AN: Alright, here we go! Another exciting of Haifuri: Gone Asiatic, in this chapter we see the 2nd and last major victory that the Malay Barrier Defense Command will achieve against the enemy. The Naval Battle of Balikpapan, wherein several Destroyers will kick the crap out of an enemy invasion force, that is going to launch an invasion of the island of Borneo.
With that out of the way, let's weigh anchor and set sail into this chapter!
Outside the Madura Strait
Operation: SLAY THE DRAGON
Destroyer Division 57, heading out
Six, low and sleek destroyers left the Strait of Madura behind, dashing up toward the Makassar Strait; they were to interdict the invasion force that had been confirmed with recon flights to be going south, it was most certainly heading for Borneo. To be specific the city of Balikpapan, Borneo. The fact that were was quite a few transports, and that it would take too long for the entire force to sortie. Besides, their were some pretty nasty ships in the enemy screen, including a Slava-class Cruiser. So it was decided that small and lightweight was the way to go, because if that Slava-class went loud with its missiles. Things could get very interesting pretty damn fast. Although everyone would have to promptly turn into the missiles and then pray to God, that the missile misses, which while it would be unlikely, it could happen.
Onboard what one of the oldest ships in the entire division, USS Walker, Destroyer Rate number 163 was a beehive of activity. She like her remaining sisters had barely any room for automation onboard. As such everything was done the old fashion way. One particular member of her crew, Brad 'Spanky' McFarlane however noted that something was different in Walker, it had started out subtly mainly after that battle were just three Destroyers had to quote Admiral Riggs "The best damn active defense against a hostile fleet this Navy has ever seen."
Still he had to admit, the battle that they were going to be doing, they way it had been laid out by Captain Matthew Curtiss of the USS Whippie really knew what he was doing.
They were going to sneak in under the cover of darkness, get among the landing ship docks, and then illuminate them to with search lights and starburst illumination rounds, then while they are taken by surprise commence combat with gunfire and torpedoes. While the six destroyers between them didn't have enough ammunition and torpedoes onboard to sink the entire invasion force. They did have enough onboard to make sure that they could thoroughly decimate that enemy invasion force though.
Spanky was brought out of his musings by one of the 'mice' onboard the Walker speaking up. "Spanky, why on Earth do you keep on saying that the Old Girl has changed? It certainly doesn't feel like she has! Plus she isn't even damaged and the damage we did suffer during that action in Manila Bay was entirely superficial stuff and has been repaired for quite awhile already." Isak Ruben said.
"Isak, trust me. She has changed. It started when we first went into combat against the Kraken Fleet in Manila. Before that, she felt cheerful and eager, always ready and willing to prove to everyone else that while she maybe one of the oldest ships in the Asiatic Floatilla she could get the job done. Then when we engaged the Kraken Fleet for the first time, throughout most of that battle, she certainly felt panicked and scared. Now she has been filled with a grim resolve but is still cheerful and I guess a hint of anger as well, before she became our ship, she has been kicking around in the Asiatic Flotilla for twelve years and well, likely considered Cavite and Manila her home, the fact that we have been forced to leave it. Well you get the picture." Spanky said.
Isak just gave him a confused look. "How the hell can you figure that out, Mr. McFarlane? Because I haven't noticed anything different." He said.
"Isak, you will understand once you become the Chief Engineer on a ship. You gain a greater understanding for a ship and how she feels about a situation." Spanky said.
"Whatever you say Mr. McFarlane. I wonder though, can we really pull this off. I mean, we have just six ancient, outdated, and under-gunned destroyers. I mean, considering that we are going to be facing basically modern warships. What hope do we have for winning this battle?" Isak said.
Spanky quirked an eyebrow. "Well Mr. Ruben, while we are facing modern warships, we hold several key advantages. The first one being well we are small in size, which means we are going to be rather tough to hit, our second advantage is that well our ships can take a punch, and lastly the enemy ships can't take a punch. I mean, hell that Slava-class Cruiser, it's ASMs are exposed in launchers that while they enclose the missile, they aren't buried in the hull, which means one round in just right spot and well no more enemy cruiser." Spanky said.
