Blazing Angels - A Story of Aerial Commandos
Chapter 4
Italian Night Out
'When the dust settled, I had a squadron to fill out - and I knew just the man to do it. His name was Lieutenant Miles "Milo" Winchester, a pilot and mechanic Marcus and I had known back in Pensacola. Give him enough time, and he can make an orange crate fly barrel rolls, and I needed that sort of expertise. After Grimm was transferred into Wardog Squadron by RAF Fighter Command, we learned that Milo was serving on board the carrier HMS Illustrious, which was about to launch an attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto. What could we do besides join in?'
Taranto - November 11, 1940
(Soundtrack: Invincible Fleet from Ace Combat 04)
Bravo Alpha and Wardog Squadrons were sitting on the deck of HMS Illustrious in four old Fairey Swordfish bombers loaded with bombs. They were waiting for the air controller to clear them to launch.
"How's it feel to be a member of Wardog squadron, Grimm?" Marcus asked.
"Glad to be here, Captain. I read your dossier when I was transferred to the squadron, and was informed of our 'special missions' qualifications by RAF Fighter Command. I hope I can be up to snuff." Grimm replied.
"You'll do just fine. Follow Blaze's example, and you'll make it." Robinson said, trying to encourage Wardog's newest squad leader.
"Just make sure that you cover his six o'clock with that gun turret. These biplanes are older than we are." Chopper said.
"I'll try." Grimm said.
"Bravo Alpha Zero, Wardog One, you're cleared for takeoff." the tower on the Illustrious called out.
"Roger that, tower, preparing for takeoff." Robinson replied. He turned to his buddy in the rear, who was manning the gun turret of his plane. "Been a long time since Pensacola. I'm glad you've got my back." he said.
"Sure thing. Now let's get this bucket of bolts in the air." Milo said. Robinson and Marcus opened the throttles of their respective Swordfish bombers, taking to the air. Nagase and Teach soon followed.
"Tower, Wardog and Bravo Alpha are clear." Marcus announced.
"Understood, Wardog One. Happy hunting to you. Illustrious out." the tower on HMS Illustrious responded, before communications ceased.
"Bravo Alpha Zero, Wardog One, this is Royal Navy Observation and Reconnaissance Squadron No.3, callsign Sky Eye, can you read me?" a British pilot, nicknamed Sky Eye, asked over the radio.
"Loud and clear." Robinson replied.
"I read you, Sky Eye." Marcus replied.
"Bloody brilliant! Here's the assignment. There are two unmanned heavy cruisers sitting in Taranto Harbor with your names on them. There are some barrage balloons and coastal defense boats with jumpy gun crews in your way, but I need you to send those ships to the bottom." Sky Eye said.
"Roger, Sky Eye, we're on it." Robinson replied, before turning his attention to his wingman. "Teach, how're you holding up?" he asked.
"Already in the air, and raring to go." Teach reported.
"How are you doing back there, Milo?" Robinson asked.
"Ready and mostly willing, Captain." Milo said.
"Couldn't have said it better myself. Now, are you up for taking out a couple Italian cruisers?" Marcus asked.
"Heck yeah. I can also help you and Robinson out with in-flight damage control and repairs, if you need. I'm real handy, so if something pops loose, I can probably fix it. Heck, I've talked guys through in-flight repairs from other planes!" Milo replied.
"Targets in visual range. I count two heavy cruisers, with four coastal patrol boats in defense." Grimm reported.
"If we want to take those cruisers out, we're going to have to put the bombs right down their throats." Teach commented.
"In other words, we're going dive bombing." Robinson said.
"That's what these birds are built for." Milo interjected.
"Avoid the searchlights if at all possible, or you'll get the attention of every AA gun in the harbor." Teach warned.
"Bravo Alpha, Wardog, you're cleared to initiate your attacks on the heavy cruisers Trento and Trieste." Sky Eye reported.
"Roger that. Beginning attack run now." Marcus said as he and Robinson split up. Robinson, who was closest to his target, engaged the cruiser Trento, diving in like a hawk going after its prey as he lined himself up, before releasing bombs and pulling up. The bombs hit their mark, and the Trento went up in flames.
"Bulls-eye! That's one down." Milo exclaimed.
"Heavy cruiser Trento, sunk!" Sky Eye reported. Marcus lined up against the Trieste, dropping his payload. The bombs struck their target and detonated within the ship's magazine, causing it to split in two.
"Second cruiser is going down! She broke her back!" Grimm exclaimed.
