shelter in Tanafjorden or to run for the Norwegian Sea if the Russians came out in overwhelming strength. The Eisenhower group would move further north, toward the edge of the Barents ice pack.
Galveston and Morgantown, meanwhile, the two Los Angeles-class attack subs attached to CBG-14, were already off the Kola Peninsula. They would probe ahead, deep into Russian territorial waters, taking up position right off the Kola Inlet itself. CBG-7's subs would take up station fifty miles behind them, to catch any big ones that got away. Other American SSNs were already in the area. They would cover Gremikha and the mouth to the White Sea and would serve as backups for the subs of the two carrier groups.
Submarines, Tombstone thought, would definitely prove their worth in this situation. Air strikes and showing the flag both had their place, but the superbly quiet SSNs could sneak right up to Ivan's front porch, stay as long as was necessary, and slip silently away again.
The submarines would be the CBG's advance scouts, monitoring Russian subs and other vessels as they entered or left port ? especially at Polyamyy.
Backing them would be Jefferson's ASW squadrons ? the Vikings of VS-42, the King Fishers, and the SH-3H Sea Kings of HS-19 ? using air-dropped sonobuoys to weave a net across the southern reaches of the Barents Sea. Any sub contact would be shadowed, by air or by submarine. Russian PLARBs would be identified; if necessary, the hunters would deliberately reveal themselves and thereby warn the Russian sub skippers that the Americans had them in their sights.
'We will not give the weapons-free order,' Tarrant explained, 'unless the PLARB is clearly about to launch despite our interference.'
'And if he tries to launch anyway?' Tombstone asked.
'Then we drop him.'
Brandt scratched at one fleshy jowl. 'What about their Northern Fleet?'
'Still licking their wounds after the Fjords,' Tarrant replied. 'Latest satellite intel suggests that at least ten capital ships were sunk or dinged up pretty bad, and that doesn't count both the Kreml and the Soyuz getting deep-sixed. A lot of ships are laid up in drydock, or rusting on their moorings. Some of their nuke subs have become hazards, no longer seaworthy, too hot to break up. God knows what they're going to do with them. Morale in their Northern Fleet is wretched. What's worse, they've been having a bad time getting supplies for the fleet.'
'I bleed for them,' Brandt said.
'There will be a chance, of course, that the Russians will sortie their fleet, or as much of their fleet as they can get to sea, either to threaten us or to actually mount an attack. The fact is, we don't have a clue as to how they're likely to react to our provocations. Everything we've seen indicates that there's total chaos over there. Leonov's forces have launched a major offensive in the south, and Red units have invaded Ukraine and Belarus. That should work in our favor; the Moscow faction will have more than enough to occupy them in the south without having to worry about the Kola Peninsula.'
'Maybe,' Brandt said. 'But I'll tell you right now they're not going to take kindly to us parking a CBG in their backyard, Hell, what would we say if they planted the Kiev battle group twenty miles off Hampton Roads and dared us to make something of it?'
'Well, that's why we're going to have to be damned careful on this one, gentlemen. One mistake could ruin our whole day.
'Our worst problem, of course, is going to be their submarines. Half of all the Russians' subs are based up here, and that means things are going to be frantic for the ASW departments. As I said earlier, though, we'll be drawing heavily on support from Norway. That includes three squadrons of P-3 Orions, and a Brit Nimrod group. They should be able to let us stretch our assets a bit.
'CAG, your people are going to be running shy on sleep, I'm afraid.
You'll not only be handling the brunt of the close-in ASW patrols, but I'm going to want heavy CAPs up at all times. In addition, it would be a good idea if you had at least two attack squadrons fueled, armed, and ready to go on short notice, in case we have to engage Russian surface units. I'd like at least one of those attack squadrons to be F/A-18s.'
'They'll be ready, Admiral.'
'You have two days to make damn sure of that. How are your people getting on so far?'
Tombstone knew the admiral was asking obliquely about the air wing's ongoing sexual integration.
'Some teething pains, Admiral. Nothing we can't handle.'
'Your people are going to be in a real pressure cooker, son. Word from Washington is that the Ike and the Jeff battle groups are going to be pretty much on their own for at least a week. It'll be that long before the Nimitz gets here to reinforce us, and Washington is keeping the Kennedy stationed off the Skagerr.'
'We'll get the job done, sir.'
'I know, son. You've got the best people in the Navy. That's why I'm counting on you. Captain Brandt? Any problems?'
'We're not going to get that week, Admiral. You know that as well as I do.'