"Whatever you say Mr. McFarlane." Isak said.
On the bridge of the Walker, several men were manning their various stations. Edward Flowers had the helm, Fred Reynolds was the bridge talker, Bosun's Mate Fitzhugh Grey, Jim Ellis the Executive Officer for the Walker, and lastly the Captain of the Walker Lieutenant Commander Matthew Patrick Reddy.
"Skipper, I have to ask. What do you think of the plan that we have in place to engage the enemy? Do you think it will work?" Grey asked.
"To be honest Boats, I have no idea. This is the first time that we have done an offensive like this, which means, I have no idea how we can make sure we can win." Reddy said with a sigh.
"Exactly, still I wish that Operation: FIRST STRIKE hadn't been so damn costly. I mean HMS Repulse was lost with all hands, plus HMAS Vampire was lost with near as dammit all hands, not to mention the HMAS Stuart took so many with her to the bottom, then of course there is the fact that HMS County took a fair number with her to the bottom as well, plus I am fairly certain that the HMS Dragon took most of her Engineering Division with her to the bottom. Wish we had Tokoro or Marblehead with us. We certainly could use the extra firepower that either ship could bring into the fight." Jim said grimly.
"True XO, but you have to remember, we are going to be fighting ships that by all rights would be able to kick our ass easily. However modern ships don't like being shot at all. I mean, even our AP rounds would tear them up pretty good. Plus that Slava-class has a pair of huge weak points one that I bet Mr. Silva could hit from like 7 miles away in local control. You hit those missiles and well, no more Slava as it is then scattered all over the ocean thanks to its missiles blowing up. The other one is simply get behind it, the only thing that could shoot at us would be a CIWS mount." Grey growled.
Everyone nodded at that. The enemy flagship, while it was powerful, it had a glaring weakness, one that even something like a submarine on the surface, plinking away with its deck gun could exploit said weakness. Mainly the fact that the big ass Anti-Ship Missiles that the Slava-class used were rather exposed and they were on the bow. Not to mention all of weapons were pointed forward there wasn't much that could attack something approaching aft on one of those suckers. Which meant even something as weak as a Wickes-class or a Clemson-class popping up behind or alongside to one of that Slava-class then it would be screwed.
On board the USS Mahan DD-102 which was one of the oldest Destroyers in the entirety of DesRon 29 with only USS McKee being older than her. Perry Bristler the Chief Engineer on the Mahan cycled through the airlock and entered the forward Boiler room on the Mahan. It was a good day, everything was operating smoothly on the old Destroyer. He loved caring for his boilers, even though he would have to learn how to handle turbines or nuclear reactors when he entered the Navy for real. However, he didn't care however, he loved the four Yarrow Boilers that formed Mahan's blazing heart. However, he could tell that she was simply a bundle of nervous energy, then again who wouldn't be? It was going to be her first planned battle against a force that was superior in every possible way. He sighed and patted a bulkhead lovingly and he swore he felt said bulkhead twitch under his hand.
"It's alright Mahan, you'll survive this action and any other actions that we take part in." Bristler said quietly. As if in response to himself muttering some positives to Mahan he thought that the Bulkhead felt a little warmer underneath his hand, but it was likely his imagination, it was roughly 120 degrees in the forward boiler room. Still, he really cared about the old girl.
Aboard the Kraken Fleet Cruiser Relentless King
OPERATION: STORMY WRAITH
Following Admiral Izurio Makawa
Admiral Izurio Makawa, the commanding officer of Operation: STORMY WRAITH was excited. No enemy ships had appeared to challenge his force, looks intelligence was correct and the Blue Mermaids of the Malay Barrier had been effortlessly smashed by the heavy warships of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Heavy Assault Fleets and now it was time for the forces of the 4th, 6th, and 7th Guard Fleets while they didn't have many modern ships in terms of ships being equipped with Missiles, they did have quite a few ships equipped with modern radar directed gun fire control systems the same went for their tactics they were well drilled in the Art of War.
