Against the Tide Imperial: The Struggle for Ceylon (The Usurper's War: An Alternative World War II Book 3)

by James Young

  Sam’s face had gone from exasperated to homicidal in a flash. David reached out and shoved his twin in the arm, causing the man to nearly swing at him.

  “Lieutenant Cobb, I assure you that I am quite taken by an amazing woman,” Adam said with a smile. “Although I’m sure Miss Morton would appreciate your efforts.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on that with anything you enjoy owning,” Sam rumbled. Once again, David swatted his brother.

  You three must have been fascinating to have in the same house. There are definitely times I wish I hadn’t been an only child.

  The thought of his upbringing and associated memories of his mother triggered a brief wave of melancholy. Shaking himself out of it, Adam was about to say something when there was the sound of an aircraft in the distance. All three aviators stiffened and turned towards the noise.

  “Didn’t you say no one was flying out of here today?” Sam asked Adam, his tone worried.

  “No one was,” Adam replied. He stopped for a second, listening more intently. “That’s some sort of large bird, like a Fortress.”

  “Transport,” David said, pointing. Following his finger, Adam saw the aircraft after a few moments as well.

  “What the hell, I don’t see a damn thing,” Nick said.

  “Which is why you ride in a ship that sinks itself on purpose,” Sam replied. After a moment, he relaxed.

  “Looks like one of those Douglas transports.”

  “DC-3,” Adam said. “Or whatever the Navy calls it.”

  That brought a chuckle from both Sam and David, eliciting a puzzled look from Nick.

  “Major Haynes hasn’t been a Marine for long,” Sam said. “It shows itself from time to time.”

  They watched as the transport plane, in Navy colors, did a circle around the station, then lined up to come in for a landing.

  “Huh, brave pilot trying to put that thing down on this runway,” Sam noted. His voice held a slight bit of professional concern.

  “Has to be some reason he’s setting down here instead of Barber’s Point or Ford Island,” David agreed.

  “Can’t think of a good one, especially if he wants to take back off again,” Adam replied. “Good thing you tore yourself away from headquarters to join us, Nick. You might be about to see a Grade A fuck up.”

  Regardless of the pilots’ professional opinion, the transport flared in for Ewa’s short runway. Touching down at the very end, the pilot managed to bring the transport to a stop with room to spare.

  “Well here comes the welcoming committee,” Sam noted, pointing at the cars rushing over from Barber’s Point.

  I’m thinking that this is someone who is both important and also not a fan of pomp and circumstance.

  “Boss, you sure we want to still be hanging around?” Sam asked, seeing the transport starting to taxi towards their hangar.

  “We’d look kind of suspicious running away from a transport, wouldn’t we?”Adam replied, then turned and looked around the hangar.

  “Heads up folks, we may have some sort of bigwig walking in here in a few seconds,” he shouted to the enlisted Marines all working on aircraft. “Keep doing what you’re doing, there’s a damn war on.”

  “Roger sir,” Master Sergeant Bolan, VMF-21’s chief maintenance NCO, shouted back. He and the rest of the squadron’s mechanics were giving each of the FM-2’s a once over prior to reembarking on the Chenango. With the next stop likely being a distant island garrison, it was the best time to figure out any maintenance shortcomings.

  The transport actually slowed to a stop a hundred and fifty feet short of the hangar, the twin engines loud even inside of the structure. After another couple of minutes, the pilot shut down first the port, then the starboard radial. The sound of rapidly approaching cars grew louder in the sudden silence.

  Kind of crazy to throw a monkey wrench at the welcome party like that.

  “I suppose we’re about to meet someone important,” David muttered.

  “Last guy who surprised us on an airfield was an asshole,” Sam replied. “Of course, he got burnt to a crisp later, so there’s some balance in the world.”

  Adam didn’t ask for an explanation as he watched the transport’s door open.

  Whomever it is, clearly they know how to make an entrance.

  The whomever in question, one Admiral Thomas Dunlap, did indeed know ‘how to make an entrance.’ With a briefcase full of operational plans and communications tightly in his hand as the Douglas’ exit hatch opened, Dunlap spared a moment to think of the long, insane path to this point.