"Heavy cruiser Trieste, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"Bravo Alpha, Wardog, the first wave have finished their runs on the ships anchored in the harbor proper, but have failed to sink them. We need you to work with the second attack wave to send the main Italian fleet to Davy Jones Locker. This fleet includes five battleships, seven cruisers, and over eight or more destroyers. Sink the Regia Marina's main fleet while at anchor. Good luck." the tower on the HMS Illustrious reported. That was when other spotter aircraft above the inner harbor began to light the area with flares.
"There we go. Those flares are lighting up the harbor clear as day." Milo said.
"Second wave, commencing attack run now." Teach announced.
"That's us. Let's go." Robinson said. The four bombers changed course to engage the enemy ships sitting in the inner harbor.
"There's the balloons. Careful of the wires, they'll cut through this plane like its cheese." Milo warned.
"Shouldn't you be watching out behind us, instead?" Robinson asked.
"I'm always watching my behind, Captain." Milo replied.
"Then how'd you end up over here?" Marcus asked.
"A buddy of mine in the RAF told me what they were paying qualified pilots, so I got myself transferred. It wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done…" Milo replied, his tone of voice similar to a groan.
"I thought he was smarter than this, Captain Robinson..." Chopper interjected.
"Hey, I've made some dicey decisions, but nothing that would get me killed!" Milo snapped.
"Well, after all this is over, I've got a proposition for you." Robinson said.
"Let's take care of business, first." Milo said as they entered the airspace above the harbor proper. Searchlights and barrage balloons were the biggest obstacles, but Marcus and Robinson both felt that it shouldn't be too difficult.
"Enemy fleet in sight. Beginning attack." Nagase announced. He looked down at a crippled light cruiser, and dove in for the kill before releasing his payload. The bomb fell through the citadel and detonated close to the keel, ripping the ship apart.
"Light Cruiser Abruzzi, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"Good! We're getting somewhere!" Teach exclaimed.
"So what's this proposition? And how did you end up over here?" Milo asked.
"It's very simple. Marcus and I are creating an elite fighter group for… unconventional missions." Robinson said. "Think of it as flying commandos. I want you on board, that's why we're here."
"That sounds like asking for trouble, and I don't like trouble." Milo warned.
"But the pay is great, and you'll get your hands on some top secret equipment." Robinson countered. "Plus, you'll be doing your country a favor."
"Nevermind that. Exactly how much pay are we talking, here?" Milo asked.
"That certainly piqued his interest…" Chopper huffed.
Robinson chuckled in response. "Welcome aboard, Milo."
"Let's save the rest of this discussion for when we get back." Marcus said. Teach looked for his next target, before dropping a bomb down the smokestack of a battleship. The explosion caused flooding in the already stricken battleship, causing it to sink.
"Battleship Littorio, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"This is the Littorio! A bomb just detonated midship! We've got heavy flooding across all decks, and the crew is abandoning ship!" The Littorio's Captain advised. "Advise crews of other ships and any harbor craft to provide rescue and recovery efforts at this time."
"That's an Italian capital ship out of action. Excellent work, Teach!" Grimm exclaimed. Robinson went after the next floating cruiser, dropping his bombs. The cruiser below went up in smoke.
"Heavy Cruiser Zara, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
Robinson did not stop there. At the apex of his climb, he rolled upside down, diving towards the cruiser in front of him and dropping his payload. It was a similar result to the Trieste, as the ship split in half.
"Heavy Cruiser Pola, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"The First Cruiser Division just lost its flagship! Where's our AA guns?!" an Italian officer exclaimed over the radio.
"Sir, there's nothing for our gunners to track! The enemy is using the dark to cloak their attacks!" an Italian sailor shouted.
"Tell them to blanket the skies with anti-aircraft fire! I don't care if they hit our own aircraft! And tell Grottaglie to have fighters ready for intercept!" the Italian officer ordered.
"Understood, sir! Relaying message now!" the Italian sailor replied. Soon after, the fleet opened up with anti-aircraft fire on the four Swordfish bombers.
"Heads up! They're firing on us!" Chopper announced.
"Stay calm, and keep your senses sharp. Watch their tracers, and evade as necessary." Nagase said as he weaved his way through the incoming anti-aircraft fire. He pitched up and rolled over, diving on a heavily damaged light cruiser and releasing his payload. The bomb penetrated the deck armor and detonated next to the cruiser's A turret, causing a flash fire and breaking the bow off.