However, he had noted with some concern that he had received some reports from Ceylon, that a force of High School Fleet Ships came out of the night and then blew the hell out of a major ship building complex, while a 2nd Force complete with Special Forces attacked a POW camp and liberated all of the POWs at said camp. There were also reports that stated that the blockading squadron that was responsible for locking down the Sunda Strait had also been completely destroyed by enemy again a force of High School Fleet Ships with the flagship actually being rammed by an enemy Battlecruiser, something had caused a sympathetic detonation of one of the two ships magazines resulted in the destruction of both ships, with the ship that had actually rammed the flagship being lost with all hands while the majority of the crew of the Fuji-class being killed as well.
However reports also stated that their was one Singaporean Blue Mermaid Ship, the Dock Landing Ship Endurance. While she was targeted during the action in the Sunda Strait she wasn't hit once. However during the action off the coast of Ceylon one enemy Destroyer and one Heavy Cruiser were sunk with a Battlecruiser and a Heavy Cruiser were also heavily damaged, but it stood to reason that every single enemy ship had to be hit several times. While during the battle in the Sunda Strait one enemy destroyer was confirmed sunk as was an enemy light cruiser.
Still, this mission was incredibly important and would really move along their plans to bring the United Imperial Republics into existence. For if they could take Borneo and Sulawesi also known as Celebes then they would effectively cut the Malay Barrier Operating Area in two and then it would become easy to take the Malay Barrier Area as whoever thought they could stand up to them would be separated from each other and thus unable to support each other which means it would become extraordinarily easy to conquer, combined with the fact that the Philippines were on the verge of falling, plus with a dozen other invasions proceeding across the area, everything was going as planned.
Still, he was wondering why the hell would High School Fleet Ships attack them? The way they had done so, it had to be planned, no way it had been a spontaneous thing. Considering that the Endurance was apart of the force that had attacked. Which meant he had to be on his toes and anticipate to engage the enemy, there was no ifs, ands, or buts about that fact. Whoever was responsible for the strike on Ceylon would likely send a force to engage them.
"Admiral! One of our Krivaks reports that they have detected an enemy submarine and they are requesting permission to engage." The Bridge Talker on the Relentless King said.
"Tell them permission granted. Sink the bastard before he can torpedo one of our transports." Admiral Makawa said.
"Yes sir!" The bridge talker replied before telling the radio room what to tell the Krivak-class that had detected the enemy submarine. They were going to be in position soon, probably by eight or nine PM local time.
Suddenly and without warning a pair of muffled explosions resounded through the air and then the Talk Between Ships seemed to go absolutely crazy.
"This is the Whitehead! We've been hit by two torpedoes! Unable to stop the flooding! We are abandoning ship!"
"The Whitehead has been hit! Fuck! We have an enemy submarine out here!"
"This is the Brotherhood! Moving in to pick up survivors from the Whitehead!"
"This is Andromeda moving to prosecute the enemy submarine!"
Goddamnit! I didn't expect an enemy submarine to even be in a position to intercept us. Admiral Makawa thought angrily as the Dock Landing Ship Whitehead began to roll over, due to her load of LCACs beginning to shift, as water poured into the gaping wounds caused by the two torpedoes.
However the frigate Andromeda was now moving toward where the enemy submarine had attacked. "Admiral, report from the Andromeda, they have identified the enemy ship, it is a High School Fleet Submarine, HNLMS K XVIII, they are requesting permission to persecute." The Bridge Talker said, relaying what he had heard from the radio room.
"Permission Granted, tell them to sink that motherfucker, he sank one of my ships, we therefore get to sink him." Admiral Makawa said gruffly, no remorse in his tone.
"Yes sir." The bridge talker said.
Onboard Royal Dutch HS Fleet Submarine K XVIII
Lieutenant Commander Van Well Goerneveld Commanding
"Captain! Enemy Frigate is bearing down on us! He likely has us!" The sonar operator barked sharply, panic in his voice.
