Richard Castle and the USS Santa Barbara
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Except for the true parts, this is fiction. Rating: K, mostly. Time: The turn of the 20th Century.
"Orlovsky, were you standing with Miss Beckett when she exposed herself to danger by firing on the Moros?"
"I vass, sahr."
"And you did nothing about it?"
"No, sahr."
"Why not?"
"Sahr, it iss not my place to give orders to lady. She is lady. I am enlisted coal heaver. She iss like officer to me."
"She is not an officer." Castle snapped.
"She iss lady, an' she eat in wardroom with officers and with Captain, sahr. She iss like officer to me."
Castle sighed. Orlovsky's life in whatever part of Russian Poland he'd come from and his years in the Navy had left him with a dread of offending his superiors.
"In the future, Orlovsky, should Miss Beckett be in danger, do anything you can to protect her."
"I tried to stand in front of lady today, sahr, but she tell me to move."
"You're dismissed, Orlovsky."
Castle was wondering how he had managed not to punish anyone for Miss Beckett's actions when there was another knock on his door.
"Come in."
It was Lieutenant Franklin.
"Sir, the two Filipino officers managed to find a working boat and comer out to us. They say there are more problems."
Castle hurried to the bridge where he found Esposito and Baccay looking at a nautical chart with several other officers.
"Captain Castle." Esposito said, pointing to the chart. "We have at least one other attack by the Moros. Here on Tlacoban Island, about seventy miles from here. There aren't many Moros, but there aren't many of our people either. General Rios would like you to transport a company of our troops there. We've repaired several boats and we can transfer about a hundred men to your ship easily."
Castle looked at the chart.
"Very well. I assume Don Fernando will come with us?"
"Don Fernando come." Said the old man, with a smile.
"And I'd like Lieutenant Smith and my Marines back. And we'll send Miss Beckett ashore. With a battalion of US infantry ashore, she'll be safe. We'll use our ship's boats to transfer everyone."
Miss Beckett was ferried ashore. As she left, she turned and waved at Castle who was on the bridge. He waved back and found he felt a bit lonely with her gone.
Lieutenant Smith's Marines had only lost seven wounded, but three were not expected to survive. However, Smith was eager to press on.
At the last minute, Captain Ryan had decided to send a half company with Castle. When the commanding officer reported, Castle thought he looked familiar.
"Do I know you, Lieutenant?"
The man smiled.
"First Lieutenant Sam McAllen, formerly of the First Colorado Volunteers, now with the 31st US Volunteers. I was with you at San Benito, sir."
Castle remembered him. He was one of the two officers in Vaughn's command who had fought.
"Good to see you again, Lieutenant."
"Good to see you, sir. I couldn't stand the thought of going back to Colorado and listening to Vaughn and his cronies brag about their nonexistent heroism, so I stayed in the Philippines, hoping something would turn up, and something did."
"How many men do you have, McAllen?"
"Forty-nine, including myself, sir. Raring to go."
Castle checked the time and turned to Don Fernando.
"It's after four o'clock which means we'll get to this Tlacoban Island after dark. Can you pilot the ship into the harbor?"
Don Fernando shook his head.
"Best not to. Best to do what you do today. Sink boats. Island small. Once boats gone, can kill easy. Stay offshore tonight."
Castle didn't like it, but had another idea.
"Can we send Captain Esposito in in one of the ship's boats and find out what's happening. Maybe take some ammunition?"
"Good idea. I pilot boat. Easy to get boat there."
Esposito agreed to go into the town with a small group of men and scout around.
"Most of our men here have Remington rifles, and only a few have Mausers. We'll need mostly 11mm ammunition."
USS Santa Barbara
South China Sea, off of Tlacoban
January 27, 1899.
Castle decided not to send the steam launch in as the engine made too much noise. He selected the best oarsmen for one of the ship's longboats and made sure they had rifles and ammunition and knew how to use them.
Esposito selected six men to go with him. Each would carry two crates containing five hundred rounds of 11mm ammunition. Esposito and his men were armed with Mausers with plenty of ammunition.
"If you run into any trouble, come right back here." Castle told Esposito. "We can shell the Moros and try to land troops."
The longboat set off into the dark of night. They were guided to the little town by the occasional flashes of gunfire.
"Still fighting, sir. That's good." Said the petty officer steering the longboat.
"Unless that's the Moros finishing off the wounded." Espo replied.
When they reached the rickety pier, a voice called out to them in Cebuan, the local language.
"Who's there? Who are you?"
"Captain Esposito. I come from General Rios. I have ammunition."
"Thank God. We have little left."
"Who's in command here?"
"Don Amadeo Abad."
"You must take me to him at once."
Don Amadeo looked Spanish to Esposito. Tall slender and with light brown hair. He had two pistols pushed into a red sash around his waist and a bandoleer of Mauser ammunition over each shoulder. The Mauser itself was carried by a young boy. Don Amadeo was clean shaven and had recently bathed. His uniform was clean. Esposito doubted he'd been anywhere near combat.
