Rhinelander (Kirov Series Book 40)

by Schettler, John

  About Homecoming, Kirov Series Volume 41

  Fedorov was convinced that they can fulfill their mission, a kind of manifest destiny that will take them to an hour and day before their saga ever began, and he was correct. Only the Faraday Cage of the airship Tunguska allowed him to make such a bold assertion, and actually survive in that future, where his own self already existed as another man. That is where we are heading in the next book, Homecoming , where Fedorov’s scheme finally plays itself out. In the volumes ahead, the fate of all the other characters in the story, from the Argos Fire , to Gromyko aboard Kazan , to Berg’s Brigade, Colonel Reeves, Ivan Volkov, Tyrenkov, and Admiral Kita’s dwindling modern day task force in the Pacific, will all find a way to intersect in the year 2021.

  Yes, they will all be out of the frying pan of WWII at long last, but into the fire of the war in 2021 that we saw beginning in Season 1 of the Series. Now that war will be shown in more detail, with all our heroes in the thick of things, to meet whatever fate finally awaits them. It will be character based and centered on Kirov , much like the opening volumes of the series in Season 1.

  I can’t wait to get started!

  With enduring thanks to you all –John Schettler

  The Kirov Audiobook Fundraising Project

  Perhaps the closest we will ever get to a movie version of Kirov will be a professional audiobook project, and this is now on the radar screen. The expense required to do it right, hiring enough voice talent to bring the characters to life, has prompted us to see if readers might support this project through a “Go Fund Me” campaign to offer the first three volumes of the Kirov Series as audiobooks. We’re trying to raise $25,000 to do this, and here are the different levels where you can contribute to help make the project a reality.

  Support us at the $20 level as a way to say “Thanks” to the author for delivering 40 volumes of this incredible series with such dedication, and also get a sales code that will deliver a free kindle version of a coming book from the final season of the series.

  Support us at the $50 level and receive any single volume of the Kirov Series you designate as a book, personally autographed by the author.

  Support us at the $100 level and receive a free copy of one finished audiobook in either digital or CD format, and an autographed copy of that same novel in book form.

  Support us at the $200 level and receive the opening trilogy of the series as finished audiobooks when complete, including all three autographed paperbacks.

  Support us at the $500 leve l and receive all three audiobooks as above and also any single 8 volume season of the Kirov Series as paperbacks signed by the author.

  Support us at the $1000 level and receive all three audiobooks and also the entire first 40 volumes of the Kirov Series, with each one autographed by the author.

  TO DONATE and SUPPORT THE PROJECT:

  https://www.gofundme.com/kirov-series-audiobook-project

  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 in Season 5, covering the Allied offensive into Southern France in late 1943.

  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 3. 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 .

  The 9 Days Falling trilogy focuses on the struggle to prevent a great war in 2021 from reaching a terrible nuclear climax that destroys the world. It spans books 5, 6, and 7, featuring the outbreak of the war in 2021 as Japan and China battle over disputed islands, and the action of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet against the modern US Fleet. It then takes a dramatic turn when the ship is again shifted in time to 1945. There they confront the powerful US Pacific Fleet under Admiral Halsey, and so this trilogy focuses much of the action as Kirov faces down the US in two eras. Several subplots are also launched that serve to relate other events in the great war of 2021, and deepen the mystery of time travel as discovered in the series. The season ends at another crucial point in history where the ship’s Captain, Vladimir Karpov, believes he is in a position to decisively change events, the season finale, Armageddon .

  Season 2 begins with the Altered States trilogy, where Kirov becomes trapped in the world made by its many interventions in the history, an altered reality beginning in June of 1940. It is here that a sequential alternate history retelling of WWII begins that will extend to the war’s conclusion in 1945. The opening volume sees the ship pitted against the one navy of WWII it has not yet fought, the Kriegsmarine of Germany, which now has powerful new ships from the German Plan Z naval building program as one consequence of Kirov’s earlier actions.