"Light Cruiser Garibaldi, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
Marcus set his sights on a battleship moored at the shoreline. He flew towards his target, avoiding AA fire and barrage balloons, before dropping his payload. Two bombs struck the stern, crippling the battleship, but not sinking it.
"Target's damaged, but she's not sinking." Grimm said.
"Understood. Going around for another pass." Marcus said as he turned his Swordfish around. He lined up for another run and lowered the nose, dropping another bomb into the rearmost turret. The bomb shattered the turret and sent a wave of fire into the bowls of the ship, ripping the stern off.
"Battleship Vittorio Veneto, Sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"Enemy anti-aircraft fire is thinning out. The more ships we take down, the easier this gets." Nagase said.
"I wonder if there's going to be anything to salvage out there." Milo mused.
"We mauled the enemy fleet pretty badly. I honestly don't think Mussolini will have a fleet left after this." Chopper said.
Robinson turned towards another cruiser sitting in the harbor. Smoke from its smokestacks indicated that the ship was firing up its boilers, trying fruitlessly to get underway and out of the fight. He dropped his bombs directly in the smokestacks, blowing the cruiser's boilers apart and sending it to the bottom.
"Heavy Cruiser Bolanzo, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"This is going smooth as a baby's behind." Milo said.
"Only one warship left afloat. We're just about done here, Captain. There's only one ship left." Grimm said.
"Let's clean up." Marcus said. Teach turned towards the last ship afloat, a heavy cruiser birthed at a fuel depot for refueling. He increased his altitude, rolled over, then dived in as he lined up on the last remaining warship. He dropped his bombs on target, and watched in amazement as the cruiser exploded with enough force to rip it to multiple pieces.
"Woah!" Chopper shouted.
"Blimey! That one must've been overloaded with ammunition!" Teach's gunner shouted.
"Heavy Cruiser Goriza, sunk!" Sky Eye reported.
"The Goriza was just vaporized! Get me a sitrep!" an Italian officer shouted over the radio.
"That ship was carrying more than half the ammunition and propellant stores for the entire fleet! Those bombs set the stores off, all at once!" an Italian Captain shouted.
"Bravo Alpha, Wardog, this is Sky Eye." Sky Eye reported. "The Italian fleet is sinking, and is no longer a threat. Excellent job, gents."
"I don't think there's a ship left afloat. Let's head in." Robinson said.
"Yeah, we need to discuss a few things… like my new paygrade." Milo said. The four planes flown by the two squadrons formed up and set course for the Illustrious. As they began their flight back, Teach noticed glints off the horizon, as an Italian Macchi MC.202 Folgore flew in with a pair of Me-110s.
(Soundtrack: Unmanned Craft from Ace Combat 7)
"Hang on! I've got three inbound paints! Where the deuce did they come from?!" Teach shouted.
"This is Sky Eye. We've confirmed the enemy squadron as well. Looks like two Messerschmitt Me-110 heavy fighters and something we don't quite recognize." Sky Eye reported. "The Italians must have scrambled a prototype fighter into battle, to take revenge for the loss of their fleet."
As both Bravo Alpha and Wardog flew back to the carrier, they were contacted by the Illustrious' air controllers. "Bravo Alpha, Wardog Squadron, this is the Illustrious. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to land. There are too many enemy fighters for you to affect a safe landing."
"So what do we do now?" Milo asked.
"If the fighters won't let us land, we deal with the fighters." Robinson said.
"With what?! They disabled the forward machine gun on these things to make sure nobody thought they were flying a fighter!" Milo countered. "All you can do is spit at them!"
"Hate to say it, but Milo has a point. These planes will do us no good in a dogfight." Grimm said.
"I'm not about to give up just yet. We have tail guns, don't we?" Marcus asked.
"You're out of your mind. For me to line up the shot, Cap will need to get in front of and below his target." Milo said pessimistically.
"You worry about pulling the trigger. I'll put you in position to make the kills." Robinson said.
"It's our funeral…" Milo muttered as he prepared himself.
"You're a real optimist, you know that? Sheesh!" Chopper groaned.
Marcus turned hard left, away from the incoming enemy planes. "I've got you set up to make the kills, Grimm. When they get in range, take the shot."
"Roger!" Grimm shouted. The Me-110s flew in first, while the MC.202 flanked to the left. One Me-110 got in range of Teach's plane and opened fire, only to be riddled with bullets.
