1943 (Kirov Series Book 27)

by John Schettler

  “That will be ignored,” said Fedorov. “In fact, I think if you had emptied the forward deck and blasted every ship in the anchorage, they would still ignore such a demand. Remember what I said about Tokyo.”

  “They can ignore me at their own peril then,” said Karpov. “This was meant as a demonstration of our capability, nothing more. Now we look for some real targets. I want to find their carriers, and I will tell them that I now intend to find and sink every aircraft carrier they have. They will freeze the blood in their veins. They already have their hands full with everything the Americans can throw at them. To have Kirov here, hunting them like an unseen shark, will be most unnerving.”

  “But it won’t stop them. It won’t prevent them from operating either,” said Fedorov. “When pressed heavily, the Japanese respond by attacking.”

  “And I will respond by destroying anything that come near me. This will be a very good hunting ground in the days ahead. I should have taken the war here long ago, but I had to see that we established a firm hold on Northern Sakhalin. Now we have three full divisions there, and they won’t push us off. It’s also interesting that we’ve not seen or heard anything more of this guided missile destroyer. I had hoped it might be at anchor here.”

  “That would have certainly spoiled your show,” said Fedorov.

  “Perhaps, but I wonder where the Takami is now?”

  “The last we were able to discern was that it was with Kurita again. Nikolin says there was a fleet engagement off Efate in the New Hebrides yesterday—a surface action, with no carriers involved.”

  “Most likely because the Americans are still fussing about at Noumea. Yet that was a very bold operation, was it not?”

  “It was,” said Fedorov. “I don’t think the Japanese expected that so soon. The Americans took losses in those recent carrier duels. In fact, I’d say they were bested again, but they did manage to hold the ground, or rather the sea around the New Hebrides. That was as much due to the need for the Japanese to replenish as anything else, but I’m a little concerned over some of the message traffic we intercepted.”

  “How so?”

  “It was all in code, but it wasn’t difficult to figure out when they were referring to a carrier. The thing is this: there were far too many references to carriers in that traffic. They appear to have been operating two carrier divisions, and we were able to ID most of the ships in the main body under Admiral Hara. Yet there was another division east of the New Hebrides, and we haven’t been able to determine its composition.”

  “Where might it be now?” asked Karpov.

  “We’re pretty sure Hara withdrew to Rabaul. So I would guess that other group might be heading for Truk. If we had held off a bit, we might have caught them here.”

  “Then we’ll catch them at sea instead,” said Karpov. “Better to sink them in the deep blue than in a shallow lagoon where they might be able to refloat them again.”

  “I suppose so,” said Fedorov, “but what I’m getting at is that there seems to be too many Japanese carriers in operation now. I’ve been keeping a close tab on their losses. We had at least six references to carrier capable ships in that eastern group. That’s too many. They’ve got more ships than they should be able to put to sea, and that is a gap in our intelligence that needs to be filled.”

  “So we’ll have a look south and east of Truk,” said Karpov.

  “There was one code phrase that was translated, and it caught my attention—Kage Kantai—shadow fleet. We also intercepted the phrase Shadō Butai.”

  “Shadow fleet? Interesting. What do you make of that?”

  “It could be a reference to a secret building program that resulted in the conversion of several ships to carriers. That’s well documented in the history. In fact, you just hit one of those ships. The Zuiho was commissioned as a fast oiler and submarine tender, the Takasaki. Its sister ship was the same—tender Tsurugisaki, which became the light carrier Shoho. The Japanese had a hidden program where they planned to convert fleet auxiliary ships to carriers. Perhaps these unidentified ships could be part of that, though I should be able to track most of these conversions down.”

  “You forget this history is quite different now,” said Karpov. “We just wrote another chapter here with this attack on Truk. In any case, that group must be out there somewhere. Let’s see if we can find it.”

  Part X

  Assassin’s Creed

  “If they were going to kill you, would they knock?”