"Hard to port! Deploy decoys, rig ship for depth charge!" Goerneveld ordered crisply, not even a waiver in his voice. K XVIII responded quickly as the planesman quickly turned their wheels to change the position of the dive planes and the two muffled chooms of decoys being discharged and the sound of watertight doors being shut resounded through the ship.
Suddenly the sonar operator screamed something "HOLY FUCK! ASW ROCKETS INBOUND!" as he heard the distinctive scream of ASW Rockets launching.
In an instant the 1MC was engaged and Goerneveld yelled "All hands brace for impact!"
Then boom, boom, boom, boom four rockets tore into the water and detonated, rocking the submarine but not doing any damage. Then there was another series of four explosions, they had fired on the decoys. However, they likely weren't going to get lucky again.
"Are the decoys still there?" Goerneveld asked as the K XVIII maneuvered frantically.
"They are! But considering that they likely heard no breaking up noises when they clobbered those, they know for a fact where we are now!" The sonar operator reported still sounding panicked.
What could he do? Their was a nasty as hell Krivak-III Frigate hunting them, while it wasn't as nasty as other versions of Krivak class Frigate. It was still nasty as hell, with RBU-6000 ASW Rocket System and it's ASW torpedoes.
"Shit! More ASW Rockets incoming!" The sonar operator screamed as he heard the distinctive roar of more RGB-60 ASW Rockets launching.
"Hang on!" Goerneveld yelled and then grabbed on to the search periscope and held on for dear life. Moments later BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM four rockets each with a 25 kilogram warhead detonated in close proximity to K XVIII everyone who wasn't strapped into a chair was hurled to the deck.
Goerneveld was one of the first back on his feet in the CIC. The space had been turned into a mess, conduits and piping was dangling from the ceiling, shattered glass from the various gauges was all over the place. His submarine had just been hit by ashcans, badly, judging by the way the deck was now groaning under his feet.
"Captain! We have a hull breach! The forward berthing space is flooding!" Someone shouted over the intercom.
"Is the flooding under control? How bad is it?" Goerneveld asked quickly, mainly because flooding on a submarine was very bad.
"Seems so! However we are shoring up the bulkheads on our end anyway! I would recommend you do the same! We take another depth charging like that then we are fucked! I doubt the bulkhead for the forward torpedo room can handle another depth charging like that! What the hell hit us?" The same voice said.
"We had four RGB-60 Rockets hit us, if they got that close on the second salvo after they ruled out the decoys, well they are going to hit us again!" Goerneveld barked sharply.
"Wilco!" The same voice said.
As if to punctuate the point, eight furious explosions rocked the Dutch High School Fleet Submarine violently, one rocket detonated right above the sail and thoroughly shredded it and caused a violent spray of water to stream into the command center with the force of a firehose.
"FUCK! Blow ballast! All hands, make preparations to abandon ship! I hate to say it but K XVIII has had it! She has done us proud, but sadly, she can't take anymore punishment." Goerneveld said quickly, because he could tell that the K XVIII had just been mortally wounded, with no way in hell she would be able to survive another ASW Rocketing like that.
The sound of the blow ballast alarm wailed, and the submarine lurched upward.
Onboard the Kraken Fleet Frigate Andromeda
Captain Jacob Flores commanding
"Captain Flores, target is coming up, wait. Target is now blowing tanks, I think we got him!" The intercom that connected the bridge to CIC squawked.
"Very well, traverse mount I to lock-on target. Give the enemy time to abandon ship and then blow that thing out of the water." Flores said as the water churned and sure enough an extremely battered K XIV class submarine broached the surface. The thing was a mess, the sail had been thoroughly shredded, it was clear that water had been entering the ship in multiple locations. Once the ship finished surfacing, she began to settle, it was clear as day that she had it.
The crew began to abandon ship, putting what liferafts that they had in the water, and carefully putting the wounded in them once that task was done, the rest of the crew then leaped into the water. There weren't all that many Jacob noted grimly, only about forty from the looks of it, but then again considering that the K XIV class was only 214 feet long and displaced just 1045 tons submerged the crew was probably only about forty.
