part0045

All six of Admiral Wei’s Mighty Dragons had died in that hot engagement, but one, Dragon #6, had managed to paint the Roosevelt carrier group. He knew he had to act at once, and put some pressure on that carrier, possibly preventing it from launching. Yet the Americans were 385 miles away, and only the YJ-100 had the range to attack them. The Gwadar group had 16 of those missiles, Colombo Group had 32, and his own Flag Group had 60, so he had over 100 javelins to throw, but he had to act immediately.

“General fleet order!” he shouted. “All Type 055 ships carrying YJ-100 will immediately fire half their inventory at the newly discovered targets.”

It was a long shot, he knew, and more to disrupt the enemy than to hurt him. For the US Captain had plenty of ways he could defend his carrier. As soon as the Vampires were spotted, Ranger Flight was already turning to engage with their remaining AIM-120’s. A scramble order to send up six more F-35’s was immediately sent to the Air Boss, and Archer Flight would soon be up to provide yet another layer of defense. Behind them, Captain Simpson had six more Super Tomcats loaded for heavy BARCAP, and they would be the inner defensive line.

That wasn’t all. His screening escorts were always there if any Vampires eluded the fighters, but he could make their job a little easier by simply maneuvering. A carrier could be anywhere in a 900 square mile circle in 30 minutes when it cranked those screws. Roosevelt was already pointed southeast, and the Captain just poured on the power and moved. So as the Chinese Admiral threw his punch, Captain Simpson would either block it, or just lean back like Ali and evade it.

The Tomcats were ready to cut those missile streams to pieces. Archer flight had split its fire between two groups, and ran dry, going Winchester at 08:05 that morning, and turning for Roosevelt . The Mad Dog took over, F-14’s carrying many more AIM-152’s. Only one Vampire of more than 50 escaped harm, and for that, there was SM-6. At 08:20 the all clear sounded, and Captain Simpson sent the Air Boss his orders—go get them.

Roosevelt would slow to 15 knots as the flights started catapulting off the deck. It would be a repeat performance of yesterday’s strike, aiming to neuter one more chosen TF of the Chinese fleet. There were two flights of six F-35’s carrying the GBU-53, for a total of 96 bombs. Then there were two more flights of Super Toms, one with Slammers, the other with the LRASM. Looking at the enemy dispositions, the Colombo group was 100 miles east of the remaining enemy TFs’ and so it was chosen for that day’s mission, being more isolated. Admiral Wells then ordered HMS Victorious to put up two flights of six F-35’s each for escort duties. Toba flight was still up there with Meteors off Prince of Wales , and it would be relieved.

With a 430 mile range, the LRASM’s were released almost immediately, the Toms turning for home. The Slammers would close to 160 miles and make the second release. As they approached, the F-35’s climbed to 50,000 feet and accelerated to 740 knots.

From the Chinese perspective, the only thing they saw on their radars were the Tomcats carrying Slammers, which had now turned for home. None of the F-35’s were detected, and then their alarms went off warning of a low sea skimmer, 20 miles out. It was the first of the LRASM’s.

The F-35’s now opened their weapons bays and started letting the GBU-53’s fly. Seconds later they turned for home, and the Chinese saw those two bright red fists on their radar screens. There were two Type 055’s in the group, Heshen , the River God as a forward picket, and Tianlong , the Heavenly Dragon guarding the three ASW frigates in the center with two other destroyers. Three more destroyers were fanned out to the rear. That formation now let go a torrent of missile fire, all HQ-9’s with an 80 mile range, and as before, they hunted down those GBU-53’s with merciless vigor.

One bomb got through to strike the River God , exploding one of her 324mm torpedoes and damaging the 130mm gun turret. No other hits were scored. Over 130 SAM’s had been expended, but Admiral Wei was pleased to learn damaged had been so light. The difference today was that the ships had not engaged Tomahawks before the strike, and so their SAM counts still left them in the fight.

It was clear that Roosevelt could execute a perfect strike, without losing a single plane, but could barely put a scratch on the enemy as well. As the disappointing results were returned, Captain Simpson decided he had to double down for round three, and use more F-35’s in the strike role.

XO Ripley would get than answer soon. Roosevelt still had 60 Slammers, plenty of anti-radiation missiles, 48 JSOW Broach, 36 more LRASM and 160 GBU-53. Those were the standoff weapons still in inventory, along with plenty of short range dumb bombs. The Captain reasoned that he had enough left for one big punch, and he had to make it hurt. Otherwise, he wasn’t going to back the Chinese Fleet down, and 1st USMC would be stuck at Diego Garcia.

“Check with the two Gators. They should have GBU-53 available too. Then get a message to this Admiral Wells,” said Simpson. “See what they might be able to contribute something on top of escort duty. And be polite, Ripley.”

“Very well, we operate to keep the range outside 300 miles as per standing orders. If they want to follow us, they’re welcome. All that will do is pull them farther from any land based air support they have, not that it matters. They can’t see us, and they can’t shoot us down.”