  — Jeffry Eugenides

  Chapter 28

  Word of the attack on Truk would spread like the fires ignited by those five missiles. That the enemy could strike them this way, unseen, unchallenged within 120 kilometers of Combined Fleet Headquarters, was most disturbing news to Admiral Yamamoto. He had been at Rabaul wanting to inspect the damage to the Soryu and Kaga more closely, and was pleased to see that it would be mended very quickly. Then came the news from Truk.

  This was undoubtedly Mizuchi, he thought. I do not think the Americans are using these rocket weapons yet. Thankfully the damage was not heavy. The airfield is back in operation and they are now searching for this Siberian raider, but Zuiho was the only carrier there, and that ship is once again stricken from the active duty roll. It is amazing that they were able to hit targets with such precision, yet the officers from Takami warned me of this. Even Musashi was struck, but by only one missile. Clearly this was meant to send a message more than any real attempt to sink that ship.

  Yet now what to do with the Shadō Butai? Their last reported position was still a thousand miles southeast of Truk. I am told the rockets came from the northeast. Should I allow those new carriers to continue north? No… If I permit this, the likelihood that they will be discovered by Mizuchi is very high. A pity that Takami is well on her way to Manila now, and from there, ordered to Yokohama as a prize Nagano wishes to gloat over in exchange for releasing all these new ships early. I could use that ship’s radars and missile defense shield now. If it were here, I would consider sending it to join the Shadō Butai to challenge Mizuchi, but now I think prudence demands that I order that carrier division west into the Solomon Sea.

  Yes… The islands have a lot of sea planes that we can get up to provide us with a means of detecting this enemy. In the Solomons, the Shadō Butai will be alerted to any danger well before those rockets can find them. And they will also be close enough for us to support them with Hara’s group. He performed miracles on that last sortie, delivering a stunning performance. He put several enemy carriers out of action, and even sunk one of their fleet carriers. Admiral Halsey charged in like a mad bull after that, and drove off the Shadō Butai, but he did not seriously harm us. Hara was like a ghost. The enemy never discovered him, and he successfully covered the movement of all three regiments of the reserve 20th Division to the New Hebrides and Santa Cruz Islands.

  Our battleships took the brunt of the American attack, and yet I am told Satsuma and Hiraga shrugged off the enemy bombs, which was very heartening news. A pity we lost one of the new super heavy cruisers in the surface action that followed, but I must also congratulate Kurita, for he faced three battleships and drove them off. They were undoubtedly coming to bombard our positions on Efate, but the latest reports had them moving east towards Pago Pago.

  Yet now the question of how to face Mizuchi looms darkly in my mind. What if that ship is bold enough to come here, to Rabaul? This bay has really been the heart of our operations, being much closer to Noumea and the Fijis. All our remaining fleet carriers are here now. Had that ship attacked this harbor, it may have been a disaster for us worse than that inflicted on the Americans at Pearl Harbor.

  So how do I fight this demon? Do I sortie with all these ships, and give battle? Do I attempt to overwhelm it with the full might of our navy, or do I disperse the fleet into smaller divisions, perhaps moving into the Coral Sea to interdict enemy communications with their bold operation against Noumea? Soryu will be available again in a matte
r of days; Kaga just a week later. Yet that is more than enough time for Mizuchi to navigate to these waters. It could strike both those vital ships while they are pierside for repairs here. I cannot permit that to happen, so I must find some way of luring my enemy into battle far from Rabaul.

  We still have Akagi, Tosa, Taiho and the two light carriers Junyo and Hiyo. Admiral Nagumo reports he still has capability with his two dragons, Kinryu and Ryujin. Would that be enough force to face and defeat Mizuchi? How many ships might be sacrificed if I order this? We have an oiler very close to Nagumo’s position. What if I order him to replenish at sea, and then stand off the Solomons? I could then move Hara into position behind Bougainville Island, or even Choiseul. In effect, the Shadō Butai would be my bait, and if Mizuchi attacks Nagumo, then Hara can counterattack with everything he has, like an archer hidden behind the wall of those islands.