  The Altered States saga spans books 9 through 16, initially covering the German attack on the carrier Glorious , the British raids on the Vichy French Fleets at Mers-el Kebir and Dakar, and the German Operation Felix against Gibraltar. Other events in Siberia involve the rise of Karpov to power, and his duel with Ivan Volkov of the Orenburg Federation, one of the three fragmented Russian states, (and these involve airship battles!)

  The second half of Season 2 begins with Three Kings. It covers the action in North Africa, including O’Connor’s whirlwind “Operation Compass” and Rommel’s arrival and first offensive, Operation Sonnenblume. The main characters from Kirov and other plot lines from the opening 8 book saga figure prominently in all this action, with a decisive intervention that arises from a most unexpected plot twist. Book 13, Grand Alliance continues the war in the desert as Rommel is suddenly confronted with a powerful new adversary, and Hitler reacts by strongly reinforcing the Afrika Korps. It also presents the struggle for naval supremacy in the Mediterranean as the British face down a combined Axis fleet from three enemy nations.

  Book 14, Hammer of God , covers a surprise German airborne attack, and the British campaigns in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. It continues in Crescendo of Doom , the German response as Rommel begins his second offensive aimed at Tobruk on the eve of Operation Barbarossa. At the same time, the action in Siberia heats up in a growing conflict between Vladimir Karpov and Ivan Volkov.

  Book 16 is the Season 2 finale, Paradox Hour , where the ship faces the prospect of annihilation on the day it first arrived in the past, 28 July, 1941. This impending event overshadows all else as Kirov joins Tovey in a pursuit of Hindenburg and Bismarck as they break out into the Atlantic.

  Season 3 then begins with Book 17, Doppelganger , where the aftereffects of the Paradox are finally sorted out. Fedorov is strangely displaced, and appears on the newly arrived ship, while Vladimir Karpov survives in Siberia, even as another version of himself defies Paradox and appears on Kirov . Now Fedorov struggles to prevent the same dominoes from falling and keep the ship from engaging the Royal Navy as it did in Book 1. At the same time, the Siberian Karpov plots to seize control of the ship, and that action invariably involves Ivan Volkov, who has his own plans to strike at Ilanskiy in Nemesis .

  The war then heats up on the East Front as the Germans
launch Operation Typhoon, reaching a dramatic event on the outskirts of Moscow in Book 19, Winter Storm. These actions continue through Tide of Fortune , as Japan enters the war at Pearl Harbor, and the British again tangle with Rommel in Operation Crusader. The action then depicts the Japanese Malayan Campaign and the battle for Singapore, naval actions off Java and the invasion of the barrier islands, and then Operation FS, leading to battles in the Coral Sea and on the Fiji Island group.

  In Knights Move, Montgomery is brought in to try and save Singapore, and coordinate the defense of Java. In the West, as the Germans battle for Gran Canaria in Operation Condor, Admiral Raeder turns his fast raiders loose in Operation Rösselsprung , but the Germans find something far more than they ever expected in the deep South Atlantic.

  Turning Point resolves the fast naval actions in the Canaries as the German raiders attempt to return to Casablanca with their mysterious prize of war. Meanwhile, the Japanese invasion of Java is interrupted by an event that threatens to change the balance in the Pacific. A most unusual challenger to the ship they call Mizuchi appears on the scene. Meanwhile, in the Western Desert, the British launch Operation Supercharge to try and push Rommel off his Gazala line and liberate Cyrenaica.

  In Steel Reign , the Japanese offensive reaches its high water mark as Yamamoto launches Operation FS in a bold attempt to storm the Islands of Fiji and Samoa and isolate Australia. He is opposed by a determined stand made by Admirals Fletcher and Halsey in the desperate battles of the Coral Sea and Koro Sea to decide the fate of Empires. Meanwhile Vladimir Karpov continues his long planned invasion of Sakhalin Island, but Japan now has a powerful new champion as the Destroyer Takami is detached north to join Admiral Kurita’s task force. The showdown is resolved in the season finale, Second Front , as the Allies storm ashore at Casablanca and Lisbon in September of 1942.