"Captain? Permission to open fire with the main battery?" Weps asked.
"Negative Weps. Allow the survivors a chance to get some distance between them and the submarine. Only commence firing on my command." Flores growled.
"Roger" Weps said.
As Flores watched the crew either swim or row away from the submarine. It was clear that the thing was sinking. The RGB-60 Rockets had ripped that submarine a new one, their powerful warheads detonating in close proximity to the hull had fatally wounded it and given how shredded the sail was, it likely had a rocket detonate right above it.
After two minutes, he decided that their was enough distance between the survivors and the slowly sinking submarine. "Weps, you may commence firing, on the submarine only." Flores said.
"Yessir! Going loud with Mount I!" Weps said sharply and a few moments later, the 100mm gun opened fire, the first four rounds missed, but the next six, impacted the mangled submarine and tore it open pretty effectively. With smoke clearly visible, the submarine rolled over, and began to sink, which didn't take long for the battered submarine to surrender itself to the sea.
"Have the cargo nets rigged out. Ahead at eight knots. Bring us in as close as you dare helmsman, inform the marines we have onboard to prepare to take charge of prisoners. For god's sake please tell them to be firm but gentle; they are just kids for fucks sake. I want to know why they are out here and why did they attack our task force and more importantly is their anything else we should expect more unexpected surprises!" Flores said.
"Yes sir!" The bridge talker said before relaying the orders.
Flores sighed, why did Admiral Makawa order him to engage that enemy submarine. He understood the reason, naturally. However, he hated doing it regardless.
Onboard USS Whippie DD-217
Captain Matthew Curtiss Commanding
"Skipper! Radio message from Headmaster Doorman!" Radioman Abby Felix said as she sprinted onto the bridge.
"What is it?" Matthews barked.
"According to the message the submarine K XVIII engaged the enemy and reported sinking one transport, but they then got clobbered by one of the escorts, the last transmission we got from them said that they were abandoning ship, lethal damage sustained. I think they're gone." Felix said.
"Goddamn when will be in range to engage the enemy?" Matthew asked.
"Sir at our current rate, we will be there at roughly 1730 hours. However, by my estimates, we will catch them right in the middle of operations. So who knows how much will be ashore by the time we arrive. Either way, if we play our cards right. We can ambush them and kick their ass!" The helmsman said.
"Good to hear." Matthew replied.
Off the Coast Balikpapan
Onboard the Kraken Fleet Cruiser Relentless King
Admiral Izurio Makawa commanding
Admiral Izurio Makawa was happy, he had successfully landed nearly 45 percent of his forces and they were pushing hard through Balikpapan but resistance was rather heavy. So much so, he had sent four of his Krivaks to provide Naval Gunfire support for the landing forces. Which meant he only had two Krivaks, two Kotlins, and his Slava at his disposal to defend the transports. However against what was left in the Malay Barrier, this would be more than enough to defeat any force, well any force that was left in the Malay Barrier after Operation: STONE CRUSHER.
It was naturally at this point where fate decided to start laughing in Admiral Makawa's face and the muffled sounds of Naval Gunfire started ripping through the air. Followed about ten seconds later with TBS going crazy.
"Holy fuck! We're under attack!"
"Who is it? Who is attacking on us?"
"Don't fucking care! Return fire with CIWS and SA-24s! Damnit they caught us at a bad time!"
The roar of the CIWS mount discharging, echoed into the night, joining the chorus of Naval Gunfire, the boom and splash of shells hitting and missing targets, and the roar of blowers? What the fuck was going on?
Then suddenly a star burst illumination round exploded with a brilliant starburst of light over the far side of the formation, it did a good job of illuminating the carnage. The muffled booms of torpedoes began to reach his ears and more panicked cries over the TBS reached his ears.
"This is Brotherhood! We have been torn apart by gunfire and a torpedo! Abandoning ship!"
"My god! Confirmation of enemy forces, we are under-attack from fucking Four-stacker Destroyers! Commence CIWS and SAM fire! Sink those bastards!"