"You are from General Rios?" Don Amadeo demanded. "You only bring us six men and a bit of ammunition?"
"We came on an American warship. There are a hundred of our soldiers aboard her and a hundred or so Americans. The warship has many large cannons. They'll blow the Moros to bits tomorrow."
"So, we now have American masters?" Don Amadeo spat.
"General Rios made an agreement with them. Of course, if you prefer the Moros, I can tell the American captain to go back to Marviles City." Esposito knew Castle would never do that, but Don Amadeo didn't know that.
Don Amadeo thought for a moment. If General Rios had made an agreement, then Rios and the Americans together could crush him. He had his own ideas about who should run Tlacoban City.
"I would prefer the Devil himself to the Moros. I am now the ally of the Americans."
Esposito and his men headed for the front lines, guided by one of Don Amadeo's men. They handed out ammunition to the men they found. There were barricades at the front line and Esposito could see fires burning beyond them.
"The Moros are there?" He asked.
"Yes. The devils."
"How many soldiers do you have?" Esposito asked.
"We had about a hundred and fifty, now about eighty."
A scream split the air.
"What was that?" Espo demanded.
"The Moros captured some women. They'll be dead by morning."
"And the Moros not long after." Esposito growled.
Esposito made his way back to the Santa Barbara, leaving his men behind to fight. He briefed Castle on what he'd found.
"The Moros landed less than a mile to the east. According to the fishermen I spoke to, the water is deep, ten fathoms, to within two hundred yards of the shore."
Castle smiled coldly.
"Their boats'll be kindling in a minute at that range," He turned to Franklin. "Mike, put together a landing party of twenty men. I'm going ashore with the troops and Rios' men."
"Sir, you're the captain. Your place is on the ship." Franklin protested.
"I'm the captain. My place is where I say it is."
"Yes, sir."
The Santa Barbara sailed to a wide beach just east of the town. It was deserted and there were twelve proas pulled up on the beach. Caste decided to lower the ship's boats and fill them with the landing party.
"At this range it would be a waste of ammunition to use the five-inch guns on those. I doubt that those boats could carry more than fifteen or twenty men each."
"About right." Don Fernando said. "We stop now."
The 57mm guns and the one-pound pom poms opened up on the beached boats. In under a minute, they were smashed.
"You are in command, Lieutenant Franklin." Castle said and headed for the nearest boat and swung down into it by a rope.
The beach was deserted when they got ashore. However, they could hear more firing from the town.
"Both sides must have heard the gunfire. The Moros will be headed this way soon." Esposito said to Castle. "We'd best be ready. I'd suggest we use the wrecked boats for cover."
No sooner had he said that than a dozen Moros ran out of the jungle. They were cut down at once.
"I can see people gather in the woods, sir." Lieutenant Smith called to Castle. "Should we give them a volley?"
"Go ahead. But let Captain Esposito order his men to do so as well."
Espo, McAllen and Smith all yelled orders. Then Smith stood up and screamed, "Volley fire. One magazine at two hundred yards. Fire!"
In less than thirty seconds, more than a thousand rounds were fired into the jungle. Many rounds only hit trees, or nothing at all. Many hit their targets.
The Moros poured out of the jungle, screaming and shooting.
"Jesus!" Said Esposito. "Either their boats were overloaded or they had other boats here that left. There must be three hundred of the bastards."
That number was decreased as the men worked the bolts of their rifles as fast as they could and fired into the mass of men rushing towards them.
Castle drew his sword and his pistol. A Moro saw him and headed straight for him, waving a long, wavy bladed sword. Castle fired into the man's chest, but he came on coming. He was no more than ten feet from Castle when a soldier shot him in the head.
"That was a juramentado, sir." The soldier said, still firing into the mass of warriors. "A Moslem fanatic all set to go to Paradise for killing a Christian. You gotta shoot 'em in the head. Your .38 pistol round won't stop 'em if you shoot 'em in the chest or stomach." The soldier slapped another five rounds into his Krag rifle and kept firing.
Castle reloaded his pistol but noticed his hands shook.
As had happened at Marviles City, once the battle was over, the Filipino troops moved through the masses of dead and dying and made sure all were dead.
Marviles City
January 26, 1899.
Kate Beckett had stood on the dock and watched the Santa Barbara and Captain Rick Castle sail away. She found she rather liked Captain Castle, but she doubted anything would happen between them. He was a naval officer and could be sent to the far side of the world at any time, while she would be here in the Philippines, teaching.
General Rios greeted her at the dock and provided a wagon to move the books and other things she had for the school. The school itself, was a Spanish colonial style building, not surprising, considering where they were, and would do nicely for a school. Rios then took her to her quarters which were opposite the school and on the other side of the town's main square. She found the house she was to live in to be a large, two-story house that came equipped with four servants: Maria, the maid; Teresa, the cook; Alfonso, the handyman; and young Jorge, who would assist the others as needed.
TBC