  We have planes at Buka and Buin on Bougainville, seaplanes in the Shortlands, and at Tulagi. Surely we can ascertain where this ship is if it approaches Nagumo. And he has the new long range Saiun recon plane aboard his carriers, the Nakajima C6N. So yes, we will find Mizuchi if he comes, and then I will order Nagumo to engage. Even as his planes start on their way, Hara must begin launching from behind Bougainville, and we can also throw up all the land based bombers we have here at Rabaul.

  Yet they are very clever. They may have means of finding Hara that I do not know of, and I must not allow them to attack our prized fleet carriers. So I will order Kong to use a much different deployment. He will break up the Kido Butai, and position our carriers all along the 150-mile length of Bougainville. They will stand like archers behind that wall, and this way, even if the enemy suspects their location when they see his planes coming, they will still not be able to hurt Hara’s carriers as they might if we operated in one heavy carrier division.

  Yamamoto smiled. I will use all our strength, and yet it will be dispersed like the wind. When our planes launch they will be like a vast storm front, and yet there will be no central point the enemy can find to strike back at us, no eye in the storm. Yes… This is how we must fight, and we must do so immediately, before the Americans replenish and repair their losses, and Admiral Halsey sorties again.

  He decided.

  * * *

  General Imamura leaned close to his confederate, General Hyakutake, as if confiding some great secret, and that was not very far from the truth. The information he was now disclosing was known only to a very few within Imperial General Headquarters.

  “The Army will be instructed, in fact it will be ordered, to abandon all territory presently occupied in China south of the Yellow River. Only Shanghai, Canton and Hong Kong will be excepted.” Imamura lowered his voice to a whisper as he said this, though he knew the two men were quite alone, and there was no chance anything of their discussion could be overheard.

  “Understand what this means,” he said. “The Army will soon have many more divisions available for deployment elsewhere. They are to withdraw all of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Armies from territory south of the Yellow River, 15 divisions. Many of these will be redeployed to the Siberian Front, but at least a third are to be made available to the South Pacific Army Group immediately. Look here… I received this coded message only yesterday.” Imamura handed General Hyakutake a message transcript, yet it contained only one cryptic phrase: The warrior is lucky, for the moon shines bright, and the hour of the festival has come.

  The meaning of the phrase was immediately apparent to Hyakutake, a master of cryptanalysis, for there within that single phrase were the code names assigned to five Japanese Divisions.

  “Do you see what I see in this?” asked Hyakutake.

  “Of course!” said Imamura. “Five divisions. The Lucky Division is the 3rd, and that alone is worth its weight in gold. It is one of the most capable and experienced divisions in the Army, and I am told it will remain a square division. The Warrior Division is the 9th from Manchukuo, a very good unit that has been underutilized thus far. The Bright Moon brings us the 6th and 17th Divisions, and the festival Division is the 15th. Every one of these has seen combat in China. The Army is finally getting serious about the war here in the south. At last we will have the troops we need to fight the Americans and all their allies. In fact, there may even be forces to allow us to reconsider a limited invasion of Australia.”

  He smiled, very pleased with himself, and all he had come to learn through means he would not discuss. He had many contacts in the Army web, chief among them being the irascible General Nishimura at Singapore. Together the two men had shared a growing curiosity about the strange ship that had appeared, the Takami, and the men who commanded it. They learned Ivan Volkov was also very interested in that ship, and that he had come to Japan to learn more about it, and to make the unprecedented request for an audience with Emperor Hirohito. Whatever else was discussed the “Yellow River Accord” as it was soon to be called, was going to change the face of the battle in the Pacific War. Japan was consolidating and limiting its position and operations in China, and the Army was looking more and more to securing the resources they had seized in those halcyon first six months of the war in the South Pacific.