USS Walker DD-163
"Illuminate the bastards! Hit it!" Someone yelled and the powerful search light sprang to life. A Dock Landing Ship was suddenly revealed, moments later the Salvo Buzzer rang, Guns One, two, and four boomed in unison, three hits were seen on target, the AP rounds punching deep into the ship before exploding. More shots slammed out of the three 4in/50 caliber as fast as the guns could be fired. The tiny bursting charge began to tear the living hell out of the Dock Landing Ship.
The high-pitched shriek of a torpedo launching from its torpedo tube, splashing noisy into the water and then streaking toward it's target. More shells crashed into the ship. Something detonated inside, likely a landing craft for suddenly the thing convulsed violently and fire and smoke exploded from the many impact wounds from 4in/50. Then the torpedo impacted. A towering shock plume was hurled the skyward. The ship quickly began to list.
All over the Southern Section of transports, the scene played out again and again. Shells and torpedoes slamming into the Dock Landing Ships, dealing crippling or fatal damage in some cases. Fires and flooding ravaging the ships, gunfire slamming into hulls and torpedoes tearing open hulls.
"Captain! Report from Mr. Garrett! Enemy Kotlin spotted! He's moving in our direction! He's angling to engage us!" Reynolds said as he got the report from Mr. Garrett.
"Dammit! Designate new target, enemy Kotlin-class Destroyer!" Matthew Reddy barked.
"Yessir!" Mr. Reynolds said.
The fire control platform swung around and the number one gun also traversed, moments later, the gun fired in local control. Scoring a spectacular hit from a range at 10,550 meters with the optics, right in the enemy's bridge. The ship heeled rapidly over, either because everyone on the bridge was dead or injured or they were going to unshadow their full broadside, the Walker did the same, which allowed Walker to give her a broadside and her 4in/50s opened fire, guns one, three, and four unleashed a horrible slaughter upon the enemy ship. Hammering it ruthlessly with High Explosive shells. Then the enemy ship's aft turret returned fire, the twin 130mm gun mount firing at a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute.
Splashes began to bracket the brave Wickes-class Destroyer. Any other day, she might have had her, but suddenly another destroyer, the Edsall appeared, her 5in/51 Caliber Guns barking angrily, as she raced to help her Division mate. The sudden appearance of the Clemson-class, combined with the fire that was coming out from both Four-Stackers as well as the direction that the two streams of fire was coming from, caught the Kotlin-class in a cross-fire and promptly began to take it apart.
However the Kotlin didn't go down without a fight, gunfire from the destroyer did impale the hull of the Walker and the Edsall a few times, gouging wounds into their hulls. However, unlike the Kotlin the Wickes and the Clemson class destroyers were designed to take a punch. Within ten minutes the Kotlin was burning fiercely with flames engulfing her pilothouse and amidships area.
"Hey Walker! If you please, you could move in and deliver the coup de grace! One Mark 15 Torpedo expressed delivered to her hull!" The TBS crackled excitedly with the voice of the Edsall's Captain.
"It would be our pleasure Edsall!" Matt said into the talker and then gave orders for a torpedo attack.
"Prepare to fire! Fire three!" The chief torpedoman aboard the Walker, Bernie Sanders said, moments later their was a single wha-cuff and a gleaming Mark 15 Torpedo shot out of tube and into the water.
The gleaming weapon shot through the water, rapidly approaching the crippled destroyer, chances were it would sink on its own. However, if it didn't then that was an extra hull that could come back and fight them again, which was something that wasn't needed, particularly considering that the amount of hulls at the disposal of the Malay Barrier Defense Command was very limited. The torpedo worked like a charm, hitting aft on the Kotlin which still had it's aft gun mount blazing away at the Walker as she angled away to re-engage the transports. The torpedo blew a gaping wound into the Kotlin and tore her engine room wide open. That was the fatal blow. The Kotlin simply couldn't take the punishment that had been mettled out by the Wickes class and the Clemson class, as a result after the torpedo hit, she quickly began to roll over, hissing steam as she did so.
