THE SIBERIAN WAR-STRUGGLES UNDER GOD'S EYES
By Red Star
I do not own any real or anime characters in this story.
KOLSOV'S TASK FORCE
Admiral Victor Kolsov packed away his rifle as the fleet opened fire.
Rear Admiral Gerenko watched as his superior officer calmly walked back to the Bridge and was amazed. Kolsov had single-handedly wiped out the Commander in Chief of the Japanese Armada, leaving a power vacuum in the opposing Navy. Now, he'd just have to see how this battle would turn out.
TOGO, JAPANESE ARMADA FLAGSHIP
As soon as she saw the limp Vice-Admiral Rokio, Ami knew nothing could be done.
The bullet had killed him almost instantly. She turned to the deputy commander of the Armada.
"I'm afraid the ball is in your court, Rear Admiral Huyuka. Rokio is dead."
Huyuka only hesitated about 3 seconds.
"All units fall back! Regroup! I want every ship in this Armada to turn and head to Tokyo immediately!" he shouted.
Sailors scurried to carry out the new Commander in Chief's orders. The ship shuddered slightly as the crew pit it's armor against the waves as they turned it around. The Russians seemed to speed up a little and a cruise missile slammed into the nearby destroyer Red Samurai, destroying most of it's structures in the middle of the boat. The Japanese Armada was on the run…
SEA HAMMER, RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET FLAGSHIP
And Admiral Kolsov was pleased. Japanese ships were trying to maneuver their way out of his "trap" without bumping into their comrades. Russian ships were closing this same trap and were pounding the Japanese Armada mercilessly, except for one ship.
The Togo.
Kolsov grabbed the radiophone and declared, "Submarine units will fire on Togo as soon as she is within 300 kilometers of you. After she is hit, you will proceed to assist your fellow Fleet members in destroying the Japanese Armada."
He hung up and watched the Togo take the lead ahead of her Armada.
"Nyet, my friends. History demands this." He whispered to himself.
He would conquer the sea for his Emperor, and the Armada stood in his way.
But not for long.
TOGO
Ami stared at the "God-screen" in confusion. The Russian Fleet were closing the trap slowly, but their firepower enabled them to strike with deadly effect from a long range. Still, it confused her to realize the Russians weren't firing at the Togo. The Russians were spending their firepower on the ships surrounding the Armada's flagship. She closed her eyes in thought, and summoned up all that she had heard about Admiral Victor Kolsov.
"To attack with planes is modern indeed, but to achieve the maximum sense of glory, you must fight with the submarine. There is no greater pride than to watch from beneath the waves as your objective blazes into flames. The greatness of a fleet shall be measured in how well it can use it's submarines and surface ships to crush an enemy. Like it or not, the submarine, not the airplane, will win the next war."
She opened her eyes with a realization, Kolsov adored submarines, so he would use them in battle always. But he had used them only once in this battle, where were his precious subs?
She gulped and turned to the Rear Admiral, who was watching the battle by the Bridge's window.
"Sir?"
Huyuka turned to her, like the other crew he respected her.
"Yes, Ensign Ami?"
"I believe we are sailing into a trap. The Russians," she said gesturing to the "God-screen" "have not fired upon us. And they have not made any moves to block our attempt to link up with the Reserves. I think the Russians have placed some, if not their entire Phantom Fleet between us and will sink us before we can make it out of their trap."
Huyuka turned pale and his face deepened with thought. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll see to it you receive the Order of the Rising Sun for this, Ami."
He gave out orders to halt and for the Armada to take up defensive positions.
SEA HAMMER
Kolsov cursed as he watched the Armada slow down. The Japanese began shelling his fleet and looked like they were preparing to blast their way out of his trap through the southern half. He whipped around and shouted out orders, "Fire 2 cruise missiles at their Stern and Bow. Get some Su-33's up in the air and load them with anti-ship missiles. The Togo will be sunk today!"
Two cruise missiles soared out of the Sea Hammer's missile tubes and directed themselves toward the Japanese flagship.
The missiles smashed into the decks, sending flames flaring up from below and punching holes in the hull. Togo was sinking fast.
The decks became a sea of chaos as sailors rushed onto the lifeboats. Russian jets appeared overhead and began strafing the decks with missiles. The ship was beginning to turn over, and Ami raced to reach a boat before the vessel crashed the crew into the water. She had grabbed a lifejacket when she saw the flames nearing a store of ammunition placed near her chosen boat. She dove into the water instead.
On deck, the ammunition exploded and killed 15 Japanese sailors.
Kolsov had seen Ami and watched the incident unfold and he was impressed. He sighted her as she bobbed in the water, appearing unconscious.