That was an enviable position to be in. Simpson realized his limitations, but he also knew he was calling the tune out here, not the other side. He could stay at arm’s length, throw punches, and the Chinese couldn’t lay a finger on him. That’s what a big deck carrier does for you, and without a DF-21D in sight.

Admiral Sun Wei was no fool. He could see how the battle was developing, and clearly sized up his shortcomings in this situation. He had about 50 more YJ-100’s that could strike the American now. The rest of his power resided with the YJ-18’s on all the destroyers, but they needed to be within 290 miles of the target.

We have been steaming southeast at 25 knots to try and close the range, but we have not gained an inch, he thought. For a big ship, the American carrier is very fast. They will be able to keep us over 300 miles away as long as they wish. No wonder the Siberians developed a missile that could range out 700 miles, undoubtedly with the help of the Soviets.

If I persist, they can just lead me out into the Indian Ocean, but that course offers us no advantage. No, I must stay as close to our land based air cover as possible, so I will order a 180 degree about face. We go north west, back into the heart of the Arabian Sea. Then, if they wish to do battle, they must come to me.

Their Carrier Strike Group is a powerful foe. I had my way with the Royal Navy, because they had no credible strike option with their carriers. Here the Americans have real standoff strike power, and combined with their long range Tomahawks, they represent a strong and persistent threat. But they cannot continue to mount airstrikes like this indefinitely. There is a limit to what that carrier can hold in its magazines. Perhaps they withdraw southeast now for that reason. There could be unseen replenishment ships there, waiting to lift in fresh ordnance by helicopter. Then they start all over again, and they will slowly wear us down.

So what is to be done? I must think in the long run. What is it they want? They want to control the sea lane between Diego Garcia and ports in Oman, and I have interposed my fleet between their force and those ports. So how can I hurt them now? They are still hundreds of miles from Oman. I have a 300 plus mile lead on them if I make for the Omani coast. There are only two ports they could feasibly use to offload heavy warfighting equipment, Salaha in the west and As Sultan Harbor at Muscat in the east on the Gulf of Oman. So now I know what I must do—deny the use of those ports to the enemy.

Thus far I have sought to do battle with them, as I did with the British, but the Americans are an altogether different foe. So now I must change my strategy. Instead of killing their ships, I will simply kill their ports—just as they pounded all the airfields they thought we would be relying on. Yes, what a simple solution! Destroy the port facilities, and then where will their Marines and Army land?

Unfortunately, I cannot do this at range, for our missiles were not built for land attack, and I have too few fighters that could carry bombs and get through their air defenses. But I have a navy…. Every ship I command has deck guns…. Yes, I will simply go and sit off those ports, and then utterly destroy them!

The Admiral smiled as he gave his next order. “Issue a fleet wide communique. All task forces will come about to 350 degrees northwest, and all ahead full. We are going to Salaha.”

“Yes, but from just one of their task forces. That’s one big Dragon out there. They have five more Surface Action Groups we have yet to engage.”

“Then they’re wanting air cover,” said Ripley. “They’re nearly 600 miles from the coast of Yemen and about 800 miles from Aden. If they want to make port somewhere, in Pakistan, it’s a thousand mile run.”

“They must have oilers out there behind them,” said Simpson. “I don’t know, but this move smells of something. Let’s get turned about and follow them. We can hold the range outside 300 nautical miles easily enough. Notify the British, will you?”

“Interesting,” said Simpson, looking at the photograph. “Let’s put that little airfield out of business. Send that to the strike planners and have them work something up for the Tomahawks.”

At 13:45 Local, just a few minutes after the Chinese has posted their afternoon ASW patrol, the wounded River God ran into trouble—HMS Anson . The British sub had been between the Colombo group, and the main body of the fleet to the west, quietly looking for prey. The sonar team saw that one sheep in the flock was falling a little behind, for Heshen had been the only ship hit in the US airstrike that morning. Anson had crept to within 12 nautical miles, where her Captain, Francis Drake, decided to make a mad dash and fire. He accelerated to 24 knots, closed the range quickly to about 8 miles, then cut the engines to a creep.

“Steady on this course,” he said, wanting to keep his fish on the wire as long as possible. When it seemed that they were running true, he came about in a sedate maneuver, and started slinking away to the west. A minute later they heard two explosions.

That sent the entire formation to running full out at 30 knots to the north, as the lone Z-9 on the ASW patrol turned southwest toward the stricken destroyer, flying low over the sea. It stopped, deployed dipping sonar, but had no contacts. Anson was creeping away, not sprinting, wanting to be as quiet as possible. After 20 minutes of patient searching, the Z-9 had found nothing. A lion had downed the wounded wildebeest, and then made a good escape.

It was the second Type 055 heavy destroyer that Drake had sunk, and his 5th kill of the campaign, making him an undersea Ace in anyone’s book. He was second only to Captain Samuel Wood on HMS Trafalgar , and had just edged out HMS Triumph , credited with two kills and two more hits that ended in ship sinkings in the Med. So Drake was well in the running for the top spot as he moved away south, disappearing into the gloom of the Arabian Sea.