The carnage continued as the remaining Kotlin gathered the remaining Krivaks as well as the flagship and raced to the aid of the transports, at least eight were already sinking, with several others under fire, however the Kraken Fleet transport ships were fighting best to the best of their ability, their AKS-630 CIWS mounts were roaring into the night, the tracer rounds that were in the belts making it look like the 30mm Gatling Guns were spewing lasers just because of the insane rate of fire the CIWS systems had. The shriek of rockets as turrets that mounted SA-24 Grinch MANPAD Systems fired was incredible as well. Sadly, the weapons that they were using, they were meant for point defense and while every now and again a burst of tracers would connect, it was struggling to do meaningful damage, while the Grinches were struggling to achieve lock-on and hit the destroyers that were tearing them apart.
Onboard the USS Walker, Tom Felts was working with Dennis Silva on the number three gun. That was when Tom spotted something. "Hey Dennis, if you can hit that LCAC that is beginning to leave that Dock Landing Ship, I will give you twenty bucks! Think you can hit it?" Tom said as he pointed out the LCAC that was beginning to leave the well deck of one the Dock Landing Ships.
"Pft! Sure I can hit it! You know that I am the best damn shot in the entire crew! What makes you think that I can't?" Silva growled angrily.
"I know that! But you only get two shots to do so!" Felts replied as the LCAC in question realized that their was an enemy destroyer within 8,000 meters of it and began to accelerate aggressively.
"Tell you what! If I hit that thing with both shots not only do you owe me twenty bucks, but you also owe me a pack of Bubble Gum!" Silva snapped.
"You're on!" Felts said, although he had a feeling that knowing Dennis Silva, he would soon be out twenty dollars and a pack of bubble gum.
Naturally Silva proved he was likely the best shot in the entire Asiatic Flotilla when not only he won the bet, but just to rub it in Tom's face, proceeded to hit the thing three more times and left the thing a burning wreck. Then just to guarantee the kill, he planted a shot right through the skirt of the LCAC and the thing proceeded to flop over like a duck that had just been shot dead.
"Damn Silva! Despite the fact that you are a major pain in the ass! You certainly know what you are doing!" Felts remarked as he watched the LCAC which was clearly visibly thanks to the ghostly light from the star shells, proceed to capsize and quickly sink.
Suddenly and without warning, multiple splashes bracketed the Walker and one shot slammed into one of the funnels.
"What the hell!?" Silva growled.
"Holy shit! Multiple enemy warships are bearing down on us, with a bone in their teeth!" Rodgers yelled so loudly that even Silva heard him. Judging by the way the destroyer suddenly turned away and began to sprint away from the action. It was clear that the retreat order had gone out. For even as the Walker heeled away, she shuddered violently as a 100mm shell impaled the destroyer.
However, Silva decided that he wanted to wound one of those bastards just to let them know that they were mortal and so he lined up a shot on the biggest bastard he could pick-out, which the search light suddenly coming onto helped with that greatly. Silva knew that he would get only one shot, before he wouldn't be able to shoot at his target anymore. Thinking he had the shot lined up, to the point where he figured it would hit. He stomped on the firing pedal.
The 4in/50 Caliber Gun had it's firing circuit completed and roughly 15 pounds of propellent ignited, creating a pressure of 17 tons per square inch, the fixed round worked like a bullet in modern rifles, with the exception that it was much bigger, the 33 pound High Capacity Round went screaming down the barrel, the rifling gave the projectile spin, at the same time the barrel kicked back about 30 inches and the breech opened, and with a loud clang the spent brass cartridge hit the deck, the projectile screamed toward the Slava-class Cruiser, and impaled one of the P-500 Missile Launchers, it smashed through the steel that protected the missile and then detonated.
The fuel in the missile ignited and caused a chain reaction that resulted in a massive detonation that turned night into day as the Slava had everything forward of the airship landing pad into fragments and almost everyone onboard the Cruiser was killed in a instant.