  Well Ernest, you son-of-a-bitch, I hope you’re seeing this front and center from your spit in Hell. Looks like this “elephant” not only came back from the graveyard, but is about to go out and try to win this damn war.

  “Sir, I really wish you’d let me actually be your aide,” Commander Frederick Powers observed. Like his admiral, Commander Powers was dressed in spotless, starched whites, his submariner’s dolphins gleaming as the two men stepped onto the tarmac. The tall, gangly man’s blue eyes met his admiral’s green ones.

  “God gave me two hands so I could carry my own briefcase, Fred,” Admiral Dunlap replied. He glanced over to the hangar in front of them, seeing a group of officers standing around a dark blue FM-2 Wildcat. Glancing to his right, Admiral Dunlap saw a group of four cars pull onto the edge of the runway then start racing towards them.

  “I don’t think Vice Admiral Halsey is going to be happy with you,” Commander Powers observed.

  “Bill Halsey is about to have the weight of an entire theater lifted off his shoulders,” Dunlap replied. “I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t try to kiss me like a long lost bride.”

  “Thank you, sir, for that truly terrifying visual,” Powers replied.

  “Let’s go talk to some Marines, shall we?”

  With the rhetorical question, Dunlap set off for the hangar. He watched as the group of officers first stared at him in shock, then looked at the balding, stout officer they were all standing around. As he got closer, Dunlap realized the middle officer was not actually short, he just appeared that way standing next to the two hulking men on either side of him.

  Is it just me or do three of these men look related?

  “Group attention!” the senior officer said. Something about his face seemed familiar.

  “Good afternoon gentlemen,” Dunlap said, returning the Marine major’s salute. “What unit is this?”

  “VMF-21, sir,” the major replied. “I’m the squadron commander, Major Haynes.”

  That’s how I know him. He’s the squadron commander that busted Bowles’ kid in the chops for screwing another officer’s wife.

  “Well you’re a long way from Pensacola, major,” Dunlap observed, smiling and extending his hand. He could see that Major Haynes looked confused as to how Dunlap knew who he was or why there was a four-star admiral inside of his hangar.

  “I go where the Marines send me, sir,” Major Haynes stated as he shook the admiral’s hand, then gestured at his companions. “Sir, this is Captain Sam Cobb, his brother David, and his younger brother Lieutenant Nick Cobb,”

  So they are all related.

  “Your poor mother must be worried sick,” Admiral Dunlap observed as he looked the three men over. “Are there any of you left back home?”

  A brief moment of worry crossed all three men’s faces.

  “No, sir,” David replied. “Our brother Eric is aboard Yorktown and our sister works for the library downtown.”

  Dunlap saw the other Captain Cobb give his brother a sideways glance, like he knew something that Sam did not. Before Dunlap could ask any more questions, however, they were interrupted by rapidly approaching footsteps.

  “Admiral Dunlap, sir, I think your pilot can’t read a map,” Vice Admiral Halsey said as he came walking up. The man’s craggy face was split into a cautious smile, and he saluted Dunlap as the man turned around.

  “My pilot can read a map just fine, Bill,” Dunlap r
eplied with a broad grin. “You know I hate pomp and circumstance.”

  “And love surprises,” Vice Admiral Halsey replied, his face also breaking into a grin. “Which, sir, you might want to come with me, as it appears Vice Admiral Fletcher is about to spring one.”

  The three Cobb brothers’ expressions all perked at Halsey’s comment.

  This isn’t the place to have a conversation if we don’t word spreading from here to Honolulu by nightfall.

  “We can talk on the way back to headquarters, Bill,” Dunlap said. “Commander Powers, get Major Haynes’ and these men’s information. They’re cordially invited to dinner tonight at my quarters.”

  There were various degrees of concern on the three Cobb brothers’ faces, while Major Haynes looked nonplussed. Indeed, if Dunlap didn’t know better, he would have sworn the youngest Cobb brother looked almost panic stricken.

  I feel like I’m missing something, but Commander Powers can figure it out, Dunlap thought. I don’t expect to get blown off by some lieutenant unless he’s literally getting married.