"Down you go!" Teach's gunner shouted as the twin-engined heavy fighter caught fire and plummeted, slamming into the sinking wreck of the Littorio.
"One down!" Milo shouted. The other Me-110 came in and attacked Nagase from above. In response, Nagase cut her throttle and dived for long enough to give Chopper the opportunity to shoot a two-second burst from the tail gun into the heavy fighter's cockpit, killing the pilot.
"That's two! One left!" Teach exclaimed. The MC.202 was quick, often changing targets between all four of them.
"This guy looks to be an experienced pilot! Watch yourselves!" Marcus shouted. As soon as the MC.202 got within Grimm's firing arc, he opened fire with the tail gun, riddling the prototype Italian fighter with holes.
"The Italian fighter has sustained minimum damage!" Grimm reported.
"He's headed your way, Robinson!" Marcus shouted. Robinson turned away from the Italian fighter, giving Milo a chance to fire at it. A few lucky hits raked the prototype fighter's fuel tanks and right aileron, forcing it to break off or risk critical damage.
"Target's leaking fuel, and he's got chunks torn out of his right aileron. That's gotta hurt." Chopper said. "Uh oh. Nagase, he's headed for us."
"Get ready, Chopper." Nagase said. Chopper steeled himself, finger on the trigger, as the expertly piloted MC.202 came screaming in for a high speed pass. He aligned his gun on it and opened fire, chewing several holes in his target's left fuel tank and the cooling system. A single bullet hit the engine block, damaging a cylinder. However, Nagase's plane was damaged and out of the fight.
"We're out of the fight. But it looks like Chopper nailed him." Nagase said.
"I don't think he can take much more, Captain." Teach said.
"Come on, lads! Finish him off!" Sky Eye shouted.
"He's coming around again, Grimm. Get ready." Marcus said as he maneuvered his plane. The MC.202 came in from behind and below, trying to avoid the swordfish's tail gun. Marcus raised the nose into the vertical, the old wood and fabric biplane creaking and rattling as it clawed for altitude.
"That's it… come on…" Marcus said quietly as the MC.202 gave chase. When Grimm had a shot, he opened fire, machine gun bullets slamming into the damaged prototype's engine, causing it to burst into flames. The Italian fighter, no longer having the horse power to maintain his climb, stalled and began to fall to the sea below, the pilot leaping out of the cockpit and deploying his parachute.
"Target is going down! Bravo, Wardog One!" Sky Eye shouted. Marcus' plane finally stalled, before entering a leftward flat spin. He floored the throttle and kicked the rudder hard right, the swordfish reacting to his commands as it stabilized. He pulled up shortly after and leveled off, forming up with Bravo Alpha and Nagase.
"Bravo Alpha Zero, Wardog One, you're cleared to land in sequence. Bravo Alpha One, Wardog Two, remain on standby and wait for them to land." the controller on HMS Illustrious radioed in. "Thank you for your efforts, gentlemen. We couldn't have done it without you."
"Hey, Kid!" Chopper shouted, addressing Marcus.
"You'd better start calling him 'Captain'." Grimm corrected.
"Forget it! If he's a Captain, then I want him to start trash-talkin' like a Captain!" Chopper snapped. "Man… Since Bartlett's been assigned to that training squadron, I've been missing his voice real bad, now…"
"Blaze has gotten all of Wardog Squadron back alive for the second time, now." Robinson interjected. "As far as I'm concerned, he's your Captain now."
"That's right." Nagase said. "And I'll never lose my lead plane. No matter what."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
About time I got this chapter finished and over with. I needed a break from fanfic writing, as I was starting to get burned out from writing my other fanfics, especially my Neptunia fanfic. I'm glad to have gotten at least one chapter over with, finally.
In reality, the Littorio was not a complete loss. After the raid on Taranto Harbor, the Regia Marina was able to raise her up again. She was used in several unsuccessful convoy raids until July of 1943. Following the fall of Mussolini's regime, Littorio was renamed Italia, and she sailed with the rest of the Italian fleet to Malta, where she remained interned until the end of the war. She was claimed as a prize by the United States, and was scrapped in La Spezia around 1952-54.
The lack of realism and seemingly infinite bombs carried by Wardog and Bravo Alpha squadrons can be attributed to one thing: Blazing Angels 2 and Ace Combat 5 are both arcade flight combat games. As the story of Blazing Angels 2 is historic fantasy/historic fiction, total realism is not a priority, though the whimsical nature will have its limits.
Looks like that's all. Fly safe!