"HELL YEAH! TAKE THAT YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" Silva bellowed with glee as he saw the fireball erupt on the horizon. However if anything that made the enemy mad, for shots of the 100mm and 130mm variety began to reach out after the American Destroyers, but for some reason or another, possibly because of the fact that well, they didn't know if the Americans would be leading them into a trap, not to mention the radar return that the Wickes and Clemson class destroyers gave off was pretty damn small, which meant that acquiring a solid fire-control solution was difficult at best, either way the enemy ships turned away.
However, despite the fact that the six Destroyers had sank twelve transports, a destroyer, and a cruiser. They hadn't inflicted enough damage on the enemy force to allow the defenders to kick the enemy off the beaches and out of Balikpapan, however they did do a lot of damage to the enemy regardless. Still, as it stood, only one destroyer in Destroyer Division 57 had escaped damage, the USS Edsall DD-219. The others had suffered damage to some degree with the lightest in terms of damage was the Alden, which had been riddled with 30mm CIWS fire that had racked across her hull while the worst was the Whippie which had her aft deckhouse leveled by 130mm cannon fire, her deck and funnels ripped to hell by SA-24 Grinch SAMs, and her hull and pilothouse riddled with 30mm CIWS fire.
However, if anything, it was a smashing victory because of the fact late 1910s design ships and engaged and beaten ships built that were way newer in terms of design. It was once again a case of David vs. Goliath and while Goliath won a strategic victory they lost in the tactical sense. It wasn't the sort of victories they could afford to handle. Still, the results were acceptable, they had given the enemy a terrible battering and had taken some in return. Either way, it had been a good day, to be certain, however they couldn't keep on losing battles in a strategic standpoint but winning battles in the tactical standpoint. It was a good way to lose campaigns and wars.
Onboard USS Edsall DD-219
Lieutenant Commander Gloria Bowman Commanding
Following Lt. Cmdr. Gloria Bowman
Lieutenant Commander Bowman found herself walking the decks of her ship. The Edsall she had somehow managed to get through the action completely unscathed, despite the fact that at one point one of those funky Dock Landing Ships had taken an interesting in her well being. They had fired at least thirty SA-24s at them, by some miracle they hadn't acquired lock-on and had churned the water around the Four-Stacker.
I wonder if we'll get lucky next time? I mean, we get through the battle unscathed this time, but next time we could eat a torpedo and it would most likely crack the Edsall right in half. Bowman thought as she walked toward the aft deckhouse. The only reason they had escaped was the fact that the enemy had gotten cold feet but the reason they hadn't re-engaged was the fact that they were pretty much out of ammunition. However if anything, had the Tokoro been with them, they likely would have sunk the entire enemy force. Still, they likely would be sent out again, because it would make sense since these bastards have a toe hold on Borneo they would likely go after the island of Celebes next. They took that, well, then they were well and truly screwed, because that would mean that there would be way more possible vectors of approach that enemy ships could use.
In Bowman's eyes the situation was starting to go to hell. Why she normally didn't look at the bad side of things, this was the one time that she had come to the conclusion that if the next sortie that the fleet did ended in failure, well, then it would be time to cut their losses and run like hell for Australia. Darwin wouldn't work, however Perth-Fremantle Australia would work.
While Lieutenant Commander Bowman didn't know it, but she was right. The enemy was going to go after Celebes next. But once the enemy had Celebes, they were going to set their sights on the Island of Java, the final actions that were going to be fought were closing in on them rapidly. To the point that they would be upon them much quicker than anyone would have ever thought possible.
AN: Alright, there we go, while not as impressive as the other chapter that revolved around Operation: FIRST STRIKE. It was rather hard to figure out how to write this one and make it decent. Mainly because it was really just a bit of a turkey shoot against transports, not really exciting when you think about it.
However the Battle of the Makassar Strait won't be the same as it was in our timeline. Mainly because airplanes don't exist, just Zeppelins, Semi-Rigid Airships, and Non-Rigid Airships. Which means that in case, the two fleets will indeed face each other in combat. However the other battles that happened in the Malay Barrier will go down as they did in history.
Anyway, take care folks and I'll catch you next time.