  As Commander Powers started taking down the requisite information, Admiral Dunlap turned and walked towards Vice Admiral Halsey’s waiting vehicle. Halsey’s aide stood by as the two flag officers slipped into the Packard, then closed the door behind them.

  “I suppose there’s a good reason you wanted me to land out here, Bill?” Dunlap said once they started to pull away. “Because my pilot isn’t looking forward to getting back out.”

  Vice Admiral Halsey’s face dropped the façade of optimism it had borne previously.

  “I think ol’ Black Jack has dropped the ball out in the Indian Ocean,” Halsey said, fists clenched and eyes narrowed.

  “Is that because he has actually done something wrong or because you want to be out there instead of him, Bill?” Dunlap asked quietly. Halsey, clearly set to launch into a tirade of Fletcher’s sins, stopped.

  “Before I left Washington, Secretary Knox let me in on the orders he had Admiral Stark dispatch along with the Bonhomme Richard and Independence,” Admiral Dunlap said. “Given the damage to the Essex, Wasp, and Ranger at the Battle of Iceland, he was not comfortable with basically denuding the Atlantic Fleet of its operational carriers.”

  Dunlap watched as shock, understanding, then sorrow crossed Halsey’s face while he continued.

  "Sir, I thought the Essex, Wasp, and Ranger suffered no damage!" Halsey stated.

  "Well, that's what we told the public," Dunlap replied. "The Essex took a torpedo, while the Wasp and Ranger each caught one of those new German glide bombs."

  "Jesus," Halsey said, his face paling. "And we thought the Senate was in an uproar over what they were told."

  “Especially given that the Krauts and their Limeys smacked the living crap out of the Washington, North Carolina, and South Dakota,” Dunlap responded.

  "When is the public going to be informed on how heavy the losses were?" Halsey asked. "Bad news doesn't get better with age, and the man in the street still believes we lost some transports and old battleships."

  We’re lucky we "just lost some transports." When Secretary Knox had briefed him on the war to date upon his recall to active duty, Dunlap had nearly vomited.

  "Once there's a victory to overshadow what happened," Dunlap stated. "Which Vice Admiral Fletcher has delivered part of one."

  "What were his orders, if I may ask?" Halsey inquired.

  He recovers from bad news quickly, at least.

  “At no point was Vice Admiral Fletcher to allow the Bonhomme Richard, Independence, Massachusetts, or Indiana to drop below enough fuel to be able to make it past the Cape of Good Hope and into the Central Atlantic,” Admiral Dunlap stated.

  “Here I figured ol’ Black Jack was channeling his uncle,” Halsey replied, tone somber. "This is the situation so far.”

  Dunlap had a sensation akin to falling off a tall building as Halsey succinctly recounted what had been happening in the Indian Ocean.

  Mother of God.

  “I’m glad I’m not in Washington right now, as Admiral Tovey was already fit to be tied,” Dunlap observed somberly. “I imagine he’s positively apoplectic at this point, especially if Vice Admiral Cunningham is confirmed dead. Who did you say was in charge of Illustrious?”

  “Rear Admiral Philip Vian,” Halsey replied. “He’s the senior surviving officer with the British fleet. Vice Admiral Cunningham’s deputy was also killed aboard the Malaya.”

  “The Japanese seem to be very good at killing admirals,” Dunlap said, pursing his lips. “Let’s hope they’re not going to add Jack Fletcher to the list.”

  Halsey glanced at his watch.

  “Jack should be in contact with them right about now.”

  Dunlap shook his head angrily.

  “I truly hope I’m not taking command of a fleet just in time for my carriers to get sunk an ocean away,” he remarked. “When this is over, we’re bringing Yorktown and Enterprise back to Pearl.”

  Halsey nodded as Dunlap continued, looking out the window towards the Ford Island.

  “I had already anticipated those orders, sir,” Halsey said. “They were just awaiting the arrival of whomever took over from me. I don’t think the British will be happy about it, though.”

  “Our navy has worked on the same warplan for over twenty-five years, Bill,” Dunlap stated. “The British can either help us execute it or not, but I’m not losing any more vessels trying to hold on to someone else’s colonies.”

  “Sir, you sound like you don’t think Jack is going to win.”