  The series continues in the premiere of Season Four: Tigers East, where Rommel regains his lost glory in the deserts of Libya while Patton drives east in an attempt to enfilade Von Arnim’s defense in Algeria. Manstein takes his hammer east to Volgograd, where the grueling fight for the city begins in Thor’s Anvil. As the new year of 1943 dawns, the Allies now begin their war in earnest, and the outcome of the battles looming ahead will decide the course of the war.

  Book 27, 1943 starts the critical middle year of the war as the action moves to the Pacific. The U.S. goes on the offensive, mounting a major push on Fiji, and amphibious landing by Halsey at Efate and MacArthur at Noumea. Carriers clash and the Japanese rush new hybrid ships into battle as the first of the new Essex Class carriers arrive to redress the balance on the US side. Then Japan’s secret weapon, the destroyer Takami , receives an unexpected order to return to Yokohama, but the journey there will open a door to new opportunities.

  In Book 28, Lions at Dawn , the war moves back to North Africa, where Eisenhower, Montgomery, and Patton plan their drive on Tunis. General Patton has ideas of his own, and they do not involve waiting for Monty to fight his way along the Algerian coast. His plan presents a major crisis for Kesselring and Von Arnim when Hitler orders the withdrawal of all Germany’s elite paratroop units. The Führer has eyes on a new prize in the Middle East, and devises a daring return to that theater in Operation Phoenix . Meanwhile, General O’Connor’s British 8th Army begins its big push to capture Tripoli, but he meets a determined and skillful defense by the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel.

  An exploration of St. Michael’s Cave at Gibraltar by Fairchild & Company leads to a hidden mystery beneath the Rock, and far to the east, the isolated atoll at Eniwetok receives some very unexpected visitors. The surprising developments set the destroyer Takami on a dangerous collision course with Vladimir Karpov and Ivan Gromyko, when the Russians set out to cleanse the timeline of all contamination, including their own! Events lead to a dramatic battle at sea that neither side ever expected.

  Book 29, Stormtide Rising , covers the Allied forces campaign in Tunisia. The Germans conceive a bold new plan that sends Rommel west to the heartland of Tunisia where he confronts the American Army under General Patton. The Axis forces launch Operation Sturmflut (Stormtide) as the famous names etched in the original history at Kasserine, Faid, Gafsa and El Guettar will again see the rising tide of war.

  At the same time, Hitler presses his daring invasion of Iraq and Syria in Operation Phoenix , while launching the cream of his airborne troops against the British outpost on Crete with a much belated Operation Merkur . As Guderian pushes into the heartland of Persia, Hitler sets his eyes on the richest prize in the world—all the oil the Reich will ever need to fuel the fires of war. Yet before Guderian can drive south, he must first secure his lines of communication. That necessity leads to a dramatic battle for the ancient capital city of Baghdad, with both sides risking all they have to rule the hour.

  Meanwhile, Fedorov and Karpov face the grim reality of their situation and come to a decisive conclusion about how they must proceed.

  In Book 30, Ironfall , the war continues in 1943, as Japan launches a bold new attack against the Fiji Islands that leads to a decisive battle off Yasawa. In Syria, Erwin Rommel unleashes a classic flanking attack towards Damascus with “Operation Eisenfall ,” as the Allies attack Kesselring in Tunisia with Eisenhower’s Operation Hammer .

  Then, as the German 11th and 17th Armies slowly grind down the last of Soviet resistance in the Caucasus, tensions reach a breaking point when they meet Volkov’s forces dug in west of Maykop. The Führer has ordered his legions to take and occupy that place, and Ivan Volkov chooses to stand his ground. The war in the east now threatens to spiral out of control, with new fighting erupting on every frontier when General Zhukov opens his Spring offensive in a massive attack towards Kharkov that now threatens to reshape the entire front.