  Strangely, four of the five divisions Imamura had mentioned did eventually find their way to the Pacific Theater. Only the powerful 3rd Division had remained in China throughout the war, but now it was coming south. This could not help but have a dramatic effect on the campaign now underway.

  * * *

  The Americans had just transitioned from the strategic defensive to their first real offensive operations on both land and sea, and Halsey had learned that it wasn’t enough to simply operate against the Japanese carriers. Now he also had to cover the movement of troops and supplies to contested islands, and the Japanese had this same consideration to take into their planning.

  As January ended, Halsey had only two carriers at sea, and was planning to head to Sydney to join Lexington and Yorktown. All the lighter carriers were back in Pearl, except the hybrids that went to Suva for emergency repair work there. He did have one of the new escort carriers, the Nassau, but it was built to be more of an aircraft ferry than anything else. This was going to leave a gap in carrier coverage that could span the first two weeks of February. As he considered the situation, it now appeared that both sides had reached a similar pause in ground operations on all of the islands being contested. The US had Noumea, but not the main airfield that was still being guarded by Colonel Ichiki.

  On Efate, the 8th Marine Regiment had been challenged by the Japanese 79th Regiment of their 20th division just in time to prevent that island from falling. Now the US controlled the main anchorage at Port Vila, and the Japanese had Havana Harbor in the north.

  On Fiji, Collins was mustering his division at M’ba, and slowly reorganizing to shift his weight to the left flank, eyeing that saddle in the highlands as his only route to pressing the attack further. The rains continued unabated, swelling the streams leading into the M’ba River and making that largely impassable, and the Japanese held that sugar mill overlooking both bridges, digging in behind the river in a very good defensive position.

  To the south, Patch was just a few kilometers south of Nandi, and if anything could be done, it would be his division that would have to do it in the short run. To that end, another regiment of the 37th Division on Vanua Levu was now making ready to hop over to Suva and take Queen’s Road to reinforce Patch. This was the only expedient reinforcement at hand since MacArthur had sent the 41st to Noumea. It would give him five regiments to press his attack in February.

  Elsewhere, the Japanese had taken Ndeni, called Nendo today, in the Santa Cruz Islands. The small airfield there had once been a lifesaving place for US airmen to land in the carrier duels fought around the New Hebrides, but it could no longer serve in that role.

  With the 41st Division safely delivered to Noumea, Halsey met with MacArthur when he arrived in Sydney, and the two men discussed further plans.

 
“I told you we could take Noumea with no difficulty,” said MacArthur. “We should have done it long ago. Then our planes would have cut off the Japanese supplies to Fiji.”

  “Should of? That horse never won a race,” said Halsey. “It was a matter of not having adequate carrier support. Now we’ve got the flattops back, and we’ll get results, I can assure you of that.”

  “Yes… but I’m told the fleet had another bad round with the Japanese, and those two out there in the repair yards are evidence of that.”

  “Yes, they hurt us,” said Halsey. “Wasp was the hardest blow. But we’ll have Yorktown and Lexington back in a week to ten days, then I can sortie with four fleet carriers again and conduct business. Anything I should know about?”

  MacArthur lit his pipe, considering. “With the 41st at Noumea, our first order of business will be to get that airfield. We’ll take it this week. There looks to be only one good battalion holding it now, reinforced with engineers. We cut off everything they had south of the harbor, but a recon plane spotted them moving north up the eastern coast road. I can kick them out of Tontouta and get the engineers to work on that field. We’ll need secondary fields as well, closer to the harbor.”

  “Then no major troop movements I need to cover?”

  “Not for the time being. What’s the situation in the New Hebrides?”

  “It looks like they’re going to fight for Efate and Luganville. So when I leave here, I head for Pago Pago to escort the 6th Marine Regiment to Efate. That will double team them there. After that, Nimitz says he’ll use the 1st Marine Division and hit Luganville with two regiments, the third being held in reserve.”