"Get me a boat in the water," he ordered, "I'm heading out there."
SEA HAMMER, KOLSOV'S QUARTERS, 3 HOURS LATER
Ami's eyes fluttered open and groaned. Her head was pounding, but at least she wasn't dead. Her hand went up to feel her still quite wet hair and a large bandage that was taped to her forehead. She blinked and looked around.
It was an apparently ordinary bedroom; a table and booth, a washroom, a white flag with a blue cross connecting all the corners sat alongside a white, blue, and red flag with a gold double-headed eagle on it on the table. The table also held a large book with a few photographs alongside a text, apparently a history book of some kind. Reading it was a big man with a black eye-patch and a dark tunic. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Excellent, you're awake." He opened a nearby cupboard and extracted two glasses that were clutched by some decorative grip. He also took out a tall tea pot and poured them full. He offered one to Ami, she refused, he shrugged and set it down within her reach.
He sat back and looked at her with his one eye.
He sipped his tea and said, "I have been told that you foresaw my submarine attack. My compliments, you are the first medical officer to defeat the plans of a four-star Admiral."
She blinked and shook her head, "Victor Kolsov?"
He nodded, "I am Kolsov. And your fellow crew members have told me your name is Ami."
She answered with a yes. She looked at his eye-patch. She didn't want to be rude, but she couldn't help it. She didn't see people with eye-patches too often and now she had been captured by someone who's eye-patch was world famous.
"You are wondering about my eye?"
She blushed and looked away.
"Don't worry, there is nothing wrong with curiosity. I have no problem telling my story."
He smiled and took another sip of tea.
"My sub was docked at a Bulgarian port for R & R. The crew went into town for drinks and I was tending to my boat's re-supply. She was a good boat. Akula class, one of our newer subs. She was called Odessa, and we had just finished off a Turkish destroyer. The Emperor himself was coming down in two days to award me the Order of Honor and my crew the Medal of Ushakov.
Anyway, the Greek Navy had lost most of it's ships, but they still had their Spartan Brigade, their Special Forces. They decided to send a platoon to kill me, and if possible, kill the Emperor. They traveled along the coast in a fishing trawler. When they landed at our port, I was about to join my crew at the bar in town when they found me. If it wasn't for some Naval Infantry troops nearby, I'd be dead right now."
He sipped some more tea.
"One of them went right for me with a knife, I managed to keep it out of my chest, but put it in my eye instead."
He smirked and chuckled.
"You should have seen his Imperial Majesty when he arrived!! We had to wait a few more hours while the Emperor had a wound medal flown in!!"
He burst into laughter. Ami couldn't help but laugh as well…
And it felt surprisingly good.
KHABAROVSK
Darien walked into the mall in his dress uniform. The Russian girl at the desk looked up at him, and her eyes gave a hard but resigned look. "How may I help you, sir?"
He gave her his best friendly smile and said, "Do you have a photographer's shop here?"
She nodded darkly. "Camera Snaps. 2nd Floor."
"Thank you."
He walked over to the escalator and rode it to the 2nd floor.
Dane I had set up a totalitarian state in Russia. Darien had found the Imperial portrait wherever Japanese troops went. In classrooms, they glared out at the students. In school lunchrooms, he stared at them as they ate from larger pictures. His pictures of him in and out of a military uniform appeared in restaurants, theaters, stores, government buildings, railway stations, post offices, and even on the sides of buildings.
His statue appeared as often as his portraits, and were present in all sizes and poses in most of the towns that the Japanese forces had conquered. Newspapers declared his glory, his genius, and his abilities. They proclaimed the Emperor to be Russia's Savior and trumpeted Dane's various building projects across the Russian Empire. They gushed over how the Emperor had seized millions of criminals and threw them into Gulags in Siberia, therefore sentencing thousands to death. But Darien felt no pity, these were murderers, rapists, thieves, robbers, swindlers, and rebels that were sent into the Gulag.
The propaganda had worked. Russians worshipped the Emperor, and many guerilla's had died with the words "For the Emperor" on their lips.
Darien finally arrived at the Photographer's. He wanted to send a picture to Serena. He had just made the rank of Major.
CENTRAL COMMAND, EASTERN THEATER OF MILITARY OPERATIONS
Marshal Lakov stared down at his maps. 4 million troops stood ready to attack the Japanese. He had just finished putting together a plan. The Russian Army was going across the Amur River and butchering the Japanese forces this time. Lakov called this plan Operation Fiery Blizzard. As he stood there, Army commanders devised strategies and sent orders to their Corps commanders, who sent orders to Division commanders and so on and so forth. He intended to make this the first step in driving the Japanese off of all Russian soil. This was his time!