  “Jack is outnumbered six to four, and that’s before you count that second carrier force that’s apparently up near Ceylon,” Dunlap replied. “My best hope is that he knows when to call it a day. Unlike this Vian fellow.”

  “Oh, Vian is being very cagey,” Halsey said, holding up a hand as warding off an attack. “When we were testing night operations off Canada back in March, the British developed a way to maintain contact with our Avengers.”

  Dunlap raised an eyebrow as they passed through Pearl Harbor’s main gate. He returned the sentry’s salute, noting that the Marines manning the machine gun never left their weapon’s mount.

  On one hand, I would think that’s a bit of paranoia. On the other hand, I’d feel awfully stupid if a Japanese Fifth Columnist showed up in my office to put two in my head.

  “Sir?”

  “Sorry Bill, I got distracted,” Dunlap said. “Run that by me again.”

  Halsey nodded.

  “The Brits figured out a way to put a bigger ferry tank in the Avenger’s bomb bay,” Halsey said. “Whole plane would go up like a roman candle if anyone shot it, but it added another hundred and fifty miles to the range.”

  “Could they put any bombs under the wings?” Dunlap asked, intrigued.

  “Not much point in doing that, sir,” Halsey replied. “The important thing is keeping contact with your opponent so you or someone else can smack him at dawn the next day.”

  He has a point. This isn’t like a gunnery battle where both sides are going to stand toe to toe until someone gets tired or scared.

  Further discussion was interrupted by the car coming to a stop.

  “I will need someone on your staff to bring me up to speed on carriers, Bill,” Dunlap said.

  “Sir?”

  “I’ve been on the beach for almost ten years, Bill,” Dunlap said. “My predecessor clearly didn’t understand what carriers could do and it got him killed. I want to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes.”

  “Rear Admiral Towers is a good man to talk to, sir,” Halsey replied after a moment. “He’s on his way back from Florida.”

  “What was he doing in Florida?” Dunlap asked.

  “We’re planning a surprise for the Emperor,” Halsey said. “He has an idea using some B-25s and a carrier. Needed to go to Eglin Field to try it out.”

  Let’s hope I have carriers left, Dunlap thought grimly, looking at his watch. Going to be
a long day of waiting.

  I.J.N.S. Akagi

  0435 Local (1835 Eastern)

  Northern Indian Ocean

  10 August (9 August)

  “Sir, we are ready to launch the combat air patrol,” Rear Admiral Kaku said. “As per your orders, we have made First Division the duty carriers today.”

  Vice Admiral Yamaguchi turned his bleary eyes towards the man. The two officers were in the vice admiral’s day cabin, Yamaguchi having finally retreated there after a night of poor rest thanks to what he assumed was the Illustrious’ air group.

  “Thank you, Kaku-san,” Yamaguchi replied. “Has the weather improved any?”

  “We still have the low hanging cloud and squalls from last night, sir,” Kaku replied. “But the Chikuma’s scouts report that the weather is clearing to the south.”

  “How long ago did they launch?” Yamaguchi asked, trying to clear the fog from his head.

  I need tea, badly.

  “Thirty minutes,” Kaku replied. “Given the losses yesterday and the need to cover more area than expected, I countermanded your orders to double up on scouts but did narrow the sectors. Given the weather, I thought it was prudent.”

  “Very well,” Yamaguchi stated, rubbing his eyes and nodding. “I do not know how the British were able to fly in that crap. “I would like to have not been harassed the entire night.”

  “I am sure we can properly thank our friends for our sleeplessness before lunch,” Kaku said, eyes narrowing.

  “How long as it been since the last British aircraft departed?” Yamaguchi asked.

  “An hour, sir,” Kaku replied. “We began spotting our strike immediately after they left the Taiho’s radar screen.”

  That is not nearly enough sleep for me or the pilots. There will be accidents.

  “We should have determined they were merely feinting sooner,” the vice admiral said aloud. “It would have been a miracle for them to hit in those conditions.”

  Kaku shrugged.

  “They managed to damage one of Ozawa-san’s carriers in the darkness,” his chief of staff replied. “Our opponents seem desperate.”