  Meanwhile, Elena Fairchild finally learns the fate of the men she sent into the hidden passage beneath St. Michael’s Cave, and also makes a surprising discovery that will give her the means to find and retrieve the key that was lost on the Battleship Rodney . As she plans her mission, Fedorov and Karpov arrange a meeting with Volsky and Gromyko to discuss their new plan to shatter this altered meridian by traveling to 1908.

  In book 31, Nexus Deep , the Fairchild Group launches its mission to seek the key lost aboard Rodney , even as the Allies close the door on the war in North Africa with Operation Chariot. As the 5th Panzer Army dies in Tunisia, Hitler must now find a way to shore up Armeegruppe South while also finding divisions to guard the West.

  Both sides now plan operations for the late Spring and early Summer. The Allies must decide whether to strike at Sardinia or Sicily in an attempt to topple the regime of Mussolini and knock Italy out of the war, while the Germans must choose from several operations in the south, Habicht, Panther and Zitadelle. The Soviets plan new offensives of their own that will prove, once and for all, that the tide of the war in the east is shifting.

  Meanwhile, the work of Lord Elgin is strangely mirrored by the action of his son, the 8th Earl, and a seemingly small squabble on the China coast at Canton escalates into an event that has sinister implications for the quest Elena Fairchild has undertaken. Then, just as Fedorov and company begin to finalize their plans for the mission to 1908, Admiral Tovey makes a dramatic request.

  Season 4 concludes with a return to Sir Roger Ames, who we last left in the closing volume of Season 1. He and his footman, Ian Thomas, have traveled through a hidden passage beneath the ancient monastery at Lindisfarne, and they arrive in 1815, on the eve of the Waterloo Campaign. Now Ames begins a battle of wits as he tries to outwit his arch rival Jean Michel Fortier on the Field of Glory . Another keyholder, Fortier has also moved in time to this pivotal year, and is attempting to intervene in the campaign to produce a victory by Napoleon. There follows a detailed accounting of the entire Waterloo Campaign, from the first crossing of the Sambre at Charleroi, to the fateful battle where General Wellington tries to desperately hold on to his “near run thing.”

  Season 5 begins with, Prime
Meridian, and takes the war through late 1943, with action on all fronts. Volume 36, 1944, begins that decisive year, with dramatic developments that threaten to unhinge the well laid plans of the Allies. All the major battles of the west front are fought, leading to the dramatic assault across the Rhine in volume 40 Rhinelander .

  Detailed information on the battles covered in each book, including battle maps, is available at www.writingshop.ws.

  KIROV SERIES - SEASON 1: Kirov

  1) Kirov

  2) Cauldron of Fire

  3) Pacific Storm

  4) Men of War

  5) Nine Days Falling

  6) Fallen Angels

  7) Devil’s Garden

  8) Armageddon – Season 1 Finale

  KIROV SERIES - SEASON 2: Altered States (1940 – 1941)

  9) Altered States

  10) Darkest Hour

  11) Hinge of Fate

  12) Three Kings

  13) Grand Alliance

  14) Hammer of God

  15) Crescendo of Doom

  16) Paradox Hour – Season 2 Finale

  KIROV SERIES – SEASON 3: Doppelganger (1941 – 1942)

  17) Doppelganger

  18) Nemesis

  19) Winter Storm

  20) Tide of Fortune

  21) Knight’s Move

  22) Turning Point

  23) Steel Reign

  24) Second Front – Season 3 Finale

  KIROV SERIES – SEASON 4: Tigers East (1942 – 1943)

  25) Tigers East

  26) Thor’s Anvil

  27) 1943

  28) Lions at Dawn

  29) Stormtide Rising

  30) Ironfall